Halloween Characters!

I have a rule about Halloween Costumes. They must be worn for 2 years. That way I feel like my money has been well spent. It is crazy how expensive they are! Anyway, this year was Andrew's turn for a new costume. He wanted Batman. I think he looks adorable in his fake buffness!

Zane got to be the froggie this year. It was funny, everyone seemed to think he was cute but half of the people thought he was a girl. Hmmmm..... that seems a little odd to me. I don't think he looks anything like a girl.

Lucy was a hydrangea plant. While out trick or treating she got very little notice. She was in her stroller, but when we went to church she was quite the hit. I got the costume from Joanna. Her mother-in-law had made it for her daughter lots of years ago. Now we got to benefit from it which I think is fantastic! Super cute and just the right price! Several houses asked me if I didn't want candy for the baby. Huh? No I don't want candy for her, it just means there will be more for me to eat!

My three characters!

I was so excited that Eric was home last night! He has had to work the past few Halloweens and it means I get to do a ton of work. This year at least the boys would mostly go up to the doors by themselves unless the house was super scary. It just made it so much easier to have someone with Lucy in the stroller and someone with the boys.

Finally, I got an outfit this year. It has been many, many years since I have dressed up as anything. I found this bee costume and I thought it worked well! It was super warm and easy to put on in the chaos of getting ready. All day I wore my black pants and black top and looked all cat burglar-ish. It was fun though and you will probably be seeing me as a bee for years to come!

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Cookie Creations

The kids, Eric and I made Halloween cookies today. We made bats, spiders and pumpkins. I have a whole set of cutters but I have found limiting the variety is a good choice. They boys are not known for there patience while cutting them out. If I don't watch them like a hawk they have put a cutter in the middle of the dough and then nothing else will fit. Anyway we had fun and it was a good activity to do to keep there mind off when they get to trick or treat. Night takes FOREVER when you are 5! We told Andrew he couldn't ask when we are going or he didn't get to go. So far I have yet to hear a peep out of him! It is a wonderful thing! I will post costume pictures later.......

What Happened to My Butterball Turkey?

This is a sight I never thought I would see from Zane. Andrew has always kinda looked scrawny like this but Zane? Never in a million years would I have guessed he would thin out this much! I think he must be finishing up a growth spurt.

A Little Bit Adult Already?

So Andrew has been mentioning in the last few weeks that he feels mountains in the back of his teeth. I looked in there and sure enough it seemed like adult teeth would be in his future. Today I was curious so I asked him about them. Lo and behold there was an adult tooth almost all the way in back there! I was floored. Who knew that adult teeth could come in so painlessly when baby teeth are horribly irritable for babies! So now I have two kids teething and only one crabby. I guess it is a good thing that we have a dentist appointment scheduled. I really want my kids to have sealants on their adult teeth. Two other of his adult molars are starting to break the skin too. It will be shocking to me when he gets his full set AND when he starts loosing teeth. Anyway, my baby is now a little tiny bit adult. I am not ready for sure!

School Conferences with No News

Today we had conferences for Andrew. As we expected his teacher said that he has no problems and seems to be having a wonderful time. She retested the students this year, he understands his prepositions (in, above, below etc.), he can recognize all the letters (upper and lower case), he knows what sounds the majority of the letters make and he can recognize numbers up to 30 (as high as she tested them). She told Eric and I that we had done and great job getting him ready for kindergarten. I think that Andrew is just a natural learner though and is very driven personally to understand. We talked some about his speech and we do not have an action plan yet. Apparently the speech therapist has yet to send a report to the teacher. We obviously haven't gotten one yet either. What came as the biggest surprise to me was how confident Andrew is in school. Not only in the classroom but socially as well. He is very comfortable and confident with himself. His teacher commented on it and how great it was. Apparently a self confident kid reflects a good job by us. My one question was if he seemed to have problems getting other kids to understand him because I know sometimes even adults can't fully understand what he is saying (if I am honest I can't all the time either). His teacher said that he never seems bothered or embarrassed by it. He just says that word is a little tricky for me. Which of course comes out sounding like: Vat word is a yittle fricky for me. It is a wonder they can understand his explanation LOL! The recess lady was in the room working too and she said she has seen no problems on the playground either. That is a relief to me! All in all it was a great report! Oh, and last night we went to a literacy night at school and Andrew and Zane went to listen to the story time. Andrew's teacher saw how sweet both boys were and she said she can't wait for Zane to start school too! Eric and I laughed and said that he can be just as sweet but a bit more of a stinker!

No Sleep for Me!

So Miss Lucy Fern is cutting teeth. At least that is what I am hoping the problem is. Last night she woke up at 11:30. I gave her some tylenol, nursed her and put her back into bed. About 12:15 she starts crying again. I decide to let her tough it out. She kept at it and never simmered down. I finally got her and brought her to bed with me. She fell asleep on my chest around 1 and stayed in bed with me for the rest of the night. I don't generally do this but I was pretty desperate for some sleep myself by this time. In fact we had a first at our house last night. Eric got home for work at 4:30 and tried to get into bed. Lucy and I were sprawled all over it and he asked if I wanted him to put her in bed. I told him no! So he went and slept in the other bedroom. I can tell you right now that has never happened. He always crams into bed and then complains. I think he must have been super tired or something. All I know is Eric never lets the kids sleep with me so he must have sensed that it had been a rough night. I really hope that tooth comes in soon because I need more sleep than that to function!

My Two Fish

We have been making great strides in our swimming lessons the last few weeks. Zane for one of the first times actually put his head back into the water while he was supposed to be back floating. His teacher this session, Miss Hannah, is wonderful and it is nice that he trusts her. Zane has some serious trust issues when it comes to things he feels nervous about. It takes him several sessions to get comfortable with anyone especially in the water. He seems sure they are going to let his head go under. I have been happier with his teacher this time. He had a different instructor last session and she never seemed to be fully paying attention to the kids. She was always looking outside of the pool at what else was going on. Hannah has her focus on the kids and it certainly makes me feel more secure having Zane in the water without me!

Andrew is turning into an absolute fish. This level is requires much more work out of the kids and harder stuff. It will be a long time before he passes it I am sure. But he seems to be enjoying himself immensely and that it ultimately the point. Right now they are working on the crawl stroke, the butterfly and the breast stroke legs (I have yet to see the arms). It looks like lots of fun. I asked him how he like the butterfly and he said "its a lot of work." I am sure it is but I love that he is willing to keep at it!