Halloween

Madison and Luke had a teacher workday today since it was the end of the nine week grading period.  Alex still had preschool, but we decided to have a Halloween party with some of the neighborhood kids this afternoon.

 

 Peter Pan was off to preschool.

 For the party, Madison made these haystacks by herself from the Paul Dean Kids' Cookbook.  She really enjoyed her first solo baking project.

 My neighbor, Amy, made this ghost cupcake display. I thought she did a great job.

 My neighbor, Davina, made these ghost cookies.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of Nutter Butters, but man, these were awesome!!!

 

 Here are seven of the 16 kids we had at the party.  Five moms and 16 kids!!

The YUMMY food!

 Crafts

 Make your own ghost with marshmallows

It was a lot of fun, and overall, the kids did well.  We did have our moments of insanity.  I would be lying if I said it was blissful with 16 kids in the house  :)  Thank goodness the wind and rain from Hurricane Sany had moved on.

 This afternoon...pumpkin carving

Luke loved it.

 

The kids said I was their witch, so here we all are.  Edward took the kids out trick-or-treating, while I stayed home to hand out candy.  This year was SOOOO much better than last.  First, Edward was home! Secondly, it wasn't pouring down rain as it was last year.  The kids enjoyed themselves so much.

They loved their theme costumes and seriously started talking about next year's costumes while in the car yesterday.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and Captain Hook!

The Presidential Election...

...of Mrs. Idjao's Second Grade Class

 

Madison's class decided to have an election to learn more about the process of the presidential election.  Each kid had to make a poster, the class voted in a "primary," and then the number running was narrowed down to more of a "general" election.  No, she didn't win, but she loved making her poster!  She was a graceful opponent, stating she was a friend of the boy who won.

Pumpkins

Edward impressed us all this year with his pumpkin painting skills.  He helped each of the kids come up with a design for their pumpkins, traced it, and then painted it.  I think he's been hiding his talents!  He did a great job with the pumpkins.  He'll be a tough act to follow next Halloween when he isn't here again to help paint the pumpkins.

 

 Luke opted for Spiderman; Alex chose "The Flash," and Madison wanted a Clemson Tiger flag on her pumpkin.

Another picture because Alex's pumpkin had a front and a back

 

Yeah, I think in deployment years, we'll opt to carve pumpkins, as we did last year.  I know I'm not crafty enough to paint them!



Alex-The All-American Kid

Alex has been learning a lot at preschool.  Here's what he's been saying recently.

Yes, he even brought me a small flag I had to hold for him so he could speak.

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday after church, Edward and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch.  It was the same place I had taken the kids last year, and they were very excited to go back and show Edward this year.

 

 No pumpkin patch visit is complete without a hayride.

 The crew

 The girls

 

The fab three

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Alex had his very first field trip on Tuesday, as his preschool class went to the pumpin patch.  I should say that "Flash" went to the pumpkin patch, and he had a great time.

 

Alex, with some of his buddies, ready for a hayride

Here again, with some of his class.  His favorite friend is Adeline, in the pink jacket.

All of the kids loved the animals at the farm.

It was just a beautiful day for an outing.

Pumpkins galore

On the hayride

This is Claire.  She was Alex's buddy for the day.  I had never met her before, and she was the sweetest little girl.  She and Alex sit next to each other in their class, and she seems to really like him.  I had a nice day with my two charges.

 Staring at all of those pumpkins ready to pick

After the hayride, each kid got to pick a pumpkin, and Alex picked this one.

Here's Alex's class.  They are a really sweet bunch, and it was nice I knew about half of the class, as they were in his class last year.  After our hayride, we had lunch at the picnic table area, and then the kids had time to play for about a half hour.  The kids were awesome with NO MELTDOWNS!!!!  That was impressive for 13 three-year-olds, but I think that can be attributed to their great day outside at the pumpkin patch.

Sunset

Edward caught a pretty sunset this week.

 

 This looks over our back fence, and you can see all the new construction going on behind us.