November Already!



Fall is flying by. The boys and I experimented with dipping the beautifully colored leaves in wax to preserve them. Jockey was way more interested than Caleb. And it turned out well, the ones that were dipped in barely melted wax rather than really hot wax. I think they has just as much fun choosing leaves as doing something with them.



They are all still healthy. Me, my chest still feels like I've run a mile and hurts, and I have a deep cough. But I'm getting better.



We went to the Fall carnival at our church on Friday night for a little fun. We were there almost 2 hours. Caleb ran into his buddy Blake and they ran around with each other a bit. They both had a really good time and found success in the games that were available to play. It was fortunate that they were both in similar skill levels because then I could keep them together in each room rather than have to split them up or take turns on who gets to do things they like. The bouncy houses were of course huge fun. We ran into Emily and Brittany and Brian. Emily was just a bit too small for the bouncy houses, so I guess we'll have to make a point of inviting her over next summer for a bit of fun in our bouncy house.



Saturday we avoided the doorbell ringers by going to Maltby Assembly's Trunk-or-treat (aka, games in the back of trunks outside fun carnival). It was alot of fun. Trunks were set up as Nerf shooting galleries, fishing, hockey, shuffle board, ring toss, pin drop. The hit was a horse trailer converted to a hay maze. The boys spent over 30 minutes going in again and again. They also had a fire truck to go in and a cake walk. It was alot of fun, if a bit wet at times and cold. (not great for my cough, but they had so much fun). We ran into the boys "idol" of Wyatt and they followed him around a bit. It was a good evening and we got home late enough to only have one person to turn away from the door.

Last Thursday, Caleb had a Farm party. Everyone dressed as people or animals found on the farm. Caleb decided that he would be a cowboy. (ok.) He was very insistent that a cowboy had a brown vest with a star on it and of course a hat. So not owning this sort of outfit, he and I headed to the St. Vincents thrift store. I felt like a good mom that day when I turned a $2 girls brown shirt into a boy's cowboy vest through a little turning inside out, snipping of the arms and front, adding buttons and a star from my scrapbook stash. He was happy to be involved in the decision process and the fitting and star position deciding. He wore the outfit for 3 days!

We had conferences last week.
Caleb: Really settling in well. The first part of the year was an adjustment, but now he's in a groove. (I'm wondering if that coincided with the restriction on milk and sodium benzoate?) He's got a couple buddies he plays with, there are a lot of girls in the class though. He is "on grade" with everything, every cateogory. He is a mid to almost higher level in the reading. (WOW, great.) He is decent on number identification, but could use a little work. He is doing ok on drawing, but needs to be able to TRY to write what the pictures show. And Caleb show interest in math. That's Caleb's conference in a nutshell.

Jockey: Surprisingly good at cutting. Can identify 75% of his letters. 50% of his shapes. Plays well, talks well. Still a bit wiggly, but has certainly calmed down from last year. I suppose a class size of 5 (over last years 17) helps. He needs to get some crayon time and draw himself, maybe with hair or something more than sticks. Also, his first response is "I don't know how" or "I don't know/can't, I never learned that". He does it at home, it's a confidence thing because most of the time he can suceed in some degree if he tries. So getting him to try without doubting is a goal for us. And he is learning some sight words which is awesome and above grade for his preschool.

Now it's back into the routine of the week. Work, school etc. No parties, no "no school" days, no long school days, no conferences... Nice. I like a clean calendar. So back at it.

p.s. Mike is back from hunting. No Elk, just a wild hare which was apparently good eating especially since it loaned a break from the chili in the morning, noon and evening pattern. A nice elk-less guys camping weekend.