50's day, pumpkin carving and Halloween

 This past Sunday at church was "Super hero Day" All the kids were encouraged to wear a super hero costume because we have been talking about people in the bible that were brave, strong and courageous.

 It just so happened that her little friend, Lexi, was dressed in the same costume! :) 

They thought that was pretty cool.

 Monday was the 50th day of school and we celebrated 1950's style. :)  All the kids got to dress up and we had 50's day activities all day.

 My class, all dressed up and ready for fun!

Group shot!

 

Kinder teachers 

We had a full day of coke floats, hula hoops, bubble gum and sock hops! We all had a blast, but I was exhausted when the day was over. :):) 

 Later in the week, we carved our pumpkin... Kennedy was definitely the most into it out of the 3.

 Kennedy

 Tony did most of the work...poor thing. With three girls who don't like to get dirty, he doesn't have much hope. 

Thursday it rained. all. day. All my kinder kids were just praying and hoping it would stop and around 2:00 it started slowing down. By the evening it was clear and dry! (well, everything was wet, but there was no more rain!) The kids were so happy!

 Super girl, ballerina Kaitlyn and Cheerleader Kennedy

 My sweeties

 Trick or treat!

 There was a ninja turtle on our street...they loved this! 

The twins (who did well, but are still hesitant about Halloween) just went around our cul-de-sac. Jillian, on the other hand, went with Tony all up and down the streets. She racked up on candy!! My brave little Super girl.

October fun

October is flying by and we have had a lot of fun. This past Friday was the 1st grade class social for FBCA. This is an opportunity for all the parents of 1st graders to get to know each other a little better, and for all the kids to play and enjoy some pizza. It was held in the cafetorium. My girls were EXTRA excited because their friend, Skye, was going to be coming home and sleeping over that night.

Side note: Skye's 8 year old brother, Max, who is a 2nd grader at FBCA was just diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer .
He was having his first chemo treatment Friday night and had to stay overnight at the hospital. His parents were with him, so Skye got to be with us! :) If you think about it, please pray for little Max. He is facing a very long, hard battle.

 4 very silly little girls

 Kennedy and Skye are in the same class at school

 

After about an hour at the social, all the girls changed into their costumes and we went to our church's fall festival.  (Yes, this was a very long night after a very tiring work week, but the kids were thrilled)

 The big girls went as cheerleaders and Jillian went as Super girl! 

Please note....we are not longhorn fans really. Their Grandma found these cute outfits at a good price and since my girls aren't THAT into Halloween we hate to spend a lot of money on costumes. They had no idea what was on their outfit or why people kept making comments  (for and against ) all night! LOL.  They were cute in them though and that's all that matters, right???? :)

 SUPER GIRL!!!!!!!!

 It was a Trunk or Treat event and this was Jillian's favorite..... Angry Birds! :) 

There were some REALLY creative cars this year!

 Waiting in line for the bounce houses and super slides

 Whew! Tired little girls and SUPER tired parents.  Ready for home!

 

The big girls slept in one room together, while Jillian had a "sleepover" in mommy and daddy's room. This worked better for everyone and she was happy with this arrangement.

After breakfast and some play time, we headed to a local pumpkin patch for some more fun!

 Kennedy

 

 Kaitlyn

 Jillian (with her glamour girl glasses on)

 My trio

 I think they enjoyed the hayride most of all!

 Jilly and Kaitlyn

 Kennedy and Skye

 Kennedy's pumpkin

 Next up: Face painting! Everyone got a cupcake on their face, except for Kaitlyn...she chose a football. (Go figure)

We left the pumpkin patch and headed to CFA for some lunch. The girls were so giggly and had such fun.  :) When we got home, they went outside and painted their pumpkins. 

Working hard!

They played out in the front yard for most of the evening doing cartwheels, back bends, sidewalk chalk, charades and more!
Monday is the 50th day of school and all of Kindergarten is dressing up in 1950's attire!! It's gonna be sooo cute. I'm looking forward to it.

This week

 I just wanted to do a quick update of this past week.  On Sunday, at church, Jillian wanted to wear her glamour girl glasses. She kept them on for quite a while. Silly girl.

I teach Jillian's class at church (along with Ms. Barb) and last Sunday we only had these sweet girls. I love these sweet kiddos.  (Again, Jillian wearing her glasses!)

 

My glamour girl

 Kennedy and Kaitlyn have been doing well at school....they were proud to reach the "5 point club"  by taking Accelerated Reader tests. Way to go girls! :) 

Next goal: 10 point club! They are loving school! (not so much the early morning wake-ups, though)

 Lucy has been making herself at home these days....

She fell asleep this way. On the couch. I didn't have the heart to move her.  She looked so comfy.

Thursday was report card day.  The twins both made straight A's!  :) So proud. We rewarded them by taking them to Orange Leaf for ice cream.

 They had fun putting on the toppings....

 And of course, Jillian was on cloud nine because ice cream is her favorite thing in the world.


It has been rainy and Lucy has been digging in the backyard so when we got home she was covered in mud.

Guess who had to bathe her? 

Unfortunately, this morning she got right back in the mud and Tony was gone to an inservice, so guess who had to bathe her this time? Sigh.

1st grade pictures

 Kennedy

Kaitlyn

I love how they are missing the exact same tooth! :)

Ice skating and more

 A couple of weeks ago the girls were invited to a birthday party at the ice rink! They were sooo excited to try ice skating. I wasn't sure how they were going to do since they have not even had roller skates on before.

 Skates are on and ready to go!

 Jilly and Kennedy....the wall was their life line. :)

 Gracie (birthday girl) and Kaitlyn

 Daddy and Kennedy 

(You can see Kaitlyn in the background, holding on to the wall!)

 They were happy to see lots of their school friends there...including Kenzie. :)

 Jillian loved to skate between Tony and me. (holding our hands)

 After a while, she was confident enough to skate on her own (holding on to the wall, of course)

 Kaitlyn and mommy

They did NOT want to stop skating. They loved it. By the end of the hour, they were trying to skate without holding on. They really did a great job. :)

 On Monday, I found these sweet notes hidden in my purse from Kennedy. 

Made my day.

 Such precious notes. 

Lucy is still giving us a run for our money. She has ruined more shoes...including another pair of my dress shoes. I have resorted to putting my shoes in high places so she can't get them. 

Still, she is sweet and funny. We find her sleeping like this a lot! 

 Silly puppy!

Last weekend, my mom and I ran some errands and Kaitlyn came with us. She enjoyed the individual time out with us. We ate pizza for lunch.

 

Look closely and you will see a carrot from her salad sticking out of her teeth! So silly. 

Kaitlyn had a very loose top tooth and it came out this week at school. Now she is missing both of her top teeth. Cutest thing ever!

The next day, their good friend, Ryan, had a gymnastics birthday party.  It was Duck Dynasty themed.  I just snapped one quick picture. Kaitlyn looks bored here, but they had a fun time. :)

It's already October! I'm excited for the months to come. I love all the holidays coming up in the next couple of months. We are also ready for some cooler temps!

Yesterday was parent conference day at my school so the kids had a half day. My parents picked up the girls from school and took them to the mall to eat and play. They also made a stop at Toys R Us. That has prompted the girls to begin making their Christmas wish lists! :)

Our October calendar is already full. It's amazing how many activities start filling our days! 

A quick update

 It's been a while since I have update. Life has been BUSY to say the least!! I finally feel like we are settling into a routine and things are feeling a little more normal.

There is so much to write about, but I think I'll start with Lucy. Who's Lucy, you ask?  Well, Lucy, was Charlotte, the new dog that Tony brought home, but we decided to change her name. We knew too many Charlotte's (people) and my kids LOVE "I love Lucy" shows, so we changed her name. 

Lucy is still a puppy...so she gets into a lot of trouble. We have to watch her carefully because she is still in the chewing phase.  The next few pictures are just a few of the things she does to get herself in trouble. :) (Sorry for the picture quality...)

 

 Shoes....Ugh. She loves shoes. She has ruined about 4 flip flops from the kids and one of my good pairs of shoes. (I wasn't too happy about that, but I did have an excuse to get a new pair)  In this picture, luckily, I caught her before she chewed up those shoes! She also loves to chew on markers, crayons and the kids stuffed animals. Like I said, we have to watch her!

 She also thinks she is allowed on the couch. She is sadly mistaken. She tries and looks very comfy, but I think she will soon learn she is not allowed up there. To her defense, she is learning from Scooter about how things are run in our house and Scooter IS allowed on the couches. So...she is just copying what she sees. 

 This next picture ..oh my goodness!!

 Yes....this is Lucy, on the top of our table. I'm so glad that I didn't see this when it happened....Tony had to sense to take a picture before getting her off (He was the one that found her this way)

We were all upstairs putting the kids to bed. I was with Jillian and Tony was with the twins. Lucy was downstairs.  Tony and the twins heard something and looked downstairs and found this!  I think she was helping herself to the ice cream that one of the kids left out.  Tony said she knew she was in trouble and scrambled to get off the table......

Now Lucy stays outside while we put the kids to bed.  :)

Scooter and Lucy are getting along much better these days. They play often and I haven't seen Scooter play this much since she was a puppy. (Again....Lucy on couch.  Sigh)

Scooter and Lucy did have one fight a couple of days ago, which wasn't fun.  Tony and I had to intervene. We have learned that bones won't be allowed in the house unless they are in the kennel. They DON'T want to share their bones and if the other one tries to get it...look out!

Tony and Lucy are best friends. Period. End of story. Lucy loves him. LOVES him.
She really is sweet. She loves her belly rubbed and hardly ever barks. She loves the kids and our favorite thing about her is that she "talks" to us. It's sooo sweet. 

Now...on to my sweet children.  :)

 Jillian attended a birthday party at the beginning of the month....she was excited because it was one of her little friends and she was the only one invited. She felt so special. :)
She is staying with my mom and dad during the day while we are at work and eating up all the special attention she is getting. :)  She goes to gymnastics on Tuesdays and is still enjoying it.

The twins are enjoying their new school (especially having their mom nearby!) They love their teachers and have made a lot of new friends. They went on a "play date" last week with one of their new friends. They had a great time! :)

Kennedy has lost both of her top teeth and Kaitlyn has lost one of hers too....right before picture day at school. I loved it! There is nothing sweeter than missing front teeth in 1st grade pictures! :)
The twins are now going to tumble and cheer on Mondays after school. This works out nicely because I teach piano lessons at the school until 5pm on Mondays. I'm so thankful to my parents for helping out with the pick up and drop off. (and everything else!)

Kennedy's teacher is sweet and sends pictures every once in a while about what the class is learning.

 This is a picture of the science teacher showing the kids a rat snake. 

This is Kennedy's little class after learning about helping out at home.  (There is a tally chart behind them about the chores that they do in the home)

I get to see both girls at lunch every day and occasionally in the hallway. I love their teachers and I love that they are just down the hall from me.

The first month has been a month of adjustment though for all of us ...making sure we are out the door by 6:30 am or before is a challenge with 3 kiddos.  Getting up early is hard on all of us, but we are slowly getting used to it. I know it will get easier.

My sweet Kinder class is awesome. I only have 10 little ones so they get a lot of individual attention. I am enjoying getting to know all of their sweet personalities and I'm loving planning fun activities for them. (and spoiling them......again, a class of 10 is awesome)

Tony is really enjoying his ASL classes at Elkins.  His year is even better than last year! He loves his students, and of course, they love him. (He is such a great teacher!) He is department head this year and has some extra responsibility, but he's doing great.
He also has occasional lunch dates with the superintendent of FBISD!!!  They are getting to be good friends. :) Only my husband....he is everyone's best friend.

Today the girls are all invited to another birthday party...ice skating!! That should be interesting....especially since the girls haven't ever skated before! I'll try to be better at updating the blog. :)