Halloween 2009

Halloween is fun for us because it does signify the start of our fun Fall months ahead. We all love this time of year in our house. Gracie was Spiderella and Cole was Darth Vadar. They were so cute and later we met up with our friends and laughed while the kids bobbed for apples, a first!!


Spiderella and Darth Vadar

All of the neighborhood kids

This was really cool, a neighbor had gotten very creative


Robert and Alex, not sure what there were!

I think this should be Robert's new costume for when he plays?

Kids bobbing for apples with their friends, Abbey and Christopher

Gracie's catch!!

Student of the Month Day and Vocabulary Hat Day

Gracie received Student of the Month today. She was surprised and acted shy, but she is getting better when recognized in front of a crowd. SOTM students are recognized and get to sit with their parents after the awards presentation and enjoy snacks. They wear their sticker all day so that people can congratulate them. Throughout the month they get interviewed and receive the honor of being the leader in their class, among other little things. Cole and I were very proud of her (Daddy too even though he was unable to be there)! Keep rockin' it Gracie!!


Today was also Vocabulary Hat Day. The students choose a word and then make a hat and draw out the definition of their word. Then they wear it and do a parade through the classrooms to show off their hats. Love Gracie's word! And her beautiful pictures to go along with it!

girl scouts at their annual Halloween party.

Gracie is in her 4th year of girl scouts. She is 2nd year Brownie and next year she will become a Junior, where she will switch from brown color uniform to green. I remember this when I was her age, although some things have changed: i.e: smaller amount of years per each group. Daisies are now Kinder and 1st, Brownies are 2nd and 3rd grade, Juniors are 4th and 5th- It is going too fast.

Gracie and her buddy, Payton.

cole and school.

Cole likes school, although he acts shy when asked about it and/or going to and from school. I haven't figured out why though. He feels proud of himself when he does speak about it. He smiles and beams and boasts. AND DOESN'T SAY MUCH...hmmmm. No details, no stories, no nothing. "Come on Cole. I'm your mom, I want to know what you did today, what you learned, who you played with, what your teacher said." He just stares at me and shrugs his shoulders. I guess that's the boy in him. I am so not used to this- I am used to Gracie jabbering away when I pick her up and at the dinner table about what went on at school. And then I get Cole's answer, "Hmm, I don't remember."

Too funny and too typical. I love my boy!

Annual trip to Bates Nut Farm.

We love going to Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center. We go here every year, in fact I remember taking Gracie when she was 2 months old. The kids look forward to wandering through the patch and finding "just the right" pumpkin. They love going through the corn maze and riding on the tractor ride. It's pure delight for them. There is only one thing I wish I could change- THE WEATHER. It doesn't "feel" right to this Northern California girl to be wandering through patches and taking in all the fall colors with 90+ degree weather! That is just UN-normal! I should NOT be wearing a tank top and shorts and even a few weeks later on Halloween definitely SHOULD not be wearing a tank top. (YES, true story!) I will never adjust to this non-seasonal weather down here. You will never be able to get the Northern California roots OUT -of-the-Girl!!

I am so impressed.

Gracie has been an artist at heart since I gave her paper and crayons at age 2. She has always preferred to draw out her drawings instead of color in color books. In fact, if you gave her a color book it often would be found sitting in the corner of her room, with pages unfilled with color. It took awhile for us to realize this. But today, it is clear in all that she creates. She has some amazing drawings, sketches and story books completed. She really desires to be an artist. Robert has collected some of the books she has written so he can get them published. Every year since Kindergarten she is recognized in her class for her artistic ability. She clearly gets this from her father's side because it doesn't come from me. I was the child that loved to color- in fact I really was an expert color-er (if that's a word.) I loved filling up the pages with all of the lovely colors. But Gracie, she has been gifted with the ability to create, imagine, draw and bring her imagination to life right on paper. Lucky her.


For the fundraiser at her school, Robert played guitar at a restaurant and Gracie took it upon herself to make the poster to hang up in the entry as you came into the restaurant. She was so proud of her dad. It was amazing! Then after the event the school hung it up in their front office for weeks after. It was the first thing you saw as you entered. We are very proud of her.

Kickoff to Halloween!

Every October we begin our kickoff to Halloween, but really it officially begins the kickoff to all of the holidays, by going to Disneyland. We love how festive it gets and how excited the kids are for everything to come. We love to make it a family day and escape. This day we spent some time over at Disney's California Adventure. Here are some fun pics from our day.