Oct Recap - Halloween

Of course, no recap of Oct would be complete without Halloween!

Rylee was Mal 

(Malificient's daughter from the Disney movie "Descendents")

Jace is Octonauts-obsessed right now so 

he was Kwazii.

Jace had perfected Kwazii's catch phrases:  "Yeow!  Shiver me whiskers!" And Gaga designed and Jon created, Rylee's magical staff: a light up ball on top of a spray painted tiki torch.  When she tapped it on the concrete it would light up as if by magic!

We had such a lovely night too.  Our neighborhood goes all out.  Lots of people set up in their driveways and some have spooky effects.  The streets are crowded with kids and parents.  This year, we went around with our neighbor, Madison (and Venessa and Matt).  Madison was a cute little Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, but I didn't get any good pics.  :(

The best moment of the night was when the kids knocked and the people threw the door open to reveal a giant, cackling, electronic witch.  The kids had a shock and Madison burst into tears, poor thing, but it was hysterical!

Oct Recap - Fun

Oct was full of lots of fun: a couple birthday parties, bowling with the kids, and this trip to the arcade in which Jace won 500 tickets on one game.

There were dress up days at school, like Super Hero Day...

...and, of course, Halloween fun.

Jace's girlfriend, Zoee, invited us to her sister's 

Halloween birthday party where Rylee got mummified.

Rylee and I even got to attend a school field trip together.  Since she's in my grade this year so we sat together on the bus and at the play (Click, Clack, Moo).  It was like being a chaperone for her class, but I didn't have to take the time off of work.  :)

Oct Recap - Jon

Oct also brought Jon's 40th birthday.  Rylee made her Dad a coupon book and Jace (who is obsessed with perler beading) made him a beer mug.

I made him golf-inspired cupcakes with a little ball and flag.

The kids are always laughing when Dad's around!

Jon went on his annual hunting trip shortly after his birthday.  Thankfully, my Mom arrived in FL in time to help out.  She did all the pickups and dropoffs, and made she we didn't starve while Jon was away.  Thanks Mom!

Oct Recap 1

We had to put our hurricane shutters up and bring in all our outdoor furniture for Hurricane Matthew. (It was the kids first experience with a hurricane, and luckily it passed us by with no real effects.)  But since Jon had taken the pool fence down, and both kids are now great swimmers, we decided not to put it back up.   The kids are loving being able to walk all around the pool and jump from anyplace.

The back side of the pool is as adventurous 

as the back side of the moon when you're 4:

Yoga jump:

I think this is some kind of super hero jump, 

although from this angle it looks like an elephant trunk:

Cat jump?

Look at how handsome and grown up this boy is getting?!

I love these two crazy kiddos!

Sept Recap - Fun

Rylee decided to skip a traditional birthday party so she could have a couple of sleepovers instead.

The first was with her friend from preschool, Kenzie.  They crafted, they swam, they made an iMovie, stayed up late watching movies in bed, and basically had a fantastic time.  Unfortunately, all I took was video so I don't have any photos to share.

The second was with her friend from school, Josephine.  They basically did the same things - I guess those are sleepover staples!  I did manage to get one pic from when they were swimming.  But I have lots of pics of Rylee and Josephine because they play in my classroom most mornings.  Here they are on our school's dress up days:

Tie Dye Day...

Jersey Day...

The one from the sleepover...

Picture Day...

Fun times!

Sept Recap - Rylee's birthday

Rylee turned 8 this year!  How is that possible?!
Her birthday was right after Labor Day weekend so we made the most of it and celebrated every day.

Saturday we met Miller and Mason at one of those kid's places where you can do crazy rope climbs...

...rock climbing, laser tag, etc.

Afterwards, I found a fun ice cream place that served some 

milk-free ice cream so we went there for treats and present opening.

Sunday was Mason's birthday party so went there for some pool party action.  I didn't take any pics though.  :(

Monday was Rylee's birthday at home.  She wanted a round, layer cake (which I've never made before).  It turned out pretty cute for my first time!

Most importantly, it was delicious!

Two thumbs up!

Tuesday was Rylee's actual birthday and her party at school.  I let her wear something a little outside the dress code to celebrate.

Love this beautiful, sweet girl!  

Rest of August- Recap

August is back to school time in FL.  The kids came by my classroom on Rylee's Sneak a Peek day.  They were very color coordinated with my classroom!

Then it was time for the first day of school.  

2nd Grade for Rylee and one more year of preschool for Jace.

Another year of 2nd grade for me too!

Here Jace is showing off his new snack bag!

The kids are having a great year.  Rylee loves her new teacher and she is reading off the charts.  Jace adores school.  His new classroom has a lot of pets.  He likes his new teacher and loves his friends.  When I tell him he has a day off from school, he actually complains!

Awards - Final Catch Up Post!

So the last thing from 2015-2016 school year, was the awards ceremony for Rylee.

She received two awards (medals): a reading award for reading over 100 books during the school year.  We actually stopped counting in March and she was already over 150.

And she won the art award again!  So the year before she won the art award for Kindergarten (only one student in all 8-9 classes wins so 1 in 160 students approximately).  What made winning again for 1st grade so cool was that it was a new art teacher!  Way to go, girl!

Jon, Gaga and I were able to attend the ceremony.

My non-rule breaker (she gets that from me!), decided to be brave and wear a dress 

to the ceremony instead of her school uniform...

...but she changed into her uniform afterwards.  Lol!

Here's a pic from after school where you can actually see the two medals.

What makes me even prouder is what a sweetheart Rylee is.  Everyone loves her!  Her first grade teacher (who doesn't plan to have kids) gave her the best compliment: "If I was guaranteed to have a girl just like Rylee, I would have a baby."  Aww!

Love you, Rylee!

Jace's Bday Take 2

The next weekend, we invited Miller and Mason over to help celebrate Jace's birthday.  I didn't use all his Monster Jam stuff (maybe we can redo that party this year?), but it was fun to play in the pool and get presents!

Look at how big these guys are getting?!  

(Jace was so tan from all the swimming lessons 

he was taking at school.  He's a great swimmer now!)

Getting these two to stand next to each other involved 

an excess of giggling (Rylee) and red cheeks (Miller).

With his awesome new RC Grave Digger!  

Thanks Miller and Mason!

Jace's 4th Bday

Jace's 4th birthday was a bit of a bust.  He had been sick a few times with a stomach bug and then was throwing up the night before his party so we had to cancel it.  He ended up feeling okay that day so we had the party anyway, but just for the 4 of us plus Gaga.

It was Monster Jam themed of course!

I can't believe my little boy is 4 already!

Getting his "Ultimate Garage!"

Hours later when it was finally assembled.  Lol!

May Shows

May was Rylee's dance recital. They learned the dances three weeks prior so it was a bit interesting, but she looked beautiful!

Jace had a performance of his own in May.  I had signed him up for Glee Club (much to Jon's amusement).  They were putting on Peter Pan Jr. and Jace was a Lost Boy.

They both did a great job!