Halloween Fun 2015

We were a peacock princess, a police officer, and a Cinderella wedding girl! We started off Halloween by going to the Hrobars church's carnival, so we got all dressed up and headed over there. They had little games and things to do, and the girls had fun doing the cake walk and fishing for candy. There was also a costume contest, and Kacy got 3rd place and Adilyn got 1st place. They were so excited and proud! After all that fun was over, we went back home and had some fun of our own. We ate Halloween themed food, and we had our own games - bobbing for apples, mummy wrap, and pin the cross on the vampire. It was finally time for trick or treating! It was great weather, and the kids were all fantastic trick or treaters this year. Brooke was all into it for the first time this year, so it was really nice not to have to walk with her up to every door. Kacy favorite part of the night was when the constable drove by, and she got to get her picture taken with the car. After we went up and down a few streets over here, Cory took the girls over to the Hrobars street for even more treats! As always, we have more candy than we know what to do with. :)

Cory's Hunting Buddy

Cory may not have any boys to take hunting, but he sure has a girl that will go! Kacy loves hanging out with Cory, and she is definitely ready and willing to go with him soon. Before deer season started, she went out to Navasota to help him get things ready. It was so hot, but she went and helped him like a trooper. She tried her hardest to help him lift the feeder, but it was impossible. Adilyn, Brooke, and I came out to help, and Kacy was just hanging out with Cory eating popcorn and listening to Taylor Swift. It was so cute! She does not mind getting down and dirty, and I really hope she continues to love hanging out with him like that. He will be taking her out sometime soon, he just needs to figure out the deer stand situation. She also loves helping him clean the ducks, so she was super excited that he got some on opening weekend!

 Helping get the deer feeder all set up and ready for the season.

Cleaning ducks!

Storybook Character Parade

The girls went to the storybook character parade in pretty simple costumes this year. Kacy wanted to be the anonymous baker from If You Give a Moose a Muffin. We got our little moose and hooked a muffin to his tiny paws. She wore an apron, and she brought some sprinkles (just in case she needed them). Adilyn was Nikki Malone from her favorite book series, Dork Diaries. All her costume required was pigtails. I was all for that easy peasy costume! Parents aren't allowed to go up to the parade, but since I am taking yearbook pictures this year I went up to snap some pictures and watch. There were some really cute costumes, and some of the kids were so into their characters. The teachers really go all out :)

Brooke's Teacher Conference

Little Brooke's teacher conference was hilarious! She said that Brooke is very well-behaved and sweet. She loves art and science the most, and she is a fantastic sharer. I asked her if she talked much, she said that she is talking a little more each week, but that when she talks it is very, very quiet. She said that if she calls on her to answer that will sometimes answer, but sometimes she will just stare at her in silence. If she does decide to talk, she has to make sure that everyone is super quiet so they can hear her. She also said that she has two little friends, and they always hang out together when they get the chance. I love that she loves going to school, and I don't have to drop her off in tears every morning! The picture is her giving me my morning hug in the dropoff line :)

Pumpkin Carving

One of my favorite fall activities is carving pumpkins! This year the girls wanted to do them on their own. We picked some designs from the Internet, and they got started. They did a lot of it on their own, but their hands got tired, so I stepped in to assist. Adilyn did a design on her own, Kacy did a mouse, and Brooke just colored hers. We also had these little plastic pieces that they hammered in to make more designs. We made some pumpkin seeds to snack on also. Happy Fall, y'all!

Boosterthon!

Mom was in town for the Boosterthon this year, and the girls were running back to back, so we brought our chairs up and made ourselves comfortable for the two hour event :) Luckily the weather was nice - overcast and a little breezy. It's always fun to watch the girls run and try to get all their laps. Kacy didn't get knocked down this year, so that was good. She busted her butt and ran so hard! It's always a fun event with the music and the "silly" laps they do. Kacy's favorite lap was definitely the "Whip and Nae Nae" lap. I was glad for Mom to be able to see it once.

Mid-Season Volleyball Update

Coaching two teams has not been as hard as I thought it was going to be. I really like all the kids on the teams, and the parents are fantastic. Adilyn's team has a had a rough season winning and losing wise...I know it's not all about winning, but it's always better to win than lose. We have fantastic practices and I think the girls are having a fun time. They are doing much better, and I have seen a big improvement in all of them. After the 3rd game, they have had to serve from 20 feet away from the net instead of 10 feet, and that has really messed with their mental state. Next year, I will start them at the 20 foot line from the beginning! The parents seem happy, and the kids seem to be enjoying themselves, so I guess that's all that matters. Kacy's team has won a lot more games because there are some great servers on the team, but I truly don't think they have any idea what is happening most of the time during the game :)
I love being able to coach my own girls and teach some other girls a little about volleyball, too!

School Conferences - Adilyn and Kacy

I always love going to the girls' conferences with their teacher to hear how they are doing in their little academic world. The actual academic information is good to know, but I am always more interested in their social lives. We met with Adilyn's homeroom teacher, which is also her Math and Science teacher. She said that Adilyn was doing great in class, and that she thinks outside the box in math. She said that often she will think of another way to do a problem or another way to figure things out that might be different from how it was taught. Sometimes, she uses Adilyn as a peer tutor for math. She did say that she sometimes gets frustrated when working with groups because they won't listen to her point of view. I was just glad to hear that she was actually standing up for what she thought was right! She said that she usually gets along with everyone pretty well. Another improvement is that she isn't complaining about her pretend medical issues as much! Her teachers for the last couple years would always tell us that she would complain about something bugging her almost everyday. This year it doesn't seem to be an issue, thank goodness! I didn't meet with her Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, but she seems to be doing okay in there, too.
Kacy's teacher said that she is doing okay with her subjects, too. She is right on level, and she said that we didn't need to be concerned about anything. I was a little worried about her reading level and her writing, but she seems to think it's all okay. I never care if my kids are advanced, but I don't want them to be below or be embarrassed about stuff. She said that she is a fantastic helper, and is very "motherly" when helping other students. She said that she is very patient with the kids even when they are being bad or annoying.
I love hearing that my kids are more of a help than an annoyance in a classroom! That's something to be proud of for sure, because there are a ton of annoying kids in the world :)

Sleepovers...

It's getting to be time for us to delve into the world of sleepovers, and I am not sure that I am ready. Adilyn has spent the night with a friend a couple of times, but we have never had a friends to our house. We had plans for a friend to come over and spend the night with Adilyn one weekend. I really didn't want to deal with Kacy feeling left out, so I invited a friend of hers to join in the fun. We had it all planned out, and the girls were so excited. I got a call that Monday from Adilyn's friend's mom that she had gotten in trouble, and she would not be able to come over after all. What sad news! Adilyn was seriously so upset, and to make matters worse Kacy's friend was all in. Adilyn finally got over her sadness, and we had a fun night swimming and watching a movie. It was fun to have a friend over, but it was also kind of awkward. The friend did not want to go to sleep. Everything "creeped" her out, and I had to essentially move everything out of Kacy's room that had eyes. I even had to move the doll bed because she thought the doll might still be in it. They finally passed out around midnight, after Kacy said, "Come on, just go to sleep already, I am exhausted!" We ate breakfast and made fake snow in the morning before she went home. I would call it a success, and I am (kind of) ready for the next one!