Halloween Weekend

What a busy weekend-so busy that we never made our annual Halloween cookies. I told the kids we might have to make them anyway, even if it is after Halloween. Friday night, I took the kids to my school while I was a BINGO caller for half an hour. Sophia sat with some of my kids while Andrew made his way up to help me. After Sophia's third game, she came running up , almost in tears. She was very upset that she hadn't won because one of the prizes was Silly Bands (shaped rubber band bracelets) and she wanted them. I offered her the chance to play more games, but she either wanted the Silly Bands right then and there or she she wanted to leave. Andrew, on the other hand, wanted to stay. He seemed to think one of the prizes was flashlights (not so sure on this one) and he wanted one. So I left with both kids in tears-not quite the outcome I anticipated when I planned the evening. I know I shouldn't have given in to them, but I felt bad that they hadn't won so we made a stop at Walmart. It's amazing how quickly their attitudes changed. We came home with a pack of 24 Silly Bands, a Toy Story flashlight and 2 smiling kids who looked like they'd won the lottery.

Saturday, Sophia and Andrew had their new mattresses delivered. I think I was more excited for them than they were (excited that we had finally bought them-and a little jealous that I wasn't the one getting a new mattress). Then we headed outside to enjoy a beautiful late October day. The kids decided they were going to have a picnic lunch outside and set up a blanket on the lawn. They then started raking up the leaves into a pile so they could jump into them. Up until this year, it's seemed we never have had enough leaves for that. As I'm typing this though, I realize that I didn't jump into the pile with them. I guess that will have to go on my 'to do' list for this week. Then it was off to a local grocery store for a haunted house and the first treats of the weekend. That night, we went to another party at our church.

The kids were very excited for today. As soon as Sophia got up, she went to work on decorations for the house-pictures of bats, ghosts and pumpkins. They put their costumes on and were ready for the day. First stop-Caribou Coffee, where they received free hot chocolates for wearing their costumes and Brueggers for breakfast.

Sibling Love

Sophia and Andrew CAN actually get along from time to time. Today was one of those days and despite the fact that it was nap time, I let them keep playing because I love watching them interact in a positive way. They started out playing boats with the water table. After lunch, they played on the swingset, collected leaves and pretended their were pirates. They even had drawn a map. Andrew loves playing catch at his grandma and grandpa's so I found a ball for each of them and they started playing basketball, which entertained them for a long time. Sophia was pretty good throwing the Gopher basketball through the net and Andrew got his football through quite a bit too (from a very short distance away). Alas, all good things must come to an end. Sophia decided they were going to face each other and toss their balls to the other person. Andrew threw his as directed, hit her in the head and was then tackled by Sophia. Nap time!

My favorite conversation of the week-while taking Andrew to the bathroom in the morning:
Andrew:Mom, why don't you have a wiener?
Me:Girls don't have those.
Andrew in a whisper (after a pause): Does daddy have a wiener?

Friday night Sophia had a Harvest Ice Cream Social at school. It was fun to meet some of Sophia's friends that we've heard her talk about and watch her have fun with them. Andrew had a good time too. He was determined to win a pumpkin on the Pumpkin Walk and he did!

Yesterday we went to the Bloomington Farmer's Market. We went there specifically to get apple donuts that had been advertised in the paper. Well, apparently everyone else went there to get them too because by the time we arrived, they were sold out. Cue tears-Sophia erupted into tears which confused the lady running the booth. She asked, "Is she crying because we're out?" Yes-she was. We explained that we had come just for the donuts. Turns out, she had put aside some from her family and graciously sold us two. Andrew and Sophia enjoyed the donuts while Erik and I savored the one bite we each got.

It's easy to tell when Sophia and Andrew are overtired. Listen for the cry. For Erik's birthday, Andrew knew just what he wanted to get him-donut holes and cookies. So, that's what he got. Of course Andrew wanted a donut hole as soon as they were opened and claimed the cookies to be his. He had one that night and cried and cried for another. I finally bribed him with a promise to have one the next day-I said I'd sneak him one on the way to daycare. My kids have good memories and of course the first words out of Andrew's mouth the next day were, "I want a cookie." He ate one at the kitchen table and then begged for another one (and cried the entire way to daycare). See, he thought he was owed a second one because had said he'd get one on the way to daycare-he thought the one he got at the table was just a bonus. Another night, as we were sitting down to dinner, Erik noticed that a piece of mail had gotten wet and left a red mark on the countertop. No big deal-clean it up and red spot gone. Well, you'd had thought we'd just discovered a treasure. Andrew cried and cried, claiming "I want to see the red spot," even though it was cleaned up. Finally, I held him up and showed him the spot. He immediately stopped crying, said "Oh" and was ready to eat. Who knew a red spot could be so exciting?

School Days

E-mail from school today:

She had a rough start to the day...telling scary stories and telling someone his Halloween costume was stupid. He apparently told her the same thing about princesses... She ended up with all of her stickers today as she made better choices the rest of the day. She has also been told no more scary stories as I have had a couple kids now get scared...

Eriks' reply when I forward it to him was, "Guess there's no more Scooby Doo." When I asked Sophia what stories she was telling, the said they were about Frankenstein, who I didn't think she'd ever heard of.

She had a pretty good week. We started a sticker chart with her at school so she can earn up to 5 stickers a day.