Thanksgiving Feast and Lunch Box Day!

Em's school planned a Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday, and the kitchen was closed to prepare for it, so they asked the kids to pack lunches.  I've never seen someone so excited to have a lunch box! 

We have to pack peanut free because of allergies, and I knew Em wouldn't eat a sandwich or a normal lunch, so I loaded her up with finger foods--apple sauce, pepperoni, cheese, grapes, strawberries, broccoli, crackers and yogurt.  I ended up taking the raisins and oranges out because it seemed like too much, but her teachers told me she ate almost everything.  They had a class picnic on the "rainbow carpet" and I'm sure it was great fun :).



The parents were invited to the Thanksgiving Feast from 4-6pm that afternoon, so Mick and I both went. Emily was so excited to have us there that she barely ate anything!

Tough to pass up mac & cheese, sweet potatoes and bread though.

Then she needed to show us all the dress up clothes before we could go home--Snow White,

and Cinderella.  Especially beautiful with the polka dot shirt under the dress!

This is the Thanksgiving art her class made--hers turkey is the one on orange paper on the far right.

She's always so proud to show us her artwork!

Good Decision

It's been almost two months now since we made the decision to move Em from Gateway to Rainbow Station, and we're happier every day.  We love the school, her teachers, and all the opportunities to get involved.

 

I've joined the PTA, and volunteered at the book fair and at the fall festival.  We participated in Parents' Night Out, where we dropped Em off at school for a couple of hours one Saturday night and had an adult dinner together.  It's funny, because we hardly knew what to do with ourselves without her!

She loves her friends and teachers, and is learning so much--she knows days of the week, months of the year, and can count into the 20s.  We had our first parent teacher conference this week, which was great--they do developmental evaluations for all the kids, and she confirmed for us that Em is on track or ahead of all the milestones for her age.  She gave us some ideas of the things we can work on with her too--for instance, she can draw a circle and a straight line, but doesn't always hold the crayon or marker at the tip (instead of with her fist or whole hand), which is something they start to work on to prepare the kids for handwriting.

She's becoming more and more spirited with emotions on both ends of the spectrum.  She challenges us more, but loves us more openly too, so it's always an interesting compromise.  She seems to have really blossomed into a little girl, and whether it has anything to do with the change in schools or not, we know we're happy she's there.

Rainbow Station Festival...and a new friend

Today, Em's school held a fall festival and we decided to go--there wasn't much to it, but all of the classes had put together little games for the kids, and Mr. Nigel (who comes in for music on Wednesdays) was there for the music and dancing.  There were baskets from each classroom that were raffled off with some really awesome prizes, but we weren't lucky and didn't win one.

Em still had a fun time though.  She had her face painted,

she raced tricycles with her friends, played on the swings and enjoyed some games in the classrooms.

Later that evening, a couple we're friends with had a concert and fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors Project at their house, and invited us over.  Em was excited to go, because Emma (their daughter) is about a year younger than her, and they like playing together.

 She's still talking about her and wanting to go back to "Miss Heather's house."

Halloween

Em changed her mind a few times for Halloween, but finally landed on a black kitty cat, and it seemed like that was going to stick.  Still, I waited until the last minute to make her costume since I was sure she'd decide on something else before the 31st.

She stuck with it, and I think she made the sweetest little black cat ever--I bought her the black shirt and pants, but sewed on a fur tail and wrist cuffs.  I made the collar with a little bell (Em's special request) and her ears, which I bobby pinned over her ponytails.

Rainbow Station asked for the kids to wear their costumes to school that morning, and I've never seen Em so excited to get dressed!

It was fun to see all the costumes when I took her to school--and there was a parade a little later that morning that I went back for.  I missed it on the video here, but when they first started, she marched out of the classroom saying "meow, meow, meow, meow!"  This is her whole class dressed up.

That night, we went trick-or-treating, and as much as she had been looking forward to going, she refused to go up and ring any doorbells.  Some of the houses had some pretty intimidating decorations, but once she saw nice, normal people opening the doors, she was quick to hold out her bucket and say "trick or treat!"  She used her manners at all of the houses, I'm proud to say :).

We got home around 8pm--she was tired, and we were happy to finish up.  She chose one piece of candy to eat before bath and bed (M&Ms were the winner).

We let her stay up a little later than normal to hand out candy to some of the kids who showed up after we got home, and she enjoyed that too.  For our first time, it was a great success!

Finishing out the festivals

We went to this pumpkin patch last year and liked it because of the pony rides and the wagon ride to the petting zoo, so we went down this weekend.

She loves the horses and was so excited to ride this one!

We all picked out pumpkins to take home

And on Sunday, we painted the pumpkins, which was equally as fun as picking them out, for sure!

Library and Boo Bash

Mick read something online about a book sale at the library near us--we actually just found out about the library at one of the fall festivals--the Del Webb Library in Indian Land.  Em was of course excited to go (her first trip to a library), and the book sale had kids' books on sale for buy one for 25 cents, get two free!  They were obviously just trying to get rid of them, but we bought a huge stack for $1.50.

 

Then we spent a little while getting our library card and choosing five books for Em to check out.

Blakeney was having the annual Boo Bash on Saturday too, so we went for Em to paint pumkins,

ride a few rides,

and we grabbed lunch and some pictures.

We also ran into Declan and his parents--Declan was Em's best friend at Gateway, and we never really had a chance to tell them we were leaving when we moved her to Rainbow Station.  We were able to exchange contact information so we can plan a play date :).  

Happy Birthday to me!

 

 

Friday was my birthday, and Mick and Em brought me this chocolate cake--we've learned now that anytime there's a cake nearby, it automatically becomes Emily's birthday.  She was super excited, as you can see here and here!

I especially love the look on her face when Mick turns out the lights and I'm lighting the candles.

Art Projects

Emily loves to make "art projects," which can be anything from cutting magazines or paper to gluing crafts together.  This fall, we've been painting pumpkins and making construction paper jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, witches, bats and cats.

Here's a display of some of our spooky creations :).

 

We even carved our own jack-o-lantern kitty cat.  I'm using the word "we" pretty loosely, since Em wanted nothing to do with it as soon as I cut it open!  She thought it was yucky, and drew with sidewalk chalk while I carved.

She did help me get the pumpkin seeds out and wash them though--and she definitely helped eat them after they were toasted!

Busch Gardens!

Several years ago, Jason, Jenn, Mick and I went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA around Halloween and had so much fun that we have always talked about going back.

 

This year seemed like the perfect time, so we planned the trip and did it!  Jenn found a house for us to rent in Virginia Beach, and we invited Julie, Rob, Stacy and Zachary too.  It was a total of seven of us with the four kids, so the house was the best way to go so everyone had plenty of space, but we could all stay together.

 

We went up on Thursday and spent a little while on the beach--it was breezy and a little chilly, but not to cold for Em and Cody to play in the water!

Friday morning we got up and headed to Busch Gardens.  It was about an hour drive from the house we stayed in, and we got there just after it opened.  Of course there are tons of adult rides and roller coasters, but there were just as many for the kids, and it was so much fun.

In the Sesame Street area, we thought Em would want to meet some of the characters, but she changed her mind at the last minute.  She's very shy around big furry creatures :).

But she rode the Whirly Worm twice, and loved it!

Zachary was very patient with the younger kids, and Cody and Emily did a pretty good job of keeping up with him all day!

They rode some of the smaller stuff together while Zachary rode some of the bigger rides.

The carousel is always a favorite, and there was a horse to pose on outside, which Em obviously took advantage of :).

There were a few rides that all three kids could get on together,

and there were plenty of animals to see--birds, wolves, and even a show with pet tricks!

I loved all the rides that were perfect for the kids to ride by themselves--Em loved the independence.

But she also enjoyed the bigger stuff that some of the adults went on with her--you can hardly even see her over the restraint in this one!

On Saturday, we played mini golf, walked to some shops at the beach, and ate a huge seafood dinner before heading back to the house.

Sunday, we all headed home--Julie, Rob and Stacy had flights to catch, and Jason, Jenn and we had long drives ahead of us.  It was such a fun weekend, and it was so good to all spend time together--it had been way too long, and Em doesn't get to see her cousins nearly enough.  We all really enjoyed our adult time after the kids were in bed at night too--it sure makes me wish we all lived closer together!

Soccer Star

Emily started Soccer Shots, which has a special session just for 2-year olds, right before she left Gateway.  Luckily, Rainbow Station had the same program and we were able to just transfer her registration when she moved.

She loves it, and talks about her coach every Tuesday afternoon.  Today, she scored her first goal, and got this cool "GOAL!" sticker that she wore very proudly.  I asked her if she kicked the ball into the net, and she said "no Mommy, into the goal."  Well, excuse me.

And Another...

I wasn't kidding when I said we were trying to make it to all of the fall festivals around us--we went to another one on Saturday after Em had a much needed haircut.

Her favorite thing (if there aren't any ponies to ride) is painting pumpkins.  She loves to paint--it entertains her for much longer than crayons or markers...probably because it can make a much bigger mess :).



There was a cupcake walk, and Em won a miniature chocolate cupcake that she ate before lunch.  I think this one of the reasons we love festivals...anything resembling a healthy eating habit is out the door :).

The fire truck was there, so Em had to check it out...

and then Daddy needed to check it out too.  He was as excited about it as she was!

There were a few other games that she won little prizes at, and luckily, most of the people working at the games really catered to the little kids.  They were right up her alley.