First Reconciliation

Sam celebrated his first reconciliation last night. He and his classmates celebrated with a group penance service. He was nervous on the way to church and wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say. I could still see his nerves as he waited in line. The look on his face when he finished though was priceless! He was so excited and proud of his accomplishment. We are so proud of him too. He is an amazing kid with a great heart and we feel blessed to be his parents.

They had a cake and punch reception afterward where Sam was running around celebrating. That kid loves any kind of party. Father Fergus came up to Sam to congratulate him and ask him what he thought. Sam told him it wasn't nearly as hard as he thought it would be. Glad he had a great experience.

Sunny Days

We got there early and are waiting for the show.

Ella and I went to Sesame Street Live yesterday morning. She was very excited and had a great time. She said her favorite things were seeing Abby Cadabby and Zoe and when they sang, If You're Happy and You Know It.

We went with the moms and kids from my mothers of preschoolers group. There were over sixty of us in our group! It was a fun morning.

Candy Haul

We officially have candy! I can not believe how much candy the kids collected trick-or-treating this year. They started off the day having dinner with their big cousins in Rogersville then hitting the streets of their subdivision. We trick or treated a few blocks there then headed home to trick or treat in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood doesn't have many trick or treaters so people are always generous with the amount of candy they pass out to the kids. By the end of the evening they each had a large mixing bowl full of candy to add to the mixing bowl we had already to hand out to anyone coming to our house. We should be set until Santa comes with candy for our stockings.

Both kids had a lot of fun and were eager to run from house to house. They both also really liked their costumes. Sam enjoyed being Boba Fett from Star Wars and Ella was a mermaid. She was especially thrilled when the people at the houses we trick or treated would tell her how pretty she was. She is also the one who is going through her candy the quickest. Let me tell you the girl loves chocolate! She is already discussing what she is going to be for Halloween next year and Sam is making plans to hit even more houses.

Pumpkin Carving

This year we headed over to the Lowe's house to carve our pumpkins and spend a little time with our cousins. It is crazy how they live so close yet we have to schedule time together because everyone gets so busy! It was a great way to spend time together though and see everyones creations.

I think all the kids did a great job designing their pumpkins. Ella got a little help from Mommy making her crown and Sam had to get some help from me cleaning his pumpkin. Let me tell you he owes me for that one. His pumpkin was totally rotten and stinky and he would not touch the inside so that job was left up to me. I'm sure it would have grossed me out at his age too (and it still did at my age a little) but once you've been a mom you have pretty much cleaned up the grossest of the gross and a rotten pumpkin is nothing I can't handle!

Cookie Decorating

At our club they have a Halloween event where the kids get to decorate a large pumpkin cookie, eat lunch at a kids' buffet, and they have a costume contest. My kids were very excited about going and had a great time.

We started with the cookie decorating. They were very into the tubes of icing! Sam was a hard worker and made a spooky pumpkin. Ella just loved squirting the icing so her pumpkin ended up with an icing mountain for a mouth and even had some icing hair. The cookies turned out pretty well and they really enjoyed themselves.

Then it was time for lunch and the costume contest. They both enjoyed going up on stage and showing off their costumes. We didn't walk away as a winner but the kids had a great time participating.

Fall Party

Ella and some of her friends eating their treats.

Ella doing the pumpkin roll.

Ella's school has a Fall Party the week before Halloween. I had volunteered to help coordinate the party. My thought was that I was volunteering to help with the party for the eleven kids in her class. As it turned out, I had volunteered to co-coordinate the party for all 50 kids and four classrooms. Well, it was a little more work than I bargained for but I think the party was a big success and I was glad to help.

Ella had a great time although she wanted to spend a great deal of her time with Mommy that day. Much different from when I would go and help in Sam's classroom. It was great to meet the kids she has been talking about and see how she acts at school. I will say she is much quieter than I expected. It was a great time and hopefully I will get to help with the Christmas party, but just not coordinate it this time.