Carving Pumpkins, Cake Walks, Costumes and Candy!

Ok, so I am behind again... I promise it will get better once this UVA class is over:)

Here is an update to our end of October activities. We carved pumpkins, as we do every year. This year, Aidan drew the face all on his own and Owen tried really hard but Dad had to assist. I think they came out nice! Mine is supposed to be a ghost but it is hard to tell. We were going to take pics outside but it was raining.

I ended up having a week long break during the last week of the month. Our school was closed due to the number of student absences from swine flu and other illnesses. This was in addition to the most heartbreaking news of a student in first grade passing away from H1N1. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

During this week, the schools were cleaned and thoroughly sanitized. It seemed to help because I have all of my students back now (I was having days where I only had 9 or 10 kids in my class!). So things are basically back to normal.

Since I had some time off, I went to Aidan's school to help out with the Halloween rotations. The kids made pumpkin glyphs, spider headbands, Halloween books, made patterned necklaces from cereal and paper pumpkins, helped decorate a pumpkin to look like Curious George (the classroom theme) and decorated Halloween cupcakes! We had a great time! I wish I could visit his class more often.

That evening we went to the Fall Festival at Aidan's school. There were inflatables outside, games in the gym, and a cake walk, food, and prizes in the cafeteria. Owen won his very first cake walk and Aidan got to see several of his friends. What a wonderful family event!

On Halloween, we went to Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Bob's house to go trick-or-treating. Their neighbors do a potluck in the cul-de-sac before the candy gathering begins:) It is so great to visit with them and the boys love seeing their "girl cousins"! Aidan was a police officer and Owen was Peter Pan. They were both so adorable, as you can see from the photos.

Owen decorating his pumpkin

So proud!

Ta Da!

Aidan and some of his classmates during Halloween rotations

The Curious George pumpkin

The cake walk

Aidan playing the bean bag toss game

Emily the Pirate. Very cool!

I wasn't able to get any pics of Ashley- she was having fun with her friends:)

If you are a bad guy or a captain hook look-alike, you better watch out!

Aidan's homework- sorting his Halloween candy:)

Homework for Breakfast?

Aidan has homework to do each night Mon-Fri. They are usually hands on activities such as sorting cereal by color, making patterns with toys (blocks, cars, etc.) or drawing a picture of something that they are learning about (Johnny Appleseed, Christopher Columbus) and writing about it. We also practice his sight words with flash cards and his tracking skills with the little booklets his teacher sends home.
Well, the assignment for last Friday was to make pumpkin pancakes during the weekend!! Pretty cool huh? Sunday morning, the boys (mostly Aidan) helped me whip up a batch. They were delicious! They are best with real maple syrup which is more expensive but soooo worth it! The recipe makes a lot of pancakes so we saved the leftovers and put them in the freezer. Now we have breakfast for next weekend too :)


Ok Mom! Let's get cooking!

Stir it up!

Cook it up!

Eat it up!

Thumbs up!

Here is the recipe so you can do your homework too:)

PUMKIN PANCAKES
Ingredients:
4 cups pancake mix
2 eggs
3 cups milk
1 cup cooked pumpkin (canned or fresh)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Optional:
-butter
-maple syrup or honey

Directions:
1. Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
2. Pour small amounts of batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. When bubbles form on the pancakes and the edges begin to brown, flip the pancakes.
4. Cook a minute or more, until light brown.
5. Serve with butter, maple syrup, or a little bit of honey.
Makes about forty 4" pancakes.
Enjoy!

We're alive and well!

My poor blog has been neglected:( Things have been so busy around here. I have been trying to juggle so many things at once: working, being a Mom and wife, getting Aidan's homework and stuff done for school, the class I am taking online through UVA and my new business- Scentsy Wickless Candles. Whew! So you can imagine that there isn't much time left for the blog!
But we are doing well. Aidan is doing wonderfully in school. He is in the sight word club- He can read about 15 words automatically from his sight word list and he is reading a lot of environmental print. I am so proud of my little guy!
Owen is doing really well too. He is totally potty trained now. We were doing pull-ups only at night but we phased that out a couple of weeks ago. He does well most nights:) He knows many of his colors and shapes now but is still mostly interested in cars, trucks and motorcycles:)
Mike is working hard as always! He has been working lots of Saturdays but that should end soon. He has been such a big help to me as I try to juggle everything that I have going on right now. Thanks Hubby!
Even though I am super busy, life is good:) I have a pretty good class this year and my more challenging ones have improved so much already! My business is off to a great start and is so much fun. I think the products are wonderful which is why I became a consultant in the first place. I have learned so much about myself already since I started and I know I will learn so much more! My friend Laura did a post on her blog a while back, called becoming me. It was basically about finding yourself and growing as a person by doing things that are a little outside your comfort zone. Scentsy has done that for me and I am so excited to continue with this new chapter of my life! It just goes to show that you never know what you are capable of unless you try:)
In case any of you are wondering- what in the world is Scentsy? Here is the link for my website:
http://bforden.scentsy.us
We did go to the pumpkin patch last weekend but something went wrong when we downloaded the pictures from our new camera and we lost them:( So unfortunately there will be no post for that. I do have a good story to share though. When we were about to eat, I was unwrapping food and such and Mike was roasting hot dogs, I heard Mike yell for me to look. So I glance over at Owen and there he is with his pants around his ankles, "watering the grass" next to the picnic table. All I could do was laugh! That's the life of a mom with two boys:)

Aidan's First Day of Kindergarten

Aidan has finally gotten what he has wanted for so long. Not a trip to some super fun place, not the coolest toy on the market, nope, Aidan's greatest desire was to go to school. Since he was about 3 years old he has been interested in school. He would often ask me questions about school and what it was like. He asked me what my class did during the day. I told him what the kids were learning, the rules at school, and our fun activities. I think it really helped him prepare for school.
Now he gets to experience it for himself! As you saw in my previous posts, he has the most wonderful teacher a kid (and parent) could ask for. I can not put into words how amazing Mrs. Tirs is. Aidan absolutely loves her!
Here are some photos from his first day of Kindergarten (September 8, 2009). Mike and I both took the day of work so we could take him to school and attend the BooHoo Breakfast. We also wanted to be there for him when he got off the bus. I had the privilege of spending my child's first day of school with him. Not many Moms get to do that! I was there to help his teacher since I know how hectic the first day of Kindergarten is. I really enjoyed helping her and it was so cool to see Aidan interact with his classmates. He hardly payed any attention to me, which was great. He did so well. It was like he has been going to school for years!
I am so excited about the wonderful experiences that he will have at school. Way to go Aidan! Mommy is so very proud of you:)

Ready to go

My sweet boy

Walking with Dad

Aidan standing if front of his class bulletin board

Working at his table

Reading with one of his classmates

Storytime

Mmmm...lunch

First ride on the school bus:)

What a great first day!

Blackboard Cupcakes

I found a recipe for an adorable back-to-school treat! They are called Blackboard Cupcakes and they are so much fun to make. Of course they were a huge hit with Aidan and Owen (and Mike too)!
Here is a link for the recipe:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50564

This is the page from family fun magazine. Cute huh?

Aidan putting the liners in the cupcake pans

What a great helper!

Owen helped out too!

Covering them with yellow frosting

Writing the messages on the cookies


Mini blackboards

Ta da!

What a delicious way to kick off the new year:)

Celebrating Back to School at Build-a-Bear

On Friday, Shannon had a backto school pizza party for the kids. She gave Aidan a gift card to Build-a-Bear as a back to school gift! Of course Aidan was so excited that we had to go the next day. So on Saturday, we drove out to Stony Point to the Build-a-Bear store.
Aidan picked out a wolf which he named Gray and Owen picked out a Dog which he named Doggy. The animals went everywhere with them the rest of the day. They sleep with them everynight. Mike is hoping that Doggy will replace the well loved Duckie but I am pretty sure that is not going to happen:) The boys had a great time at Build-a-Bear. What a great way to kick off the school year! Thanks Shannon!

Filling Aidan's wolf with fluff

Filling the animals' hearts with LOVE

Aidan with his new friend, Gray

Bathtime

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Putting Doggy's info in the computer

Aidan at the computer

The boys and their adorable animals

Happy Back to School Aidan!

Aidan's Kindergarten Orientation

Here are some photos from the day of Aidan's Kindergarten Orientation. It's hard to believe he is going to school already. The past five years have flown by! I know how much fun he will have at school and I am so excited for him:)
Aidan is even more excited than I am. He loves to learn and he loves school. He can't wait to go!
The night before orientation I received a phone call from Aidan's teacher. I am extremely happy to announce that Aidan is in Mrs. Tirs class, the teacher he had this summer! I have to admit I was crying because I was so happy to hear the wonderful news:) I am sure the other teachers are wonderful but Mrs. Tirs is extra special. Teachers like her are few and far between. You can tell she absolutely loves what she does and she is very devoted to the children. She is always full of cheer and has something nice to say. What a blessing it is for Aidan to have her as a teacher! We are looking forward to a wonderful school year!

My handsome boys

Dad and Aidan

Aidan and me

Aidan in front of his class list at orientation.