Carving Out Some Family Fun

Weekdays are pretty much business around here. We have a routine that we tend to adhere to from Monday through Thursday. The kids' fun is limited to watching a show and maybe playing Legos or Beyblade. Sometimes we get a short board game in before it's time to take showers, brush teeth, and read books.

Tonight was different. I realized yesterday that we hadn't carved the pumpkins M and I picked up last week. If we were going to get it done before Halloween, today was the day to do it.

We started out with having breakfast for dinner. This could be the first time in my almost-ten years of marriage that has happened. D and I are going to Mexico in 11 days and have 

been eating no carbs for about a week.

Omelets were on the menu.

And D makes a mean one!

Then it was time to get our carving on!

It was M's first foray into the pulling-guts business, and she was elbow deep in it. She even donned an apron. 

J picked one named "Pirate Jack" and M's was called "Traditional Happy" which she quickly changed to Princess Jackie. 

We wrapped up the night with homemade caramel apples and caramel/cheese popcorn ~ not homemade, but delicious. 

Both D and I caved and had some.

We suck.

Our night didn't.

Accolades

Last week was conference week. 

The first one of the year for J is always a small party; with his teacher, speech therapist, case manager, the special-ed head honcho, D, me, and M sit around a table and talk all things J.

Expectations are discussed, and so are goals; both academic and social.

This is also where any concerns are addressed. 

For now, J is working in his internal dialog. Basically, keeping his commentary to himself.

I'll never forget that first conference in first-grade when his teacher told us in a hushed voice that he didn't have many friends and that he played by himself most of the time. My heart sank to my stomach and it was all I could do to hold back the tears. I don't even remember what the follow-up question was that D asked, but her answer was that the other kids "tolerate" him. Tolerate him??? 

I could hardly tolerate the overwhelming feeling of nausea that I felt.

Eventually he made a buddy and hooked up with another from the previous year. Today he has one really good friend and a couple others he plays with on the playground. His social advancement is a work in progress that he works on daily. 

So imagine my surprise when at the conclusion of last week's conference his general-ed teacher had a few parting words for us that went something like this:

"J is very charismatic. I would say that if I asked the class who they enjoy being around, J would be one of the top three names on the list."

I believe the word "fun" was also thrown in there somewhere. I could not believe my ears. I was so proud! Charismatic! He called J charismatic. And all over again, I found myself doing all I could to contain my tears at one of these meetings.

We know he's charismatic. We know he's fun. We know he's funny. Could it be that everyone else is starting to see it too?

Next, special-ed head honcho commented on how handsome he is. She said that he is probably the "Most Handsome Boy in the School." 

I'm going to concur.

And then, as icing on the cake, the next day at Kumon, Andrew commented to him what a great job he's doing on focusing. You have to know Andrew to know that praise doesn't come easily from him.

It was a good week!

A couple of days later we went to the pumpkin patch.

Hey, nobody said he followed directions.

BOO???

Before moving to WA we came out on a house-hunting trip. We looked at tons of houses before deciding on the place we now call home. Back then, there was only one house that was occupied; the rest of the neighborhood consisted of homes in various stages of construction and empty lots.

After moving in, we endured a couple of years of noisy mornings, strangers up and down the street, and nails on the street. But little by little, lot after lot, houses started popping up on what was once a pile of dirt and rocks. Lights came one, people waved, and homes were made.

People from all four corners of the country came together in a little neighborhood on Olympia's west side.

Five years later only a couple of homes remain empty. I love our neighborhood. We are surrounded by good people here. Not all of us are friends, but we're all neighborly.

During the summer months, at any given time, there are kids on the street. They vary in age and gender. And just like their parents, not all of them are friends, but there's always room for one more body to join the shenanigans at hand.

Last year someone started BOOing folks during the month of October. Basically a treat is left at the home of a neighbor along with some instructions. You tape your BOO sign on your door and BOO two other people that don't have one on theirs. The kids get a kick out of it.

On Monday I got home to a cool metal cat and a tin full of candy. I set out the next day to get goodies. Today when J got home from school he asked me why we got BOOed again. Well, I have no idea! As I drove through the neighborhood I noticed that many of the houses have multiple signs on their doors.

BOO to not following directions? No way...YAY to our cool rebel neighbors.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tea-rrific!

The Birthday Girl was up early and asked to listen to

Call Me Maybe on YouTube.

Then it was off to school where a celebration ensued: Oreo Cookies with strawberry filling.

Because no birthday would be complete without a trip to the mall, that's where we went. 

We tried on Ugg Boots 

and hats. 

We had lunch and headed home.

The night before, Daddy asked here where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. 

Because we were heading to Tacoma anyway, he suggested Buffalo Wild Wings, among other things.

Because she's her daddy's girl, she chose BWW without hesitation.

Because no birthday would be complete without a second trip to the mall,

and because she's her mommy's girl, we went to Nordstrom.

We bought her birthday present ~ some boots.

(She's weird that way...always has been....Toys or Fashion??? Fashion, of course!)

Because I love to take a family picture at every birthday,

and because there was nobody to take it, we took our own:

It's awful quality. And I'm convinced we are all more attractive than the picture shows.

Once at home, there really was somebody more attractive waiting for her:

She's been eyeing this cake every time we go to Safeway.

She was a happy girl.

And a tired one too.

As we speak she is snug in her bed; another birthday under her belt.

Partying can be exhausting, especially when you started five days ago.

Her party was last Saturday. 

All of my attempts at having it at the pumpkin patch were dismissed during the summer when I was ready to book the place.

She wanted a home party.We consulted with Daddy who swore off another after her princess one last year. 

I suggested a small tea party with a few friends. He complied. She was thrilled.

And the preparations began.

We decided early on it would be a Girls-Only event.

It was so much fun....both the planning and the day itself.

We had finger sandwiches and veggies; a story, a game, a photo booth, a candy bar,

and, of course, tea!

The moms had a nice afternoon relaxing and chatting.

It was quiet. Way more quiet than I'm used to at a party.

And then the boys came home. 

I can't believe our little girl is four!

Bribes

That right there was my Facebook status update tonight. It proved to be popular with many likes and a few I love yous.

I felt a little guilty at first, which is probably why I posted it. But as it turns out, Momma knows best. He had some homework to finish up that I knew would become a fight after running three miles. Not to mention the time. Sure enough...it took him a little over an hour to get his thoughts in place and onto paper.

He was adamant about going to practice. I love his work ethic, especially since he's been going nonstop since 7:45 this morning, but something had to give today.The deal was that if he skipped cross country and finished his homework by 7:30, I'd take him out for ice cream. We shook on it and he finished with about 20 minutes to spare.

Okay. Okay...I wasn't really in the mood to drag us out to one of the coldest parks in Olympia and wait for an hour while he ran. But those are just semantics.

Dennis has been gone all week and I'm tired! As we speak, the kids are fast asleep, the homework is done, and their tummies are full -- of the yumminess that is an Oreo McFlurry.

Like I said, Semantics!