Ghosts!

I think shaving cream mixed with white glue makes the best paint.  It's squishy and easy and fun, and the final result is very cool.

Around here in October

The months just fly by, don't they?  Here is a peek into the month of October.

Tyler started working at the Venus deMilo and was quickly promoted from bus boy to waiter.

Reagan ran her first 5k.  Tom pushed Kate in the stroller for some of the race, but she ran quite a bit too!  Both girls did an awesome job!

Story hour and Starbucks is how we spend most Thursday mornings.

Collin went to his first middle school dance.  It was right after school and very informal, and he said it was lots of fun.

Reagan, Kate and I went to Boo at the Zoo.

Kate's face in that picture sums up how she felt about the whole thing.  I love experiencing the world through her eyes.

Reagan had her first gymnastics meet at the Xcel Silver level.  She did very well earning second place on bars and third place on floor.

Here is the video of her bars routine:

Video of the floor routine:

Beam routine (every girl at every level seemed to struggle on beam at this meet; you can tell they are all working on new skills; Reagan's new skill this year is a cartwheel on the beam!!!!!):

Kate and I went to a puppet show at the library.  She got to be a helper and that was very exciting!

We went to the Halloween dance at North.  Collin didn't want to go at first, but he was asked to help run one of the games and he thought that would be fun.  After the fact, he said it wasn't fun, but I'm still happy he helped out.  This is the game he ran:

For costumes this year we had a lumberjack,

Cinderella,

and a Zombie Bride!!!

 Reagan had a fabulous time at the dance.

I prepared a caramel apple bar one day.

How cute are these two kiddos?  They were waiting for the Musictown Parade.

While Tom was at the parade with Kate, I was at Reagan's last field hockey game of the season.  I didn't get any good pictures.  I'm kicking myself for not thinking to take a picture of all of the girls together that day.

I have a few more October pictures, but I'll save them for another post!

First Day of School 2015-2016

I have been making pancakes on the first day of school for a few years now.  I made Collin a six pancake since he is in sixth grade this year.  Reagan had pancakes too, but somehow I totally forgot to make her a four pancake.  Collin was already on his way to school when Reagan had her pancakes, so I guess we were just caught up in the new routine and Reagan got plain old circle shaped pancakes.

First Day of Middle School - Sixth Grade

First Day of Fourth Grade - sporting a new lokai bracelet and her Water Wizz bracelet (she kept that on until the referee of her soccer game made her remove it, maybe a week later, maybe longer!).

Traditional first day of school bus treat; this year it was a cake.

We are a few weeks into the school year now and it is going well so far.  Collin likes just about everything about the middle school, and Reagan is happy with her teacher and classmates.

Around Here

So much has happened since my last post!  Here's just a little bit of what we have been up to.

Lou and Kate invited us to their house for a small party, and the kids swam in the pool almost the entire time we were there.

This was a HUGE day for Kate because it was the first time she swam in a pool without clinging to someone.  She LOVED it and stayed in the pool for hours.  I'm so proud of her for being so brave, and I am happy that she had so much fun.

Reagan, Kate, and I went to see Mary Poppins at the Zeiterion.  It was a great show, so good that even though it was three hours long, we all enjoyed every minute.  The musical numbers were fantastic, especially the chimney sweep number.

Collin made Rice Krispies treats and turned them into ice cream sandwiches.  They were way too good.

We visited one of Kate's favorite playgrounds.

There was more leaping and jumping at the beach.

Collin went to Audubon Camp last week while Reagan was at writing camp, and they are both attending writing camp this week.  They have spent TONS of time just hanging out with kids in the neighborhood.  This is the first summer that they have spent a majority of their time having fun with their friends and very little time doing activities with me.  It's hard to see them grow up, but they are having a blast and I am very grateful for all of the opportunities they have and for all of the kids that they call friends.

Paddington

Reagan, Kate and I were very excited when we planned a Paddington party to be held while Tom and Collin were in Washington, D.C., but Reagan was so sick during that time that we postponed the party.  We only had to wait one week, and it was nice that Reagan was healthy for our little party.

We read this book before watching the movie and enjoying a few bear treats.

Reagan and Kate made these cute Paddington bags.  Kate used hers to hold her popcorn, but Reagan chose to use hers as a puppet.

We also made paper plate Paddington masks.

After watching the movie (it was super cute), the girls both wanted to try orange marmalade (Paddington's favorite food), but we didn't have any on hand.  The next day I made bear shaped orange marmalade sandwiches and I was pleasantly surprised that both girls enjoyed them.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

I am a big fan of Dr. Seuss, and I never pass up the opportunity to celebrate his great works.  This year, I had another motive too -- we had a vacation to Universal Studios planned right after the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and there is a Seuss Landing section of the park.  I wanted Kate to be very familiar with a few of the books that are featured in the rides so that she could enjoy the rides that much more.  It worked!!!

Here is the Seuss fun we had before our trip: