Halloween Parade

The kids had their Halloween parties at school yesterday. It began with a parade of all the kids dressed in costume. It doesn't get much cuter then kids aged 2-5 marching and dancing around the gym in costumes.

I think Drew is having school anxiety issues. My first clue should have been seeing him with my picture on tv. I asked the teacher about it and she said he just recently started carrying it around again. Hmmmm. Yesterday Drew woke up at 4:30 (pretty much for the day) and asked if it was a school day. Interesting. I've been doing some thinking and my mom doctor diagnosis is: Drew's favorite teacher, and the one he is most familiar with since she was also Izzy's teacher, is gone. She hurt her back and after a couple weeks and a couple sub teachers it has now been determined that she won't be returning. My Drew doesn't like change so I think this is the problem. Hopefully now that a new teacher is in place Drew will settle back down.

Okay, back to the parade...

Here they come...






These next two pictures are two of my most favorite ever.

I think Izzy looks so pretty - and so much like herself (I know that doesn't really make sense). She is almost always smiling and just has the sweetest, softest, purest heart. Gosh I love that girl!


And words can not describe how perfect this shot is...


Here is Izzy's class...




And Drew's...

How cute are all these kids...all 7 of 'em :)

Drew was busting a move to the music while we were trying to get some class shots. I told him to stand still so he just kind of pumped his arms up and down with a very serious look on his face.


Then he ended his performance with this move.


Let the Halloween weekend fun begin!

Drew's TV Debut

Fox News filmed in Drew's classroom last week. One of the parent's of Drew's classmate (is that sentence even close to grammatically correct) works for the station (Shannon who is at the beginning of the segment) and wanted to film the kids doing preschool crafts.

The teacher said that the kids were super excited to be on tv, but as soon as the cameras came on they all froze! Drew is the cute kid in the "Rugby" shirt...he also has a picture of me next to him!!! Drew took this picture to school on the second day of class - to help with our separation. At the end of each day it gets hung on the class fridge and apparently he takes it off at the beginning of each new day. I had NO idea he still used the picture for security.

When I played it, the sound did not work? Let me know if you are able to hear it?

 

The teacher said Drew said something super cute about the spiders, but they cut it out. You can hear the teacher say, "these are just pretend spiders" ...well apparently just before that Drew said, "are dem dere real spiders?"

The Kids

The kiddos did not have school today so we went to the zoo. I can't even recall the last time we were there? We had lots of fun with our pals RC and Stephanie, but I have no pictures to show for it.

Here are a couple pics to hold you over...

Trunk-or-Treating

What a fun filled Saturday we had! Izzy had her last soccer game (more on that in another post) and then we went trunk or treating. This is a great fund raiser done by one of our nearby churches. The kids collect candy (a ton!), pick pumpkins, go on a hayride, play games and have a great time!

Cinderella and Buzz

They just kept saying, "Hi Cinderella." "Hi Buzz."

Aren't they cute


Going car to car


And collecting candy

After the third car, Izzy turned to me with a huge grin on her face and said, "This is SO.MUCH.FUN!!!"

Inside there were about a dozen kid friendly games - and more candy


I love the look on Drew's face as he checks out this kids costume


Picking out the perfect pumpkin


Posing for pictures


Once at home we checked out all our loot...candy


and prizes


I'd say we made out pretty well for our trial run of candy collecting!

Leader Day

I've mentioned before how the kids have "Leader Day" at school. On the assigned day the leader provides snack/drink and then makes all the important decisions for the class that day. The Leader selects the blessing, the book, songs, etc.

This past Friday both my kids happened to be the leader on the same day. On Thursday night Drew says to me (prompted by Izzy, I think), "Momma, can me and Izzy wearing matching things for school tomorrow?" Sure Drew...you and Izzy figure out what you want to wear :)

Here is what they selected, and unfortunately this was the only picture I snapped.


Izzy was so excited to be leader that she woke up at 5 for the day! Drew had not been to school in a week so the lure of him being leader is what got him back! ...and I really needed him to go since I was taking off for Cleveland right after I dropped them off.

For the record Izzy took water, mini snack pack oreo cookies, and string cheese. Drew took water, mini snack pack oreo cookies, bat/pumpkin shaped pretzels and carrots and ranch. That boy sure loves him some carrots and ranch and therefore assumes everyone else must too!

Since I didn't pick up that day I never got the full leader day scoop. However, since Drew only has 7 in his class and because I switched his day to last Friday since he was sick, ...he is up to be leader again on Friday!!!!!

Mean Boy

remember last week when Drew was my Silly Boy? Well, now he is just mean. ...not mean in a bad way, but mean in a funny way. He is just like his daddy and loves to make people laugh. He seems to have a knack - a gift.

I went away for the weekend and the kids stayed home with Pete. This was the second weekend that I have been away alone since having kids. Pete did fantastic!!! ...and I had a really great time too.

While I was gone, this exchange went on between Pete and Drew.

Drew (smiling): "Daddy, I don't love you anymore."
Pete: "Drew, that isn't a very nice thing to say - it makes me sad."
Drew (turning to Izzy and smiling): "Izzy, now you tell Daddy you don't love him anymore too!"

Who says stuff like this?


He sure keeps everyone laughing! In fact, when Drew's teachers see me coming down the hall to pick up Drew, they immediately begin to smile and shake their heads - not a single day has passed without a couple funny stories regarding Drew and his antics.

Magic Cloud

I usually let Izzy sleep with me on the nights Pete is out of town. So last night Izzy was in my room, and at 5:15 am I heard, "Momma, Momma". I rolled over and said "what" to Izzy, but when I opened my eyes she was still sleeping. Standing next to the side of my bed was Drew. He had climbed out of his crib (the railing is down) and walked into our room for the first time!

This is how our conversation went:

Me: "Drew, what are you doing in here?"
Drew: "Momma, can you hold me?"
Me: "Drew how did you get in here?"
Drew: "I came in on my magic cloud."

What I wanted to say was "tell your magic cloud to take you back to bed!" I have no idea if he is coming off of some weird "high" from his meds or if he just woke up and decided to tell me some story about a magic cloud? Regardless, he got into bed with me and Izzy and I never got back to sleep :(

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I dropped Izzy off to see "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" today with some friends (she had already seen it with Pete and Drew) and I asked Drew if he wanted to go to. He told me "no, cause it takes to long to get to the end." Don't you just love how children phrase things.

Baking Cookies

What started out with intentions of being cookies decorated like pumpkins, turned more into "fall" like cookies.

I whipped up some quick circle sugar cookies (decided not to mess with cookie cutters until Drew didn't require so much "holding" in his sick state) while Izzy was at a friends on Monday and then we decorated them with orange frosting. I wanted to do pumpkin faces, but the kids wanted to just shake sprinkles. Either way, they are delish!

Ready to create



Frosting, Sprinkling, Tasting!









Good times, Good times!

Wound for Sound

Perhaps the only "good" thing to come out of Drew's illness is the comic relief he brings us after his nebulizer treatments. He is SO wired after these treatments that he can't stop moving. Literally, CAN'T.STOP.MOVING.

His favorite thing to do is play the Lazytown songs featured on the Nick Jr. radio on my computer.

Take a look (and this is only an average video of his dance moves).

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Road to Recovery?

Catching up on some much needed sleep. Lord knows we aren't sleeping at night around here! I was up at 4:00 am for the day today!



Look at how he fell asleep



Thankfully he is getting better at doing the breathing treatments.



They continue to wire him - it is 10:00 and he is still awake. He is also punch drunk and talking smack. He is making comments about being naked? ...and cracking himself up. He is literally in hysterics.

Sick Boy

We were supposed to be in Charleston, SC this weekend to house hunt, hang out with Pete, get our yearly family portraits done, go to the beach, etc. Instead, this little ball of love is the reason we had to cancel our trip.



This picture was taken on Thursday morning. He had just fallen asleep at 7:30 am after being up since 3 am! He was funny while he was awake - at 4:30 he asked to go to McDonald's. I told him it was closed and he then suggested we go to Target. At 6:15 I let him go downstairs alone. While I was dozing I heard the end table being moved, followed by, "Oh! Oh! There is the switch for dat white!" So down I came to give him a poptart and turn on the tv before I headed back upstairs to try and catch a few more zzz's. It was 7:25
when he came upstairs and announced it was morning time and we could now get up - then went silent. I saw this when I looked over the bed to see what he was doing.



Unfortunately he was only able to sleep an hour before I had to wake him up and take Izzy to school. And then that night he didn't go to bed until 10:45!!! ...and that lovely array of fleece color would be my most favorite robe ever...and Pete HATES it! I think he actually thought I threw it away when he bought me a new one last Christmas.

Poor Drew is pretty darn miserable these days. He has been to urgent care, as well as his doctor. We have had 4 different medications, and a nebulizer. He gets treatments every 4 hours, and I am to wake him during the night. Yesterday he was so bad that he would say two words (in a whisper) and then inhale hard. He was clearly having difficulty breathing. After he was evaluated the nurse said not only does she think croup, but also asthma? Go figure?

This is where we are at now: the boy is totally wired from all the meds. He is sleeping very little and is increasingly irritable (my guess is lack of sleep). The upside however, is that he is very into his mommy. He has always been a momma's boy but being sick I am all he wants. I have gotten so many sickly "I love yous" that I am secretly eating up all his needed snuggles!

Hopefully he gets well soon cause I am off for a little solo trip next weekend! ...I hate to think of leaving Pete with a sick boy, but hate more leaving my sick boy without his mommy :(

My Silly Boy

Birthday Boy

Look what arrived in the mail for Drew...from Uncle Wes (my brother).



Uncle Wes called me to let me know he was sending this very generous gift and make sure I was okay with it. My mom gut told me it was a bad idea...and I was right. Many a fights have ensued over this ride on vehicle. Izzy begs daily for us to buy her one - in pink. When we explain to her that we are not just going to buy her one she gets VERY upset and says she will use her own money. Great, but she doesn't have that much money in her "Mall Money" piggy bank.

Drew's ride on companions...


And I just love this picture because it shows how serious he is about his figurines - even thought it is blurry.


Thanks Uncle Wes you hit a home run with this gift in Drew's eyes - you could make it a grand slam by sending Izzy one in pink :)

Super Cute

Just wanted to show off a super cute new dress that Izzy is sportin nowadays. I know it looks like I made it from old scraps of curtains and bedspreads, but I assure you that I paid good money for this ensemble! Though I do wish I could make this! By the time I learn to sew my kids will be too big for me to use as my models. ...don't forget to notice the fun ruffled leggings too!



Alisha, not sure if you are seeing/reading this, but good luck with getting her to NOT put her head to her shoulders for pictures! For all others - we are having our family portraits done this weekend...SUPER EXCITED!

And here is one more shot with Brother Drew - he is sporting many new pair of pj's these days and wishes to document them with a photo. I do not like characters to be on clothing, but will gladly allow it for pj's. ...so if you see a movie/tv character on my kids clothing then know it was a gift :) Since Drew adores all the character he represents, and has outgrown most of his pj's this seems to be the perfect solution.



I am way behind in posts - gonna try and do some quick recaps if at all possible over the next few days. We are gearing up for a trip to Charleston and I would like to be caught up! HOWEVER, I am home with a sick kiddo :(