Maddox had her Kindergarten pictures taken several weeks back. I think they turned out very nice. She picked out her necklace and outfit…which wasn't at all what I had planned for her to wear!! She is starting to be a bit pickier about what she wears to school. She'd wear a dress and dress shoes everyday if I let her…but thank goodness for gym 3 times per week which she HAS to have tennis shoes on for. I paired up her picture with my Kindergarten picture…we look eerily alike!! In the long run I was very happy with her choice of clothes and necklace :) 'Just let her be mom!….within reason' …...
I picked these beautiful roses from my garden a couple of weeks ago. They smelled SO good…the fragrance filled the room. The red one spanned about 6 inches wide…so beautiful. Thank you Grandma Doris!!
We spend a lot of time at the museum. Kennon has literacy school on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and then Maddox has ballet on Thursday afternoons. It is such a fabulous facility….the kids don't seem to tire of it. The two girls on the right, Inika and Kaylyn, are in Maddox's ballet class and they are all buddies!! Kaylyn also has a little brother, Brenden ( on the far left), who is 4 just like Kennon so they hang together while the girls are dancing away.
Love their faces!!
Friday October 16th Pleasant View grade school held it's annual PTA fundraiser called Fall Fest. It is a grand event and the biggest fundraiser for the PTA all year, as well as it raises a large amount of funds for the teachers to use directly for supplies for their classrooms like iPads and computer products. The hallways are lined with little games for the kids to play, the library is turned into a cake walk room, the gym has two huge jumpy houses and more games and the cafeteria has lots of goodies to eat for sale. Luckily we had reinforcements to help keep an eye on the kiddos…. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim were able to join us. They were excited to see Maddox's school and even got to meet Mrs. Gaspelin, Maddox's teacher. We all had a great time!! Thanks for joining us Grandpa and Grandma.
Silly faces!!
Sunday the 18th Kennon and I joined our good neighbors, the Millages, at a SuperHero Fun run. It was a PTA fundraiser for a school in Davenport. Kennon and I dressed up bit with our masks and capes and hit the pavement..or rather field. We ran 1/2 mile together! He was huffing and puffing by the end but ran the whole time.
'Go Super Kennon!!'
Kennon and Brecken with their finisher ribbons and certificates.
October 23rd neither of the kiddos had school. We looked at the weather and then loaded up quickly to run out to our usual pumpkin patch, Shady Knoll in Hampton, IL. There wasn't a sole there given the impending rain on the horizon….which gave us free reign over the animals and the fields.
Somehow these two pics got out of order. Sorry. We had one of Maddox's classmates, Avery, over for a playmate. They had been planning this play date for quite some time and were upstairs in Maddox's room and changed to dance costumes in no time after running from the bus to the front door!! They REALLY want to have a sleepover however both Avery's mom and I know both girls probably wouldn't make it through the entire sleepover so we are hoping to do a sleep'under' sometime soon. The girls get together at one house, pizza, a movie and playing and then they head home for bedtime.
Avery wanted to wear Maddox's bee costume from her dance recital last year. So cute!! Kennon begged to put on his pirate costume and join them…although I will say they weren't thrilled to have the tag along 4 year old boy!! I kept him busy playing boardgames upstairs while the girls played in the basement. Everyone had a great afternoon.
Both Maddox and Kennon are really enjoying Awana at church on Tuesday nights. It is nice to be a leader in Kennon's room to be able to stay up with the happenings. Maddox enjoys her 'solo' big girl time as she is a Spark now and up with the school aged children. At the end of the night the Cubbies ( Kennon's class) get to go to the 'game room' and play with Mr. Scott. I thought Kennon's expressions were great!! By this time they are very ready to get their sillies out….and us leaders are looking for an organized physical activity!
Ok….here we go…back at the pumpkin patch!
2015….. Maddox 6. Kennon 4.
2014- I got a bit nostalgic and sifted…and I mean sifted…through my old photos and found some cute comparisons. This just reminds me they are growing so fast!!! Kennon-3. Maddox-5. Although I do see Maddox is standing on the hay bale which throws off the height comparison.
2012- Maddox -3
2012- Kennon -1
2015 Maddox-6 Kennon-4
Kennon -1
Maddox 3 Kennon 1
Kennon - 4 2015
Kennon - 3 2014
Maddox - 6 2015
Maddox 2014 - 5yrs
2015
2014
2015
2014
Man…they are so growing up!! I can't believe how much older they look….but still with the same size heads!!! ( in case anyone was thinking that…I hear ya…I was thinking the same thing as I matched up all the pictures)
Last Saturday Eric purchased a new flat screen TV for one of his conferences rooms at The Planning Center. That meant a trip to the office on Saturday so we could carry it in. The kids love to go to Eric's office because they get free reign ( for the most part) on the multitudes of dry erase boards and easels with big blank paper…and there always seems to be fun new markers too.
Getting so big!!
Kennon has Literacy class on Mondays and Wednesdays. Every other Wednesday I pick up both the kiddos from Our Savior preschool we grab lunch, or have a picnic, and then head to the museum for class. The opposite Wednesday Cami's mom picks up the kiddos. It works out really well since the day we AREN'T on pick up duty we have from 8:45-2:30 free and can work a longer shift. Caroline, Cami's mom, works sort of on a very limited part time basis like I do so it works out well for both of us. Kennon and Cami are buddies….only Cami has about 100x more energy, or spirit as her Grandma told me the other day ;), than Kennon. We always have good time together though.
A few weeks ago the Family Museum bought a 'BIG' piano…just like the one Tom Hanks played on in the toy store in the movie Big. It is so fun and the kids just love to run up and down it. It is as cool in person as it is in the movie.
Kennon and Cami on the piano
Maddox having dance party on a lazy Saturday morning a couple of Saturdays ago.
Last Thursday Maddox came sprinting out of ballet class to find Kennon and I in the museum to tell me she had lost her first tooth!!! This tooth has been hanging on for quite some time so I wasn't totally surprised although a bit surprised it occurred in ballet? But they do a fair amount of running and moving around in the class so not totally surprising. She was so excited to tell Eric when we got home and even more excited to put the tooth under her pillow ( after we dug it out of the garbage….unbeknownst to Maddox…. Eric accidentally threw away the Kleenex that one of the dance mom's had put the 'prize' in when she ran out of the class with her bloody tooth. I apparently forgot to mention that the Kleenex held the beloved tooth and he thought it was just a snotty Kleenex lying on the counter!! oops!! ). She awakened to a special note from the Tooth Fairy and a $2.00 bill.
The day after the lost tooth was Maddox's first official school party. The kids celebrated Halloween on Friday afternoon with a parade on the playground and a party in their classroom. I was on snack duty for the party and got to help get a few things set up in the classroom before the party and also get a few extra special chatting sessions with Mrs. Gaspelin. I'm always interested in any details on how Maddox is doing in school and she really had nothing but good things to say about Maddox…phew…thank you!! We do have a conference with Mrs. Gaspelin on Thursday. We are looking forward to the meeting.
The 4th, 5th and 6th graders get their costumes on and then line the primary playground for the Kindergartners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders to parade around. The big kids give high 5's to and make the little kids feel pretty special. Moms and Dads and siblings are welcome to come see the parade. Eric was able to bring Kennon so he could join in the festivities. Maddox was surely overwhelmed but had this sort of permanent smile on her face during the entire parade.
If you are wondering 'what the heck is Maddox??'….I completely understand. She is Rapunzel and was insistent on wearing this beautiful purple leotard she and I found at the Family Museum's Dance Company costume sale a couple of weeks back. We added a hair piece, a wand and a little Rapunzel cape and she was happy with her costume….however it is not super forthcoming on what the heck she is !!!
Enjoying the festivities of the party in her classroom.
The kids playing Freeze Dance which was facilitated by the room mom standing at the right with the iPad. Maddox loved this as did all of her classmates.
This little gal, Jessica, lives on our street and has a late birthday… She'll turn 6 but not till April or May. She also has some physical disabilities….for instance…she just started running this past summer. Maddox has REALLY taken her under her wing and Jessica's mom and Mrs. Gaspelin could not be happier. Maddox specifically helps Jessica in gym which is her most challenging class you could imagine. But her physical therapist has been reporting to Joy, her mother, that because of Maddox Jessica is now willing to try and even participate in some of the activities she wasn't willing to do at the beginning of the school year in gym glass. We are so proud of her!! But, also not surprised…she tends to seek out the children who are younger than her and sort of 'mother them'. Sometimes that doesn't work out so well but in this case it has really been a blessing to Jessica and her family as well as to give Maddox the self confidence she needed to do well with her adjustment to Kindergarten. At the party Friday another one of Maddox's friends came up to Joy, Jessica's mom, and told her that 'Maddox takes such good care of Jessica'. Oh…melt my heart.
After Maddox's Halloween party it was such a nice afternoon we stayed outside and did a little yard work. We 'borrowed' some of the Kubalsky's leaves and made a leaf pile!! So fun.
Saturday afternoon, a bit before Trick-or-Treating began we headed up to a neighbors house to play, eat pizza, finish watching the Hawkeye game and just chat it up with the adults and kiddos. It was a nice time. Maddox and Kennon love neighborhood get togethers and this one was especially fun with all the costumes.
Generally all of these kiddos live in our little block of Judge… plus a few random bodies… We are so blessed to live in such a great family friendly neighborhood. The streets were just filled with kids and parents from about 5-6.
Couldn't resist putting the pic with the dog in it….
Notice the dog is now gone….enjoying some pizza from some unmanned plates that were sitting on the ground. Smart doggy!!
Bellies full of pizza means its time to Trick-or-Treat
Kennon- 2 years
My sad Tinkerbell- 3 years
Hittin' the pavement to grab the goodies!
We had to stop and see Jack or rather 'hotdog' Jack, our good neighbor Lori and Lee's little black dog.
Pumpkin carving Friday night.
Oh my…well this took much longer than I had planned (probably all the searching for old Halloween pics..but it was so fun! ). Just a quick update. Like I said we have a conference with Mrs. Gaspelin on Thursday. I have come to really LOVE Mrs. Gaspelin. She is very candid with me as well as the students. I am excited to hear some details as to how Maddox is doing in school. Maddox has started reading up a storm. She sort of 'fought' me all summer with reading. I knew she could do more but just wasn't…voicing her independent decision making. But, man…she can pick up most any book and go to town. It is sooo fun! She reads to Kennon now which he enjoys. She is also coming along with her math and has a program called ST math to work on online for homework each week. It has this cute little Penguin guy as it's mascot that keeps the kiddos attention. In order to log in to her profile she has to remember an 18 tile password…!! It is amazing to watch her pick the tiles from this long list in the correct order and boom she is logged in…I am CERTAIN I could not remember all the tiles in the correct order that she has picked for her particular password. Kennon is doing well in both preschool and Literacy school. His hand writing continues to improve each day and he asks to work on his homework each day. He and I love our afternoons together. Eric and I are enjoying our new small group through church. We meet on Sunday evenings at one of the couple's homes from 6-7:30. The kiddos all play in the basement. We are not studying a specific book but rather just going through some more in-depth discussion questions related to the Shawn's message for the weekend. One time per month they do a social activity and get a sitter for all the kiddos. That is going to be this coming weekend…dinner out and some activity ( bowling, comedy sports etc). We are looking forward to having another set of adult friends with common Christian values. I have one patient I am case managing and am working in the new software to compete her documentation. It has been a bit of a disaster with the new software so I'm just sort of sitting back and letting the bugs get worked out before I try to get my hands on too many patients to learn the software. Eric is working a lot but is still managing to find time to be at special events such as Maddox's Halloween party and her conferences on Thursday. I am so thankful for that. Ok…time for bed. Hope all is well.
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