Adeline's Preschool Halloween

Adeline's mainstream preschool throws a great Halloween bash. The kids are treated to a carnival and then they treat the parents to a parade. The best part is that each classroom decides on a costume and then makes it at school. I never know what Adeline is going to be until she rounds the corner. This year, her class was Thing 1, Thing 2, etc, from Dr. Seuss. They were pretty cute.

Once all the classes have paraded, they sing songs and finger plays for the parents to enjoy. It was windy which made Adeline's awareness of her crown very acute. I could see her struggle between singing and being completely distracted by her hat. Of course, it would take a trained eye to recognize that it was more than just a floppy crown on the verge of blowing off.

It is moments like these that help me see how Adeline's brain works. She has so much knowledge but when she is in an uncontrolled environment, she often isn't able to access it. For example, Adeline had a duet in one of the songs. She was shut down with both hands on her hat and eyes on the ground when her time came. Her teacher approached me afterward and said that she was surprised that Adeline didn't sing because, not only did she know her part, she knew all of the other parts too. Just an example of how multitasking isn't in Adeline's near future. It wasn't a big deal though. She made up for it in many of the other songs.

Here are some pictures from the carnival and parade and a quick clip of "Five Little Pumpkins."

She really melts my heart. She is so cute - yes, I know I am biased but. . .

Very Few Tricks but Lots of Treats!

We had a fantastic Halloween this year.  The girls were so excited to go door to door and fill their baskets.  Better yet, Savannah's very best friends joined us which helped the big girls outnumber the little girls - something Savannah rarely experiences.  The big girls were on a mission and eventually broke off from the us and the twins.  I knew Savannah was thrilled to be in the company of Lizzie and Josie which allowed me to delight in the twins without any Mommy's guilt.

We started the night with two ladybugs and one witch.  Lila was adamant about being a witch but I knew the wind would bother her and her hat.  It only took two houses for her to go back and change into a ladybug costume.  In the end, my three bugs were very cute together.  The twins were especially cute and got lots of compliments on their ladybug costumes.

What was most surprising about the night was that Adeline was more vocal and forward on people's doorsteps.  Lila hung back on the first house, afraid to say, "Trick-orTreat."  Adeline took the lead which, eventually, helped Lila feel confident.  Soon both girls were off and running with treat bags full of candy.

We were out for a solid two hours.  It was pure joy for both the kids and parents.  I couldn't help but stand back and watch my two little ones climb the doorsteps, say their cute, "Trick-or-Treats," and walk away with a very sweet, "Thank yous," and "Good nights."  A fun night indeed!

Ladybugs x 3

Here they are bundled for the real deal. . .

Playdoh Lila

Hand crafted by Miss long hair herself.  I keep thinking I will cut her hair but when she makes a self image like this it makes me realize how much she likes her hair.

Miss Lila

Today at school I saw a display telling what all of Lila's classmates are thankful for.  After a long list of Mommies, Daddies, and My families, I saw duckies.  I didn't need to look and see who that belonged to.

At dinner tonight, Lila was explaining that she was a very tiny baby when she was born.  She said she cried really loud in the hospital which made the doctor tell her, "No! No!."  I asked why she was in the hospital and she said she was a tiny baby and the doctors had to take care of her.  I asked what the doctors had to do for her.  Miss Lila replied, "Make me happy so mommy and daddy take me home."  We have been working on putting on our happy face in this house. . . I guess it is starting to sink in!

Finally, out of the blue one morning Lila came into my bathroom and said this.

L:  I don't want to go in your belly again.

Me:  Why not?

L:  Because it is scary in there.

Me:  How is it scary?

L:  It is so dark in there.

Hmm. . . I guess she isn't bothered by the fact that she missed out on three quiet and DARK months in my belly.

Lila's Halloween Parade

Lila had a Halloween parade at school on Friday.  Compared to Adeline's shindig (will someday catch up with all of this posting) it was pretty insignificant.  She paraded to the front of the church and the parents converged upon the class with flashing cameras.  After we got our picture, they paraded back to their classroom for their party.  I was impressed at how mature Lila seemed and how composed she was.

Lila dressed up as a witch for the occasion.  After giving up on her desire to be a duck or Ernie, she took to the witch.  It was really fun to watch the girls wear Savannah's old costume.  I purchased two at the time knowing that they would someday be big enough to wear them.   I can't believe how many years have passed. 

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5th Annual Pumpkin Carving

Here are the pumpkins from our 5th annual pumpkin carving with the Anstines.  Of course, the origin of this night dates back to a time when all three little girls were held prisoners in their NICU isolettes.  We, as their parents, can't imagine a year without the pumpkin carving because it always serves as tangible evidence of our incredible luck.  We always make comments like, "We should send this picture to their NICU docs because not in a million years would they have predicted this!" 

While this night is full of remarkable milestones, for the kids it is just plain fun.  Because they are getting older, I decided to serve a spooky dinner by candlelight.  The girls thought it was great fun.  Decorating the table and finding as many candles as we could muster up was a good time for me and my oldest.  Although we don't have a great picture, it turned out to be a very festive.

After dinner we jumped into the carving.  All of the children thought they were perfectly capable of carving their own pumpkin and were a little disappointed when the parents said, "NO!"  Here is Lila Grace reinforcing our decision to keep sharp objects out of the hands of little children.  While she tried to put a pumpkin carver through my heart, she quickly made up for it with a sweet smile for her picture with mommy.

Savannah worked very hard at her kitty pumpkin. She drew the face on paper first and then transferred it to her pumpkin. This year she was able to cut some of the pieces out but still needed help. Savannah was proud of her kitty because it was her design and not one off of the computer - mommy and daddy are very guilty of stealing images off of the computer.

This year Adeline sketched her own design on her pumpkin.  Daddy had to use a little hand over hand to make sure the Sharpie didn't go flying but the design is all her own.  She was a very proud girl and had some pretty spectacular daddy time.  Lately, all she wants to do is be attached to her daddy and carving a pumpkin with him was one way to ensure he would pay attention to her and only her.

Lila ended up with two pumpkins.  She had been saying for week that she wanted a ducky pumpkin but was clearly unsatisfied with the duck I carved.  Luckily, daddy saved the day and found a way to make an Ernie pumpkin for her.  It certainly was the best of both worlds for her when she realized that she had Ernie and his rubber ducky for pumpkins.

It was an evening of fun.  The kids enjoy it every year and the parents certainly do as well.  Not to state the obvious but. . .  carving pumpkins with your children is much better than carving pumpkins for your children - as was done the first year because the little girls were fighting for their lives in the NICU.