5 little pumpkins

Whoa!  Here are some excited little kids!  This is what you get with 14 boys and just 3 girls in class!  HA!

happy halloween!

Halloween brings never-ending fun!  Costumes, cookies, treats, parties, carving and more...it's been a fun week leading up to today and tonight we are in for more spooooky fun!

I had the privilege of spending the morning in Emmett's classroom for his Halloween party.  The kids were all in costume (super heros being the most popular this year!) and paraded through the church to the other classrooms and to all of the office staff who each had a special treat for all the kids.  At the end of the morning, we were treated to a rousing rendition of "5 Little Pumpkins" for all of the parents. What a fun, fun day!

toothalina

Much to Anna's delight, we experienced another "first" in our house last week.  Anna lost her very first tooth!  For months she has been talking about a phantom loose tooth - ever since her school friends starting talking about theirs.  And then several weeks back she showed us what was a REAL loose tooth.  So exciting!

Over MEA weekend Anna's tooth was hanging by a thread.  I encouraged her to keep wiggling and perhaps to even tug a little to get it out.  She was not having that!  Somehow Anna had it in her head that she wanted her tooth to fall out while she was eating.

Last Friday as we sat enjoying lunch at home before heading to the cabin, Anna shrieked and spit out her apple along with a small white tooth!  She claims she thought it was an apple seed - from an unripe apple, as those are apparently "white".  But then she felt the hole in her mouth and was DELIGHTED!

Much deliberation went into whether or not she wanted to tooth fairy to come.  Anna did NOT want to part with her tooth.  So, we settled on writing a note to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep it.

Here is a picture of the carefully thought out note that Anna wrote.  In case you are having trouble reading it, it says:

"Hi I am Anna!  Please!  Will u tell me your name?  I want to keep my tooth please.  Love, Anna.  He he he he he! me me me! Anna"

Worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't find her at the cabin, Anna had a tough time falling asleep on Friday night.  She woke at 1am and bolted upright in her bed.  "Mom!  My note is different!  There's not 3, there's just one long one.  Can we turn on the light??"

After convincing her to go back to sleep, she awoke to the following note, $5, and a little treat.

This note reads:
"Dear Anna, Thank you for your LOVELY note.  You are a good writer!  My name is Toothalina and I love rainbows, sparkles and all things magical.  Yay!  You lost your first tooth!  Please keep it somewhere special, it is a treasure.  I'm leaving you some treasure in return.  Spend it wisely!  Oh, I left a treat too.  Happy Halloween!"

And now we are treated to this toothy grin around our house each day.  Exciting times in the life of a 6 year old!

boys boys boys

After years of tagging along to playdates with Anna's friends and their siblings, Emmett is finding some new freedom as his days stretch out without his big sister around.  Fortunately our neighborhood is ripe with 4 year old boys and Emmett has playmates just a few steps away.

Just last week the doorbell rang in the afternoon and I opened it to 2 little boys, adorned with nerf swords.  "Hi Nathan, Hi Owen, how are you?" I greeted them.  They could barely get their words out stumbling to talk over each other as they shouted "Can Emmett play?  Can he be our 3rd ninja?"

You can bet Emmett went flying upstairs to get his sword and join in on the fun.  It's great to see this little group of boys run from house to house, playdate to playdate playing swords, tag, catch, and more. I am sure for Emmett it's a welcome break from house, princess and crafts with his sis!

preschool!

Emmett has started his preschool journey, and is well on his way!  Despite having a moment of panic after Anna got on the bus and he realized it was his turn to go, he did start his first day of preschool with a smile!

Now, nearly a month in he (almost always) runs into school with a smile and has made some new friends - one in particular named Nathan, and he has formed a special bond with one of his teachers.  We have had only one rocky day where his teacher mentioned that Emmett was sad and that he missed me.  It happened to be a day where the main teacher was gone, so I am guessing that had something to do with it.

Emmett is busy learning about letters, how to recognize his name, learning new songs and prayers and about being social outside of our family circle.  Some lessons are fun and interesting, others make me laugh out loud.  For example, here's one little tidbit that came home with him this week:

Emmett:  Mom, there was this little boy at school today...
Me:  Yeah?  What about him?  Did something happen?
Emmett:  Well, I told him that MY daddy was stronger than HIS daddy.
Me:  Hmm, I don't think that's a very nice thing to say Emmett, you could hurt his feelings.
Emmett:  Well he didn't CRY!

Between those stories, and Anna's about holding hands with "Preston", we certainly have our hands full!