Kiddie Park, Frisbee Golf & the Presidential Election

We'll start off with the Kiddie Park. Saturday morning we met some friends there........they've lived in San Antonio for a long time (he's been here since he was 12) and never been before! Blake rode the carousel the last time we were there but this was his first time riding the other rides.

Later that afternoon we went to the frisbee golf course right by our house. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun and want to go back!

And a little about the election. I realize this could be controversial but I want to write it down for our records. With the coming of the election we talked to Allie about who we were voting for and why because they were talking about it in school and we wanted her to know a little bit about the process from our personal perspective. Allie, surprisingly, was enthusiastic about the whole process and would chant, "Mitt Romney" around the house. Well, Avery got in on it too but she would chant "Rock Obama" to cause drama.

Allie's school actually had their own little election on election day. Allie said they had three choices: "Mitt Romney, Rock Obama and some guy that started with a G." (gary Johnson). I asked her if she knew the results and she said everyone but 2 people in her class voted for Mitt Romney. She said her friend Natalie didn't know who to vote for so she asked Allie who she was voting for and so she did the same. She said, "because she always copies me!" haha. Even though she knew the results from her class she didn't know the results from the entire school.

That night she begged me to stay up and watch to see who the President was going to be. I knew it would be a long night so I told her it wasn't a good idea since she had school the next morning and it would probably be late. She then wanted me to wake her up when I knew. I didn't wake her up though I just broke the sad news to her the next morning. She didn't say much. After she got off the bus, though, she was very enthusiastic in telling me that, in fact, Mitt Romney had won! Too bad it wasn't true and was just from her school's election.

One last tidbit.........75% of our American Soldiers voted for Mitt Romney, I don't know the actual percentage but I would guess it would probably be around 75% as well of celebrities voted for Barack Obama. Now, if that doesn't tell you something........I don't know what does. I know who's side I would want to be on though!

Derek's Mom showing Mitt the scrapbooks she had put together back when Mitt's Dad, George, was Governor of Massachusetts.

Thankful Jar

We are doing the Thankful Jar again at our house. The girls get so excited each night when it's time to draw out a thankful paper. One night they did it on their own..........I heard them whispering and being very quiet. I figured it must have been "I'm Thankful for Mom" so I stayed away so they could surprise me. 10 minutes later they were both proudly displaying their new artwork for me and giving me big hugs and kisses while telling me that they loved me and were thankful for me!
One of their favorites so far was "I am thankful for our car". The task was to clean it out and then celebrate by driving it to get ice cream. :)
One of the sweetest was " I am thankful for my brother." Allie decided to make him a book all about Thanksgiving.........the reason why I'm blogging. I wanted to record what she wrote in the book:

"To: Blake
From: Allie

Thanksgiving Day Book

Thanksgiving is a special day because you give thanks to people that you know.

Thanksgiving Supper
Lots of people eat turkey for dinner. Sometimes people eat pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving Celebration
Some people celebrate Thanksgiving by going to their Grandparents house.

Thanksgiving is the best holiday. Thanksgiving is in November.

I love you Blake."

She did this ALL on her own. I helped her with one thing. She had put that Thanksgiving was November 11th and I told her that was Veteran's Day. She was so upset that she messed up her book and started crying. I showed her how easy it was to just cross the last part out and say Thanksgiving was in November (and not put the day........since it's always different anyway). She seriously has the biggest heart!!!

A Bunch of Random Pictures

Avery had a playdate at Mia Jaye's house. She was there for SIX hours! I think it wore her out.

Derek brought home all of the leftover MRE's from his last training camp. We are pretty set on food storage!

Blake loves pushing his dump trucks around...

He also LOVES to play outside. He gets so excited whenever I open the door. This little fire truck would have been perfect to have for trick or treating with our little fireman........can't complain though, we got it the day after and it was FREE! The people moving out down the street were throwing it out.

He's been interested in books lately. He really studies the pictures. I wish he would be this interested in them during church!

another new toy that the neighbors were throwing out

Last Saturday we went for a bike ride around the Missions. These two passed out!

we stopped at a playground so the kids could get out and play for a bit.

We also stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens

Red Ribbon Week

Last week was Red Ribbon week (promoting being drug free). Both girls had different themes for each day. I meant to take pictures of them every morning........but I think I stopped after the 2nd day.

This day was Crazy Sock day for Avery and Allie was supposed to wear a red shirt. Can you believe she didn't have a single red shirt!?!? She ended up wearing one of Avery's which was obviously too small.

Avery had her friend, Mia Jaye, over.

This was Red, White & Blue day.

Avery's school had a parade one day during the week. She still talks about how we parked right next to H-E-Buddy. (the grocery store mascot)

Pictures from phone

Trying something new. Blogging from my phone and uploading pictures.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday was a crazy day. I tried to squeeze too many things in between the time Avery got out of school and the time Allie got out. Plus, I ended up getting a flat tire during that time. Blessing.......there was a Firestone right across the street. Problem........they were backed up but said they might be able to get it done by 2:30. Allie gets off the bus @ 3:10........I was clear across town but had no other option because Derek isn't around and I still don't have any local contacts in my phone (lost them all when my other phone broke). By some miracle they did get it fixed around 2:50 and I got home and drove around our circle to make sure Allie wasn't walking home, didn't see her, drove back up to the bus stop and the bus was pulling up! Crazy close but we made it!

I didn't have Blake's costume done.......or started for that matter. He's too young to really get into it so we didn't buy him a costume. We've gotten 3 fireman hats in the past couple weeks from Fire Safety events so a Fireman costume it would be. After we picked Allie up we went on the hunt for yellow duct tape. Couldn't find it anywhere. Finally settled on red. Got home at 4:45........put Blake down for his first, much needed nap of the day and got to work on his costume. Somehow managed to get the girls ready and a little food in their bellies before it was time to head out. Whew! Have I ever said this single mom stuff is exhausting!?!?!

I don't have very good pictures because I was chasing Blake around. He would not stay still!!!!

Scooby & a Cowgirl (our original plan was that the whole family was going to be the Scooby Doo Clan but since Derek couldn't be here last minute we came up with something new) Allie didn't like that Avery was getting more attention than her. Everyone was saying, "look, Scooby Doo!"

 

 

Kinda ghetto, but not terrible. At least everyone knew what he was.

I miss my old camera phone! The only group picture and it's blurry! :(

No complaining from this guy. He was content sucking on his sucker the entire time.

It may have been exhausting but the kids had so much fun and that makes it all worth it!

Derek got to spend just a few hours with us last Sunday. We decided to carve & paint pumpkins while he was here.

Happy to see Daddy, if only for a few hours

The night before last we went and delivered some Halloween treats to our neighbors. One of the ladies gave the kids some goodies too. Blake started eating right through the paper of this sucker so I gave in and let him have it. He was a very happy boy.

Parent Teacher Conferences & Clumsy Girl

Last Friday we had Parent Teacher Conferences with both of the girls' teachers.  We got good reports on both girls. Allie is in the highest reading level in her class with two other students. They are reading at a 2nd grade level! Her teacher says she is strong in math (which is kinda funny because that's the one subject she complains most about at home.......she never wants to do her math homework).

"Allison has wonderful behavior! She waits her turn to speak, participates in class, and raises her hand. She is a good resource for the others at her table as well. She seems to understand what to do on every assignment so if someone asks her, she can tell them. She is a fairly slow worker on some things, and this often causes her to have to complete work during independent reading time in the mornings. But she always finishes her work and turns it in. Allison has such a sweet personality, she is enjoyable to have in class!" ~ Mrs. Ratliff

As far as Avery goes. There are no worries. She seems to be on track. Ms. Bellah said she won't always respond to questions or directions (which we have this problem at home. She will just look at you and won't say anything.) She said she is very willing to help others and that she is very independent and knows what she wants and will fight for what she wants, lol.

We are very proud of our smartie pants.

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On Tuesday this week Avery fell at recess. Recess gets done right before they get released to us parents to go home. I usually get to school early enough that they are still outside playing and I'll sit in the car and watch for about 5 minutes or so. I noticed that most of the kids were over around the slide when I pulled up. Avery is usually on the swing........and there was no one on the swing. That seemed strange. I can't see the slide area too well because there are some trees blocking it. I didn't think too much about it though and started going through my purse. When I looked up I saw one of the teachers taking Avery into the school. I figured she had to go to the bathroom. They were back out in just a few minutes.....not even long enough for a bathroom break. Anyway, when it was time to go inside and get her her teacher told me that she fell at recess. She had been climbing the bars that go up to the slide and she slipped through and fell. They checked her for cuts, bumps, bruises, etc and couldn't find anything. They said she cried and cried.......then stopped when someone ran over to the swing and shouted, "hey, so and so is going to the swings!" Then cried some more. I could tell she didn't feel good when I saw her. She wasn't smiling or happy at all. She even looked a little pale. Her friends always give her hugs and she wouldn't let them give her hugs this day. Once we got to the car and she climbed in I saw the blood soaking through the back of her shirt. Then I lifted up her hair and saw it running down her neck.......then saw the huge bloody spot on her head. I'm a little surprised that her teachers didn't see it but I suppose it is possible that it didn't start bleeding right away. I do not do well with blood and probably started freaking out. I must have said something because I remember Avery started crying. I rushed her back into the school because I didn't know what to do or how serious it was. Of course, the school nurse wasn't there that day. I'm guessing she must not be there often because the office clerk seemed like she knew what to do. She helped get it cleaned up. We were there for an hour though because Avery did not want anyone touching her. I feel bad that Ms. Bellah didn't get to prep at all for the afternoon class because she was taking care of Blake. Anyway, I ended up taking her to Urgent Care since she wasn't seen by a nurse at the school and they said she needed a staple. So.........she has a staple in her head right now. It will have to be taken out next Tuesday. Not looking forward to that!

And then today, we were at the store. We had one of those extra long shopping carts where the kids can sit facing forward and then Blake can sit in the actual cart facing them. It's so perfect........and this was the first one that actually worked right and didn't make any loud, annoying sounds. Anyway.....off track. I came to a stop and was looking at something and I have no idea what Avery was doing but the next thing I know she starts falling off the cart and lands head first onto the floor. So now she has a big ol' goose egg on her forehead. She is seriously the clumsiest kid ever!