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.

Sunday School Fall Party

Yesterday, after three soccer games, we attended our class Sunday School party.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad we were able to go.  Edward and I are in a great class, and we are the youngest in there.  There are a couple of other young families, but we always seem to be the  youngest, no matter how old we get.  Anyways, our kids were the only kids at the party for awhile, and I think they were enjoyed by all of our class members, most who have kids in college and/or just getting married.

 

The party was at one member's farm outside of Fayetteville.  They own over 100 acres, but they still live in town.  This is their family land they still own, and they had an awesome barn with a setup entertainment area (they've definitely done this before).  The guys enjoyed a lot of skeet shooting, and then we all enjoyed a catered bbq dinner from a local restaurant.  I was able to snap some pictures while we were there.

 

At the end of the evening, one of the ladder ball sets had gotten stuck in the tree.  Well, surprisingly, it wasn't our kids who did it, ha!  Anyways, I think the kids were all glad it got stuck because they got to see the front-end-loader in action as Franklin drove, while Josh got the ladder ball set out of the tree.  It was quite comical.  We're glad to see a JAG officer who is multi-talented  :)  Oh, and the kids and I discovered that Ladder Ball is an awesome game :)

Quick family picture...not the best, at all, but it was late.  Madison wasn't actually frowning, but she had been talking non-stop.  We really had a great time, and our class today told us how much they enjoyed our kids.



God's Love

Edward and I decided recently to let the kids pick a sponsor child to help through Compassion International.  We write checks to our church and other Christian groups, but the kids weren't "seeing" the ways to spread God's love.  So, we decided to do this so they could see how monthly sponsorship helps children around the world.  Now, don't get me wrong; we totally support local children's programs here and give supplies and food to local children's missions often.  I love ministries that help children.  This is just another way to show how far reaching we can help others and give the kids a global understanding.  So, we ended up sponsoring three kids, one for each of our kids. We let the kids pick their sponsor child, and they have been waiting day after day for the sponsor packs to come in the mail.  Two finally arrived today!!!  We're still waiting on Luke's packet; he was bummed his wasn't here yet.

 

Madison is VERY excited about this.  She spent over two days looking at the kids on the Compassion International website to find the right girl for her.  She agonized over it and had it narrowed down to four girls.  She really wanted to help them all.  Edward and I told her to pray about it, and we believed God would tell her which girl was the right one.  Well, that threw her for a loop.  She didn't really grasp that, but the next morning, she got up and told us her pick.  Madison ended up picking a girl from Brazil, who is also seven.  She's already started making her cards and pictures, and it's so awesome to see her work.  She has put all over the papers how God loves us; I'm so proud of her understanding.  I know we'll be helping this little girl, but I believe she'll help us so much too!

Luke, who is still waiting for his packet, picked a little boy with the exact same birthday, from Ghana.  He really wants to know about his life there and what school is like for him.   Alex selected a little boy, who is also three, from El Salvador.  We are so looking forward to learning more about these children, praying for them, and supporting them through the years. We plan to put their pictures on our bulletin board in the kids' library.  Right now, we are trying to get the boys to grasp that God loves all of us, and it's our job as Christians to help others in need, no matter where they live, what they look like, or what language they speak.  Alex is so sweet, as he'll walk up to the computer and ask to see "his boy," remembering how he looked through pictures to pick "his boy."