Musings of the week...

Add in some pictures of me corraling kindergarteners as they paint on themselves and assert their 'independent spirits' (wink) and there you have my week!

Alright, so I can't quite stop there...time for the quick and dirty on several topics...

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*Last Saturday our playgroup had its big Halloween party (photo 1). It was a blast. One of the final activities was for the kids to 'mummy wrap' the dads with TP. As we 'wrapped up' the party, the kids found a way to entertain themselves. This was on actually very little sugar...

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*Sunday morning after church we decided to go for broke and head to Gilroy Gardens, a family theme park and (as the name implies) gardens. It was decked out for Halloween with scarecrows, pumpkins and they had a treasure hunt. If you can believe it, Miss P literally had to be dragged crying, Ok driven crying. It was one of those 'do I, or don't I' parenting moments. Before we had fully decided to go, we mentioned to Miss P that it was a possibility. "I'm too tired," she told me. Despite that, E and I decided we really wanted to go, make use of our season pass, and have a fun outing (as opposed to staying home and inevitably cleaning the house). We kept putting P off with, 'let's just keep thinking about it,' however as I pulled onto the freeway onramp, she could no longer be fooled and wailed about going. Do we turn around? Commonsense says yes. But we had the sense that her mood would change on a dime once we arrived. And, survey says...yes! it did! (Photos 2, 3 and 4) Score one for mom and dad.

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*My students were not in the finest form this week. They had a sub last Thurs and Fri, which may have contributed, and it is Halloween Week. Next week is going to be better! I am going to try and build in a little more downtime for the class, which I think will help. Also this week, I headed up Family Fun Night for our Upper grade students. We had a Halloween-themed dance night. So fun! Thriller, Ghostbusters, a 'dance off' to 'Stayin' Alive.'

*Last night we had the rehearsal for my brother in-law's (Halloween night!) wedding at a winery in Los Gatos. Miss P and her cousin (last photo) are the flower girls. The matching dresses they are wearing were birthday presents from the bride. At the dinner both girls received hot pink jack 'o lanterns filled with treats including Halloween undies (the hit, which Miss P immediately donned this a.m.), and an orange tracksuit from Gymobree. We are looking forward to the extended family get-together.

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*Coming up: this Sunday my mom and I will venture to my cousin's wedding shower. I'm looking forward to it, but will the madness ever stop? Will this post.....?

The cupcake!

The pictures really tell the story here. Miss P spent the majority of tonight's school Halloween carnival playing a dancing game where you walk (run) around a circle with numbers and, similar to freeze dance, stop when the music stops. Then a number is pulled and if it is yours, you win a cupcake. Initally Miss P was so moved by the music and desire to demonstrate her dancing prowess (not much for the beag bag toss, our Miss P), that she beelined from the face painting/hair streaking booth (the other fav) to the music spot. After awhile of piroutting around the circle and dramatically posing at the freeze, she was ready to pack it in. I was quite impressed, as I'm always trying to push being active. Anyway, just as she was starting to leave the game and shed her 'dancing queen' blinders, she clued in to the real objective of the activity: winning a cupcake. That girl was back on a number so fast. She played with the best of them. And damn it, if she didn't earn that cupcake finally. A half-a-sugar induced hour later, E was trying to pry her from the basketball hoop and finally carried her to the car. Aaah, I love Halloween!

Somebody get me a collar and fast

Yo. Doggy here. Man, I've been busy. Miss P pulled me out of her cubby yesterday (rousing me from a nap) and instead of going home I was dragged to her mother's classroom. Yuck - snails and worms had just been delivered and suddenly Miss P was all 'excited' over the "live" pets. Hmmpph! Anyway - would you believe she FORGOT ME THERE. There I was, stuck hangin' with the classroom teddy bears (I am more of a Barbie guy, but whatever). Actually, I was kind of starting to have a good time, when, whadda know - in walks Miss P's mom at 8:30 p.m. "Yep, that's right, I'm chopped liver during the day, but come bedtime suddenly everybody wants me." At least that's what I tried to say. Well, Miss P's mom certainly got her comeuppance today!!! I was again in the classroom (like, get a life lady) when Miss P's mom shook a bottle of blue paint that had a loose top. mmm hmmm. Bright. Blue. Paint. everywhere. Want the topper? After all that, she left me again in the room (albeit, only for a few minutes) and then again in P's Auntie's classroom (again just for a minute). Will those two ever learn? I finally made it to dinner and snuck in a few bites of burger, fries, and a beer. I heard something about a Pottery Barn Kids concert tomorrow. Hope I'm not left there. On second thought, I have been eyeing a certain doll....

Hooray for Halloween

Today kicked off our official Halloween season. After church we headed to Then there were two... 's house to have a final planning meeting for our playgroup's Halloween bash next week. I think it's going to be amazing! With 4 year olds, we are beginning to feel quite the experienced moms - ha ha. To be fair, we have done a handful of these gigs, beginning when these little ones were just starting to walk.

We are expecting about 20 families so we want to be organized, and so far we are right on target. Here's our rough plan: Families arrive and kids play at various stations including pumpkin bowling, apple bobbing, arts and crafts and the standard bounce house. Then, we will do whole group activities like freeze dance to Halloween tunes and "Witchy Witchy" (see bottom of post for directions). Group games will be followed by dinner. After dinner, we'll do a mummy wrap activity, a practice trick or treat, and finally a parade around the neighorhood. The party will end with a Halloween Hunt in the front yard, with whatever 'treats' we have left. Then it's 'adios!' (Except for those of us cleaning up). All that in about 2 1/2 hours or less! Should be a great time.

The pictures at the beginning of this post are from today's Halloween party. We left the 'planning get-together,' and drove straight to a friend's Halloween spooktacular. I was so thrilled with both my NEW CAMERA and the decorations that I couldn't resist snapping a bunch of pictures and posting them. Besides the gorgeous decorations (these pictures actually do not do them justice), and the yummy treats, the highlights of this party were the bounce house (even Paige, a non-Tigger, hopped in - once the crowd cleared), the crafts table and multiple pinatas. Next up - our school's Halloween walk-a-thon and Carnival Friday night.

"Witchy Witchy" Directions: The 'witch' (ideally wearing a witch hat, and usually a grown up for the younger set) stands at one end of the yard with all of the children standing in a horizontal line at the other end. Children call, "Witchy Witchy, what time is it??" The witch chooses any time (except 12 o'clock, or midnight), such as "4 o'clock." Children must take that many steps (4) forward. Then the children ask the question again. Play continues until the children are very close to the witch. (The witch will often tease, by saying 'One clock' a few times at the end, so the children are verrry close.) Finally, the witch yells, 'Midnight!!!!!' Makes a scary face and chases children back to the starting line. Once the game is clear, children take turns being the witch, and play continues until each child has had a turn.

On my own time

So a girlfriend was kind enough to forward some pictures from our girls' weekend which was....sigh....last weekend. There I am on the end in the white sweater. The wine wife (husband and wife winery team) posed us 'gals' for the picture with the refrain 'glasses at the hips ladies, glasses at the hips!'

I was fortunate to have the weekend away! Last night, as I snuck in a bit of computer time as Miss P readied for bed and E was doing somethingorother, he announced to me that I needed to hop off the computer to assist her and return 'on my own time.' Just to confirm, I asked him, 'when is my own time?' Response: 'Early in the morning before P and I are awake.' Just checking. Guess what, I hauled my happy arse up extra early this a.m. with visions of coffee, my tivo'd Starter Wife, and computer in my head. Within 15ish minutes the telltale patter of little feet exuberantly greeted me. As soon as my feet hit the floor, an alarm sounds in her room saying it's 'go time' for her. So now she is Dragon Tale-ing it up. Love, love love the fam. Love my own time. : )

(Have to add: He's really a great guy! And I have nothing to complain about, I'll be meeting a friend for lunch today to celebrate her birthday)

"You like me....you really like me..."

All Things Southern & Preppy surprised me with a smile award last week. What? You aren't familiar with the smile award? Let me fill you in:

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. After some coffee, yes.
2. Must love one another. This is true about me. I even like people who are a little iffy about me. Drive E crazy with always sticking up for the other person (i.e., "No, no, really. I know she basically trashed me, but I think it was just a bad day.")
3. Must make mistakes. You bet!
4. Must learn from others. Ditto.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world. Workin' on it.
6. Must love life. Every day.
7. Must love kids. Have I mentioned I teach kindergarten?

These are the rules for the Smile Award:
1. The recipient must link backto the awards creator. yes!
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award. got it!
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself. easy.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award. think so.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient. my pleasure.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others. done.
7. You must thank your giver. and done.

The five people that I choose to keep this award going are the following:
(I noticed some of them recently received it. However, I wanted to keep the list I had in my head, upon originally receiving the award last week.)

3 Peanuts : Such a gracious, stylish and intelligent mom of three! A lot of class on that blog!

Happy Homemaker: Her blog is private and I was so happy to be able to keep reading. Love hearing about the special relationship she has with her daughter. She is a great mom to both of her kids, and seems like a really fun person.

Biscuits are NEVER Boring : Very creative lady who throws the best parties. Have saved her descriptions of birthday celebrations (following clues around the house to find all the gifts) and admire all of her school and church volunteer efforts.

my happy little life : Amazing writer who speaks passionately about things that matter.

One Fabulous Mom :Very fun and savvy gal with an innovative style. Speaks her mind and really works to connect with her readers.

Toodles!

By the Numbers

5 - Glorious hours of unwatched excitement on Tivo, waiting for me and the gleeful after bedtime hours...

4 - Brand new, crisp, shiny magazines waiting to be thumbed through and devoured.

3 - Days since I've indulged in Starbucks (and instead used my affordable substitute, General Foods International Coffee Cafe Francais)

2 - new Tafetta Belle skirts (on sale, chi-ching) from J. Crew. One in mustard yellow, the other in "Fall Blue" according to the salesgirl (oh, the marketing genius).

1 - more day of work this week!

Have a good one!