2015 :: week 43

October 18

Lauren and Will love to play games with Dad. Anthony had to stay after church for about an hour, so the kids were very excited to have him home. Will is cutthroat when it comes to games, and Lauren's competitive side is developing as well.

October 19

Will and Lauren had fun playing in our backyard while I worked in the kitchen Monday after school. They'd much prefer to play in the front yard, but I am not comfortable with them playing out front without me. They love to explore and get dirty, I love hearing their imaginations at work through the kitchen window.

October 20

Tuesday marked the first field trip of Will's school career. The OP-C Kindergarten Class of 2027 ventured south to the KC Pumpkin Patch. He had a great time. They got to go on a hay ride, play in a "spooky dark maze," a play structure that is "bigger than our house," observe a variety of animals (alpaca, pigs, ducks, chickens, goats, cows and donkeys) and eat lunch. Oh, and pick out a pumpkin. The rule was they had to choose a pumpkin smaller than their heads. Because he is a half day kid and the field trip went later than his usual pick-up time, Lauren, Elliott and I were waiting outside the school for him to return. He was not so pleasantly surprised to see us.

October 21

Wednesday we celebrated Lauren's 4th birthday! My mom met us at Red Robin for lunch. Lauren was very excited at the prospect of having the birthday song sung to her, but felt a bit shy when the time actually came. Lauren has been acting more shy lately. We love our special girl. She's an important part of our family.

October 22

The kids were out of school Thursday and Friday for Parent/Teacher Conferences. I decided to try going to Lenexa's Enchanted Forest event even though it would keep us out past the kids' our usual bedtime. It was a mistake being that the place was completely packed and I ended up losing Will for a few very scary minutes. Despite the evening's flaws Will and Lauren had a fun time. I really appreciate that they are so easy to please most of the time.  **Will broke his glasses this night and he won't get his new pair until early November.

October 23

We saved Lauren's birthday cake for Friday when Tony got home from his work trip to Denver. Lauren wanted a purple cake and was very excited when I let her select which can of frosting to buy. She insisted on wearing her birthday shirt again, which luckily I had washed earlier that day.

October 24

I took the kids Trick or Treating at Hy-Vee while I shopped Saturday. Lauren is Snow White and Will is a knight. The kids had fun, but it got me thinking about the way holidays are celebrated. In addition to this event and the Enchanted Forest we went to Thursday, we have four Halloween-related activities in the next seven days! Each kid has a Halloween party in their class, the school has a trunk or treat, and our church has a trunk or treat all before actual Halloween. I like Halloween and candy as much as anyone else, but all these activities are making me preemptively tired. Not to mention the fact that the 10 pieces of candy they each got at Hy-Vee is all they really need.