Pumpkin Painting

 It was Christian's idea to paint pumpkins.

 His is supposed to have something to do with baseball.

 McKenna worked on her pumpkin forever. In the end the whole thing ended up being a big smear of colors, but she had fun.

 Such concentration.

Will even got in the action when no one was watching and he painted a little blue on his face.

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment on the previous post if you want to win a $50 credit to Tiny Prints (a division of Shutterfly).

Little Helper

Helping Mommy sort her coupon inserts.

The funny thing is that he was actually helpful!

October: Fire Safety Month

 McKenna's preschool got a visit from the local fire department.

I figured Will would like to see the big trucks so we stuck around.

 I had just taken a picture of his super cute shoes when he ran across the pavement and did a face plant on the blacktop. That resulted in lots of screaming, a huge knot on his forehead and a torn up bloody nose. Just great.

 So I snapped a few quick pictures of McKenna with her friends and then Will and I got out of there so everyone else could enjoy the firetrucks without Will screaming in the background.

 I mean really.

 She got to climb up in the back.

 She was not about to try on that hat, so this little guy did.

See McKenna grabbing for Gwennie's hand?

She's been known to do this on the soccer field too.

I guess it's just a good think McKenna loves her friends so much.

------------------------

While we're talking about Fire Safety Month...

Here's a few things we do in our house this month:

1. Talk about and go to a family meeting place. Ours is our mailbox. The kids know that if there's a fire, they should get out of the house and I will be waiting for them there (I will actually be panicking and screaming and searching for them....but they think I'll calmly be standing by the mailbox).

2. Make sure your kids know how to unlock your windows and kick out the screen (they need to know that it's okay to break the screen if they need to).

We just practiced this. Christian can unlock the window and get it up and kick out the screen. McKenna can unlock the window but she can't get the window up. Good info for me to know.

3. Have a family fire drill and make your kids go out the window. They need to know that they can get out of the house in other ways besides the door. I actually do have my kids climb out the window. I don't help them. I make them do it themselves or help each other so they can get over the fear of going out the window. We do this every year and they think it's fun. But really it has put the idea in their head that if they're ever stuck they do have options.

4. We talk about how to get out of the basement and I show them how to open the cellar doors. Neither of them are strong enough to actually lift the cellar door, but you never know what they might be able to do in a real emergency.

5. They talk all about stop-drop & roll at school and lots of other important stuff, but there are some things unique to your house that you need to talk about while you're sitting in your home. Make a point of practicing and talking through some of those things this month!!

Pumpkin picking with my munchkins

 Will and I got to tag along with McKenna on a preschool field trip this morning.

Will looks thrilled doesn't he.

 Just look at the view. I love living here.

 As soon as we climbed out of the hay wagon, McKenna took Wills hand and off they went.

 McKenna was a little surprised at how "prickly" the stem of the pumpkin was.

 Will loved having the freedom to just run around. It was surprising to me that he actually stuck close.

Silly friends.

Happy Fall y'all!

A Pinkie Promise

 Five years ago I made a deal with this cute first grader.

Oh how I adore this picture of her!

I made her pinkie promise that if she ever cried at school or felt like crying that she would tell me.

Girls are really awesome at keeping up their end of the deal with that pinkie promise. She always told me when she was sad.
She never had to wait for the "right moment" she just laid it out there. That's the difference between a seven yr old girl and a seven yr old boy!!!

I know that "pinkie promises" are sort of for girls...or so I'm told.

But this first grader reluctantly made the same pinkie promise with me this year.

I'm so thankful that my bedtime routine with this guy has become (for the most part) a safe time for him of talking and praying and reading and snuggling. It's when all the big stuff in his life comes up. Last night I was so glad we had made that pinkie promise. He kept his end of the deal. A series of unfortunate things happened all in a row yesterday. He handled it and there was nothing I could have done about any of it....a migraine, his brand new super cool water bottle fell out of his backpack and cracked, none of his friends were on the bus... That's some pretty bad stuff when you're seven. So he looked out the window on the bus and blinked a lot, which is code for - I am trying really hard not to cry. 

You know what's ALWAYS in the back of my mind as I sit there and listen to my precious seven year old? I think about that boy being 16 or 21 and how I pray that in his mind I will still be a safe person to talk to and get advice from. The stakes will be so much higher then and I pray that Ryan and I will still be a huge influence in his life at that point. I'm working hard now to take a deep breath and give him the time he needs so that I can build a solid relationship with him now.

I'm so thankful that we grabbed pinkies on the first day of school. He rolled his eyes as he promised to always tell me if he was sad. But that moment stuck with him and how thankful I am that he kept his promise.

Soccer...it's not her thing

 But she sure looks cute out there...despite the fact that I bribed her last week with candy corn if she would just kick the ball once during their game.

 I'm okay with soccer not being her sport of choice. We probably won't do this again with her, but she needs to try when she's out there. We've told her that her team is counting on her and she needs to do her best. It just about kills her, but she runs after that ball the entire time.

 She never asks if they win. I don't even think it crosses her mind. Christian always wants to know her score, but she doesn't care.

 The orange cobras have two games left! 

I'm so glad she played this year.

She learned so much and pushed herself to do something that was new & hard for her.

 

She loved this blurry picture because she thinks it makes her look super fast.

 

I have no idea what she's doing.

Big Sister Book Time

 It was quiet in the family room, so I peeked in and smilely boy looked up at me.

 Big sister loves to "pre read" to him.

Side note: One day McKenna was all discouraged that she didn't know how to read. She usually just makes up her own story and I told her that she's using great pre reading strategies and that even looking at the pictures and making up your own story helps you begin to learn to read. Now she loves to throw around the term. "Mom, I'm going to preread now." or "Mom, do you think this would be a good book to preread to Will?"

 He wasn't listening. She didn't notice.

Will has been the best thing that ever happened to McKenna!

His Latest First

 We have introduced eating with utensils to Will.

It was hilarious watching him try to get those peas onto his fork.

 He's doing pretty good with it.

 I'm just thankful that for the most part we've reached the stage where you can give him a plate and he doesn't immediately dump it on the floor.

Most days he eats more than McKenna.

It's hit me lately that he's starting to get closer to age 2.

The baby stuff is starting to fade and the toddler years are upon us.