Halloween 2009

Our family looks forward to Halloween every year. The girls think about costume ideas all year long and they are anxious to decorate our house. Some of our neighbors have elaborate decorations, including graveyards, mummies, and spiderwebs. I remember spending hours as a kid making decorations (gravestones and spiderwebs included) for my parent's house but I am reluctant to turn our yard into anything too spooky now.  We did put up ghost and pumpkin lights around the door and huge spider webs on the bushes and porch. It is the inside that becomes very festive. I have been saving the kids holiday creations and have emassed a huge collection of handmade spiders and pumpkins and the like.

On Friday Emma wore her The Money you could be Saving costume to school. Rae and Meg brought theirs and put them on after lunch. I took off early and met up with Bridget and Ms. Lacey at school for the parade. I helped in the classrooms and then we watched the parade at elementary school. Bridget and I then helped at the parties and Bridget was treated to goodies by Rae and then again by Megan when we went to kindergarten.

When we got home Emma was flying high after a day full of postive comments about her costume. I must admit I too felt great having my work be a hit for Emma. At lunch she said her Principal sought her out becasue he had been hearing about her costume all morning and then got on the mic to say "I've got a feeling somebody's watching me".

That night Megan was invited to a halloween party at a classmates house. Megan and I went to that together. It was a huge party of adults and kids and she had a wonderful time.

We split up on the morning of Halloween to attend the simultanious activities. Emma had 2 field hockey games that morning. Recently she became very passionate about the sport and really wanted to be a part of some scoring. I've never seen her sprint or stay on a ball like she did this weekend. After each game she wanted to play and try again. Megan had dance class and Rachael had a soccer game. Rae was goalie for 1/2 of the game and was full boar the whole time. Forget the net, she was determined that no one was even going to come into her box. Anytime the other team came near she would run up, but stayed within the penalty box where she could use her hands, and she would scoop up the ball even if feet were kicking around her.

After the morning of sports we came back to the house and I worked on the wet leaves. Megan got a book and practiced her reading in a tree, and Bridget rolled around in the really dirty leaves. Jim meanwhile worked with Emma and Rachael to scoop out pumpkins and carve safely.

The Brinks came over to join us for trick or treating. I was putting hot curlers in Rachael and Bridget's hair when they arrived. Rachael had requested to do curls in her hair for the jedi costume and Bridgie thought fancy princess hair was a great idea. Emma was going to join her friends for trick or treating like last year, but first would stay with us and visit our neighbors. Once the curls were ready and the spray glitter was in Megan and Emma's hair, it was time for pictures. They were so patient with me and my multiple shots.

We visited the neighbors on our street first and then Jim walked Emma to her friends house so she could hang out with friends. It was really humid and I was beginning to regret the umbrella and the raincoat that I carrying. We went from house to house practicing halloween manners and collecting candy. Jedi Rachael kept Princess Bridget company took her hand and said "This way, my Lady". JoJo was a lot of fun to have a along, he is very articulate and focused. At one house his focus turned to the toys on the floor in the living room. He walked right in and picked up toys. I was the closest adult so I had to go in after him. I told him we had to go and he responded "I want to play trucks". It was a bit awkward but we got out and had a big laugh. Jim joined us just in time to hear the story.

A few houses latter the rain began to fall, just a drizzle, so we opened the umbrellas and continued. We took a short break on someones step to enjoy a piece of candy. Once Bridget had the taste of chocolate it was hard to keep her out of her container. The rain got steadier and the temperatures started to drop. Poor Megan was looking cold and rather wet in her fairy costume so we did more walking than trick or treating and headed back.

It was then time for candy. The chill disappeared as we sorted and went through the candy and of course ate some too. The Brink's brought us cookies so we shared those. The kids played and Rachael built a Smarties tower. Then time for PJ's. They were tired and fell asleep fast. I went out to join Emma at her friend's house for their party. Emma was having a great time so I joined the Moms in the kitchen. We got a huge laugh when we realized we were each a decade older than the other. 36, 46, and 56 all with 11 year old daughters. It is nice to get along so well and have so much in common without age being part of the equation. I did kind of like being the youngest though.

Pumpkins and sports

Our fall sports season is coming to end soon. Emma's Field hockey team had it's last regular season game on Sunday. She has really learned a lot this year and we have been really impressed with her willingness to get in there. Her team has lost all but one game, that was a tie, and some were loses by a large margin. Despite this dismal record, the coaches and girls stayed upbeat each game, cheering each other on. This Sunday's game even got the bleachers excited as Emma twice took the ball down the field. She controlled the ball and took it half the length of the field past multiple defenders. We were really proud of how she played. Next is a tournament of 3 games this coming weekend.

Team Brazil's season is coming to a close with only a few games left to play. Rachael has really enjoyed the season and her teammates. The games have been pretty evenly matched. This year Rachael has been focused on the game and even had a few scoring chances. After her game on Saturday we went up to the elementary school for their fall festival. The girls enjoyed all of the carnival games. Emma walked around with Bridget at the beginning doing games and winning plastic Halloween stuff. Rachael would up winning a whole hand of green plastic witch fingers. Quite a hit. Meg and Rae went through the Haunted Hall together and both decided it wasn't that scary.

That evening Rae, Meg and I went to a Girl Scout campfire. It was raining so we were under a pavilion and the fire outside didn't last long but everyone participated eagerly in the songs and enjoyed the smores.

Jim and Megan went on her first kindergarten field trip to a farm. The rain caused the first attempt to be canceled so we were really happy it was a beautiful fall day. There were lots and lots of kids and Jim asked her is she wanted to walk around with anyone. She replied "I want to walk around with you." They spent time petting animals, doing a hay ride and picking pumpkins.

Every one's Halloween costume is ready except for Emma's. Bridget is going to be princes Aurora, "the pink one" as she calls her. Jim went shopping with her and bought her pink sparkly shoes. She LOVES them! Megan will be a fairy from the Tinkerbell movie. Rachael took a long time to decide and multiple trips to stores but is very happy with her choice of Star Wars Jedi. Emma's costume is a work in progress. She is going to be The Money You Could be Saving with Geico. I loved this idea and tried to clam credit for the idea myself but it was Jim's. It took a while for me to work out how to do it and I am still working on assembling the pieces. Em is really excited about it and so am I. I'll be sure to post pictures.

The fall is so beautiful here. Our trees are turning amazing hues and dropping their leaves. This weekend I discovered that all of the girls had gone outside and at Rachael's inspiration were all trying to catch the leaves as they were falling. It rained all last night but I hope it dries out really nicely so they can rake and play and rake again. We have a blast with the leaves every year.

The Kindergartner

The season has changed to Fall and it has brought with it the new world of school for Megan. She has eased into the new routine of all day kindergarten and is enjoying the challenges. She has internalized the goal of learning to read and she is enjoying the new skills she has already picked up. I have been watchful these last few years and am determined to head off any learning disabilities early if they appear. The reason I say this is because Megan exhibits many of the same struggles in reading that Emma did. It took us 4 years to get Emma to a point where she could fly and I am hopeful we won't waste any time with any of the others.


Megan has happily embarked on this task of reading and is currently outside in the clubhouse going over her sight word books as I type. She is memorizing and retaining a lot and glows with pride as she reads to us. So far so good. I am proud of the excitement with which she approaches school.


She has recently become obsessed with making her own "books" and is singlehandedly taking down the rainforests. If I don't reign her in she'll use 20 sheets of paper, draw a few marks on each sheet and then staple them together. She has now created dozens of these "books". I cut her book production off and told her that she now needs to go back and write on or draw real pictures in her existing books before she can create more.


Kindergarten has meant lots of new friends and I am eager to go in for Halloween so I can put faces to the names. It sounds like she is making a wide group of friends. I have been a little surprised that the majority of the kids she talks about are boys. The first few weeks of school she kept talking about a boy, Crum. The name seemed odd to me and I recalled one boy I met on the first day named Graham and asked if that is who she meant. Yup! I guess graham crackers and crumbs have a strong association for her.


Being the 3rd girl means that Megan doesn't get to have a lot of firsts. But last week Megan became the first in our family to become a Daisy girl scout. Daisies is for kindergarten and 1st grade girls. She was so eager to be a scout and be able to participate in the activities she has seem Em and Rae take part in. So on Tuesday the five of us went to witness her Investiture ceremony. In the week leading up the the ceremony Megan shadowed me at home until I finished sewing the patches that she earned this summer at GS camp onto her uniform, and I got it ready in plenty of time. Meg played with the new tunic throughout the ceremony and couldn't wait to put her new pins on.


She is taking dance class this year. This class is with the same program as the one from last year but it runs the whole year and adds Jazz dance to the Tap and Ballet skills. It is only a rec program but she loves it and I have been impressed with her poise.


The down side of all day kindergarten is that she is more tired and way more whiny but hopefully she will grow out of this and maybe less daylight hours will help her get better rest. Kindergarten has also coincided with her first lost tooth and a 2nd should fall out soon. That means my curly headed girl has an adult tooth. It is a long road to adulthood but it has already begun... in Kindergarten.