some Halloween pictures...

These are just the start!

Hannah and Scotty were characters from Narnia: Prince Caspian. Hannah was Queen Lucy, and Scotty was King Peter. I was just a red Queen of Hearts.

We also had twins - each one of us had someone dressed like us. I was actually surprised there weren't more, especially of the kids. My twin's mom bought an adult-sided dress and altered it, because it was the ONE her daughter wanted.










And yes - this is the FRONT of Westview Community Church - I have more pictures to share, but I have to resize them - the transformation was just AMAZING!

Scotty's Preschool Picture...

I know...I know...

I shouldn't be paying for these pictures, since I can "do" this myself, right? Well, I don't have a studio just yet, so it'll be a bit before I can do this. Besides...it's a ritual of school...buying the school pictures!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

Scotty's class went to Britt's Pumpkin Patch for a school field trip last Thursday. I was leery about it because of all the rain we'd had for days before. Not my idea of fun, traipsing through a muddy corn maze and field, hunting for the "perfect" pumpkin. But luckily, it cleared up on Wednesday, and by the time we got there in the afternoon, it was not too bad.

We started with a hayrack ride. There were several other classes from his school (there are only 8 kids in his class) along with parents, so we were crammed on pretty good.


Scotty poses on the wagon


Mrs. Judy, Scotty's preschool teacher. I am going to miss her when we leave!


The pumpkin patch is close to the airport, and we got to see a plane take off. Yes, the sky really WAS that blue!


Heading through the maze. The entrance had a lot of hay, but you still sank down in the mud beneath!


Corn in the maze - the kids were fascinated by it.

At the end of the maze (very easy, great for preschoolers), the kids were treated to a story about how pumpkins grow. Each kid got to "be" something in the play...some kids were farmers, water, pumpkins, etc. Scotty and his friend got to be pumpkin seeds.


Scotty and his pumpkin seed sign.

After the story, the kids were let loose in the pumpkin patch. We had to go quite far in to find the pumpkins, as there had been several classes there before. Scotty finally found the perfect pumpkin (for him). It was one that had NOT been cut, and we got it right off the vine, hence the very long stem on it. He was happy with his choice!


Scotty's perfect pumpkin


Creative liberty with one my my artistic shots....

After we all got our pumpkins, it was time to load back up onto the wagon.


Here is the "Sunflower Room" class and family members.


Scotty watches in awe as we pull out of the pumpkin patch.


The kids were absolutely fascinated with the deep mud under the tires of the tractor that was pulling us. I had to take pictures as well!


Here's the Sunflower Room kids, along with some family and the teachers. Notice that Scotty's got his pumpkin on his head...silly kid!

When we finished the ride, the kids were all supposed to get on the bus and go back...but for some reason, there was only one bus. Even though they still had an hour of school left, Judy asked if some of us wouldn't mind taking our kids home, or else bringing them via car, as there wasn't enough room for all the kids on the bus (they'd showed up in 2 buses). So Scotty and I stayed back, took some more creative shots, bought a big carving pumpkin and some fresh apples and green beans from the market.


Squash and gourds...these are just SO fun to look at!


Scotty with his favorite pumpkin...though there were many bigger ones!

It was a lot of fun. I never got to go with Hannah when she was in preschool. We were in Germany and Scotty was still napping during the afternoons when she went with her preschool class. And she went with her kindergarten class, but again, it was afternoons, and the boy was still napping. But I have to say that I DID take her to a pumpkin patch when she was little and I have LOTS of pictures of that...we had a lot of fun then too!

gah!

Poor Scotty, he had a ROUGH day today. He got up way too early (he's much like his dad in that respect) and was bouncing off the walls all day. We had MOPS today so he was barreling at 100 MPH all day...add to that a good hard day of preschool, and he was in RARE form after supper. So, of course, we send him and his sister out to play for an hour. Not ten minutes into play, we hear him screeching as he runs into the house.

Poor kiddo...got stung by a wasp...these things make their mud nests on the stone walls of our lower levels and they're hard to get rid of. He wasn't even NEAR a nest (as far as we can tell, anyway) and he got stung on the arm. This is not the first time he's been stung either, so we know he has an allergic reaction to stings (not horrific anaphalactic shock, but he breaks out in hives). I rush him in, give him a quick dose of Benadryl and then make a paste for his sting. Of course, at this point, he chooses to tell me he's also been stung on the finger (we think it happened when he brushed the wasp away from his arm). Poor little guy. Sooooo unhappy.

But I fixed him up and sent him back out. Decided to go out with him to keep an eye out...you know, make sure he doesn't have more of a reaction. So, my little daredevil has appropriated one of the Schuler boys' scooters (a 2-wheeled Razor that he's quite good on, USUALLY) and is riding away. He stops near a dividing wall and slips a bit...and falls, chin first, onto the scooter handle. This thing's been dropped a few times, so the metal edge of the handle bar is showing...and it scraped up his chin just to the bottom of the corner of his lip. Man, that was it for him.

I took him in, cleaned THAT up, put his jammies on, put more paste on his finger sting (he said his arm didn't hurt anymore). Then I picked that big boy up, got him his blanket and his stuffed Dog (appropriately named Doggie) and we did some cuddle and rocking time in the recliner. He wanted a snack, but we'd just finished supper. (for the record, I'm a "bad mommy" and let my kids have a bedtime snack EVERY night...). I told him to wait, he'd get one at 7:00 p.m.

Two minutes later, the kid ZONKED out. Gone...la la land, here he comes!

I waited a good 10 minutes, and rearranged him so I could carry him to his room. He woke up, saying "but I don't wanna go slee....." zzzzzzz. He's still out cold.

I'll have to photograph the chin tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday. Poor little guy....

peace...

It's quiet in my house. No sounds.

No Spongebob or Fairly Oddparents blaring on TV. No little voice asking me for a snack every 5 minutes.

Scotty started preschool today. And while I feel a little sad, I'm not crying about it. He's growing up and it's an important step for him.

Here are the pictures I took of his "first day of school"!

Ready for the World of Knowledge he's going to learn!

The grin that would NOT stop!

Can't you just FEEL his excitement????

College Hill Preschool, from the front

Scotty stands VERY impatiently, while I take a picture of him in front of his new school!

This sign greets you as you walk into the doors!

The first thing you do when you come to school...wash your hands!

Scotty and Ms. Judy, his teacher

While it's a bit of a bittersweet moment for me, I am happy that he's excited about it all!!!!

Brave Boy

After the fiasco on Monday with the shots, we had an appointment yesterday (Tuesday). Scotty wanted to go, go, go...he was EAGER to get his shots.

I thought he was nuts.

He needed FOUR shots.

We got to the clinic and there was one kid screaming bloody murder. I thought for sure this would dissuade my little hero; he was adamant that he get his shots NOW. We waited. Patiently. Not so patiently.

The screaming boy (closer to 5 in age, I am guessing) did not let up...he would NOT let go of his dad...he didn't want the lollipop he'd been given. His mom even brought his favorite stuffed animal, but he was having none of it. He cried and cried...he exclaimed that he'd been "tortured...it's torture, torture, MORE torture all day, it hurts this torture" (had to laugh at his dramatics).

But of course, I fully expected my son to get into hysterics before (particularly due to the drama boy already going) we ever entered the room. This is the child who will cry if his sister touches him!

We got into the room and the nurse talked and talked. The apprehensive look appeared on Scotty's face...but he was still being brave. The nurse asked him to lay down on his back. I took his hands, put his little stuffed pug (Pookie, the webkinz dog) on his tummy and talked to him. He didn't flinch with the first shot. The second shot hurt - his eyes widened, but he remained quiet and stoic.

The third shot went in without an issue...but number four....oh...you could SEE the hurt in his eyes. I told him it was okay, he could cry. He said, "that HURTS", and one lone tear fell from the corner of his eye. And we sat up. And he took his lollipop.

The nurse asked if he would stay and be an example to all the other kids. She mentioned the drama king who'd been in before (we assured her we'd experienced him too). She was amazed at Scotty...no screaming, crying. The one tear was gone. He was up and walking. So BRAVE.

We went to the little PX downstairs (he walked all the time - and he was running and jumping as always!) and got a special treat for such a brave boy. (nutter butter cookies and a MONDO bottle of water!)

On Her Own...

Hannah's always been really independent and headstrong...I've never kept this fact hidden. It causes me grief on a regular basis. But, as with all things that Hannah undertakes, when she is ready, she will go full bore and get it right.



Last year, it was swimming. She did NOT want to learn, never was going to...she cried the first day when they wanted her to put her head in the pool. But by the end of 6 weeks of lessons, she was doing pretty good, diving down for rings (albeit with little grace, lol) and swimming underwater without a care. This year, she moved up from her starting point (station 3) to her current session...where she is learning to do the backstroke, having mastered the crawl (or overhand) with rhythmic breathing (if you've never heard the term, it means breathing as you stroke, in a rhythm, or pattern). She's come through with flying colors.



Last year she also begged for a scooter. I am not fond of these things, but when our neighbor gave Scotty a 3-wheeledscooter, I knew it wasn't fair to Hannah NOT to have one. She insisted on a 2 wheeler, though. So, I scoured yard and garage sales and got one for $5 (not wanting to buy one for $25 only to discover she wouldn't like it). She taught herself...and got pretty good at riding it.



She's always done things in her way...she taught herself to write her name once she knew the letters in it...she can draw anything she sees...that's just Hannah.



So...her latest accomplishment? Well, it's in partial thanks to Ali's daughter, who has a 2 wheeled bike. Hannah decided to just pick it up and ride it. She's mastered it quite well in just a few days! I wish I had that kind of determination to just DO it and DO right!



And it appears that Scotty will follow his big sister...he's swimming like a fish NOW (today he passed into station 6 after doing his backstroke across the kiddie pool, stopping only once)...he too was a kid who was afraid to put his face in the water. Guess kids just KNOW when they are ready to do something. And Scotty's also learned to ride a 2-wheeled scooter. He about gave me a heart attack when I looked out the kitchen window one day earlier this summer and I saw him on the neighbor kids' scooter! He's got a lot of style and flair, as all things Scotty do!











And this? This is Akela...in one of her calm and quiet moments. (I put that up for you and the kids, Ali!)

Wordless Wednesday

They make me so PROUD!

what are the odds?

Last Tuesday, I took Scotty to Gymnastics Plus. They host an open gym several days a week, and we get there once in awhile...rainy, gloomy days are good because it gives him someplace to go blow off steam and burn energy. Sandra brought Alyssa and the kids were playing well.

Scotty was jumping off the foam pit. He's never been daring enough to go off the top step...usually he would jump from one side or the first step. But he never wanted to go beyond it. On Tuesday, he was working his way up, step by step, relinquishing the fear and having a blast doing it!

Now...he was wearing a white t-shirt with yellow (sort of mustard-yellow) sleeves...it had a basketball and net on the front. He had on a pair of dark blue track pants with 3 white stripes. I turned to talk to Sandra for a minute and saw Scotty moving through the pit...but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scotty on the top step, ready to jump. I did a double-take.

Sure enough...there was another boy, same blonde hair in almost an identical cut, dressed EXACTLY the same as Scotty. WHAT ARE THE ODDS????

We pointed the boys out to each other...and they immediately started calling each other twin. When they stood side by side, they could easily have been fraternal twins. The other boy, named Joey, was about 3-4 inches taller and had blue eyes...but gosh, it was a blast to see them together.

In a town with 40K people, I suppose there is a distinct possibility that two people will be dressed alike, but rarely would they be in the same place (unless it's a wedding or other formal function, I suppose). I just found it funny that his mom and I both decided that outfit was the right one for playtime at the gym!

FOUR HUNDRED!!!!

Yup...this is post number 400. Big celebration, yahoo, and all that. What?!? No BLOG CANDY?

I'll have to come up with something later...too busy, too many things in my head right now!

The biggest thing? PRESCHOOL.

This has been a thorn in my side since we got here. You see...Hannah, at 3, was in a Mother's Day Out program in Evans. She went 2 times a week. It was good for her, gave her structure, helped her build friendships and learn to deal with classroom. It was great for me too, since I had a new baby at home. Hannah loved Ms. Cathy, her "teacher" at MDO.

Then we moved to Germany, and I put her in preschool...4 days a week at the CDC (Child Development Center for you non-mil folks). Again, she loved it. My biggest complaint was that they couldn't TEACH at this preschool. The teachers were not CERTIFIED education specialists...so in many ways, this was a glorified daycare environment. The teachers were not allowed to teach, but if a child ASKED, they could show them (such as, "is this a triangle?" "No, it has 4 sides, so it's a square"...but they couldn't say "today, we'll learn all about shapes")

Anywho! We got here to KS and I knew Hannah was going into kindergarten fairly well prepared. And I decided to look into a Mother's Day Out program for Scotty. I heard of only ONE. They had a VERY LONG waiting list and informed me that there was very little possibility of Scotty being accepted that year, and to call in the spring of '07 to get him on the list for the next year. Ha. Of course, did I remember to do that? No. But I DID call in the early fall...to get him onto the waiting list for the MDO program AND the preschool program. I also had him put onto the waiting list at Panda Preschool, which is held at Hannah's elementary school.

I have a friend, Julie, who works at Panda Preschool and she told me that Scotty was close to the top of the list. Yay!!! Yeah...not so much.

I got a call a few days ago from one of the teachers. You see, Panda Preschool is partially funded through the "At-Risk" funds available through the state (something to to with No Child Left Behind, I believe). So...they have to have an equal amount of at-risk, or special needs, children and "peer model" children. I have no problems with that. I firmly believe that if a child is at risk or special needs, the sooner they get into a classroom environment, the better. The problem comes from the "peer model" part.

Panda Preschool this year had an inordinate amount of boys. And they are only losing 6 slots for the 08-09 year. That means that of all the kids on the list, only 6 will get chosen. And they have many special needs girls...and not enough peer models for those girls. So, Scotty was skipped in order to get more girls in the right age slots to peer model. Again, I don't have a problem with this program, but it's MY son that got skipped, after being on the list for an entire year. It really bothered me, in THAT sense. He was actually being discriminated against because he was a boy.

But, the lovely lady from Panda Preschool who called me and took the time to really go over all of this with me had great news. One of the other preschools, College Hill Preschool (which also runs the same type of at-risk/peer model program) had a few openings. The teacher there had called to see if Panda Preschool had any on the waiting list. My name was immediately given.

I got the call today that they will have a space for Scotty in their afternoon program. He'll go for FIVE DAYS a week, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. This will allow me time to get home for Hannah's bus (HOPEFULLY). And he'll go every day, which is also great! But the best of all? Because Scott's in the military, there is a HUGE price savings. I believe it will be almost $200 less a MONTH...

We go in tomorrow for a screening assessment (I want to be sure that if Scotty has any needs such as language or motor skills, that they will work with him on that), and he'll be put on the list then!

zoo-bee-doo-bee...

Last week (or was it the week before? I forget....see post below called Live much?) several band spouses went to the zoo...(it WAS 2 weeks ago...during spring break...NOW I remember). We had a grand time. The zoo here in Manhattan is not very big. There are no LARGE animals like lions, elephants or giraffes. But they do have snow leopards, lots of birds and a few tigers. There really are a lot of animals there. This is only the 2nd time we've gone to the zoo. We went when we first got here, in the dead heat of the summer (it was in the 100's), and found our zoo to be lacking. But I decided to give it another shot.

We met up with Eileen and her girls, Ginny, Randy and their boys, and Kim, George and their boys. It was all quite fun. Hannah loves when she gets to be with Eileen's girls, because the younger one, Sarina is her age! (we'd had a long drought of having girls the same age in the units we've been with!) And the older girl, Tessa, is really sweet and hangs with the younger girls. The rest of the crew was boys, boys, boys....

One thing we discovered at the zoo: When you are in front of the bear pen, you can look out over the fence and see Famous Dave's....and Target...and Arby's....which means you can practically see our house. The water tower near the park has the City of Manhattan logo on it as well as the Sunset Zoo logo. It was Scotty's discovery that we can see the water tower...and now, every time he sees it, he says, "Hey mommy, it's da zoo waddeh toweh (r's are hard to come by with him).

So, as usual, I took lots of photos...and I thought I'd share some with you.

Sarina and Hannah check out the chimpanzees.

This is the matriarch of the zoo...though I don't remember her name.
she just sat in the bucket...

Scotty poses with a sculpture...of course, he had the baby chimp by the head!

The black swan

I spent the better part of 20 minutes chasing peacock and peahens around to get pictures.
This one obliged me quite nicely.

I got up close and personal with a flamingo. I could have reached out and touched him.
I just kept shooting away. The lady in the purple behind him was amazed afterwards. She couldn't believe how close we were...I thought he was going to peck at me!

Hannah stops long enough to grace me with a "vampire" smile...check the fangs!

This is Sarina. She sports the "vampire" look too. When she and Hannah got together, it was like they'd been friends forever. I like friends like that!

This is Tessa. She has a ready smile and has the prettiest golden highlights in her hair...like spun gold!

Another shot of Hannah, posing after all our walking.

Where are the pictures of Scotty, you ask? Well, most looked like this:

I can't tell you why he was pouting...but he was....

So, check it out, dog....

(Randy's favorite saying on American Idol)

I am proud to be in the company of well-published people. I have friends who have had several scrapbook layouts published in various magazines. My husband's been published (both writing and photography, AND written about) in a few magazines as well. I was even interviews for an article in Military Spouse magazine last year!

My son, bless his little heart, was published in Soldiers Magazine in their year end Almanac (you can see the magazine HERE, and he's on page 32 - and the photo description is on 33)...I wrote about this awhile back, but they only just recently put the PDF file up for public viewing!

and now, I can add that a friend of mine is PUBLISHED on PACKAGING! Though I've never met her in person, I consider Laura to be a friend. I read her blog regularly (read: whenever she posts something, my RSS pings and I read!). She's an amazing photographer. She's a fantastic scrapbooker and has had lots of her layouts published in many scrapping magazines, too. And she runs a daycare out of her home...crazy. So when I was at her blog the other day and I saw that she'd had layouts posted on the back of a Making Memories Scrapbook kit, I HAD to go out and get it! The clerk in the store was commenting on how cute the kit was and I turned it over and said, THESE layouts were created by my friend, Laura V.!

No...the yellow arrow is NOT on the packaging...that's MINE! - those are her daughters I am pointing out, but Laura did do both layouts...

For the record...the kit IS cute!!!!