October fun

The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating. Preston kept trying to get past the homeowners to explore their homes and Jeremy would run after him. By the end of the night he was sticking his hands in to grab candy for himself. Grandpa carved our pumpkins this year. On paper Spence drew the designs he wanted for the pumpkins and then Grandpa carved them. I tried to talk Spence into being Christopher Robin so he could accompany Eeyore and Tigger but he would have none of it.














































































Kids' fall parties at school. I thought it would make my life easier to sign up for the fall party for all classes so i could get my baking projects done first semester and thus be able to enjoy all the spring parties more. crazy idea. i spent the entire time running from room to room making sure i hadn't forgotten anything and didn't really spend any time with the kids. we made pumpkin muffins with candy corns baked in them and let the kids ice them and sprinkle them with pumpkin candies.























October wasn't much fun for me bc on the 1st I hurt my back and had several weeks of bedrest. Lots of time spent watching others care for my kids, cook for us, and clean for us. We had lots of help from grandparents, Lindsay, friends, and kids' teachers. The kids enjoyed getting all the special time with their grandparents. Here is dad on a night that we cooked out hot dogs and smores on our fire pit. We have had some incredibly cold nights already this autumn.









Sandra came for several days and helped with the kids when I first hurt my back. B/c i couldn't care for Preston, she took him home with her for a week. Here follows some pics from his week of fun, including a Bama game. We have wonderful parents who all are willing to drop whatever they have planned to help us when we need them.

Letter Bag

Spencer came home from school with this letter bag. He excitedly told me that his teacher, Ms. Jennifer, had chosen him to be the first student to fill the letter bag for show and tell. He was so proud. So as soon as we got home from school he ran around the house finding items that start with letter F. He enjoyed this project and was proud of his collection that included a farmer, a flag, two footballs, two fighter jets, a flashlight, a flower, fruit and food. He really enjoys pre-K 4 class this year. He likes to practice his handwriting, cut and glue, and color. He doesn't like Spanish class though and tells us that his teacher can't notice that he isn't really singing the crazy Spanish songs bc all of the other kids are singing so loudly.

Cardinal game

I won't deny that this job has some perks. Spencer and I had an opportunity to attend a Friday night Louisville game vs. UConn from the field. Spencer and I were on the field before the game meeting cheerleaders and the dance team (I had to bribe Spencer with ice cream to get that picture with the dancers...next time he can take MY picture with the dancers...) and watching the players warm up. As the game began, we watched the entire first quarter and part of the 2nd from the sideline which was awesome. We took seats near the goal line for the 2nd and half time, then made our way down to the field again for the 3rd quarter as this was when the AT&T event (the reason we were there in the first place) was to take place. This is when the funniest moment of the evening occurred.
Spencer did NOT like the Cardinal mascot. He doesn't mind his image on his hats or shirts, but he wants nothing to do with the real guy. I think he looks a little too menacing, especially compared to the benign Big AL. When we came down to the field in the third, I saw the cardinal coming down the wall giving five to everyone in reach. When I pointed him out to Spencer, Spence immediately started looking for a place to hide, but those are few and far between on a football field. As the bird got closer, Spencer started to panic. In order to save him, I picked him up and he and I made a wide arc around the cardinal so Spencer was never closer than about 10 yards and the mascot never spotted Spence.
Having survived that incident, Spencer and I went back to watching the game. Spencer was standing around the 15 yard line while I was around the 20. After watching a play, I looked back at Spencer and noticed that the Cardinal had spotted Spenc and was making a Bee Line toward him. Spencer hadn't seen him, but I thought it best NOT to have an incident of panic or a pants wetting in front of 40,000 people, so I ran to get to him first and save him. The bird still came up, but he didn't get too close and Spencer refused to have anything to do with him and the Card left disappointed. The result of the moment, though, was that Spencer never let down his guard again for the remainder of the game. Every few minutes, he would run to me and grab my legs as cover and look every which way to insure that the bird wasn't sneaking up on him again. It was classic.
All in all, we had a good time and Spencer enjoyed the game. What a childhood and he's only 4...