Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun time dressing up and getting lots and lots of candy! Natalie kept saying over and over "I like treat or treating, it's fun!" Although I dare say they enjoyed handing out candy even more.

The Cat in the Hat

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Scary Witch

Annual Pumpkin Carving

Tonight was the highly anticipated carving of the pumpkins. Everyone had a very specific ideas of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like. Unfortunately for Mitch and I, we were having a hard time putting those dreams into a reality.



Natalie is explaining to Mitch how she wanted the mouth of her pumpkin to look like.



Cameron wanted no one helping him carve his pumpkin. He was literally climbing on the table and into the pumpkin to get it cleaned out. Cameron had sketched on a paper the exact look of the teeth he was going for. Mitch was struggling to get the look "just right."



Julia wanted a "bunny rabbit" pumpkin. Being very creatively challenged myself, it turned out "interesting."





Happy Halloween!

My Jules

Today I had the fun opportunity to help out in Julia's classroom. There are so many volunteers to help that this is probably one of maybe four times I will get to do it this year. It is so cute to see the kids in the classroom learning and doing their thing. One of the aids that is helping in Julia's class this year was the same aid that was Cameron's very special lunch helper last year, Mrs. Latimer, who literally got him through lunch time in the 1st grade. I have so much gratitude for her. I got to speak with her for a few minutes while I was there today and she told me at the beginning of this year when she was learning who everyone was, she suspected that Julia was Cameron's sister but wasn't sure. In having a conversation with Julia she asked Julia if she had a brother and who his teacher was. Mrs. Latimer then asked her what her mom's name was, this was her response: "Hmm... I don't know what her name is but my daddy calls her Mindy." When Mrs. Latimer told me that we both had a good laugh. Tonight I find myself thinking about that and laughing all over again. What a funny girl.

Crush

My lunch conversation with Julia went a little like this today:

Julia: Mom, do you know what the word crush means? I do, it means love.
Mom: Oh really....and who told you that?
Julia: Dustin. He told me that he has a crush on me on the bus. Two times.

I just started laughing. The look on Julia's face was so funny. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Julia: I don't have a crush on Dustin though.
Mom: That is good.
Julia: I have a crush on Caleb! I am going to sit next to him on the bus today.

I might need to start driving Julia to school from this point on. The bus is starting to look like a dangerous place.

Just so you know...

I have a stuffed animal alligator Mitch gave me when we were in high school. Julia has taken a liking to it and has been playing with it a lot lately. She asked me if it had a name and I told her it didn't but if she wanted to she could name it. She named it Baileigh H. Not just Baileigh, but Baileigh H. Named after the one and only Baileigh H. in Cameron's class. This makes me laugh every time I hear her playing with it. So random.



Cameron LOVES listening to the B-52's. Don't get me wrong, I like Love Shack, Private Idaho, and Rock Lobster like the rest of us but Cameron has brought it to a whole new level. Every time we get in the car he requests that we listen to the B-52's. His favorite song is a very strange song called "Planet Claire". He is highly entertaining to watch while the song is on. I blame Mitch for the weird fascination with this group. :) I guess--to each their own!

Homework- Nazi Style

This year Cameron has spelling tests. This has been a real trial, anyone with Schvaneveldt blood should know what I mean (I am starting to have flashbacks of my youth!) In practicing with him there is crying, whining, yelling, anger, joy, excitement and elation in every homework session. It is beyond exhausting and it consumes us. That being said... he has gotten 100% on the last three tests.

I have hung up some sight words on a bulletin board that Julia has been learning. Cameron came up with this fantastic idea that he would be the teacher and give Julia a "spelling test" every day. Julia being as sweet as she is, goes along with this. Each day when they get home one of the first things they do is have her test. Cameron has a notebook where he has a yes and no column, a clipboard, a pointer stick, and also a rubber stamp that are all involved in the test giving. For every word she gets right she gets a tally mark on the yes side and for each word she gets wrong she gets a tally mark in the no column. After the test has been given he tallies up her score. At times Cameron can be a little intense, I dare say the test giving is more like a school in Nazi, Germany. There has been crying involved when mercy on Cameron's part has not been shown. But for the majority of the time he has been a good teacher and they are enjoying it. Yesterday when Julia passed her test with only one wrong answer Cameron shouted, "Julia, you are workin the pain!" I have no idea where he came up with that or what it means but it made me laugh. It actually might be a little painful! Julia is a good sport and by the way is getting really good at her sight words.

Alarming?

I know I have said it before, but Julia is growing up way too FAST!



Should I be alarmed that:

• My 5 year old thinks she is turning 15?

OR

• That she told me today after trying on her new tights that didn't fit that we HAD to go exchange them before school because she told her friend Savannah that she would be wearing them today at school so she just needed them?

OR

• That she is completely in LOVE with silly bands and I had to learn what in the heck they are?

OR

• She prefers to sit next to boys on the bus than girls? At Cameron's soccer practice last week she met and had 3 little boys chasing her. She would put her hand on her hip and give the "come here" signal with her finger and when they would get close she would take off running, laughing hysterically as they all followed behind. If Mitch had been there to see that he might have had a heart attack!
  

These are the things that are starting to keep me up at night!

Small Victories

Today was a small victory or maybe a big one. Cameron bought hot lunch at school! Every Friday the school has Big Daddy's pepperoni and cheese pizza. Cameron has been wanting to buy pizza for quite sometime but has had too much anxiety to do it. He was so excited this morning that he was finally brave enough to do it! I am so proud of him. This has been a really struggle for him and I am so glad he is able to overcome it. Hooray for Big Daddy Pizza!

Ode to My Uncle Dale

A Timeless Schvaneveldt Classic

When we were small my dad taught my sister's and I a song in Swedish about frogs. As kids we sang it a lot. I taught it to my kids-- to pass it down the generations. I am sure that in reality a Swede would say that this isn't Swedish at all... but the kids do have a lot of gusto while they sing!

Guess Who Scored a Goal Today?

WAY TO GO JULES!!

Maris Farms

There was no school on Friday so I decided to take the kids to a pumpkin patch. I had heard about a fun farm in Buckley so we went to check it out. The weather was supposed to be okay, rain in the afternoon and kind of cool but the weather man was once again wrong. It was PERFECT weather and actually hot in the sun. The farm had so many activities we were there for a long time and it was SO much fun. The pictures don't even begin to show all the things there was to do. Next year we are taking our dad! Thanks grandma for coming along.



Cameron LOVED this turkey. He kept telling me how beautiful it was. It was the same size as Natalie and it scared her to death.

The corn maze was fun--Cameron and Julia were experts!

They had pig races that people could bet on or cheer for. The kids liked picking out a pig that they thought was going to win. They also were handing out free samples of Papa Murphy's pizza. Could it get much better?

The cow train...we also went on a hay ride around the farm!