Halloween 2017

The kids had so much fun on Halloween this year!  At school, Erik and I were able to watch them in the costume parade!  It's tradition that the 8th graders make their buddies a costume.  Mila's buddy, Aleksa, made her a Poppy the troll costume!  It was so cute!  Caleb got to wear his costume, which was Toothless from How to Train a Dragon.

Erik went with Mila to her class party, and I went to Caleb's.  Caleb created the game we played called Cobweb Catch, and it was a hit with his classmates!  Mila's party ended a little early, so she and Erik came and joined Caleb's class!

Then we went trick or treating with Scarlett and Nikko!  I love going on their street!  Each of the houses are beautifully decorated, there's hardly any other kids, and all of the houses have candy!  The kids had a blast, even though it was kind of chilly!  We went back to their house for some pizza and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

Also, I want to remember how amazing Mila was looking for only peanut free candy!  At some houses, she would walk away without taking any.  People thought that she was being picky, but Caleb would explain her peanut allergy.  I was so proud of him when one house tried to explain that plain M&Ms don't have nuts, and Caleb went on to explain how they still weren't safe for Mila!  Love them so!

Trunk or Treat

A new tradition we've added to Halloween is to go Trunk or Treating at Hosanna, the kids' old preschool!  They have so much fun together!  We even ran into Liam and Maddy this year!

 

Reese and Bella are 11

I can't believe the puppy girls are 11!!  We celebrated with some special birthday treats and their cousin Peanut!  They are both doing pretty well!

Reese likes to spend her days on her "post" in the living room.  She makes sure to  let us know when anyone is walking by the house!  She seems to keep to herself more.  Every night, she burrows underneath the covers.  In the morning, the second she hears my voice, she wiggles out of the covers and kisses my face!  

Bella is my shadow!  She likes to be by me in the kitchen, and follows me from room to room.  She even comes into the bathroom with me!  She always sleeps on top of the covers, but has to be pressed up against me!  She always reminds me that she needs a treat!  She's the vocal one of the duo!

I can't believe we've had these puppy girls for 11 years now!  They are such a part of our family, and I pray they continue to be healthy!

Mila's Mystery Reader

The kindergarteners have a special Mystery Reader every other Thursday. A family member gets to come in and read a book to the class. They try to make it fun by either wearing a costume, bringing props, or passing out a little treat to the students. 

With Caleb's love of reading, I thought he'd want to be Mila's mystery reader. He was more than excited! He picked one of her favorite books, In My Heart, a book about feelings.  The pictures in the book are very colorful and kind of represent the feelings. When I asked Caleb what treat he wanted to bring in, he mentioned something with rainbows, and I suggested Skittles.

Caleb is like his Daddy, in that he has trouble keeping a secret!  He almost let it slip a couple times!  

His teacher was helpful and made sure he left his class on time.  She thought it was cool that he was reading to Mila's class!  When Caleb and I walked into the classroom, the kindergarteners had their eyes closed, and Mrs. Michael asked if anyone knew who the mystery reader was. A couple of the kids knew Caleb, so they raised their hands.  Mila quietly replied "that's Caleb." Mrs. Michael asked who was Caleb, and she said "my brother."  She was very shy and quiet during the entire thing! He did a great job reading! Half way through, Mila's teacher looked at me and told me that he was a really good reader! My heart felt so proud!

When Caleb was done reading, Mila gave him a quick little hug, and then took over passing out the Skittles to her classmates!  I'm so glad that it worked out so well, and he was able to do that for her!  I love how much they love each other!

Caleb's Field Trip to Goebberts

I was excited again when I got asked to chaperone for Caleb's class! The second graders got to go to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm. It was a much shorter trip, as we only got to be there about 2 hours, but I pointed out to Caleb that at least we got to go!!  

With Caleb, I had 7 kids in my group, including a couple from previous classes. One girl made my day by telling me that she had hoped she would be in my group! I smiled at her and told her we always have fun!

We got to see all of the animals, and the ever-popular pumpkin eating dinosaur! I was so happy to see that all the second graders were still really excited about that! It's sad, but he's at an age where some of them might have thought that was too childish, but the majority of them were still very excited!  We then went on a hayride and picked out pumpkins. It was definitely a very short field trip, but I'm so glad I got to go! It's so important to me to be able to be there for these moments!