misc October

Alyssa in a crazy outfit she assembled herself
Michael working on the breaks late at night...


Matthew got a crown on his birthday....

...and I brought cupcakes
Alyssa sleeping on the couch...I just love sleeping pictures.
My friend Marianne. She used to live here 2.5 years ago. Our boys were great friends. She came back to Austin for the Livestrong race in honor of her husband who passed away last spring from brain cancer. She's handled it with grace.

My Parents

My parents have visited us a few times in the past few weeks. Stationed in Houston just about 3 hours away. ( Dinner in the backyard because the weather has been sooo lovely the past 2 weeks!)
My dad has actually been living in Lagos, Nigeria for the past year. He came home for Tyler's baptism and when he comes he comes for a few weeks. He and my mom have been living on seperate continents. Not because they don't like each other, but because they made the decision to do this for a short time to each pursue things that they can't do in one or the other place. It isn't too weird to me, but most people that I tell this to think its pretty odd. My mom is currently the National President of American Mothers, Inc. and travels around the country at least once a month visiting local chapters. Her 2 year stint will be up in April, and she says she will join my dad in Nigeria then. We'll see:) My dad was going to work for just one year, but its turned into 2. He loves going to church there and being the minority and being immersed in the culture. It's always fun for my kids when they come to play.





I just loved this series of shots...the looks on their faces.

Pumpkins

It is our fall tradition to drive an hour to a pumpkin patch. We've gone to this one 3 years in a row, its out in the country and gets pretty crowded as the day goes by, thats why we go early in the morning.
The highlight of the trip is the Texas shaped corn maze. It isn't just an ordinary maze though, we get punch cards and have to find each of the 11 Texas towns in order to complete the maze (and get a free drink). The kids love it! Here they are running into it.
Here is the map we studied and had to go back to when we couldn't find a few towns....mostly unheard of names like: Cactus, Cone, Cassell.


On the tractor ride taking us to the maze....matthew gives great faces:)
Searching for the last few cities....
My parents even enjoyed the maze, and kept track of Alyssa for us.
Yay, we found the last city! It took about an hour.

I encouraged the kids to wear "earth tones" which when they asked what that was, i said, orange or green or brown. They chose orange.
Painting our pumpkins at home (I don't trust aprons)
Monday I went into Matthew's class to help a group carve a pumpkin. It was a lot of fun.

Michael as a watch D.O.G.

Michael spent the day at the elementary school after strong urgings from me a while back. The WatchD.O.G.S. program has been in our school just a few months, and it allows more of a man's presence around the school (read the link for more info). The boys were THRILLED to have their daddy there for the day. Michael had to take the day off from work (oh those precious days), but I think he had a good time, too. Here they are on the morning news at school, Matthew and Tyler were quite excited to be on TV:)(a one minute video of them on tv)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was hard for Alyssa and I to walk away from them in the morning (she cried, so so we watched Strawberry Shortcake first thing at home). Michael got to spend about an hour in each of their classes, go to lunch and recess with them, and strolled the campus getting to know what happens there. I really wanted him to go partially for selfish reasons. So he can "get" a bit of why I spend my time up there at least once a week. To understand the school and how it operates, so all of his information doesn't just come from me. I wanted him to have first hand experience. And then of course because I knew he'd have fun, and it meant SO much to the boys to show off their daddy and play games with him at recess, etc.

Of course it brought happiness to my soul to hear all their stories at the end of the day, that Michael got to know their classmates, the teachers, the principal, the cool front office lady that knows my name and asks about my family. It's kinda like him getting to know my co-workers...sounds weird, but true. He isn't able to come to things during the day, its just the kinda job he has, so I was happy he got to better understand "our world."

School Stuff

I just have to show these because I screamed when I saw Matthew's I was so shocked at his happy smile (he said his friend was making him laugh). They both told me after these were taken that they didn't smile very well, so these just pleasantly surprised me. I take many pictures of them, and some photographers I know think the traditional school pictures are junky and a waste of money, but I am a traditionalist, and this is just a rite of passage, isn't it??? Tyler also has a handsome smile here (though a bit forced). I encouraged them to wear "solid colors" and they both happened to choose green.

KINDERGARTEN FIRESTATION FIELD TRIP

The firestation is just down the road from the school, so this was a walking field trip. Alyssa joined and I was proud of her for walking all the way, but I carried her on my back on the way home.

NURSERY RHYME PARADE
Each year the kindergarteners study nursery rhyme's and then dress as their favorite characters and have a parade throughout the school. It's really cute because all of the older kids in grades 1-5 come out to line the halls and wave to them. Tyler, the big 2nd grader sat with his friends waiting....

Matthew enthusiastically waving....
This is Matthew's teacher: Mrs. Walsh holding the sunflowers. I thought she was 30, but she's been teaching over 20 years. Most of them at BCE (our school).
I love this shot below of the 2nd and 1st graders lining the halls to greet the kinder kids.
Matthew is dressed at Little Boy Blue. Tough costume, huh? I urged a solid blue shirt, but this is what he wanted to wear.
Matthew, Cascade, and Lyssa his friends


Matthew with the other little boy blue's on stage.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS DAY

Each year the school does a festival which celebrates other countries. 2 years ago I helped with and did presentations to kids on Korea. Last year was Germany and I also presented. I was sad that they cut out the presentations this year and i didn't get to do that (I know I'm weird, I like public speaking). About 10 different countries are represented and the kids do a craft, taste a local food, gets stamps in their passports and learn facts.



I helped organize the booth for Singapore. My friend who moved there helped us get ready just before she left. We had coconut flakes to sample and a nasty candy after a local fruit. It was funny to watch the kids facial expresssions to see if they liked the candy or not. The smell was horrid.
Just a few more countries...