Halloween!

Another great Halloween!  The kids all got to wear their costumes to school, which they love. The boys had their annual walkathon, I wasn't able to be there this year but they reported back. 19 laps for Carson, 21 for Dillon!  Since Dillon is in leadership he was out for every single class so he could sign off laps.  He had a great time doing it! 

The boys went star wars themed this year. Carson was Darth Vader.

Kayda was a Gryffindor house student.  She said she was "accidentally Hermione" since she's got her curly hair.  Dillon was a storm trooper.

It was pretty fun having all those pumpkins lit up!

Sooooo much candy.  Unfortunately, by the time they got back, most the trick-or-treating was done so we couldn't foist the unwanted candy off on other kids. 

It was fun watching them get ready to go trick-or-treating.  They got their costumes on then pulled out the wagon.  They loaded it with umbrellas and gloves, put in pillow cases for when their bags got too full... And then started bugging Daddy to head out the door.  They werewe're practic vibrating with excitement. 

I'm subbing for one teacher for a couple of weeks, I had 7 or 8 of those students come by.  Their reactions cracked me up!  One girl in particular starts going "I know where my sub lives!" She very enthusiastically explained (shouted) "That's Ms. H" to another girl.  The recipient just looked at her and said "I can see that".  You could tell they spend a lot of time together just based on the one interaction.

Parent-teacher conferences

We are always excited when this event comes up!  We are fortunate to have three AMAZING kids.  We bounced around from conference to conference and loved it.

Carson:
He is making huge strides in his reading so far.  Math is his strongest subject.  He gets wiggly in class but all he needs is a gentle reminder and he'll go right back to doing what he should be.  He works hard to meet expectations on all the activities in class.  He is friendly with all the kids and is kind. 

Dillon:
 The teacher was a little confused with his reading scores in his testing.  Some of them are really high and others are low. There is an inconsistency.  We figured out that it ties back to the same thing.  If he is asked to show text evidence he does really well.  When he isn't asked to provide that he kind of cruises through without a lot of thought.  It's not a matter of ability, it's a matter of effort.  Anyway.  He is a great leader and example in his class.  The teacher knows she can rely on him to demonstrate good behavior and helps with some of the kids that don't get along well with others.  His ability to be a subtle, guiding person that people naturally look to is "a gift".  Math and science are particularly strong subjects for him. 

Kayda:
With the online grades updated every week we didn't really NEED to go to her conferences. We know she's doing well.  We enjoy talking to the teachers though, and she enjoys hearing what they have to say.  All six of them had nothing but praise.  She's always doing what she should be, she finishes everything early and helps her peers whenever they need it.  Her character strong (leadership) class ends next week, the teacher is really disappointed that she won't have Kayda again next quarter.  That particular class is part of a rotation to introduce kids to different electives.  The choice was the rotation or year long band. 

It is always a good day when we get to do conferences for our kids.  Someday they may not want us to.  For now we'll enjoy it. 

Nighttime corn maze and pumpkin carving!

This year we just didn't have time to do the pumpkin patch so we improvised.   We went and got our $1 pumpkins per usual... Then we went back two days later to try out a night time corn maze.  The kids LOVED it.  They're getting old enough now that they're interested in spooky things . They've been watching a few Halloween themed movies, not horror movies, but Halloween movies.  Kayda and Dillon even expressed an interest in trying a haunted house, I think we'll wait one more year for that though.

We ended up turning off our flashlights and doing most of the maze without any lights! 

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 What we didn't know was that they gave us a free pumpkin if we found all the stations in the maze... So we got our 8 pumpkins that we bought (2/kid plus mine and Daddy's) and then 5 more from the maze.... 13 pumpkins.  One ended up being a little rotten so we tossed it.  I expected the kids to get bored or need a lot of help.  I was wrong. I drew the faces on for the boys.  I cut the tops for two of Carson's and scraped one for each of the boys... That was it.  Everything else they did on their own.  Happily!  They probably would've done even more!

 Our porch is a little full. We'll have to move some down into the sidewalk on Halloween!

 Left to right: Kayda, Dillon, Dillon, Kayda, Carson

Left to tight: Dillon, Kayda, Daddy, Carson, Dillon, Mommy

I'm excited for next year when we'll get to do even more adventurous new activities!

Arcade!

We bought a card for it months ago but we finally  to the arcade!  We went and spent the evening there on Wednesday.  The kids had a great time!  

The place was huge!  It entertained us for a couple hours.  They all want to go back soon.