Falloween Party

I think it's funny that my Halloween story is going to require 2 posts, but here we go.

I've wanted Halloween to be different for several years.  Nothing super spiritual, but because my kid's teeth cannot handle the candy (lesson learned the hard way) and I hate the constant debate about candy for months afterwards and I usually end up throwing all of the junk away.  Alison was very stressed about her costume because what she picked was hot and itchy.  For weeks, she tried creating several different things but remained stressed.  Finally, one day I told her that Halloween didn't have to be what she thinks it should be; we could do something different.  Her eyes lit up at the thought of not having to worry about a costume.  I suggested a little party instead and off she flew with plans.  We called it a Falloween Party, to focus more on fall fun with friends and she did a great job coming up with ideas.  She was still a little anxious yesterday because she wasn't sure I could pull it off.  She kept saying, "We've never had a party, momma."

First key to a party, is keeping kids busy for the day.  Eli was counting down the minutes until friends came!  So, first up, we painted spiderwebs.

 

It was in the 60's yesterday morning and I cranked open all the windows and Alison ran to bundle up.

 

The kids spent a long time at the counter, helping me prep things.

They made lollipop ghosts:

 And I realized how few craft projects I do with the boys.  Eli worked so diligently on making the ghosts:

They turned these cups into ghosts for a game:

Eli putting silverware in and Alison making signs for the food:

Colin organized the pente marbles that he destroyed...nothing to do with the party, but it kept him busy.

We peeled grapes to turn them into eyeballs:

 I made chili and Alison and Eli made cornbread:

After all that work, it was time to relax before we got all sugared up.  If Colin is going to nap, he always crashes on the red chair.  I folded laundry and the kids watched Hotel Transylvania 2.

Then we carved pumpkins.  I learned that most people here don't carve pumpkins because they wilt within a day if you do.  Eli really wants to roast the seeds, so we did anyway.  Quickly into this, I realized that 3 kids and 3 pumpkins and 1 momma doesn't go very well.  Even with the kid-friendly kits, they still need help.

They were not picture worthy results of pumpkins, but we did it and I think they had fun.  We were finally all ready for the party!

This kid's artwork:

Food ready and you can see the games set up in the living room.  We had "shoot ghosts with a nerf gun", "build a tower with candy pumpkins and toothpicks" and a ball toss into pumpkins.

Next up, party time!

Trip to the San Diego Zoo

Before I begin this post, I just have to say that my family and friends and church family have been beyond, beyond, beyond wonderful during this deployment.  THANK YOU.  Seriously, it's been amazing.

Long story short, kids get in free to the zoo in October and when I asked a friend, she said, "Let's go!".  We made a day trip out of it and it was fabulous.

Grandma sent Eli some film for an "old school" camera and he was set on taking his own pictures.

What's really funny about this picture is that Eli wouldn't get out of the stroller.  I debated about bringing it, but thought Colin might need it.  Nope, the 6 year old still wants to ride.

The zoo had some great animals!

The boys watching the hippo:

Lesson learned: always take friends with you to the zoo.  The White boys fought over who would push the stroller.  Win!

And Laurel brought this awesome wagon that the little boys could ride in.

 

More than that, the kids loved having friends there and it lessened my load of listening to questions.

boys petting a goat

All the kids:

Alison, Aline, Tolson, Eli, Colin, Jon, Ben

I'm pretty sure the boy's favorite part was the reptile house.  Colin and Tolson were laughing so loud at the ants.

I first thought of Laurel when debating about this trip because A.) I just really enjoy spending time with her and B.) We are pretty similar in a lot of things.  Those attributes made for a great trip.  Laurel is a little more adventuresome than I am (must be a thing when you have 4 kids) and when we came to this giant camel, she said, 'Here Alison, I'll hoist you up!". 

I was really impressed with all the animals we got to see and how close they were.  I read several blog posts that said the lines to see the panda's was out of control, but we didn't have to wait at all!

Looking at the Panda's:

 

We had to make a special trip to the other side of the zoo so Colin could see the elephants.
 

Aline turns 11 in a few weeks, but her and Alison get along great and have so much fun together.  Aline also understands the long leg/clothing problem so they have much to commiserate about.

Oh, the many stories I could tell of these two.  Let's just say they wore vests to evening church to go with these hats on Sunday and I had to take away guns they were playing with during worship.  Then they both looked at me in shock, like I was the crazy one for thinking gun playing during church was unacceptable.

We chose sitting on the beach over sitting in traffic and it was the best decision EVER.  Laurel and I sat and made plans about another trip.  The kids played together on that beach, so content and happy and we thought maybe if we came together, we might actually be able to read a book!

Colin stayed pretty far back from the ocean.  He was happy drawing in the sand.  This is his snowman:

We cleaned up at the car and went to Smash Burger for dinner because apparently that's where I go when I'm in San Diego.

This week

First, pics from Ben.

He's started several programs on the base already.  This is from "Holy Smokes" (i.e. come smoke a cigar with the chaps and have some good conversations).

And these are the "cans" that they sleep in.  There are 3 rooms per can; officers have their own rooms but every one else shares.

 

From us:

Temps are in the 90's, which means we eat outside!

Lunch at Kneaders:

 

 

When you give Colin stickers from Target:

I love that this little boy still asks me to snuggle with him daily.  It will end soon, so I just have to document the days that I get to sit with him in my lap.

 

This is how little boys play in the desert:

 

 

Holes in our yard.  If it's not the boys, it's the dog.  Colin is showing you his muscles.  P.S. I'm pretty sure there are countless toys buried throughout our yard now.

We worked on planting a garden this week.  The boys would get decked out to be "workers".

 Highlight of the week:

We were getting ready to leave the house when I looked in the living room and saw something strange on the floor.  I thought it was part of a stuffed animal and made a comment about Maya being naughty.  I stepped closer and realized it was a head of a bird.  In my living room.  I was pretty sure I was going to barf.  Long story short, I paid Eli $1.00 to clean it up.  Praise the Lord for having sons!  I still haven't found the rest of the body, but there are bird feathers all over our yard. 

This is how you pick pumpkins in the desert.

 

Thank you Walmart.  

They are weirdly really light.

 

The Y has been a huge blessing to me.  Twice a month, they have a parent's time out and while Ben is deployed, everything is FREE.  I get eight hours of free childcare a month and they do fun activities with them, which means they are really excited to go.  This morning, I went for a run, got a haircut, grabbed a giant coffee and cleaned the floors, all by myself!

The kids have been working on chores.  Colin grabbed Ben's earmuffs to vacuum today because was too loud for him.

Deployment and homeschooling

So, let's be honest.  Homeschooling and deployment are no joke. 

This week, we took some time to get some projects done.

Eli, checked out a cookbook from the library and has asked for weeks to make cupcakes out of it.  As luck would have it, Colin was learning about the letter C, so it worked out perfectly to finally make them.  I'm pretty sure he's getting too old to sit on the counter...

We also worked on planting a garden.  Eli is supposed to learn about plant life this year and deployment brain made me think we could grow a giant garden.  Why?  Why do I always bite off more than I can chew?  Hello.  Just mowing the lawn is a chore.

The kids were really excited to have their own spot and picked what they wanted to grow.  Eli is growing basil and carrots.

Alison is growing cotton (she got seeds from a cotton gin field trip), tomatoes and peppermint.

This project definitely took much longer than I anticipated, but I have learned a lot and the kids are really enjoying the work and I'm praying that something grows!

Can you see Alison in the tree in this picture?

I had to sneak a picture through my kitchen window.  A lot of learning happened in this tree this week.  She started writing a book about Maya up there and she memorized countless math facts.  That was our school focus this week.  It's been a long road of rebuilding her math foundation, but this week was a turning point.  Y'all, I bribed her.  And it worked.  Maybe bribed is a bad word...gave her incentive.  I told her for every stack of math facts and set of skip counting she memorizes, I'll pay her $1.  She spent hours working hard on memorizing and was SO excited to be working on it.  It gave her a boost of confidence and she said, "Thank you for making math fun!".  Best money I ever spent.

Eli wanted to earn money just like Alison and has also worked hard on memorizing.  Why is he jumping?  Alison had to try different ways to memorize to figure out what worked best for her.  I would have her write the facts she struggled with and say it 3 times, but it wasn't clicking.  In college, I learned the best reading while walking to class, so we tried moving and learning.  I found Eli practicing skip counting on the trampoline one evening, way after school was over.

Last Day of School

While everyone is going back to school, we're just finishing up our year and boy, oh boy, were we ready!

Books closed.  Notebooks filed away.  Kindergarten and 3rd grade complete.

I would make an excuse for my sons not having clothes on, but it's 118° outside and I don't blame them one bit.

Also had to document our last day of working on our bodies for biology.  It only took us a year and we didn't get as much done as I wanted, but we learned a little something.

P.S. I got the most amazing app for our iPad for learning about the body and I would highly recommend it.  It's called 'My Incredible Body'.  Check it out!