Meeting Santa

Santa made a special visit to my work Christmas party Saturday evening at the Children's Museum. Raelyn kept asking me all day if she could hug Santa. When she met him she had a big smile but wasn't quite ready to offer hugs. Max kept looking at him and then back at me. Finally after a few minutes he exclaimed, "I like him!" After they spoke for awhile Santa gave them each a new book to enjoy during these weeks leading up to Christmas. 

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving at home. The four of us had a wonderful day as we prepared our big feast, watched (some of) the Thanksgiving Day parade, took naps, made a turkey craft, and played lots of games.

Raelyn's list of thanksgivings this year include: the earth, family, and food.
Max's list of thanksgivings this year include: daddy, mommy, sissy, sheba, and home.

They both made their lists at school and we discussed them at home. Raelyn's list was made right after she learned a song that goes "Thank you God for the earth..." ;)

Our first Parent-Teacher Conference

Raelyn's preschool teacher set up parent-teacher conferences this week. It was a great time to hear directly from her teacher how she is doing and area's we can help her improve. Here are a few things we learned (or already knew) about our amazing almost 4 year old.

Raelyn spends most of her free play time in the home living area with Ella. She also enjoys craft time - especially cutting and painting. She is advanced in her cutting skills.

She is very active and it's apparent she will be athletic. In the classroom, she plays mostly with the girls but in the gym or outside she is more of a "tomboy" and plays with the boys.

Raelyn needs reminding to sit still and listen during story time. Once reminded, she does a good job of listening.

She is advanced in her ability to understand concepts and is quite bright. She loves colors and shapes and pointing them out all around her. She can count to 20 aloud and can sing the entire alphabet unassisted. She has a fairly large vocabulary and is able to trace the letters of her name. Whenever she sees the letter "R" she yells, "That's my letter!" 

We need to work with Raelyn on handling frustrations and showing empathy toward others. She is also working on keeping a beat during music time and hopping on one foot (hopscotch). 

Raelyn at school drop off. Wearing her favorite skirt, favorite tights, and pink sparkly shoes. 

The epitome of a preschool girl self-selected outfit!

Happy Halloween

The 3's class was encouraged to dress up for school on Halloween but we had to figure out something that would be easy to wear all day and pull up and down independently. Raelyn already had her super hero cape and mask so I hand-stitched a felt lightening bolt onto a thermal tee and we have Super Raelyn! 

Due to bad weather the night of Halloween, Indianapolis postponed trick-or-treating by one day. It turned out great! It was a Friday night and warm enough to walk around the block until dusk. The kids had a blast saying "Trick or Treat" to all of our neighbors and remembered to say "Thank You" at most of the houses without prompting. At several houses Raelyn wanted to stick around to chat. She loved asking, "What's your name?" 

She still believes that the neighbor behind us is Mr. McGregor from Peter Rabbit and needed a little encouragement to go up to that door. 

We had a great time saying hello to all of our neighbors and watching our kids smile each time a piece of candy was dropped into their bags!

Looking for Fall Colors

Fall colored leaves, where art thou? We went on a scavenger hunt looking all over town (well, the NW side of Indy anyway) for some orange, red, and pink leaves. Yes, I said pink. Max and Raelyn both LOVE looking for pink leaves! We found a new spot to explore and had fun hopping from rock to rock.

Pumpkin Party

Our preschool has an annual Fall Pumpkin party the Friday before Halloween. The kids come dressed in their cutest costumes and every room has preschool aged games, crafts, and other activities. If I ever questioned Raelyn's social propensity (which I haven't) I was assured at this event that she is quite the social butterfly. She made sure to introduce me to all of her friends, the mom's of her friends, the teachers, and anyone standing in a 1 mile radius. She is a hoot! Unfortunately Max was at home with an ear and sinus infection. Raelyn was sure to bring him home a few prizes though!

Canal Picnic

It's hard to believe it's October! These photos (and the beautiful weather) make it seem like we're still enjoying summer. We decided to take advantage of our "extended summer" and pack up a picnic. We headed downtown and found the perfect spot at the end of the canal. It was certainly a picture perfect evening! 

Apple picking

We kicked off our fall season (although it was still warm at the end of September) with an apple picking adventure. We decided to stay closer to home this year and visited Stuckey Farm in Sheridan. We all did our share of apple picking and then mommy made a yummy apple crisp.

Summer Days...

Over the weekend we spent time at three different parks. The kids had a great time playing and we are taking advantage of every last drop of summer God has to give us!

BFFs

Saturday at the water park
Raelyn: "Max, you are my friend and my brother."

If that doesn't just melt your heart...

Tidbits

I realized yesterday that there are so many big and little milestones that I have missed posting about. Sometimes it just feels impossible to sit down and write a full post with photos and so I don't. Or I think, I'll catch up on those later and then I forget.

Most of the time it's the little conversations that make my day and I want to try to document those no matter how short the post. Even if it lacks a photo.

*****************************
On the way to school (as we drove past a Starbucks)
Max:  "COFFEE, COFFEE!"
Raelyn:  "Mommy, you want coffee today?"
Me: "We don't have time to stop for coffee but I will have some coffee when I get to work."
Raelyn: "Wow, Mommy! Someone will have your coffee waiting for you at your office?"

******************************
Said to one of the student teachers at pick up
Raelyn: "This is my little brother. His name is MAXIMUS."
Ms. Olivia: "Hi, Max."
Raelyn: "No. He's MaxiMUS!"

*******************************
At dinner last night
Mark: "You're so sweet, Raelyn."
Raelyn: "No, it's sweetHEART, Daddy."

********************************
This morning in the car we were talking about Mark's work trip
Raelyn:  "But WHERE is Daddy's work trip?"
Me: "He's going to Chicago."
Raelyn: "Chi-taco? Is that how we say it in Chi-taco?"
Max: "Ca-go!"

*********************************

And here they are enjoying some blueberry pie I made Sunday night. (Despite the serious look on Max's face, he really did enjoy it!)

First day of Preschool 2013-2014

The kids started full day care outside the house in early June. Our school has a summer program and both Raelyn and Max really enjoyed meeting new friends, making crafts, and Fun Friday's. Just like all the "big kids" we know, summer is over and the new school year has begun. Today was their first day of all day preschool for the 2013-2014 school year. To mark the occasion, we took a few photos. :)

We are so thankful that both kids love their school and teachers! What a blessing to know they are well cared for and loved all day when we can't be with them. When we arrived to school this morning (after having last week off), Mr. Drake was there to greet us and Max happily showed him a rock he picked up on the way into the building. Mr. Drake, the director, ooo'ed and ah'ed and examined the rock with Max noticing how smooth it was. Max was so proud of his rock that he gave it a kiss! Raelyn exclaimed, "There are new friends AND old friends here today!"

What a great first day!