The rest of October

Hailey trying on the wig that goes to Evan's David Pumpkins costume.  

She is totally channeling Jan Brady in the episode where Jan doesn't want to look like her sisters.

Walking with my girl in our last grade school Walk-a -thon.

We bought tickets over the summer to see Wicked when it came to Grand Rapids.  We were all very excited to see the show that we have been singing for years!

The morning after the show I had my shoulder manipulation.  They better be good from here on out because I don't have any other shoulders to crack apart.

The toast Hailey made me to feel better. 

So many bags of ice. 

At least I felt good enough to go to Hailey's final school Halloween party.  I can't even handle all of these "lasts". 

Halloween 2017

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I love trying to think up creative costumes and then hunting down the pieces to make them all come together.  As the kids have grown older sometimes more often than not their ideas will not align with mine anymore - but everything has a way of working out in the end. 

We spent a Saturday evening pumpkin carving this year.  The kids can all carve their own with minimal help from us.  Hailey was the most into it.  She was all about the extra pumpkin and the power tools.

After carving and photographs we all sat down to a not so scary movie - Close Encounters of the Third Kind. None of us had seen it before and it was really awesome to see Devil's Tower where we had visited over the summer featured prominently.

Hailey had a spooky themed choir concert but she didn't want her classmates to see her "actual" Halloween costume so we dug up the stuff out of the bin for a makeshift vampire.  Cutest vampire I have ever seen.

For almost a year Evan has been talking about dressing up as David Pumpkins from the newish cult classic SNL skit.  We ordered him a tee shirt, pumpkin suit and wig and he was good to go. 

Hailey's costume turned out so cute and was so easy.  We just ordered a striped shirt and the necessary money bag (she was dying to use it for candy) and the rest of the costume we had around the house. 

Spencer wanted to be Jesus.  We kind of went back and forth about letting him actually do it because we didn't know if it would seem offensive or not.  He certainly didn't want to be offensive about it but people can be so touchy and quick to judge these days. 

It finally came down to us thinking if people have no qualms about dressing like the devil why can't someone dress like Jesus?  So I ordered him the robes and wig (though he really could have used his own hair) and he was a big hit.

On Halloween night, Evan's friend came home from school with him to trick or treat and we had the Brandon our neighbor to walk around with as well. The weather was really nice for trick or treating and then about an hour into it we had a random power outage that affected the whole neighborhood.  Luckily Spencer had opted to stay home with the grandparents passing out candy so he could find flashlights and candles for them.   

It was so perfectly spooky to walk around the dark, pumpkin lit up neighborhood to finish out the night. 

It was a Halloween night to remember for sure!

So far this October...

The first day of October we spent the morning at Navy Pier in Chicago - but that is a post for another time.   So here we are midway through the month and I am happy to say the pace has slowed a little bit.  

Spencer spent the first weekend of October channeling his inner snowman for a fundraiser for his Players group.  It was a fun event for kids to get to see some characters, do crafts,  enjoy face painting and a nail salon then top the evening off with a showing of Moana on the big screen.  Hailey and Ella had fun hanging out.

Earlier that day I may have done a mini Halloween photo shoot with my favorite witch.

I got the idea of spooky photos from the Enjoying the Small Things blog and decided to see if I could get a similar effect - I love how spooky it turned out! I ordered an 11x14 and am now raiding the thrift stores to find a frame I can spookify!

Our budding chef was wildly successful in her first attempt at "eggy in the hole".  She can now add that to her rapidly growing repertoire.

On Thursday afternoon these two had parent teacher conferences so between the elementary school and the middle school I treated them to lunch at McDonald's.

Hailey has been BIG time into making slime these past few weeks.  I on the other hand could live without seeing glitter glue another day of my life.

On Saturday Trent took Hailey to see a production of Annie Jr. that was put on by special needs children and their actor mentors.  I hear it was a very moving production that gave kids that most likely wouldn't be cast in any shows a venue to participate.  This production was the first of its kind around here but I hear they are planning for more due to the wild success it was.

 I love these quiet fall weekends.  If I am in my jammies by eight o clock on a Friday or Saturday, I swear it is my favorite kind of night. 

Half way through October and so much more fun yet to come.  One of my favorite holidays is right around the corner!

Spirit Week 2017

We had a crazy busy September mostly due to the fact that it seemed like we were traveling every weekend.  Sometimes not even to the same place.   Before I dive in to all that goodness I thought I should post the pictures from Homecoming Week.  It is one of the favorite weeks of the year because of the dress up element to it.  This year it just happened to be the third week of school.  

Monday was America Day in all three schools. 

Tuesday Evan had team day.  He wore his tennis team attire.  The high school had twin day but Spencer did not want to twin with anyone. 

Hailey had dress up day (since it was school picture day).  She also had gym so she wore tennis shoes with her beautiful dress.  

We curled her hair in hopes it would last through picture taking.  Her hair will not hold a curl for anything.  She felt so fancy and confident.  She told me when she got to school at least three boys kept staring at her.  Luckily their class for first for photos so the curls kind of held up!

Wednesday was country club vs. country western for the high school.  A polo shirt was as country club as Spencer wanted to get.  Evan had athletic day at the middle school.  Hailey had athletic day as well but she was going on a field trip to Art Prize and wanted to dress a bit nicer than sweat clothes.

This boy just kills me. 

Thursday was Luau day at the high school and class color day at the middle school.   The 8th graders wore red.

Hailey had favorite team day at her school. 

Friday was of course Sailor Pride Day!  Evan didn't dress up because he was on his way to the UP with his Scout troop.

Trent and I left on Friday afternoon for an anniversary trip up north.  Grama dropped off Spencer to walk in the Homecoming Parade and then took Hailey to my cousin's street to watch it.

Spencer walked with his Players group.

Hailey and buds watching the parade.  See that bag?  The girl is ready for candy!

Saturday night was the Homecoming Dance.  I was proud of Spencer for choosing to go on his own.  I don't think I ever would have done that.  Hailey put on her matching dress for pictures.  That girl can't wait until she has dances of her own to dress up for.

We had such a fun filled September, but I am ready for October to slow down just a little bit.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have a weekend that I don't have to go anywhere!

Evan in a million words or less.

I was given a homework assignment by Evan's English teacher this year to describe him in a million words or less.  The following is what I wrote.

Describing Evan in a million words or less seems a daunting task when I sit down to do it.  There is so much about him that I could tell you. 

He is an excellent student.   Ever since he was a little boy he has always been so eager to learn and willing to put in the work to do it.  He is self motivating – we never have to ask him about making sure something gets done because he is always on it.  He is his own harshest critic – sometimes I think he is too hard on himself.  I predict that he will do well in English class because he has always been a    voracious reader and is a creative thinker.  Recently he has decided that he wants to write novels. 

He is a quiet kid, but not exactly shy.  He will not be a disturbance in class but I imagine will participate with his opinions and thoughts.  He tends to be quite an individualist.  He has never cared about dressing in the current style or wanting to wear what everyone is wearing.  What Evan wants to wear is what he can be most comfortable in.  His teachers last year shared stories with us of him coming to class in goofy hats or with reminder notes taped to his face.  In the middle school years of everyone trying to fit in and be like everyone else, I hope he continues to let his inherent goofiness shine through and be his own person.
 

Evan has an amazing zest for life and for having fun.  One of my favorite sights and sounds is when he is laughing his full belly laugh.  His whole face just illuminates with joy.  I hope he brings some of that to your classroom this year.

These few paragraphs have barely scratched the surface of who Evan is, but I hope it helps you to get to know him this year.   He really is an amazing kid. 

This was the teacher's response:

Hello!

I have so enjoyed getting to know Evan throughout the first few weeks of school! He is so kind, focused, and willing to share his awesome insights with his classmates. I am excited to know that he has an interest in writing novels! I have not shared this with the students yet, but I have three local authors coming in next month (after our creative writing unit) to discuss the process of writing and publishing novels! 

I am excited to get the opportunity to work the Evan throughout this school year. Please let me know if you have any questions!