Where'd you go, November??

November has passed in a blur and I'm not even sure what we did all month, as I didn't take many pictures.

We enjoyed a little time with Matt's family to celebrate Nanny's birthday.  A nice lunch, always some good conversation, good-natured teasing about Nanny's "favorite" child, and some laughing together.  We are also planning a trip together for Matt's parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  I think Julia was a toddler our last family trip!! 

This month is always one of my favorites at preschool, as we learn about sea life and do a lot of fun activities together.  I also went back to way too early VIPKID teaching and added in subbing on Thursdays and Fridays.  Mostly subbing has gone well and I've enjoyed a change of pace in my week.  I've learned so much about our school system already and I've definitely learned where I enjoy being and where is not a good fit.  So far I've been in 4 schools and more to come!  I've had kids from 3 years old to big 5th graders.  I've held non-verbal kids and sung to them, helped kids write DARE essays, worked on math and reading with small groups of kids, given quizzes, and survived a fight in my classroom.  It's been so interesting and I'm only a few weeks in!  I'm pondering where to go from here, once Allie starts preschool, and gathering all the info and experience I can in the meantime.

We've gone through the school routine, but tried to capitalize on any good weather in the afternoons.  Julia loves hanging out outside with her friends and she LIVES for playdates.  Meanwhile we have a new routine with the boys since Joshua made basketball and Gray made frisbee.  They have practice every day and starting next month we will have games Monday through Thursday between the two of them!!  Can't wait to cheer them on.

We had a fun rainy Saturday this past weekend.  We got a free trip to the movies to see Frozen II, which we thought was great!  I'd never taken Allie to a movie and she was so excited and did really well.  I sat behind her and she snuggled in with the girls.  Every once and while her little arms would reach over the back of her chair for me to hold her for a bit, then she'd go back to her seat.  The kids ate toooonnnns of popcorn, as we got the large and a bunch of free little bags to distribute all the free refills.  :)  I overheard Gray say if he could eat one food for the rest of his life it would be popcorn.  I love that he was up for going to Frozen and had a great time...no worries about whether it was cool or not.  We've been talking a lot about the complicated world of middle school where so many are always worried about what's cool and what others think.  I told Gray I loved that he doesn't care about that stuff and just does what he likes, whether it's the popular thing or not.  He said, "Well I don't really have any friends that are considered popular."  Ha.  Sorry, friends.  But I do think it's a lot less complicated in his social world!  He's gotten to have two sleepovers in a row the last week and he is loving it.  Almost all his friends made the frisbee team along with him so it's going to be a really fun season for him!

Post-Frozen II, we headed with Julia and some friends for free skate.  They loved it and Julia is improving so much!

And then we had a short, but intense internet crisis that briefly took over my life as I tried to fix it and find the quickest solution for getting someone else to fix it.  I'm only allowed to cancel a few VIPKID classes before they will end my contract so it was high stress figuring out how to get through my busiest two days with no internet.  Thankfully, Matt's parents were gracious enough to allow me to sneak over to their house at 4 am and get those classes taught and as of today, we've got the green light again.  Whew.  I don't like being so tied to this and dealing with customer service/tech people for hours.  Yuck.  But still thankful for this job and getting to teach some really brilliant and sweet kids across the world.  

And now we get ready for Thanksgiving.  I'm so ready for some down time with family.  So ready.  I'll leave you with my yearly recipe for pumpkin pie, written by my class!  The first week of December is on its way and will be full of celebrations...Gray's running a mile at the Hillsborough Christmas parade, the boys have their first games, Julia has her holiday concert, and I get to go see a show with my mom and sister.  Yay for Christmastime!!

It was a dark and stormy night... (with pictures hopefully!)

It rained all day Wednesday and Thursday, Halloween day, wasn’t looking great. We had watched the weather all week and were wondering if it might be a very short night of trick or treating. At our house, we had a growing group of friends coming for a quick dinner before going out and I was crossing my fingers that everyone could actually go out.  The food was all ready, costumes good to go, Mimi and GrandGene here to help, and....no rain!  It was hot and humid, which proved to be a wardrobe issue for several kids, but we were thrilled to get some quick pictures and send everyone off!

Joshua and friends hemmed and hawed about going trick or treating this year.  Too old?? Too cool??  Finally they made a plan to gather at our house with varying degrees of costuming and then meet some girls around the corner to go around the neighborhood together. When he finally made it home, I learned this plan didn’t really come together and he spent most of the night just wandering the neighborhood with a group of friends. He had one small handful of candy to show for it.

Gray and friends came up with a costume idea the week before and while all costumes were slightly different in sizes and materials, I thought they looked great together. I don’t think their costumes lasted very long, but they went out for a couple hours and had a great time, then went back to one of their houses for candy trading and movie watching.

The supervised group of trick or treaters included two preschoolers, a second grader, and 3 fourth graders. The older ones were quite motivated so we ended up a little spread out through the neighborhood trying to keep track of everybody, particularly the families who don’t live there. Allie soon gave up and decided to stay home with Mimi and GrandGene. When we got quite far away from home, everything fell apart a bit, as it got dark and a storm/tornado conditions headed our way. We all split up and booked it home. Fun night and all were happy the weather didn’t shut things down till late.

We didn’t have much time to recover from our night because we had a lacrosse tournament at the beach to get to the next day!

It was a chilly weekend, but Julia proved her love for the ocean by getting in the water anyway. We had fun checking out the beach and hanging out in our condo the first night, watching Animal Planet. We were pretty cold at the tournament, though Allie claimed the only thing that was chilly was her hair. Unfortunately Gray has some packing issues— he brought no shorts/pants/swimsuit/long sleeves/sweatshirts.  Thank goodness for his pj pants for post-ocean swim attire. :)

Our first night was a little rough, as we didn’t have heat turned on and were freezing. Throw in a crying child at 11, a fire alarm at 2 am when we did turn on the heat, and an early morning for lacrosse and you’ve got some tired people!  Thankfully the second night worked out much better. Allie particularly enjoyed sharing a little room with Joshua, which she called “the zape” for some reason.

The lacrosse team won two of three on Saturday and one of two on Sunday, so not too bad. Wasn’t Joshua’s best playing but he enjoyed it. We liked hanging out with our Hillsborough people and all the kids ended up in the ocean this time.

Julia was so happy to have a friend there and these two were inseparable.

 For some reason, one booth there had free mustaches, so that made for some funny pictures.

Allie wandered away from us for a moment and Gray found her over by a group of random kids. She told him she was just talking to her new friends. 

Oh, and one more fun thing last week. Matt and I went away for a day hiking at Hanging Rock. We did a waterfall hike and the Hanging Rock hike. They were challenging with lots of steps up and down, but the weather was nice, views amazing, and it was great to be outside and just get to be together.

Meanwhile, the kids got to go to a pumpkin patch with Nanny and we returned in time for s’mores with Nanny and Pa and their international students.

It’s hard to come back to reality, but the week awaits and this one marks the beginning of the second quarter of school. The boys are trying out for basketball this week and I should have some full days of subbing too. Welcome, November!

Rolling Through October

We are just about at 2 months since school started.  The kids are about to wrap up their first quarter of school, parent conferences are being scheduled, Halloween costumes are being made, there is pumpkin everything everywhere...must be the end of October!  Looking back at these pictures, I can hardly believe that was only a month ago.  Feels like much longer!  Our days have been so packed that it's become harder for me to find time to read a book again.  That's become kind of my gauge...if I'm reading a ton, life must have slowed down.  And then there are times when I can't even believe I've ever read a book.  We aren't quite there yet, thankfully, but it may be coming.  After more than 2 months of doing paperwork and (mostly) waiting, I am now officially able to sub in Orange County Schools and so far it looks like if I'm willing to try anything, I could work every Thursday and Friday.      Thursday was my first time trying out my new job.  It was just a half day for an art teacher and I had to decide in about 2 minutes whether or not to run out the door and accept it.  I got there and he showed me what to do, giving me a warning that my first two classes (K and 1st) should be okay but the 5th grade class would be a challenge and I should just try to survive (yikes!).  I waited for the kindergarten class to come in...and got a little nervous...and waited...and thought, "Am I really doing this?!"... and waited...and then realized they were lined up outside the door waiting for me to let them come in!  Oops.  The younger two classes were pretty sweet and I came home with lots of pictures they wanted to draw for me.  And then came 5th grade.  And they were just fine!  Most were working on paintings and there were several that told me they were my helpers and would make suggestions, such as "You need to say 'red, yellow, blue' and everyone will say 'eyes on you' because they are way too loud."  I left in a bit of a worn out daze, in awe of classroom teachers, appreciative of my 10 four year olds who are so manageable and fun, and pondering what's next for me in this new job.  Come November, I'll have to decide which classes I will try.  I'm getting calls for every age group and all sorts of classrooms, which is kind of fun, but realistically I am not ready for a high school gym class!

This month has held some challenges with the kids at home.  For some reason, I pulled out my old printed blog book from 10 years ago and started reading it a week or so ago.  It's amazing to see how some aspects of the kids' personalities are still just the same.  And it's so helpful to laugh about the crazy things they used to say or do.  Somehow it makes it seem like everything's going to be okay even when we've had a rough afternoon.  So in spite of having too much to do, I am determined to keep writing down our memories so I can keep reading as we keep marching through parenting. 

Allie was so happy to be back at the cardiologist for her 6 month check.  She was so chatty with everyone and after telling the doctor all about her birthday and of course gum, he remarked that she sure did have a lot of personality.  I guess she's never been so comfortable at the doctor before.  Unfortunately she flipped over her flu shot, being old enough for the first time to remember what shots are like, so we didn't end on as happy a note, but I was thrilled that Dr Milazzo said she only has to come yearly for checks now!!

Teacher Workday Fun!  We took a day trip to Pilot Mountain and everyone loved it.  It was a beautiful day and it was so good to just be outside and walk.  There were tons of places to climb and the kids had so much fun with that.  It was just perfect for our wide age range.  

Julia adores her friend Jenny and we finally worked out a day for them to play together.  They ice skated, played at home, and then we got to have dinner with Nanny and Pa and two college students they are sponsoring.  These ladies were so fun to talk to and we enjoyed hearing about life in their home countries and what they think of North Carolina.  It was very funny to hear one describe her reaction to her first football game.  

4th grade at Cameron Park means your class does a play for parents called The Lost Colony.  I loved going in to help as the kids made the backdrops.  It was kind of controlled chaos, with groups of kids spread out everywhere, sketching a design, then trying to divvy up who would draw what on a giant bulletin board paper.  At one point, a few of the kids in my group were arguing, some were frantically drawing, some wandering aimlessly, and one little boy in my group who was disillusioned with the leadership of his team was in the fetal position on the floor crying a bit, but we pulled it together and ended up getting everyone working and happy. :)  Bless you, teachers!!  Julia did not want a speaking part because she didn't want the attention, but she didn't seem too nervous when her turn came to silently act out her scene.

GrandGene came up for a visit.  The first afternoon was spent at a home football game for Gray.  I think he went in one play.  He still seems okay with that, for the most part.  I guess it's good for him to get a reality check sometimes and learn to deal with tough things...like not getting to play when in your head, you'd do amazing stuff out there.  He's had a great attitude and it's been fun to watch the team.  I've now often got cheers stuck in my head and I don't even cringe when there is a hit anymore.  The team got to play at the high school this week and Gray just went in for one play as linebacker.  He even got his name called out as being in on the tackle, though he actually didn't touch the guy.  Matt suspects his friend the camera guy put in a word to the announcer on that one.  :)  The next night, GrandGene and Matt headed to the State game and had a good time with that one too.

Then it was off to Rock Hill for Joshua's first lacrosse tournament of the season.  It was just me and the boys going down there and Matt kept the girls entertained at home. The Moores joined us the second day and we celebrated Joshua's birthday early.  He got many, many snacks which he is thoroughly enjoying, and he loved a birthday limerick Mimi wrote with help from Gray and GrandGene...

Day One of the tournament was beautiful.  Joshua had a slow start but got more playing time as he went and made some good plays.  

Day Two was cold and rainy.  The team was in the bottom half bracket but did win that, so they got tshirts.  Everyone was wet and tired, but Joshua said he had a great time and learned a lot.  

On Joshua's actual birthday, he chose to have me take him shopping at the outlets after school.  It was a pretty long trip, but he got some nice things and I even helped him shop my way...the clearance rack.  It was nice to be together and I think he was happy to do his gifts this way since there wasn't much he wanted besides clothes.  We then met the rest of the family and Nanny and Pa at the dinner place of his choice:  Rockin Roll Sushi.  I had never had sushi before but it was a lot of fun.  The boys ate so much.  The conveyor belt continuous rolls choices by your table and they were constantly getting Matt to grab stuff for them.  My fav was actually a banana sushi.  Weird but good.  

Gray's face when discovering that the black things on top of his sushi were fish eggs.  

When Gray realized it was Joshua's birthday coming up, he designed a jersey for him and asked us if he could buy it for him.  So sweet.  And cool shirt too!

Julia was slightly less prepared and whipped this up after dinner as he was opening gifts.  :)

I enjoyed a nice Friday last week.  First I went to an annual continuing education conference that was so interesting, then had a lunch with our adoption group ladies.  Meanwhile, Allie hung out with Nanny, who let her take home some "lips", as Allie says.  

Matt's parents hosted a family reunion at their house last weekend.  We really enjoyed seeing some of Matt's cousins and aunts that we haven't seen in awhile.  There was a ton of food, lots of photos taken, and of course a lot of talking and laughing. 

Then came Joshua's party.  His friend Josh had a birthday a few days after Joshua so they combined forces.  We took the first shift-- play and pizza at the park.  They did basketball, football, and lots of "man hunt"-- kind of a tag/hide and seek game.  The girls were very sweet to hang out with Allie a little bit.  She kept talking about how she was going to the 'zebo (gazebo) with the girls so they wouldn't get tagged.  

Meanwhile Julia was laying around on her sleeping bag on the playground, car, and at home.  She had a sleepover party to go to the night before and was worn out.  

After the park, we turned the boys over to Josh's parents for sleepover time.  They did more playing outside, cupcakes, and of course video games.

This week Allie got a cough and missed a few days of school.  I had my first sub experience as I said above, Gray had that football game at the high school, and Julia got to go on an all day field trip to the mountains with Matt.  She loved it!  This evening, the boys had fun doing Halloween Wyldlife.  Before that, I picked up Gray from the Halloween dance at school.  He wanted to do both, so he was only there about 45 minutes.  When I picked him up, his mouth was so stuffed he could barely tell me about it.  But he was able to communicate that he was eating his second piece of pizza, had a soda earlier, and had candy in his pocket.  He never even made it past the food area to the dance zone in the gym.  :)  But he assured me it was totally worth it and he was glad he went.  Whatever floats your boat, Buddy!  

As we finish up October, we are gearing up for Halloween fun, Joshua's next lacrosse tournament, the end of Gray's football season, sports try-outs for winter, and probably some more subbing adventures for me.