Super Halloween

We had a super Halloween this year. Not only was it a super good time, but we also had a blast with our superhero themed costumes.

The fun started with the Fall Festival at P&F's school. They had games and bounce houses. It was terrific seeing all the kids that Piper and Fletch know already.

That was about a week before Halloween. On the Thursday before Halloween, my office was supposed to have a costume contest, and my coworkers swore they'd wear costumes that day. Here is what I wore.

Joke was on me though because I was the only one who showed up that morning in a costume, and I had no other clothes with me. Pretty embarrassing, but I survived and rocked the costume, and everyone got a kick out of it.

Finally, the big day arrived. We all went ToTing dressed like this.

I LOVED having a family costume. It was so fun, and made me feel like a kid again. And, isn't that part of why you have your own children--so you can relive part of your youth!?! We got a ton of candy, impressed lots of neighbors, and just had a really special Halloween. I can't wait to to do it again next year.

School Pictures

We got school pictures back from all three kids. Two of my kids smiled beautifully for the camera. The other one had a cheesy, weird smile. Can you tell which is which?

 

The best part of the pictures, the part that makes the exorbitant cost of the digital downloads worthwhile, were these awesome backgrounds that Piper and Fletch's school had to choose from. They are all amazing and crack me up every time that I look at them.

I'll end this here so you can all just keep enjoying those backgrounds.

First Field Trip

I was lucky enough to be a chaperone for Piper and Fletch's first field trip earlier this week. All of the kindergarten classes at their school (so like 100 kindergartners) went to Burke Nursery. First though, we had to get there, which meant P&F's first time on a school bus.

I envisioned it being a little pumpkin patch like our beloved Nalls, but instead, it was a huge pumpkin playground, where the kids were given two hours to play wherever they wanted.

The kids had a blast, but OMG, it was a lot of work. I was in charge of Piper, Fletch, and then two of Piper's friends (Kylie and Ethan).

I have never been so grateful to have been a camp counselor and a mom to three little kids in my life. I had to pull out all my tricks from both experiences to keep track of these kids, who were running around in a sea of other orange shirts, along with kids from at least 5 other schools. I estimate there were at least 200 other kids there.

We all had a great time, although by the end, we were ready to go. Piper had to go to the bathroom and couldn't wait to get back to school. Fletch heard a balloon pop (which is one of his least favorite things) and freaked out. I was so glad when we got back on the bus and this happened within 5 minutes.

Being a chaperone on a class field trip was one of my "mom dreams"--you know, those things you imagine doing with your kids before you even have kids. I'm so happy that I was able to check that off my parenting bucket list.

Columbus Day Weekend 2015

On Columbus Day weekend, we did our traditional trip to get pumpkins, but we also jammed in a few other fall activities. It was a fun, busy time for all of us.

We started the weekend with a hike at Huntley Meadows. It was a beautiful morning, and we all loved being in the woods.

We're really lucky to live near such a cool place. After tiring ourselves out, we headed home for naps/quiet time. After resting, we got our second wind and went to Nalls for our pumpkins.

This last picture pretty clearly represents our life right now--someone paying attention, someone looking at the wrong thing, and someone throwing something.

It was such a funny moment that I made it into a gif.

Piper and Fletch insisted on carving the pumpkins on Monday. They drew the faces, and I carved. I don't have a picture, but between my "awesome" carving skills and their desire to have cyclops pumpkins, our jack-o-lanterns basically already look like a deer snacked them, which is probably why no deer have attacked them since we put them outside.

Anyway, we followed up that fall fun with a trip to Cox Farms on Sunday. It's a pricey place, but so.much.to.do. We had a great time, but were so busy that we didn't get a ton of pics. Enjoy these few and the cute barn animals.

That concluded our fall weekend of fun. The pumpkin/Columbus Day tradition lives on for another year. 

First Day of Kindergarten

After a tearful goodbye to Kindercare last week, we said a happy hello to Groveton Elementary School this week, as P&F started kindergarten (my babies!). They were so excited to go to school. And, I was excited too, mainly because I was so excited about Piper's dress.

First some indoor pics:

And then some pics on our front walk.

And of course, they wanted to show off their backpacks.

After those pics, it was off to school. When I picked them up at the end of the day, they declared it AWESOME. We celebrated with a trip to McDonald's for some happy meals.

The second day was great for them too. But, they are absolutely exhausted. They're back to needing 7pm bedtimes, which is hard because it doesn't leave very much time at night. But, it's what they need, and it's better than dealing with two cranky kids. Let's hope this awesomeness keeps up for the rest of the year. 

Last Day of Pre-K

It's hard to believe but Piper and Fletch are starting kindergarten in less than 48 hours. That means that last Friday, they had to say goodbye to Kindercare.

We have had such a wonderful experience at Kindercare the past 18 months. These teachers loved Piper and Fletch so much, and they got them more than ready for kinder.

Here is Piper and her pre-k teacher, Mrs.Wheeler, who has been teaching at this school for more than 40 years. She's 81 years old, a fantastic teacher, and has more energy than anyone I know when it comes to dealing with 4 year olds.

And here is Fletch and his teacher, Ms. Andrea, who had so much patience and love for Fletch, even on his most challenging days.

I loved these teachers so much, and I found it really emotional to say "goodbye" to them, even though it wasn't a real goodbye since Deacon is still at Kindercare. But, we know that their new teachers will love Piper and Fletch too, as we move on to bigger and better things.