Happy Halloween!

Lots of fun dress up opportunities for us this month!  Connor's class had a fall party a few weeks ago as his teacher was in California last week.  I got to go in and help out at the party, it was a lot of fun and the kids were so cute and excited!

Then on Thursday we had the annual fall party at Simon's work.  There were changes this year, which in general made it not as fun.  BUT.  There was the addition of a costume contest.  Which our Prairie Girl Caelin won!!  So we are looking forward to what the family can use that gift card for ;)

We got to meet Blue!  The Colts mascot thingy.  He picked Connor up and tried to throw him like a football, and later gave Caelin an autograph "To:Laura Engalls" with a P.S. of "you owe me for winning the costume contest"

We made some crafts and got some snacks.

Simon no longer has a regular office since he works from home so often, but we got to visit the work area he uses when he goes in, and of course write on the dry erase board.

I think his co workers can always tell when we've been there...

On Friday afternoon, about an hour before trick or treating, we finally carved pumpkins.  Well two of the kids did.  I dropped Claire's pumpkin which splattered all over the hall, so I decided to just let her continue napping and miss out on the pumpkin carving fun.

That night, we braved the cold, sleety rain, and snow, and went trick or treating.  Claire made it about 3 houses.  Caelin and Connor wanted to keep going, so I went with them.  Just past the halfway around the block point, they were done.  But it was too late to turn back then so we pushed on.  We mostly just ran home and didn't even ring any bells. 

Saturday night we had trunk or treating and a fall festival at church.  It wasn't raining or snowing.  But it was COLD.  I had signed up to serve food for an hour, but that turned into serving food the rest of the night.  Outside.  I thought my hands were frost bitten.  This also left Simon on his own for Trunk or Treating, but he survived.  The kids had a great time though and ended up with tons of candy.

Eiteljorg museum

 

Fall is field trip season for us.  I feel like we've had a field trip every week!  Our most recent field trip was to the Eiteljorg Museum downtown.  First, driving downtown is never a good idea!  We got somewhat lost, but managed to get there on time.  Caelin is very interested in Indians, so I wanted to make the effort to go on this trip, even though I wasn't sure how the younger kids would do.  I had never heard of this museum and it is fairly new, but they have a lot of Indian artifacts and talked about the Indian tribes that lived in indiana.  As I feared, our tour guide was a little above the kids' head.  It was supposed to be for kindergarten -2nd graders, but even the 2nd graders struggled some with following her.  I think they would have enjoyed the museum more if they could  have just walked around and looked at the exhibits as they wanted.  We were all very interested in the cradle boards :)  There was a really fun area where the kids could make tee pee models, and they loved that! We could have stayed there for the entire hour!

We ended in the basement where there was a really fun area the kids could play in.  They could dress up and play in all kinds of 'old fashion' areas, like a stage coach :)

Volcano!

So the kids take homeschool classes in the afternoons on Tuesday and Thursday.  I was a little concerned about Connor taking science class.  I know what Caelin did during kindergarten science, but she was a whole year older then Connor when she did kindergarten, and I just wasn't quite sure how he would really do.  But the wonderful, and very loving, teacher assured me that he would be fine.  So we signed him up.  And just like Caelin when she was in kindergarten, he hops in the van and tells me what he did in science :) .  And I am impressed at what he remembers and seems to be absorbing.  The other day, out of the blue, he started talking about using playdough to make a volcano.  And that you need baking soda, and WHITE vinegar.  Very adamant and clear on the WHITE vinegar.  So yesterday, we made his volcano.  He was excited, and so was Claire.  Caelin tried to act 'no so excited', but she enjoyed it as well.  I was proud of myself for just going with the flow and breaking out the stuff to let him do it.  Too often, I put things off because I want to make a lesson plan, and get books from the library, and look on pinterest for ideas, etc... and then things don't end up happening.  So we just went with it.

School Days!

 So we have officially started school for the year!  And we now officially have not one, but two, kids homeschooling!  Yes, the thought is a little daunting.  But one week in, I'm feeling pretty good.  Famous last words.

Our first day at home:

  

                                              First Day with homeschool classes at Northpoint:

 

Several of Caelin's friends come in after lunch with her

Connor's class

 

 

 

Connor is enjoying his afternoon classes at Northpoint.  His teacher sent me this picture.

We ended the week by making playdough, I'm quite impressed with myself :)

 

Vacation Day 1

A few months ago we found out that a college friend of Simon's was going to be getting married.  We decided to make a real vacation out of our trip to New Jersey for the wedding.  First step, we had to find somewhere for poor Cheyanne.  Doggie Daycare for 10 days was pretty darn expensive...so we sent her to the farm.  She was thrilled.

Cheyanne is not a fan of cars.  At all. At least she hasn't thrown up in the car for awhile.  And a shout out-God Bless my sister with a newborn who willingly took on our dog for over a week.  Clearly she needed more to do.
So the next day we got started.  Our goal was 6 hours a day.  It seemed like it might be a long drive.  Thats a whole lot of time to sing Frozen songs, in case your wondering.  I can't get the video to upload, so you luck out on hearing yet another rendition of Let It Go.

We drove 5 hours to Wheeling, West Virginia, where we stopped at Cabella's. 

 
There is an aquarium inside, so the kids got a big kick out of that:

 And of course all these animal displays...also a big hit:

 And finally a shooting range.  So that made Simon's trip! ;) 

We ate dinner, drove another hour, and then checked into a hotel.  The day went much smoother then we feared it would.

Happy Birthday!

Summer is our birthday season in our household.  We started with mine-I turned 35.  One of my friends has a boat, so for the last several years I've been able to celebrate my birthday with this group of friends by going out on the lake.  It is a lot of fun and always a beautiful night!

We even got to hand feed this crazy swan who stalked us

 On my actual birthday, we celebrated with the family by going to Menchie's for frozen yogurt.  It doesn't quite replace cupcakes with buttercream icing (okay, its really not even close!), but I survived :)

The next week we celebrated with the big party for all the kids.  We had it a park with a splash pad that isn't far from our house, and invited their friends.  I think everyone had a blast!  And it wasn't too painful for us parents either ;)