We made it through Halloween…
We had about 100 people come to our spook alley this year. At $2 a person, after paying for the cocoa and donuts, that left $92 profit for the boys. I told them they could spend it how they wanted – and they voted to buy a trampoline! I got on the classifieds and found a good condition used trampoline that fit their budget and they bought themselves a trampoline! Kevin wasn’t overly thrilled. He’s not a fan, but the boys love it. We put it up and they bounced and jumped and bounced some more. I caught Ricky out there one day, just sunning himself like a cat.
Sometimes Bobby gets a boo-boo and still lets me hug him better. Not often. And don’t try to kiss him. He wipes kisses right off. But a 4 year old hug, I can get away with those.
The PTA hosted a fun run to earn money for its yearly activities and I helped the day of the run. I ran lap after lap with kids and encouraged them all day. It was fun and, I gotta admit, tiring! The kids didn’t seem all that tired though …
Billy was in one of the first groups to run and he ran his 35 laps (about a mile) in the rain. He thought it was fabulous!! Some parents did NOT, so the rest of the races were held in the gym. The kids didn’t get to go as far, but they still had fun running.
Tommy was the student of the week in his class and that meant that he got to do a “show and teach.” The kids bring in a craft to teach the kids to do or share about a place they’ve been on vacation with pictures and souvenirs. My other boys have brought in one of our pets to show off and talk about. Tommy decided that he wanted Billy to come show his class his volcano. This time we got the big sized Diet Coke. Billy LOVED playing teacher!
We love our shade trees, but they do make a leafy mess! The easiest way to fix that is to load up our trailer with the leaves (it took 3+ loads) and haul them off to our friend’s garden.
Some end up in our garden naturally, but they have a very large garden and, currently, very small trees.
Ricky had his piano recital the first weekend of November. His teacher gave them the option to come in costume or dress nice. Ricky wanted to be Calvin (as in Calvin and Hobbes) one more time.
You can hear his songs HERE.
This boy loves these cats!
November’s preschool field trip was to the Dinosaur Park. We got to wander the grounds and see the dinosaur statues. We dug for bones and we learned about different dinosaurs from this guy who SO looks like a paleontologist! Bobby has heard Rusty talk about dinosaurs so much that he just kept talking out and answering question and stating his own facts. I kind of just had to pretend I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t mother him too much.
It was a fun field trip!
Ricky started physical therapy in November. To sum up, I thought he was pigeon toed but our physical therapist friend evaluated him and informed us that Ricky was not using the majority of his leg or butt muscles.
He was only using his quads and hamstrings and because he is extremely flexible, his movements looked a lot like a marionette. Ricky started a series of leg and behind exercises and as he continues those, he should see marked improvement with his coordination and fix his turned in feet.
His favorite part of therapy is the waiting room fishing tank …
Tommy’s teacher sent me this picture of a journal entry he wrote one day. It’s good to know that I’m mean but still nice. Sigh.
A pre-Thanksgiving activity … writing letters to Santa!
They all took it VERY seriously!
One day Bobby’s preschool class walked to the park. There were lots of leaves there and his teacher shared a couple of pictures with me. He looks so happy here, doesn’t he?
And, sadly, I know that this is his happy face. You’d hear him growling too if there were audio. I’m not sure where he gets it from (cough, big brothers, cough).
We are still trying to teach Bobby to brush his teeth. He doesn’t really like it. It sometimes feels like we are trying to brush one of the cat’s teeth instead!
One of our little friends had a birthday party in November. She wanted a camping party so they pitched their tent and the kids sat inside singing songs.
The kids also got to go through an obstacle course. Rusty was super sweet with Charlotte. She is the daughter of Tommy’s teacher (Rusty also had her for his teacher last year). He stayed right by her and got her through all the obstacles. Sweet boy!
The Primary Program. Sigh. They sang lovely and their voices blended in nicely this year (darn it). My favorite part was the very last song. Bobby was standing at the very front and all the kids had sticks with CTR shields on them so they could pretend they were leading the music. Bobby may have lead with a bit too much gusto because his shield went flying off into the congregation. He froze at first, probably unsure what had just happened! Then you saw the full range of emotions cross his face, starting with anger. He stared at that shield almost daring it to not come back.
When he realized it wasn’t coming back, the sadness entered his face. His expression grew more and more depressed until the song was over and he was actually slumped on his hand looking like someone had just kicked his puppy. I was, of course, laughing so much that several of the primary leaders on stage had to ask about it later – they couldn’t see Bobby from where they sat. Everyone sitting around me who did see, laughed right along with me! Primary programs are special. And so are these boys!
Our stake held a youth MTC event. The kids all got mission call letters in the mail …
And then on the designated day, they met at our church and had lessons about door approaches and foreign languages before heading out to member’s home to teach a “first discussion.” Kevin was asked to teach a Russian class and Ricky was called to be a youth missionary. He really didn’t feel well that day, but he made it through the morning lessons and that first discussion before asking Kevin to bring him home, where he went to bed until the next morning.
Some of the youth absolutely love the experience. Ricky, probably because he was sick, wasn’t a fan. I hope they do again when he’s a bit older (and healthy) so he can get a bit more excited about the prospect of a mission.