Samantha: 113 Months, Week 2
Aedan: 80 Months, Week 4
Owen: 37 Months, Week 2
I always enjoy doing fall family activities, and this fall was getting away from us as it was already the end of October. We decided that we would make a family trip to Roba's Family Farm on Sunday, October 25th. We had to work around our little peanut's visit scheduled with her mom, but we decided that we would pick her up early so that we could take her with us. That morning we had microgathering at the Peiffer's house, and it was just us and them, but it was still good to get together and let our kids play together. However, since Owen wasn't having the greatest track record with telling us when he needed to go to the bathroom, I went down to check on him at one point, and he had pooped in his pants. I was not happy about having to take him to the bathroom, wipe him off, clean him up, change his clothes, and try to clean out his dirty underwear. I don't know why he has regressed like this, and it was so frustrating! After we finished watching church, we got out the lunch we had packed for ourselves and ate at the Peiffer's house before hitting the road to pick up our little peanut from her visit before heading out to the farm.
It started off as a pretty nice day, a little cool, but the sun was shining nicely. We got food to feed the animals, and then went back to go on the big slide. It was nice that Samantha and Aedan were with us us this time because when I came here with just Owen, he wanted me to go down the slide with him, but this time he was happy riding down over and over again with Samantha and Aedan.
The kids then wanted to jump on the big pillow, and we were going to have Samantha just go in with the boys. However, she was just too tall to be able to go on the same bouncy pillow as them, and she decided it wouldn't be fun to just go and bounce by herself, so she decided to just sit out with me and watch from the fence. I think it made her sad to know she was getting too tall to do some of the activities that are designed only for younger kids.
She was still able to go on the cattle train ride though, so here they are waiting in their "cows" for the ride to start. Samantha probably thinks this is pretty boring as well, but she does a good job playing along for the sake of her little brothers.
We watched both the dog show and the pig race. We walked through the smaller corn maze and played on the low ropes obstacle course. We made Owen go to the bathroom periodically, since we didn't really trust him anymore, which helped him to not have any accidents while we were out for the day. Our little peanut was so tired from her visit and not taking a morning nap, that she slept for a long time while we were at the farm. In fact, I ended up opening the cover on the car seat so some wind and sun would get on her and wake her up so she could eat. I didn't want her schedule to get too out of whack and cause problems for sleeping that night because she slept too much and ate too little. Other than that, she did great coming along with us that day, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be taking her someplace like that and taking care of four kids.
Here are the kids posing for a picture. Of course Owen wanted to be the driver. :)
We stayed at the farm through dinner, but as soon as the sun started to go down, it started getting chilly. We only had light jackets and sweatshirts on, and everyone's hands were starting to get cold, so around 6:00, we decided to buy some apple cider doughnuts (and coffee for the adults) before taking an obligatory pumpkin patch picture, and then heading back home. I had to include all these pictures because Owen is making a different face in each one, none of them really looking at the camera and smiling. Samantha kept her pose cute and consistent, and Aedan is looking at the camera for half the pictures and looking off to the side for half the pictures, with his cute little smirk on his face. Oh, these silly kids! I love them so much, and we had a great day out together at the farm, enjoying all things fall. I can definitely see coming here as a yearly tradition for us, at least until the kids get older and don't enjoy it anymore.
Monday was a day the two little ones and I just spent at home, especially after being out all day on Sunday. Our little peanut was very smiley and happy playing on the floor gym that morning, so I took some pictures and videos to send to her parents. I wish I could post the videos of her batting at and reaching for the toys, but all I can post are these two pictures. You can see her big, happy, gummy smile, though!
I think our little peanut is going through a growth spurt because she's eating a lot more ounces, more frequently, and also is waking up more at night to eat (at least two times a night). It's difficult for Ben and I to be woken up multiple times a night, and for each of us to have to go up and feed her every night, so we will be happy once she gets through this growth spurt and hopefully can start sleeping longer stretches of time during the night.
Here is some of the work Samantha cleared out of her folder on Monday: a spelling practice page, a math movie theater project that she got 97% on, practice with long division, a Mid-Chapter Checkpoint for Math, a "Wonder" packet, and practice and test on her spelling words that she got 100% on it. This girl stays busy with work at school!
Here is some work Aedan brought home from school: math practice with doubles plus 1 and doubles minus 1, word work, color by sum, a spelling test he got 100% on, addition practice, and a weekly reading test that he got 100% on. This little boy is hard at work learning about words and rules for phonics, as well as practicing his addition facts and spelling. He's busy working at school, too!
Ben took the boys for haircuts after school on Monday because they were all in need of one, and it just makes sense for him to take them and for them to go at the same time. Here is Aedan sitting on the floor after getting his hair cut that evening. It looks so nice and fresh!
On Tuesday I was a sub for Mrs. Welby, who is Samantha's 5th grade math teacher. I wasn't sure if they would keep me in that class, since they moved me last time, but I was able to be the classroom teacher for the day, so that was good. I was a little nervous about being Samantha's teacher because I didn't know what she would think of me and my style of teaching compared to Mrs. Welby, but the class was good and respectful. Samantha raised her hand to answer questions a lot, but I didn't want to call on her too much or too little. Also, she got part of a problem wrong on the board, so I wanted to correct her without embarrassing her in front of the class. Overall, the day went well, and I enjoyed being in a 5th grade class where the kids could work more independently.
Ben stayed home with Owen and our little peanut. I'm not sure why Owen made the first grumpy face, but the rest of his faces are cute and smiley.
Here is the movie poster that Samantha made to go along with her movie theater math project. It was in Mrs. Welby's classroom, so I decided to take a picture of it while I was there.
Here is a haunted house picture that Samantha made in art class and was displayed in the hallway.
Here is some work Samantha brought home from school that day: a Venn diagram comparing spores and seeds, and a 5 minute language review packet.
Here is some work Aedan brought home from school that day: practicing all the addition strategies they had learned, a Mid-Chapter Checkpoint for Math, a picture of the ninja turtle that he's going to be for Halloween, pumpkin code words, and a Halloween sight words coloring page.
Wednesday has been by shopping day, and especially now that our little peanut has a visit with her mom from 10:30-3:30 on Wednesdays, it makes it easier for me to shop with just Owen. Since she has unsupervised visits now, her mom has been meeting me at Aldi to pick up our little peanut in order to save me some time from driving all the way over to her house and back again. Even though I took Owen to the bathroom at both Aldi and Walmart, Owen still peed all over his car seat and himself on the way home that morning. I didn't know what to do. I was stuck with trying to figure out how to help him, and why he was all of a sudden just letting it loose like that after he had done pretty well for awhile. I just felt like I was doing everything wrong lately, and I just can't keep on top of things and I can't do anything well enough, and potty training Owen successfully was just one of those examples.
At Walmart that day I bought some green face pain for Aedan to use for his Halloween costume. He wanted to dress up as Leonardo, wearing a blue mask, because Leonardo has always been his favorite. Normally, Lehman-Jackson has a Halloween parade that parents can come to the school and watch, but it was cancelled this year because of Covid. In place of that, the teachers wanted parents to send in pictures of their kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes, and they were going to make a slideshow of it. Here are the pictures we sent in of Aedan dressed up as Leonardo, and Samantha dressed up as Hermione Granger, perfect costumes to depict their interests right now.
Here is some work Aedan brought home from school that day: more practice with addition, sight word practice, read and find page, practice with completing sentences, and Halloween pages.
That night for AWANA they had Trunk or Treat, and the kids were supposed to dress up like a character from the Bible. Samantha wore her dress from Uncle Tim and Aunt Pla's wedding so she could be an angel. Aedan was Jesus, and Owen was Peter. We did our best with costumes while also not putting too much effort or any money into purchasing anything. Ben dropped them off, and then I went back early to pick them up and take then through the parking lot for trunk or treat. They had to pick a Bible verse to say at each car in order to get candy, and they got loaded up! So much so that I wondered if we even needed to trick or treating again.
That night after Ben left to take the kids to AWANA, he sent me a text that said, "Check your email." Ben had forwarded an email he got about what was going on with his job. I felt nervous about it, but when I read it, I just started crying. I didn't realize how much pent up emotion I had about what was going on with his job and how it would impact our family's future. I felt like a weight was lifted from my heart and mind, and I was so incredibly grateful that God answered the prayer of our heart from the last six months or so.
I mentioned this earlier, but we think our little peanut is going through a growth spurt because she has been a lot fussier lately and has been waking up more at night. Even after we put her to bed, we still have to go back up to her room and give her her pacifier a couple times or even try to feed her again or switch her over to the rock and play if she just won't settle down. It makes our evenings not very restful, especially knowing we will still have to wake up during the night with her as well. The good thing is that we know everything is just a phase with babies, so this too shall pass.
On Thursday it was my goal to clean as much of the house as I could, while also still taking care of Owen and our little peanut. Since it was October 29th, it was also the day that our little peanut turned four months old. I made sure to take some cute pictures of her that morning when she was happy and smiley. I got some pretty great ones of this cute little girl who gives such great smiles and has been sucking on her fingers more lately.
Aedan always comes home with a lot of work from school. Here are some papers he brought home that day: math practice on adding 10 and more, Halloween papers, and practice with sight words.
Here are a couple coloring pages that Owen did at AWANA that week.
Even though we got these pumpkins a couple weeks ago, we hadn't had a chance to carve them yet, so we decided Thursday night was as good a time as ever. I bought a carving kit that I saw at CVS when I was there with patterns that you could tape on the pumpkin, as well as tools to help with scooping out the insides and tools that would make it easier for the kids to cut their designs in the pumpkins rather than using our sharp kitchen knives. Samantha decided to make her own design, while Aedan and Owen decided to use patterns from the book. Here we are hard at work, carving pumpkins together.
After the kids finished carving (or having help with carving their pumpkins), we found candles to put on the inside and light, and then put them on the railing along our front porch. The kids took all the pumpkin guts and seeds outside to the woods on a paper plate for the wild animals to enjoy. Here are the kids posing with their finished pumpkins.
Here is Aedan's pumpkin. He and I did our best to follow the design template and cut it carefully.
Here is Owen's pumpkin. Ben helped him carve out his design, and they loosely followed a template as well.
And here is Samantha's pumpkin. She made the design and cut it out all by herself.
That Friday, October 30th, we woke up to snow coming down. It was our first snow of the season, so I took a little picture and video of it coming down.
On Friday I invited friends over for a play date, Kaili and her three kids. I am trying to be more intentional about inviting people over when I feel like it's safe, and I had never really invited them over before. It's always a little tricky finding time to talk with you have to chase and wrangle kids, but it was fun getting together with them, and Owen enjoyed having someone else to play with, especially when I was busy taking care of our little peanut. They ate lunch with us, and stayed for a little longer past lunch. Samantha and Aedan had an early dismissal that day, so I picked them up at 1:10, and then our friends left a little after that. While Samantha and Aedan enjoyed extra time at home to play, I put Owen and our little peanut down for their afternoon naps.
Since our kids' school didn't have Halloween parades like they usually do, the PTA sponsored a drive through trunk or treat at their school, so after dinner we got everyone in their costumes and loaded up in the car to head over to their school for trunk or treat. It was a little strange with everyone staying in the car and wearing masks, and no one could even see their costumes enough to tell who they were, but they got a lot of candy, and even got ice cream from an ice cream truck at the end. It was a cold night, so not exactly ice cream weather, but it was nice and warm in our van!
While we were out, I got a text message from my friend, Alysse, asking what we were up to and if they could invite themselves over to play games. We were totally down for that idea, and I was really excited that they asked if they could come over. I feel like that shows that they are getting more comfortable with us, and that we are slowly becoming closer friends. They planned to come right around when we were putting the kids to bed so that way we could all play games after they went to sleep.
Now that our little peanut is 4 months old, and after asking permission from her mom, we decided to start her on some baby rice cereal. We decided to try some that night before bed, so I mixed some up with some formula, put her in the Bumbo seat to help support her in the sitting position, put her bib on, and got ready to feed her. Again, I have a really cute video of her, but I can't include that on my blog. This picture below was the face she made after she took her first bite. She definitely liked it, and she was doing a pretty good job keeping it in her mouth and swallowing it. We will start giving her cereal every night after her evening nap now. It will be interesting to see if it helps fill her up more and help her sleep longer at night.
Playing games with Andrew and Alysse was so fun that night. I like to be spontaneous like this, and I feel like it's so hard for moms to be spontaneous with young kids. We like having people come over to our house, and we know that Andrew and Alysse aren't going to judge us by how clean or picked up things are. Their baby was happy hanging out for awhile, and then she slept in a pack and play we set up in our bedroom for her. We played a game called Pandemic that they brought along with them, and it was just fun to sit and talk together, enjoying playing a game and each other's company. I think they stayed until around 11:00, and Ben and I were reminded about how we felt when the Brashers invited us over to their house to play games back when Samantha was a baby. I loved those evenings where they were so hospitable, often making us dinner, and providing a fun evening of talking while the kids played, and setting up a place for Samantha to sleep so we could stay after bedtime to play games. We will definitely have to keep this tradition alive.
Saturday, October 31st, of course, was Halloween. We didn't have too many plans for the day as a cold front came through with the snow the day before, and it was rather chilly outside. There is a local ranch called Silver Springs Ranch that had a Fall Festival going on, so we decided that we would have the kids dress up and check that out after Owen got up from his nap. Here are Leonardo, Heatwave, and Hermione Granger ready to go out and have some Halloween fun. In this first picture Owen is on the ground because he has transformed into Heatwave as a fire truck. Aedan is posing with with a stick acting as his sword for Leonardo, and Samantha is posed with her wand at the ready. Their costume choices for this year perfectly reflect their interests right now.
Here are some more close up pictures that Ben took of Owen dressed up as Heatwave, in robot mode and vehicle mode. He's such a cutie! Too bad we didn't take a video of the noises he makes when he transforms; it sounds just like what it is on Rescue Bots.
Silver Springs Ranch's Fall Festival was not too big of a deal, but it was free and worth it to check out, especially since it's so close to home. They had some vendors set up that were giving out candy and a hay ride you could take around the pond on the horse race track. It was a little bit of a chilly ride.
After finishing up at the Fall Festival, we drove over to Grotto Pizza because we were under the impression that the kids would get a free personal pizza if they came in dressed up in their costumes. The deal did change some, and they just got coupons for a free personal pizza the next time we came to the restaurant, but we had a good dinner together. With where we live, we don't get trick or treaters. I bought a couple bags of Halloween candy, just in case, but nobody came by that night, probably because it was a cold Halloween and because of Covid and people not wanting to go door-to-door for safety reasons. When we got back home we let the kids watch a Halloween show as a fun way to end our day celebrating Halloween together.
(Blog about October 25-31, 2020)
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