Halloween 2014

We had a great Halloween despite being pretty wet and cold. There was no school for Alia due to conferences (smart planning by the school, huh?). Max had preschool as usual and had a fun harvest party. In the afternoon, we went to our neighborhood Halloween party that had art projects, activities and treats. Then Eilee joined us for dinner, playing and trick or treating! Jason and I took all three kids out (in the rain, I might add) while Grammy held down the fort and handed out candy at our place.

 

Queen Elsa, Ladybug and Olaf

Best friends - SO happy to be spending Halloween together!

Max made a great silly Olaf the snowman

Seriously, could she more beautiful?

The kiddos ready to get out of the house and fill up those buckets!

We were all wet, cold and tired when we got home from trick or treating, but first thing the next morning the kids counted out and sorted their candy!

 

My mom made Alia's Queen Elsa dress. We had originally purchased a pattern but Alia had so many design ideas of her own that it ended up being a one of a kind, original dress!

 

One of her most important requests was that the cape touched the floor and dragged behind her (just like Queen Elsa in Frozen) so mom made it so that we could basically bustle it up for trick or treating so it wouldn't get dirty.

I have ZERO sewing skills. My only contribution was gluing on the snowflake rhinestones to the sleeves :-)

Pumpkin Patch

Still catching up on my blog posting ....

 

We had two great Pumpkin Patch trips this year. Max's preschool class went on a gorgeous day when there was no school for the big kids, so we had lots and lots of big brothers and sisters along with us. We took a boat ride out to the patch, then picked out two small pumpkins that we decorated with funny faces at home. We played in a hay maze and climbed a haystack mountain and then had a train ride back. It's a neat little farm that we visit nearly every year.

 

Max's preschool class .... He's tucked in right next to Mrs. Franklin (his favorite!)

Alia is seriously nearly four feet tall!!!

 

We also went to Roloff Farms as a family. You might be familiar with the name if you watch Little People, Big World on TLC. That's the family that owns the farm and its just a few miles from our old house. It's only open on weekends in October and it just get bigger and bigger each year. There are tons of things to do and explore in addition to a ride/tour of the property and picking out pumpkins of course!

Jogathon!

Jogathon was an amazing experience for both Alia and me this year.  It is the one big fundraiser that her elementary school does each year and somehow I found myself on the organizing committee!  The kids collect either flat pledges or per lap pledges before the big day.  Then, on the day of the Jogathon, each grade level goes out to the track behind the school (it's a 1/4 mile lop) and has 30 minutes to run as many laps as they can. Parents help by running along with the kids, cheering them on and tallying  and counting laps. At the end of the 30 minutes the kids all get to have Otter Pops (They are the Oak Hills Otters!).

 

Daddy running with Alia

High five from Mommy!

We saw Alia's competitive side show for the first time ever on Jogathon day. Her best friend Eilee ran in the morning and did 7 laps. That was her goal and she was determined to do it. When I asked her how many laps she ran she said, "The same as Eilee", not "7". Love it!

Daddy was so proud of his little girl! 1.75 miles in 30 minutes on a hot afternoon at age 5. Pretty darn good, I'd say!

 

 

Class photo, post run with their otter pops.

 

 

After the big day, kids have a week to finish up the collection of their per lap pledges and turn it all in. They earned raffle tickets depending on how much money they raised. Alia raised $290 by the deadline and got 29 raffle tickets. There are a variety of prizes and they put their tickets into whatever prize they want to earn. Alia put most of her tickets into the Lego Friends set, a few in for a Pump It Up, Jr pass and a couple of tickets in a few others.

 

Can you believe that of the 1000s of tickets earned, this gorgeous little girl managed to win two prizes?

 

The Lego set couldn't have to gone to anyone that would have loved it an appreciated it more. We put it together that day and it has been on the coffee table and played with every single day since.

Max's New Truck

Birthday Boy!

In addition to being traumatized by Alia starting kindergarten, my "baby" decided to turn 4 years old despite my best efforts to talk him out of it! We did most of the celebrating on Sunday (a few days before his birthday) because Jason had to go out of town for work on the actual day. So Sunday morning we woke up and let Max open his presents from Mommy, Daddy and Alia!

He's very into "Angry Birds" so was super excited about the wrapping paper!

 an orange remote control car

Alia came up with her own idea for Max's birthday we just helped her execute, "a car that he can decorate and put together by himself"

He was pretty thrilled with her selection!

We spent the night before assembling Max's gift from Papaw and Mimi :-)

Both kids were equally excited! Max climbed right into the driver's seat and Alia happily joined him on the passenger side. (Stay tuned for video)

Sunday afternoon we had Max's party at Pump It Up (yes again, per the birthday boy's request)

We were joined by family friends and some preschool buddies

Who wants a cupcake?

Mommy kept it simple this year.

Seriously! Look at that face! I love that little man so much!

Credit to our friend Renee! If it weren't for her we would never have a picture with the grown ups in it at birthday parties!

The birthday boy, on his actual birthday, having his "usual" for breakfast!

Alia and I joined Max at school on his birthday. We were the mommy and big sister helpers!

Adding his name to the birthday graph

The cuteness is just too much!

Max's preschool class ... and Alia :-)

Wednesday evening we went out to dinner at Red Robin with Grammy. She got Max this cool orange clock for his room!

Max's first experience having the restaurant staff sing him Happy Birthday! So cute!

So, here's my age 4 summary of Max. Just noting a few things about him at this age ...

Best friends - Alia, Landon, Nick

Favorite Food - vanilla yogurt, Eggo waffles, nutella sandwich, apples, berries, meat!

Favorite TV show - Mickey Mouse, PAW Patrol, Handy Manny

Favorite Book - I Stink, What Can a Crane Pick Up?

Favorite Color - ORANGE

Max is growing up so fast! He is a smart little boy. He has a natural way with numbers and building and has started to show some real interest in letters and writing. He can write his own name, Alia, Mommy, Daddy and I love ... He's currently in gymnastics and soccer, is doing really well and seems like them both. He's asked to do a basketball class again too. My favorite thing about Max is that even though he is wild and energetic, he is the most cuddly little man there ever was! I love my little buddy!