Halloween Recap

Before yet another holiday is long past, here is a recap of Halloween! Something that happened only three days ago!

First up, the pumpkins. Hopefully sometime soon I can share the photos from our fall shenanigans at pumpkin patches and what not. We picked two pumpkins out of a pumpkin field and we received one more at a halloween festival. The boys set out to decorate them using a new set of carving tools S found at Target. They decided to score the picture into the pumpkin, instead of cutting all the way through, and score the backside so you could see it glow. It worked pretty well. LM was the producer and director of the operation, choosing the designs and dictating their flow. 

While the carving was going on, BB and I were very helpful. BB moved all around the house, occasionally requiring someone to retrieve him. Then, he decided to rummage through the pantry. In there, he found some cheese-it packets left over from football snacks. He decided to pulverize those for us. I took photos, of course, including a selfie. See how helpful we were? I know! So helpful!

The pumpkins came out great anyway!

Now we move on to the costumes. LM had his face painted at a harvest festival we attended, and we went to a halloween festival at the sports complex with his little friend Clayton. Friday morning, BB's Kindermusik class dressed up, so he participated. Then, there was a class party at school and the actual day of Halloween neighborhood shenanigans.

The cutest batman around.


Posing for Mom


With Clayton

Clayton has been the same thing for Halloween for three years. He really likes this costume! I think it's so cute, and clearly his mom made a good investment!

Here is a side-by-side of LM and BB in this lion outfit.

On to the class party!

The dressed up, and then the K-5 classes had a parade!

Our sweet neighbor friend!

LM's little buddy from preschool that is now in kindergarten with him too!

And Clayton was there too!

Then we went to the classroom for a party!

We read a story...

And we did a fun dance...

And we had a snack!

These cuties came to the party!

And the room moms dressed up as their kids...I know, you're glad I told you. 

Now, on to Halloween!

We were "Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh my!"

The neighborhood dressed up and looked great!

Cute little lion.

Then it was time for trick-or-treating...

...and visiting our friends and neighbors.

There you go. We did it up big. And, now we are on to November! Phew! 

See you soon.

The Soccer Team Photo

Finally received this "official" photo from LM's soccer team this past spring. As you will remember, he didn't want to be in this photo. That greenery behind them is where he was hiding. And, apparently when forced into a photo not of your liking, it's appropriate to hang on the neck of your shirt. Ahem.

See you soon.

LM-isms

One of his spring preschool photos.

A first of many posts, I'm sure - I'm trying to be more deliberate in capturing these things my firstborn child says...the logic, creativity and inquisitiveness of his three year old mind. Here are a few recent incidents...

In his new "big boy" pajama bottoms.

Recently, LM went with his father to get S's truck inspected, required annually here in our fair state. They were sitting in the waiting room while that procedure was underway. This entire establishment could probably fit inside my living room and den, so the amount allotted to waiting is very small. Apparently, they were sitting in this space with one other person - a woman in workout clothes. S reports "she" was definitely  a "she" - but this did not stop LM from asking, in his loud LM three-year-old voice - "Daddy, is that a BOY or a GIRL?" S answered, "it's a girl" - and then LM turned around to check this info out again for himself, staring at the woman, while S tried to melt into the floor.

These are clearly phone photos...I wish they were better.

LM finished up his soccer season back in May. His coach is a photographer, so instead of the official team portraits, he set up his camera to take the team photo at the last practice. The kids were told to wear their team uniforms to said practice. While getting dressed in his uniform, LM expressed that he did not want to be in the team photo. We told him he had to be in the photo.

Fast forward to practice - the kids all lined up for the photo, S started talking to a parent for a moment, and when he looked back, LM wasn't there. So, he began looking for him - he looked for quite a few moments before finding him, hidden, in the bushes behind the photo area, standing completely still, so as not to be noticed. This is what he was doing to not have to be in the photo...S retrieved him and he was indeed in the photo...we don't have a copy of it because we missed the team party when we were in Indiana, but we hope to get one soon.

BB has the same aversion to riding in the car as LM did when he was a small baby - if the car is going, he's fine. If the car stops, he cries. One afternoon when we had been running errands and were all ready to be home, we had hit several red lights, and the crying from BB ensued. So, as we approached what was going to be yet another red light, S turned the truck into a retail parking lot and began driving in circles. LM asked what we were doing. S told him we were going to hit the red light, so he was driving in the parking lot to avoid having to listen to BB cry. LM's immediate response was, "Why don't we do this all the time?"   Touche, young man.

In his "basketball outfit" which is on his body anytime it's clean.

One day we were talking to LM about his day, and he was telling us about his karate class at school. He was telling us who went to karate with him, out of his larger class. Max and Harrison go, as well as Syeed, he said. Then he stopped and asked me, "Mommy, what color would people call Syeed?" I said, "People would call him 'black'." He said Syeed was more brown. I said that he probably was, but that what people would call him, which was his original question, is black. Then he asked what color we were. I told him people would call us white. He said, "No, we are tan." I said, well we might be more tan, but people would call us white. Then he said, "Well, YOU are white, but me and Daddy are tan." Uh-huh. OK.

Similarly, LM recently gained a new teacher - a Miss Jackie. His beloved infant teacher is also named Ms. Jackie - that Ms. Jackie is black and one of our favorite people on the planet. This Miss Jackie is white. When he introduced S to her one day, he said, "This is Miss Jackie - not our Miss Jackie, but the one that is the same color as we are." Clearly noting skin color is a "thing" at the moment. The thing I am glad of is that he doesn't think this is any different than noting eye color, clothing color or anything else - it's just one more descriptor in his wheelhouse - not a reason to think differently about someone. I hope the world does ever not corrupt him into thinking otherwise.

Fun with Dad

We headed out to a part of town we don't make it to often to catch Alexandra's first skating competition a couple of weekends ago. On the way there we were getting twenty questions from LM about where we were headed - what was Alexandra going to be doing, would we be participating, what would she be wearing, why was she skating, how would they compete, etc. And, where were we going, of course, was one of the questions. We said we were going to an indoor ice rink facility. He asked if it was the one at the mall - the rink where he had seen her skate at Christmas. I said no, it was not, that this one was just inside a building. He said, ok, but is that BUILDING called a MALL? Um, no. We're not tricking you, son. it really is NOT the same ice rink.

So, there are a few LM-isms for today. Hope to do some more catching up on the blog in the coming weeks.

See you soon.

First Soccer Experience

 

So, this spring LM has been on his first soccer team! We signed him up through the local YMCA, and so far he is having fun. The "season" began the Saturday after BB was born, which we thought was good timing - something new and a distraction from the baby. There is a new coordinator of all of this at the Y this spring, and things came in rather late - and somehow LM was put on a team that is older than he is - he is one of the two or three 3 year olds on the team - the rest of the team is mostly 5 - a couple of 4's. It is co-ed, as you will see.

You can see how much taller the other kids are...

The fan base

The coach is great - he's a good communicator with the parents and he's not too uptight about what they are doing - they are learning the basic rules of soccer and having fun, and that is all. I love this about him. There is no reason it needs to be anything else at this point! He sent out an email asking what number the kids wanted on their jerseys - somehow this went awry for us - we were at the hospital still, having just had BB, and thought we requested #25, which is what LM said he wanted. When the shirts came in, not only was LM #1, there is ANOTHER #1. Oh well - best laid plans...

Coach Keith rallying the troops

BB and I haven't made it to a game yet - we plan to make it this weekend. But, S and LM have been going to every practice and game. S has taken all of these photos!

The main goal of this kind of soccer - especially at LM's age - is to get down the basics - kick, don't use your hands, keep the ball in bounds, and send it to the right goal. There is one girl on LM's team that consistently scores for the other team. All the time. Details.

 

They practice once a week - it's been rained out a couple of times. So, you know, they practice when they can. At these practices, there is another team of the same age that takes this time of theirs very seriously. S says the are doing drills the whole time, up and down the field, and seem to know what they are doing. At the same time, our team is working on listening skills - learning each other's names and such. This led S to term LM's team the "Bad News Bears" of soccer. 

Couple this with the fact that sometimes LM is using the line markers as a hat, putting parts of the practice goal on his feet, and running into the bleachers instead of sitting where they are supposed to sit when they are out of the game, the verdict is certainly still out on whether this is the sport for him. For now, he plays hard when he's in and he's having a grand old time. And that's all that matters. 

See you soon.