Successful Surgery

John's surgery went very well and he is home and resting! We now have something else to be thankful for this week. John, Sam and I were all very nervous for the last few days even though we probably didn't need to be. I was surprisingly calm though on the morning of his surgery. Everyone was very helpful and kind. Special thanks needs to go to my sister-in-law for watching the kids and taking Sam to and from school. It was nice to be at the hospital and know the kids were in good hands.
Sam was very nervous about going and visiting last night. He has this new found fear of hospitals. It was good to be able to see though that Daddy was doing well. Look out gym in a month...here comes John.

Birthdays and Baptisms

My cousin's two children were baptized this weekend. It was at the church I went to as a kid and where my children were both baptized. It is a place that just feels like home. I had the honor of being Aiden's godmother which made the experience even more special.

It was also Emma's birthday this weekend. She had a kid party on Saturday at a gymnastics studio. My kids had a blast! Her family party was at my aunts along with parties for the baptisms. Everyone had great food and a great time.

Jackopierce

John and I went to see Jackopierce perform Saturday night in Kansas City. We had a great time. The concert was amazing! They started with the mellow songs, John's favorites. Unfortunately, some of the drunk crowd got noisy and forced them into the more upbeat tunes. They sounded great and were very entertaining. We even got to talk to them after the show.

We also enjoyed our company. My brother, Becky and some of their friends were there and it was nice to be out with them before, during and after the concert. A much needed night out!

Rainy Day Fun

Take one look at this picture and tell me my kids need more toys for Christmas. They are so lucky to have so many great things to play with and I feel lucky that we now have a toy room to hold everything!

At the point of this picture they had been playing quietly by themselves for about fifteen minutes which usually means trouble. Happily though everything was fine, just messy. Isn't that the point of a playroom though?

Will Read for Food

I don't know how many of you remember Book-It from your days in elementary school but it is alive and well. In exchange for reading books Pizza Hut will give you a personal pan pizza for free. Of course that only feeds one so then mom and dad have to cough up the money to feed everyone else. I used to love this when I was younger. I don't remember getting coupons myself but I do remember my little sister Christy getting them and then we would all get pizza!

Luckily Sam doesn't really need any incentive to read books. I always wanted a child that loves to read. Sam will keep asking for me to read more books. A few weekends ago we sat down and read a whole chapter book in one sitting!

I'm really anxious for him to start reading more on his own. He has about 20 sight words right now but isn't showing a lot of interest on doing it on his own. I'm trying not to push and waiting for it to come. The teacher in me tries to hold back the pushy parent and keep it contained to those teachable moments when he is really interested. I know it will come and I hope he will continue to love reading throughout his lifetime.

Trick or Treat

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating with their cousins. We all got together around 5 for some pizza and then it was costume time. Ella was a little upset at first that Sam did not want to walk with her and kept running ahead with the big kids. She was happy though when she realized that all this candy was going to be for her. She had a sucker open about 4 houses into it and life was good!

After hitting quite a few houses we went back home. Sam's two older cousins (12 & 13) and a friend were going back out again. Sam managed to talk them into taking him too. He was really excited about trick-0r-treating. I think he could have gone all night.

I don't know who ended up with more candy though. Sam worked hard going door to door and Ella figured out it was fun to just keep taking more and more candy out of Aunt Dana's bowl. While Sam was out trick-or-treating a batman came to the door. Ella kept yelling, "SAM, SAMMY!" and couldn't understand why batman wasn't answering her. She would not believe me when I told her it wasn't her brother.