Craig took kids to karate while I stayed home and got dinner ready this night. Baked sausages with potatoes, apples and onions from Dinner: A Love Story cookbook. I absolutely love how quickly this comes together with everything rough chopped on one cutting board and into one pan.
Seasoned skillet chicken strips with a little BBQ to dip. My first time packing meat (non-lunchmeat-meat) in Will's lunch.
Flu shot today. No band aid. Just sayin...
Writing spelling word sentences complete with compound words and adjectives. Also, correctly spelled the word "reflection" recently. I was impressed.
Share these homegrown watermelons? Not on your life!
This was Hat Day for Comet Spirit Week at school.
Twirly dresses are the best!
Two packed lunches sometimes this year!
The pencil mark is this year's "cut score" for the 3rd grade OAA reading achievement test. 392 is the score necessary to move on to the 4th grade. Will's score this year was 858, shown as a black triangle on that chart. So proud of him and his love of reading!
Speaking of which...
Grape & cheese kabobs, oatmeal raisin cookies, walnuts, veggies and crackers.
Our garden is winding down. But this day we had a nice little bounty after our unusually hot week and a little rain.
Using up some zucchini... Zucchini coconut chocolate chip cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod blog. They weren't bad, but they tasted... umm... healthy.
"Reading" aloud in her self-created reading nook beside our library bag.
After a three hour nap for Sophie, Craig, the kids and Brutus are sneaking out between the rain showers for a walk while I finish dinner.
Craig's favorite stir fry with steak and water chestnuts.
Apple crisp and Buckeye football with my honey. What huge portions? I don't know what you're talking about...
Cousin play date. Teaching Aunt Kelly to play Guess Who.
Today, Sophie got to skip nap and eat cupcakes at "a party just for girls". She loves the privilege of attending wedding and baby showers just because she's a girl. :)
Her pic of me on the same day.
Another mostly rainy weekend called for mostly indoor play. So we just snuck outside whenever possible.
It's always a good day when my stock pot is in use. Butternut squash soup this night - my fave!
Every year, my grandma comes to my mom's preschool in the fall and makes homemade applesauce with the kids. They they freeze it and serve it at their Thanksgiving feast. I love that Sophie gets to experience this with her and I love getting to see pictures of my kids when I can't be with them.
Cutting up apples with her buddy Benji.
Lunch time manicure at my desk at work. This color is called Muchi, Muchi.
After school snack: "pumpkin pie popsicles".
Sophie got the clean-up award this day! And given that she doesn't typically excel in cleaning... she's pretty proud. ;)
A big night for Sophie! Her first karate testing! The picture on the top right is of her doing a take-down move by grabbing her opponents hand and twisting his wrist. He totally helped her accomplish this and then made a dramatic slap on the mat when he fell. She was ecstatic. :)
Congratulations, baby girl, on your promotion to yellow belt!!
Cheers from big brother.
Vest buddies on this chilly, school/work morning.
Orchard fresh. See leaf for details.
Sophie's turn to help with yard work. Operation "no TV without earning it".
Evening bike ride.
It was a tough call over lunch today: take a much needed catnap or paint my nails. I think I made the right decision. Aurora has me mesmerized once again. It's good to keep priorities straight. Haha!
Lunch was a success today! Banana nut bread, hard boiled egg white, tomatoes from our garden, strawberries and chocolate chips.
A little post-homework playground time and walk at the park.
We might have gotten a little carried away with our library loans lately. There are more in Will's room.
Girls night with work peeps. Avocado tomato and feta dip. Served with tortilla chips. Get in my belly!
Stepping back in time at Sauder Village.
Writing their own books has been such a big thing lately. They ask all the time.
After touring the old mill and the locks in Grand Rapids, Sophie and I played checkers on the front porch of the mill and rocked in the chairs. (I've decided we need rocking chairs on our porch at home. Soon.) Also, Sophie made up her own rules for checkers. At one point they were "who can build the tallest tower?")
We visited the school playground on this gorgeous evening to play on the soccer field and Will showed us that he's finally getting the hang of the circular, spinning "monkey bars". He doesn't quite weigh enough to get the momentum he needs to spin easily over to the next one, but if he gets just the right hold on it, he gets lucky anyway.
Homemade granola - one of my favorite breakfasts. I add really roughly chopped almonds, dried blueberries and orange zest. So good!
Will finally agreed to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after banning peanut butter for months! I sweetened the deal with a frosted pumpkin cookie and some candy corn.
Never in a million years would I think this would work. Sophie said she was scared so I put her in bed with Will - both still awake - and it was only a few minutes before they were both out. Umm, really? I'm still stunned. But grateful!
It's show and tell day today. So Mrs. Lamb gets to go along with Sophie to school. :) She's a happy girl. "Sophie had a little lamb... little lamb... little lamb..."
Making birthday cards for daddy.
SGR x2!
Daddy's birthday cake is underway!
Chili and grilled cheese with the Munoz fam for Craig's birthday dinner at our house.
Craig's request: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. My first ever non-crooked, smooth-sided, two-layer cake. Typically my layer cakes look like a preschooler stacked and frosted them.
Erie Orchard with my boy on this lovely fall day.
Sophie's half-birthday on October 20th! We basically just celebrated with an acknowledgement and a height measurement on the door in the kitchen. Then we write it on the growth charts in the kids' rooms. At 4 1/2, Sophie is 41 5/8" tall. Up from 40" on her 4th birthday and taller than her brother was at age 5. That's quite a growth spurt in six months! No wonder she's outgrowing everything!
Packed lunch today at my desk: black-eyed pea salad with peppers, tomatoes, cilantro and vinaigrette, and golden delicious apple slices from the orchard. And not pictured for dessert: an apple cinnamon donut, also from the orchard. Just keepin' it real.
Lego party at the library tonight.
At 4 1/2, we are FINALLY saying goodbye to overnight pull-ups! She hasn't worn them for almost 3 weeks and we are elated for this new development! She was promised a reward for staying dry one week, so Sophie's been enjoying her first mini Lego Friends sets since she seems to covet her brothers so often.
Daddy came to school this morning for "breakfast with a loved one".
Showing me a little loose side braid Nana put in her hair after school today. Nana always does the cutest stuff with Soph's hair. I'm a sucker for the wispy tendrils on my wavy haired girl.
Happy Friday!
School lunch.
On our Saturday agenda: 1) sleep in til 9:00 2) pancake breakfast 3) laundry 4) duck duck goose 5) vacuum the first floor 6) hide and seek 7) eat lunch together 8) nap for kids/watch The Internship for Craig & me 9) make a big pot o' stew to simmer on the stove top 10) color a MILLION pictures that will cover the dining room table 11) read together 12) make up silly stories 13) stay cozy indoors ALL day (with 25-30 mph winds outside)
Getting our color on.
Practicing her tree pose.
Tried the new apple applesauce muffins from Weelicious for school day breakfasts/lunches. Made with white whole wheat flour, local honey and apples, buttermilk and, of course, applesauce. They smell good!
Planning for family pics tomorrow. Went with Zoya Jana on the nails to compliment my outfit colors.
Reading nook.
School lunch today: six mini carrot walnut pancakes with syrup, peppers, grapes, peanuts, raisins and a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.
Prepping our favorite sloppy joes and trying sweet potato fries for the first time while Craig takes the kids to karate.
The first grading period is over and today is grade card day! Straight A's and a couple "above grade level" O's in his specials. Mrs. J has begun an independent reading folder with him recently and he will continue to work more frequently with it now. Yay, Will!
Soph's first tat'. Thug life 4ever.
A little fall craftin'.
On the kids' fall bucket list: collect leaves and acorns outside and make a "welcome fall" poster. Totally their idea. Will wrote the words. Soph wrote the year. :)
Screen time is like a currency in our house. It's highly coveted and has to be earned.
Sophie's preschool picture - year 2. Love it!
We've been so blessed to have Nana (my mom) as the preschool teacher for all her grand-babies so far. And what an experience to have three granddaughters the same age in class!
I keep wondering when he's going to be too big to be affectionate with me in front of his peers. It seems the answer is not first grade. Not yet anyway. The elementary school students paraded the hallways in costume today and my boy stepped out of line with a smile on his face to hug his mama on the sidelines. Feeling blessed.
Elementary school Halloween parade today with the high school band for the music! So grateful I could be here. Will got to be a "parent pick up" for a change and skip the bus ride home. A huge treat for him... and me!
So relieved trick or treating has been moved to Saturday! It's an icky day for Halloween. Kinda warm out, but icky.
We love our local honey from Craig's uncle. Sooooo good on bread and butter with a favorite meal.
A great cap-off to our rainy Halloween night!
This concludes October at a REALLY LONG glance. :)
