BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE: October 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

Trick or Treat

We had a great Halloween night trick or treating with friends. We ate pizza and yummy treats. Then we trick or treated around Vintage Place. We had a great time.

This is a picture of AG before school today.

Guess what Cubby was for Halloween? We decided he would make a good Sebastian!

Is Hazel trying to kiss Cooper??
Caitlyn, AG, Kennedy, Madeline, Coop, Hazel
(Jasmine, Ariel, Ariel, Clown, Batman, LadyBug)

Off to trick or treat...
Cole, Eliza in one wagon and Coop and McKenna in the other wagon
(Lion, Bumble Bee) and (Batman and Cat)

Poor Hazel was cold and tired

Ally, Caitlyn, AG and Kennedy take a break between houses

Cole and Eliza enjoy their warm wagon ride.

Running to another house!

Thank you, Katie, for having us over to your house. We enjoyed trick or treating with everyone.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Pony rides, a petting zoo, and a trampoline....

must be Cooper and Cole's birthday party!!
We had a great time celebrating Cooper (3) and Cole's (1) birthday parties on Saturday. Katie made sure no detail was overlooked. From the fun party animal hats to the precious pig cupcakes. The children had a great time!! Mrs. Katie always puts on the best parties.

Happy Birthday Cooper and Cole!

So many cute "farm" things - I love the popcorn boxes filled with popcorn!

Will walks by the animals in the petting zoo.

Caitlyn, Emily, Krista and Kennedy enjoy games.

Hazel and AG pet the cow while Cooper looks on with a smile.

The pig

Evan (in Tiger costume) and Coop look at the goat

AG LOVED the rabbits!

Hazel enjoyed a pony ride.

Coop and Cole sit at the table together and wait to blow out candles.

Time to blow out the candles! Happy Birthday to Cooper and Cole!

Cole had a precious pig cake all to himself.
He wasn't too sure about his party hat.

But he enjoyed his pig cake!

The kids enjoyed getting candy from the horse pinata!

What a fun filled "farm" day! Thanks for including us in your special day, Coop and Cole! We had fun at your party!

Cubby Bear

Anna Grace is involved in the AWANA program at our church. She is a cubbie. Cubbies are 3 and 4 year olds. Every Sunday they meet at our church from 4:15-6:30pm. They memorize a verse every week, have craft time, music time, story time with Cubby bear, snack time, playground time and game time. As they learn their verses, they earn patches that they wear on their Cubbie vest. Another incentive the program has is taking Cubby bear home for a week. Each Sunday night a child in cubbies is chosen (based on verse memorization and good behavior) to take Cubby home for the week - take care of him, brush his teeth, read to him, feed him, etc. and journal about their time together. AG got Cubby bear last year when she was in the 3 year old Cubbie class, but she must have forgotten about it b/c all she talks about this year is when will I bring Cubby home? She lets us know each week who was chosen to bring him home. We keep reminding her that she will have a turn, and she just needs to keep trying (memorize her verses and be on her best behavior) and she will be chosen too.

This past Sunday night we were driving to Cubbies and AG exclaimed, "I think I am bringing Cubby home tonight!" We told her that there was a good chance she could bring him home, but if she didn't, it was ok. We would keep trying.

Well, I went to pick her up and guess what?!? AG turned around with a BIG Smile on her face and a ton of stuff in her hands exclaiming, "Mommy! I got Cubby Bear!!" I was so proud of her again! Just like last year. I love exciting moments in my child's life!! They are so wonderful and make me so PROUD!! It is such a wonderful feeling!

So, Cubby Bear has been spending the week with us this week. It has been great so far. AG takes him EVERYWHERE! She loves him so much. On Sunday night I was rocking AG (and Cubby) to sleep and she said, "I wish Cubby could live with us forever." It was so sweet. I told her Cubby couldn't live with us forever, but he gets to go trick or treating with us on Friday night. She was very excited about that. We are going to find Cubby a cute costume to wear. AG has taken Cubby out to eat, brushed his teeth every night, changed his clothes, buckled him in his seat belt in the car, and she even wrote in the journal herself! It has been fun watching her care for Cubby!

Anna Grace has Cubby all ready for bed.

Anna Grace changes Cubby's diaper

I snuck in and took this picture while AG was sleeping. Cubby and his best bud, Spud, are sleeping with AG.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Part of your.....WORLD!

Guess who is going to be Ariel for Halloween?!?

That's right!! Anna Grace!

Our church told the children to dress in their costumes for church tonight. AG enjoyed a fun Halloween party with her friends!!
Nothing like a dress rehearsal before the BIG performance!!

Sugar Plum Fairy Tea Party

Anna Grace and I enjoyed a Sugar Plum Fairy tea party on Saturday. The South Carolina Dance Theater puts on the Nutcracker, so the tea party was a way to promote the upcoming production. Many characters from the Nutcracker were there - Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy (of course) and her prince along with many other characters. The younger girls in the dance company even showed us some of their dance numbers. One of AG's good friends, Hazel, is in the production, so we saw her dance! Anna Grace was SO proud of Hazel. Hazel smiled from ear to ear when she saw Anna Grace in the audience. They were really cute to watch.

Before we left for the tea party, AG found a friend in the yard.
Look closely - it's another toad!

Once we got to the tea party, we found a seat on the floor - aka - the front row.
AG is sitting with her friend Grace.

Here comes Hazel!
(Hazel is the little girl on the far right with the pink bow in her hair).

Such a performer! Hazel did a great job! I wish you could have seen how proud AG was of her. AG thought Hazel was a star. She grabbed Hazel and gave her the biggest hug when she came off of the stage.

AG enjoyed making Christmas ornaments while we were there.
Can't wait to hang them on the tree!

We had a nice time at the tea party. We enjoyed yummy sweets and tea too.
Thank you, Hazel, for inviting us to your performance. You are a star!!

A trip to the FAIR!

Anna Grace had her first school field trip last week - a trip to the local Florence Fair. It was our first time going to the fair. It was sooooo cold outside. The rides and food were closed since we got there at 9:30am. We enjoyed a puppet show on saying no to drugs and alcohol (not quite sure AG understood it) and she was too cold to pay attention. Then we visited some animals in a tent. We saw a lama, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens - lots of chickens, birds, guineas, etc. It smelled horrible, but the kids enjoyed it, so that is what counts.

One of the best parts of the trip?
Riding the BUS!
Anna Grace, Maddie and Abby enjoy riding together in the back seat!

AG found her favorite animal - the guineas.
She said, "Aw, mommy, aren't they the cutest?"

AG in front of a mama pig and her babies - mommy's favorite animal of the day

Hey, who's looking at AG??

And another favorite part of the trip?
SNACK TIME!!!

It was a good day, but I wish it had been warmer.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Happy Halloween!

We had our second annual Halloween costume party last Friday. Children arrived in costumes from Spiderman to a cow to a pink power ranger to Jasmine. We had a great time eating yummy Halloween treats, bobbing for pumpkins, painting pumpkins and playing parachute games.