The Time between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Dear Kiddos, 

I uploaded these pictures but never got around to making the post. Well, here are some highlights from the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

Hailey, you are super into eating "Pah fays" This is simply coconut milk yogurt, a sprinkle of frozen fruit, a few drops of honey and some granola topping. Oh, and this is all served in a plastic martini glass (any other receptacle would be unacceptable). 

Sometimes after preschool, you and I will go to the wildflower center's Fortlandia exhibit for a little bit. The critter cafe is your favorite spot. 

We were fortunate to sample candies from all around the world. Some were quite delicious, some were spicy, and some were inedible beyond the first bite. Thanks to our dear neighbors for sharing their box of candy with us. 

Nathan, you are getting super strong these days. I can definitely not do this: 

And the big kids got their first COVID shot at the beginning of November. Hannah took it like a champ, while Nathan was a bit more reluctant, but in the end it went well, only sore arms the next day. 

At the time of this update, they had just received their second COVID shot and also just got a sore arm. 

Hailey, between the time I pick you up from school to the time Nathan and Hannah come home, I am often faced with the question: "What should I do?" On days when I'm feeling motivated, we do fun things like create a color wheel. Notice how well you are coloring within the lines! 

Both big kids are still practicing martial arts. Nathan, you are now a level 2 brown belt, and Hannah, you are a purple belt. 

 

The leaves are starting to fall from our red oak tree out front, so we spend lots of afternoons raking and un-raking the leaves. 

How to "un-rake" leaves. Invite little girls to your 

yard right after you make piles of leaves.

Now that baseball season is over, we have lots more time to just hang out and play board games. 

And Hailey is starting to be able to sit through entire games. Sometimes you help, sometimes you play. 

On Wednesdays, we have a standing playdate with a family who we met when Nathan was a baby. Their 3rd child and Hailey play very well together. 

Hannah you are trying out tennis with our next door neighbor. You really like playing tennis so we will probably take advantage of this amazing weather to go and play on our own sometime. 

Hailey, you were in your very first performance at preschool. You did a great job performing at the Thanksgiving program. 

You still love helping out in the kitchen, but your favorite self-proclaimed thing to do is screen time. When you ask what time it is, you are not looking for the actual time, you are fishing for the words, "screen time!"  

 Well, that's all about what I can remember. I'll make a Thanksgiving post soon.

Love, 

Mommy 

A Hogwarts Halloween

Dear Kiddos, 

This year for Halloween, we all dressed up as characters from the Harry Potter books. 2 Griffendor Students, Severus Snape, Bellatrix LeStrange and Hedwig the owl. 

But first, we interrupt with a regularly scheduled techno jam session. 

Daddy usually listens to music while he's working 1) to drown out the craziness that's going on in the house and 2) for enjoyment. (But I think it's mainly for the former). Sometimes I will catch you sitting by Daddy, listening to his music and just relaxing. It's super cute. 

Ok, before we talk about the big day, we have to catch up on the events that led to all hallows eve. 

We went to pumpkin nights, which was a special event at Pioneer Farms. We saw some giant pumpkins!

Watched a fire show, which ended up being the highlight of the evening.  

And we saw some pretty cool pumpkin displays. 

One weekend participated in the neighborhood garage sale. Our neighbors across the street are extreme coupon-ers and with new items at deeply discounted prices, someone (Hannah) became very jealous of all the attention that their booth got. I mean, who doesn't want Barbies with tangled hair and gently loved toys? You each made about $10 and walked away with some life lessons...gone wrong, which I'm going to have to go back and have a talk with you one of these days. After this whole experience, Hannah, you feel like we should buy more things, so we can make money re-selling them at a garage sale. Hint: That's not how it should work. 

Our school had a trunk or treat and we hosted a trunk this year. 

Hannah and Maddie did a great job running the game. It was pretty fun seeing all the different costumes come through. 

Nathan, you finished your first baseball season. With 2 wins, 1 tie and 6 losses under your belt, you have decided that you love baseball and want to continue by playing spring ball.  It was pretty amazing to watch you improve throughout the season. You went from possibly the worst most-inexperienced player to one of the average players. 

And I don't know if it was experience or glasses, but up until you got your glasses, you have never hit the ball during a game. Once you got your new glasses, you were hitting them right and left! 

Hailey and I attended all but 1 game. At one of the last games, I let you have one of the legendary snow cones that you have been wondering about all season. 

As Halloween started to approach, we made pumpkin soup, which Daddy and I thought was delicious, but you guys weren't big fans. 

You guys had a vocabulary parade at school. Nathan, your word was "onomatopoeia" and Hannah, your word was "studious." 

Grandma and Grandpa came for Halloween weekend. We went to the Wildflower center to check out their new forts at Fortlandia. 

We also visited Sweetberry farms in Marble Falls. 

And then on Halloween afternoon, we carved our pumpkins. 

After a quick dinner, we were off at around 6:15. 

Hailey, you were so excited! Every piece of candy was like a new treasure and the enthusiasm was so amazing to watch. 

Our street is about a mile loop around a section of the neighborhood, so we walked the loop and after collecting all our candy, we returned home to count the loot. I let you guys go crazy by saying you could have as much candy as you want and I wish I could say that I had a proud mom moment, but no, that didn't happen. 

Well, that's it for October. I have a post ready for November coming up next! 

Love, 

Mommy