Halloween at the Museum

The kids and I went to the SC State Museum on Saturday with two of Michael's good friends from his school last year. The museum was having some Halloween activities, which included a scavenger hunt, coloring and craft areas as well as a balloon artist. Once we got inside, the boys really didn't care about much other than being together and running around from exhibit to exhibit.

We spent a good bit of time inside the indoor play area as well as the dinosaur exhibit. They also had fun looking at the model trains and going inside the real train car that they have inside. I am not sure how much this had to do with Halloween but they did wear their costumes and get some candy as we were leaving. There was also some bobbing for apples outside.

The kids had a fun time (and so did the moms). The best part about it was that it was inside so we didn't have to worry about it being too cold or rainy as both of those were in the forecast.

Carving Complete

Michael has been attending religious education classes (aka CCD) at the church we attend every Wednesday night since the school year started. Last night they asked the kids to bring a pumpkin to carve in the parish gym. We got the pumpkin that we picked from the church down the street and brought it with us, along with some carving tools and patterns. The pumpkin was not quite big enough to use the patterns though.

We were served hot dogs and chips for dinner, even though we already ate at home. Michael has had a pretty big appetite lately and ate a hot dog, chips and cookies for dessert. Then the carving began. I worked on a pattern and Michael helped to cut it out once I had the outline done. It was fun to work on it together as we didn't carve a pumpkin last year.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Music

Katie and Michael both really seem to like to listen to music. We have regular dancing sessions in the kitchen while we are listening to the iPod. I usually keep it on a pop music station because that's what we all like. It's become interesting to watch them identify songs and sing along to them, especially Michael.

One of their favorites right now is "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera. The song came on in the car one day and I was explaining who Mick Jagger was to Michael. The Rolling Stones are one of my Dad's favorite groups and I told Michael about it. He told my dad all about the song and asked about Jagger's moves. It's so cute to hear him sing the song too and then Katie likes to join in.

They have a few other favorites like Dynomite and Switchup (as Michael likes to call it) by the Black Eyed Peas. Katie will pretty much dance along to anything that has a good beat. I think it's great that they enjoy music as Todd & I both like to listen to a wide variety of genres.

Good News

This afternoon was another follow-up appointment for Michael's ear surgery. Since it had been two months since the surgery, he was also scheduled for a hearing test today.

The hearing test was the first part of the appointment. As soon as we went into the room, he cooperated with the audiologist. He was placed into a little room inside the room we went into and she closed the door. She put on some headphones and read Michael words that she wanted him to repeat. There were also a series of beeps that Michael had to raise his hand when he heard them. After the test was over, the audiologist told me that Michael's hearing was within the normal range. This was quite a relief as I was worried that he couldn't hear because his ear was still healing.

We went into the exam room and waited for the doctor to come in. He came in and did his exam of Michael's ear. Michael cannot stand to have him clean the wax out of his ear and he always does this. I came prepared to the appointment this time. I told Michael that as long as he didn't scream or start trying to escape that I would take him to Sonic afterwards so he could get a "green drink". For whatever reason, it worked this time. The doctor said that everything looked good and the graft is taking nicely on the eardrum. What a relief! It's always nice to get good news for a change.

Pumpkins

This afternoon we went to a local church to get pumpkins to decorate the house for Halloween. Katie and Michael were both excited to see all of the pumpkins out there. Michael was having a great time picking out his pumpkin and he helped to pick out one for Katie too. It was so cute to see him helping her out.



They also have a few photo opportunities too. Katie and Michael both posed in the cutout although Katie was not quite tall enough. Michael and Katie both stood up next to a ruler with pumpkins next to it. I was amazed to see how tall Michael has gotten over the past few months. Since we took the kids' pictures at the same place last year, it will be interesting to see how they have grown from last year.

When she thinks no one is looking

Katie has been taking dance for a month and a half now. It has been taken her some time to get used to going into class by herself. She was originally signed up for the 2 year old pre-ballet class. Since she was the only one in there, the rec center cancelled the class and she was moved up to the 3/4 year old ballet/tap combo class. For the first 2 weeks, she would not do much dancing at all but she was quietly observing.

As I have found out over the past few weeks, she is intently studying what the teacher is doing and repeating it at home. Of course, this is only when she thinks no one is looking. I caught her singing the ballerina song in her room. Katie also did an impromptu dance in her crib this morning for David, the little boy I watch, when he got here this morning. I know she thought I wasn't looking.

It's so cute to hear Katie talking about dancing and to do the steps. I asked her earlier today to do some dance but she didn't want to. I asked her to do it tonight for her uncle and she turned on the charm. She did some tap steps and a plie with her arms over her head. I love watching her and am so glad that she is having fun.

Katie really looks forward to going to dance now every week. Last night, we were talking about what we were doing today and she told me she was going to dance. Too cute!

Lego Fest 2011

This past weekend we traveled to Raleigh, NC to visit my sister and her husband. My parents joined us there too. About a month ago, my sister let me know that LegoFest 2011 would be visiting there. We got tickets as Michael is really starting to get into building Legos. We were able to leave Katie at my sister's so that we could take our time with Michael and really enjoy the experience.

There were several areas where Legos were on the floor for building whatever the kids wanted. They had an area of Duplo blocks and two other areas with one color of blocks only. It was neat to see kids building different things in each area.



In one area, employees were handing out small squares. You took the squared to a table that had different color Lego cubes on them. You matched them up on the square to put on a large mural on one side of the room. Michael enjoyed this so much that he did it more than one time.



There was also a portion of the room dedicated to lifesize Lego models of different characters. It was very interesting to see how something as small as a Lego could turn into something bigger.







Michael won a Ninjago toy after we dueled in the arena with Ninjagos that we created. He also won a free month of membership to play Lego Universe online because he picked the green block out of the box. He was so excited and could not wait to play when we got home.

We all had a great time!

It took all of these (and more) for a smile

I wanted to get a picture of Katie in her Halloween pajamas earlier this week. However, getting her to look at the camera and cooperate for a picture is one of the most difficult things to accomplish. As soon as she sees the camera, she says that she does not want to say cheese. I have tried to bribe her but that doesn't seem to work either. I finally got her to smile by telling her that I wasn't going to rock her to sleep unless she smiled. It did work but I know she has better smiles to give.

Walk for Life

This past Saturday I did the Walk for Life for Breast Cancer sponsored by a local hospital. My sorority alumnae chapter organized a group to walk together. It was great to do something like this to raise money for a great cause. There are so many worthwhile causes out there that it's hard to pick just one to support. Recently several people that I know have had relatives diagnosed with breast cancer so it seemed like the right cause at the time.

My OB who delivered Michael was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 30's. It went into remission for a while and came back about 6 months after I had Michael. She passed away last year. She was such an awesome person, as well as a great doctor.

Fall Festival

Friday night was the annual Fall Festival at Michael's school. This was our first year attending as he just started Kindergarten there. There was a lot for the kids to do there. We bought tickets to go on rides and play games. They had a bounce house as well as a bounce slide. Michael really enjoyed the slide and Katie got upset that she could not go on the slide too. She likes the slide but cannot climb up by herself.

The kids got to see and climb up inside a fire truck. The firefighters showed them the different equipment and how to use it. There was also a "pumpkin patch" set up in front of the school. Inside they were doing photos and fingerprints. The book fair was also going on in the library and Katie & Michael each got to pick out a book. The whole family got to go on a hayride around the school parking lot.



Katie's favorite thing to do was the lollipop tree. For one ticket, she could choose any lollipop from the "tree". She was in heaven. Michael's favorite thing was the bull riding. He got to sit up high and spin around before being thrown from the bull. Thankfully it didn't go too fast.



It was definitely a fun night and we look forward to doing it again next year.