October Events

October 20th - School Carnival

Friday was a carnival fund raiser for the elementary school. There were lots of games for the kids like miniature golf, tire football toss, ring toss, balloon darts, penny toss, and duck shoot. Volunteers were doing face painting, and Danielle’s favorite things were the gigantic inflatable slide and bouncing cage. Both kids enjoyed the pony ride.





October 21st – Pumpkin Pickin’

After Aden’s soccer game and lunch, we took the kids to an area church that sells pumpkins as their annual fund raiser. We could have bought a pumpkin cheaper at Wal-Mart, but the church had all the pumpkins spread out on the front property on wooden plats. Since there aren’t any local pumpkin patches, this was the closet thing we could find. Danielle wanted the cutest, littlest pumpkin. I think she found exactly the right one.





Aden had a hard time deciding on the one he wanted. After a couple of times around the “pumpkin patch”, Scott found the best one. Aden wasn’t going for it so we had to try the sneak attack. While Aden’s back was turned we kept moving the pumpkin around Aden’s general vicinity until he finally choose the one Scott had picked out.



Party Games

As coordinator I was gearing up for our church’s Fall Festival the week of the 22nd. New games this year included Witch’s Ring Toss. I got the general idea from Better Homes and Garden’s website and made the rings by cutting the centers out of orange plastic plates.



Another idea I got from BH&G was Mummy Bowling. All week I was busy wrapping the toy bowling pins in gauze, painting “faces” and gluing button eyes (with a dab in the center from a correction fluid pen).





Pumpkin Parade

Last year we didn’t have many table decorations for the Fall Festival, so I decorated artificial pumpkins from foam pieces bought from a kit from Oriental Trading Company. I bought the pre-made mummy pumpkin from Michael’s and made Danielle a pumpkin fit for a princess.






Spooky Tree

Because I have been so “crafty” lately, Aden came home one afternoon and wanted to do a craft. Scott and I looked for inspiration from issues of Family Fun and Nick Jr. magazines. We found the perfect project for Aden – a spooky tree made from a paper bag (Family Fun – October 2006). At dinner, Scott and I cut out little foam pieces to make jack-o’-lanterns, monster heads, and bats for decorations for his festive tree




October 28th – Jack and Jill-O’-Lanterns

My mom and sister came to Aden’s last soccer game of the season. Aden’s team won 8 to 0. Danielly had a good time playing with a Pomeranian “soccer dog”. The owner had to hold tight to his leash because the dog would run out on the side fields and trip kids trying to get the ball.

Later we carved the pumpkins. We let the kids draw the pumpkin faces they wanted on paper. Scott then copied their designs.




Boo at the Zoo

That night, we went to Boo at the Zoo (at Riverbank's Zoo). The Zoo had candy stations set up along the paths through the Zoo (and lots of light-up decorations to light the way), as well as a hay bale maze, a monster mash dance floor, and a fog tunnel. We saw a creepy/crawly exhibit with a Madagascar hissing cockroach and a scorpion whose exterior glowed under a black light. I asked the handler what this ability did for the scorpion in the wild. “Nothing,” he replied, “except it looks cool under a black light.” Most of the animals were asleep, but the kids didn't mind so much with all the candy around.



October 29th – Fall Festival

The church’s Fall Festival for the toddlers and elementary schoolers was a smash. This is my second year as the festival coordinator. Thanks to our wonderful youth director, I had lots of help. He bribed the junior and senior youth that if they wanted to go on the youth trip to a haunted house, they had to volunteer for the festival.

The festival started off with a children’s sermon about All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints Day. The kids had fun playing all the games and getting candy at all the stations. Midway through the festival I had run out to Wal-Mart to buy more candy (in full costume!). The best part of the whole night was the toilet paper Mummy Wrap at the very end. No matter how messy it was this is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives.





October 30th – All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Scott went to kindergarten to carve the class pumpkin. He asked if knives would be provided or if he should bring his own. Although they said they had a plastic carving kit that he could use, they allowed Scott to bring a real knife. Afterwards, Scott took Aden to the pediatrician because that morning Aden had been complaining how much his ear hurt. Yep, another ear infection. Aden’s front tooth had been dangling for days, but he didn’t want anyone to pull it. Reluctantly, he allowed our pediatrician to pull it as long as he promised to stop if it hurt. By the time Aden said it hurt, it was out. (We love our pediatrician.)



Aden slept all afternoon. When I came home from work, I had to frost four dozen cupcakes for the end of the season soccer party. Aden really was feeling so bad he stayed home with his Daddy. Danielly and I went to the party by ourselves to deliver the cupcakes without them. After getting the kids in bed, I stayed up to bake two dozen more cupcakes for Aden’s kindergarten class party and book a flight for my Mom to fly to see her dying brother.

October 31st – Trick-or-Treat

A year ago my mom turned 75, and my sister and I arranged for her surving brothers and sisters and close friends to help celebrate. All but one of her brothers was able to come. This year, I had to fly my mom home to see her youngest brother one last time before he dies. I went to work late and made sure Mom made it to the airport. One of my cousins picked her up in DC and drove her to Maryland. Not a very Happy Birthday for her.

Aden was feeling much better. I was afraid he was going to miss his class party and trick-or-treating. He was so exited about Halloween and all the parties; he forgot to look under his pillow for what the Tooth Fairy had left him.

Our pediatrician had invited us to his church’s Fall Festival for Halloween night so instead of going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, we went to yet another festival (having let the kids choose). I think the kids had a much better time going to the festival. One of the church members brought his farm tractor and a trailer and took everyone for hayrides around the parking lot. Our kids thought that was so cool. All Danielle wanted to do was jump on the inflatable bouncy cages and slide, while Aden played games and got candy and prizes. Aden stayed at the art station for a long time making a beautiful painting by using fall leaves and acorns rolled around in paint.



We had a hard time convincing our children it was time to go. Their responses were “Just one more game” or “Just one more slide”. We caved just a little because they were having such a good time, then we carried their tuckered little bodies to the van.

After the kids were in bed, I had a cool, refreshing beverage and curled up with my husband on the couch and watched Shawn of the Dead.

When I was a youngster…

We only went trick-or-treating once on Halloween night.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown came on Broadcast TV once. If you missed it, tough cookies.

Our glow sticks were called flashlights.

Store bought costumes were nothing more than a plastic mask with eye holes and a piece of elastic to go around your head. The elastic usually came loose while you were trick-or-treating and those teeny nose holes for you to breath through wasn’t enough. When you took off that stupid mask there was water vapor all on the inside. The rest of the costume was nothing more than a cheap plastic vest, but your mom paid good money for that costume that is probably a collector’s item now if in the original cardboard box with cellophane window.

Close neighbors still were able to give you candied apples, cookies, and popcorn balls before people got stupid and things got scary.

Yep, Halloween is much different than what I remember.

As you can tell, we have been very busy and the family’s schedule has been full, but we all had a wonderful time doing what all families should do more often – spend time together.


November 1st – Sleeping with the Fishes

Aden’s beta fish, whom Aden had named Aden, died last night. I noticed he had gone belly-up the night before while getting the kids ready for bed. We didn’t want to bum the kids out after having such a great time on Halloween, so we decided to wait until the morning to tell them. Aden got Aden the Fish for his fourth birthday. The little fishy lived a good life. (We even had one of Scott’s co-workers fish sit for us when we went on vacation.) Aden was very pragmatic about the situation. His main concern was “can we get another one?” But he did want to draw a picture of his fish so he could “always remember him”. (He did the same with his Batman shoes when he wore them out.) Danielle was much more upset that Aden was, especially over the flushing. She thought we should bring him back to life, or at least let him live with another family if he couldn’t live with us any more.

We will be getting a new beta soon.

Afternoon at the Fair

We took off work a little early on Wednesday and took the kids to the State Fair.

The kids enjoyed the kiddy rides. We bought a set number of tickets and explained to them beforehand they had to choose what they wanted to do. Danielle insisted on using most of her tickets riding the same helicopter ride over and over again. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to ride anything else.



Aden was quite comfortable trying new rides every time. They were both quite agreeable about taking turns. Aden got to ride a ride he wanted then it was Danielle's turn (usually back in line for the helicopter).



(They only rode two rides together the whole time).




Occasionally, we got in a line for a ride and one of the kids would change their mind and want to use their ticket for something else. Neither Scott nor I minded that very much. The lines weren't that long during the afternoon and early evening. Actually, I was quite proud of the fact they were cognizant that once the tickets were gone, there would be no more. They are quite the little economists, with full understanding of opportunity costs from managing their own money.

The kids were not too keen over Scott and I walking through the home and garden exhibits. They really didn't want to do that boring grown up stuff. We had a quick look around before getting back to the rides. Although I would have loved to have meandered around a little bit longer, it wasn't about us as much as making sure the kids had a good time.

I included a picture of Danielly fussing because she didn't get her way, just to show you my children have their moments too.



Aden wanted to play some of the carnival games. Most are complete rip offs, and I was reluctant to waste money just so he could be disappointed. I think one of the carnies heard me try to talk Aden out of playing and assured me that prizes at his booth were guaranteed for "little ones". It took Aden several tosses with the basketball before he made it and won a small stuffed fish. Scott held Danielle up and she made a basket on the first toss. She chose a small pillow for her prize. Both kids were quite content and I was very thankful for the carnie making my kids experience a positive one.

Fair food is not the most nutritious dinner. At least the dessert of candied apples did have some real fruit hidden deep within that sugary coating. (Not that the kids made it that far down to find out there was a real apple in there.)

A Month in Review

Aden has been doing well in kindergarten. He's been practicing his reading and each week brings home from school a book he has made and colored that he can read to us. Every week he also brings home "words of the week" and a "popcorn word" he's learned. He's recognizing these words outside of the memorized book he brings home. His Montessori program last year taught phonics, which I think has paid off. We have been noticing him tracking words with his finger and a willingness to sound out words. Scott and I have purposefully avoided the LeapPad (and similar electronic reading devices) because they take the parent/child interaction out of the equation. I'm by no means knocking educational toys, but I think our method has worked well for us thus far. Aden is so proud because once a week he gets to check out a book at the school library all by himself. His latest is a book by former President, Jimmy Carter. Aden thought it was cool one of our Presidents wrote a children's book since he had memorized the names of all the Presidents earlier this year. I thought it was cool the book was illustrated by his daughter, Amy Carter. While Scott was out of town recently at a convention, I took the kids to Literacy Night at the school. The local high school drama club performed for the kids and teachers read age-appropriate books for the different grade levels with the aid of computers and music accompaniments. I'm all for doing everything we can to raise children who enjoy reading.

Aden's favorite subject in school is art. Based on the parent/teacher conference we had earlier in the month, he's the best artist in the class. Every time he gets a chance for free activity time, he goes straight to the art center. His teacher showed us pictures he drew with stories he wrote himself to go along with them. Of course not all the words were spelled correctly, but he's doing great. Our refrigerator is crammed with kid art and a dry erase calendar of family activities. I think it's great he's also learning computer skills and Spanish in kindergarten.

Danielly is doing great, too. She's enjoying her ballet/gymnastics class. We had too many things going on so we had to drop the gymnastics class at the recreation center, but her ballet class also has some gymnastics and tumbling mixed in as well. Next year, she can enroll in the ballet/tap combo class. As she gets older, combo classes aren’t offered, and if she continues she will have to pick one thing to take - ballet, gymnastics, tap, or jazz. I think it will be a hard decision for her since she and Aden both want to "do it all." Of course, Scott and I don't have the resources or the energy to let them do it all, but right now we're just getting them exposed to what is available. Danielle's Montessori class is learning sign language, just like Aden did a few years ago. It's so sweet to see her big brother help her sign the alphabet.

We have had fun going to all the birthday parties thrown by classmates recently. At one of the parties, the classmate had an electronic keyboard both kids enjoyed playing. I dug my old keyboard out of the closet (back when I thought I could teach myself how to play without formal lessons). The kids have been having a blast. I've been asked to play a flute duet for church so also dug my flute out of the closet and polished it up. I was supposed to perform next week, but called the choir director and told her there was no way I could get it prepared in such short notice. I've filled my all my free time with other interests since I've had children; I've barely picked up my flute in the last few years. Speaking of new interests, I've been learning how to tat from members of the SC Palmetto Tatters Guild. I tried tatting with a shuttle, but had a hard time relaxing my left hand, so have switched to needle tatting. It's nice I'm learning a new craft, but doubt tatting is something I will pursue as aggressively as I have cross-stitching and smocking. Still, I think tatted lace along a pillowcase or embroidered handkerchief is so elegant.



Church hand bell practice just started again and I'm excited. We have a new hand bell director, so hopefully we will do a lot more performances than we have done in years past.

At the present, we're having a hard time limiting screen time for both kids. TV seems to be the favorite activity. Until recently, we had only let them watch the TV station Noggin with shows like Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Little Bear, and The Backyardigans. Now we graduated to Nickelodeon and watch "Timmy, Jimmy, and Danny" (That's The Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, and Danny Phantom for those of you without small children). The plug-and-play video game Aden bought himself hasn't been played with very much anymore. I'm very glad it was an inexpensive purchase in the first place. We have not yet allowed Aden to have computer time at home. I'm sure the time will come soon when we will have computer screen time to contend with. For the moment, fighting over when the TV goes off is about as much as I can handle.

Soccer practice has been fun, especially when the coach asks the parents to play with the kids. So far, Aden's team has won half the games played. Aden has assisted in making goals and made one by himself in a game a few weeks ago. They won the game this past Saturday 13 to 6. Unfortunately, I missed the excitement because I took Danielle to make a fire truck at the monthly home improvement store craft project. Since October is fire safety month, the local fire department came out to talk to the kids and let them climb on the fire truck. Danielle played shy with the fire fighters, but Aden would have loved it. It's a shame he had a game conflict.

Scott's parents came down to see the soccer game yesterday and brought Aden something he's been wanting for some time – a fishing rod. Danielle immediately asked for a pink one. When we told her not everything comes in pink, she wanted a purple one. She probably has no interest whatsoever in really going fishing, she just wants one of everything she sees, and always in either pink or purple. Since yesterday, Aden has been practicing his casting. He's become pretty good at it. He and Danielle invented a new fishing game. Aden was a fisherman, and Danielly was his kitty. He was catching fish for her dinner. Mostly he caught minnows and goldfish. (Minnows were "Kitty's" favorite.) Once, the fisherman caught an octopus. Kitty was too scared to eat the octopus so the fisherman told her it was just a little one. After Kitty finished eating the octopus for dinner, the fisherman told her it was really a big octopus instead and that he had tricked her. Kitty shrieked and spit it out. Danielly then got a turn to play fisherman with a toy reel from a Go Fish game while Aden pretended to be the kitty. Who said you needed water to go fishing?

Scott and I just celebrated our anniversary by going to see Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing. Stoppard is Scott's favorite playwright since his college days. We've been fortunate to see performances of Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth; Indian Ink; and Arcadia prior to this weekend's performance. We saw Shakespeare's Measure for Measure earlier this year, and Scott took me to Atlanta to see Wicked for my birthday. Aside from a few times, we haven't been to many live performances since we've had kids. During our courtship and early marriage, we had season tickets to several theater and performing arts groups in the area. It wasn't unusual for us to see several productions a month, and sometimes more than one a week. Even on our honeymoon, we managed to catch four performances. I miss going out, but don't feel we are tethered to the kids – we'd rather be home with them anyway. We're trying to instill in our children the love we both have for the performing arts. The Columbia Marionette Theater has been a good start since the marionettes capture the children's attentions, and the performances are short. We have a friend who works for the Atlanta Ballet Company who keeps us informed of short performances especially for kids. Now that Danielle is a little more settled, we will be taking road trips as part of the kid's intro to performing arts. When the kids are in high school, I would love to take a family trip to one of the Shakespeare festivals in California wine country. A whole family vacation centered on the Bard – I couldn't think of anything better (except skiing of course).