Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow with my family at my Dad's house. We felt really lucky too because our neighbor's (Dana, Chris and Savannah) invited us over to their Thanksgiving Feast! It was incredible and we ate until we were bursting at the seams! Later last night, we went to our friend's house (the Wedeking's) and played cards. It was a happy day indeed!
We'll start today with Grace's school field trip to Boyd Orchards. Evan and I both chaperoned the trip (Holtz came too) and it was a rainy, cold, FUN time! Grace took her first bus ride to the Orchard and loved it. We fed animals in the petting zoo, took a hay ride, and of course picked apples! The apple trees were pretty picked over from previous field trips but lucky Grace had some tall man assistance from Evan so she was able to get three of the juiciest apples from the top!
Above is Grace with her teacher Mrs. Troyer. Mrs. Troyer has been an absolute blessing to us. She, along with the principal, Mrs. Bell, have been working with Grace to help build her confidence and trust in them and now, Grace can walk into school and up to her classroom all by herself! She loves going to school and knows so much spanish! It's incredible- she seems to always be singing songs in spanish or counting in spanish. As embarrassing as it is, I have had to google the directions several times on her homework because I am not sure what they are asking her to do.
Holtz at the orchard- looks thrilled to be there...(grin)
On October 9th we attended an event downtown Lexington called 2nd Sunday. 2nd Sunday is a statewide event that encourages all forms of physical activity and promotes healthy living. This year they added the sedentary parade which poked fun at the city being named Americas least active by Men's Health Magazine. Above in the green shirt is Mayor Jim Gray leading the "parade" sitting on a couch atop an electric cart , complete with a table for putting his feet up. Behind the sofa, there was a band (most in pajamas) playing music while sitting...this was absolutely hilarious and we were excited to take part. After the parade the kids took part in lots of activities from hula hooping, jump roping, taking a tour through an ambulance, etc. and snacking on free healthy snacks.
Grace knows how to tear up some hopscotch!
The prize she picked for doing such a great job...oh my!
Evan taking Holtz down the inflatable slide. So funny because although it looks like they are sliding down, they were stuck...Evan had to wiggle his way down. Holtz didn't seem to mind though!
And here is Holtz being awesome- he loves shades and cheesing! He is one bad to the bone little dude-
Grace and I have started volunteering once a month on family day at God's Pantry Food Bank. I found out about the organization because Maxwell Elementary did a food drive at school. Children as young as 5 can participate and we were able to sort some of our own food drive donations. I think it's important to get Grace involved doing things like this because it is really seeming to help her build stronger social skills and confidence.
The two pictures above are of Holtz and his buddy Lauren (Lolo) Wedeking. Grace has been friends with Lauren's older sister Megan since we moved here. Michelle (Lauren's mom/ aka my buddy) and I take the kids on mini- field trips to Salato, Ashland, the library, etc. and frequently we do play dates at their house. Michelle and I also do a sitter swap every other week so she can volunteer at Meg's school and I at Grace's. It's so fun to see Grace in class. I volunteer during workstations so I really get to see what they are working on. Evan, Holtz and I also go to school to have lunch with Grace every other week.
I just bought a new DSLR "fancy" camera so I've been practicing a lot with the kids. It's amazing what these cameras can do. I've had a lot of fun learning how to use it-
Holtz now knows about 20 letters, can count to 10, knows a lot of colors, can blow his nose, can breathe in to smell and goes on the big boy potty. Holy crap- his first time going on the big boy potty was on October 10. He had been telling us for several weeks when he goes in his diaper so I figured I would bring the learning potty out to let him check it out. We came home from a walk and he said that he had to go so I sat him down and he went! I couldn't believe it. I haven't been forcing the issue at all and figure when he wants to use the potty he can and when he wants to go in his diaper he can. I figure this time around, after having a hell of a time training Grace, I'm going to let him kind-of train himself. I don't sit him on the potty every 30 minutes or ask him if he has to go. Today he kept his diaper dry from about 1PM until 7PM (went on the potty three times). He even kept it dry during his nap :) He is talking a ton, loves to say NO for no and K for ok, has started doing time-outs, and all in all has become a joy. So long, Mr. Trouble...hello Mr. Sweetness!
Grace has been working really hard in gymnastics. She has gotten really good at cartwheels and handstands and doing back flips over the bar. She is strong now! She also has been practicing once a week (on top of her regular ballet class) for her nutcracker debut! She has been added to another cast so she'll be performing four times instead of just twice. Because of this, she has two practices every week- she's really cranked for her performance.
We have been really lucky this fall because for the most part, we've had beautiful weather. We've gone to Ashland several times (Henry Clay Estate) and play out back frequently. On the days when Grace is in school, Holtz, Ralph and I almost always go on a walk. Holtz holds the leash while he rides in his stroller. Really cute! The picture above where Holtz is hitting the ball, if you look at the top of the picture, you can see the ball. I thought it was a really cool shot. The kids also have been doing a lot of coloring, painting, etc.
Pumpkin carving time-
Cowboy Holtz...
Grace is a flamenco dancer...
Grace's school had a performance for the veterans on Veterans Day and her awesome Uncle Mikey flew up for it. Grace was bursting at the seams to have him there.
Yes, we have put up our tree already! We want to enjoy it as long as we can! Hope you enjoyed the latest post and pictures-
