Halloween at Lighthouse Academy

Liam's school had a "Harvest Celebration" on Halloween.  They were asked to keep their outfits positive... I guess there might've been too many Scream costumes in the four year-old room?  I kid, I kid.  They probably didn't want any of the kids wearing something that might scare another kid, I assume.

I made some rice krispies and tried to use store icing to write the words "Happy Halloween" on top.  I added some candy corn and pumpkins around the perimeter.  I think I will probably pass on this particular icing next time...  With all of the little divots and bumps, it looked spooky, but I suppose that's fine for this holiday! 

The 'Struction Worker on his way to day care, cracking a smile

There's that smile!!!

Finally a picture of the whole outfit, minus a few tools

A picture of Liam's class buddies who wore their costumes

Miss Myra wanted a picture of my Rice Krispy treats.  She is so sweet!

Peace, love and school ghouls,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Halloween 2011: North Atlanta Church of Christ Trunk 'N Treat

We invited our neighbors to the trunk 'n treat at the church this year.  I think this might be the third year that Tony and Elaine's family have joined us.  Matthew and Kate Celender joined us this year, with their daughter Scarlett.  Scarlett came as Dorothy from the "Wizard of Oz."  Olivia came as a mermaid.  Niko came as a dinosaur.  It was so much fun! 

It was great practice for the kids to get their "Trick or Treat" loud enough to warrant treats.  ;-)  Scarlett fell right in line and knew the drill before too long.  She is such a smart cookie!  Ava wasn't shy about going up to those handing out candy this year. 

Among my favorites were the Berry family, who dressed together as characters from Peter Pan.  Stephanie Vyverberg dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West, complete with the house that fell on her. 

After collecting a basketfull of candy, the kids got wild and went in the bounce house and on the slide.  A fun time was had by all!

Scarlett as "Dorothy"

Elaine, Olivia and Nico

Nico the dragon

Love Stephanie's outfit as the "Wicked Witch of the West"

The Berrys and their Peter Pan-themed trunk

Wesley Baillairge as "Woody the Cowboy" from Toy Story. 

So cute!

The girls being goofy!

Since Liam has now grown facial hair, we figured he's old enough to drive us home.  Just kidding... We dropped something off at the Celenders, so we let Liam drive with Doug home in the front seat (across our court).  :)

Peace, love and sunny candy-collecting days,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

More Prayers from Liam

Liam's prayer tonight:

"Dear God:  Thank you for trains.  Thank you for Taco Bell. Thank you for Jesus."

...thank you for Olivia.  Thank you for Matthew.  Thank you for Zoey.  Thank you for Scarlett, the cute one, who says "Hi!". 

Peace, love and priorities,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

The First Report Card

We met with Mrs. Mckenzie, Ava's teacher, during the afternoon of Thursday, 10/27.  I was so anxious to see how Ava was doing in class!  When we arrived, Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned that Doug was her second "Dad" of the day, so he got the big chair.  ;-) 

Mrs. Mckenzie is amazing.  And wow, Ava is ONLY in kindergarten.  But to know the skills she is expected to master... it's daunting!  Going into the conference, I thought Ava was probably the best reader in the class, based on the popcorn word lists she has mastered versus her classmates.  Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned she does have quite the range of readers in her class, with some even reading fluently right now.  I thought Ava would be considered a fluent reader.  Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned she would've put Ava in the #2 readers, but because Ava read the #2 book and couldn't answer questions about what she just read, Mrs. Mckenzie opted to put her in the #1 group, until Ava comprehended what she read.  I honestly think Ava could've answered questions after she read the #2 book a second time, but alas, we will just continue reading every night and see where it takes us.  I realized that I need to be reading with her more.  We've been so busy lately with things, that I honestly haven't done as much reading with her as I would like. 

So, it's definitely a learning curve for me, to get used to what is expected of students, how they determine reading level, etc.  I bought some cheap readers from Lakeshore Learning Store and Ava is gobbling them up.  I bought a huge range of reading levels, so she could build her confidence on easier books and then attempt the more difficult level books if she wanted to do so.  She can read up through level G-H right now.  I didn't buy any higher than the G-H level.  For now, I think we'll concentrate on boosting the confidence level.  She seems to be having fun with it, but does get immediately intimidated if there are too many words on one page. 

Everything Mrs. Mckenzie told us was confirmation of what we've known already.  It's very cool to see Ava's sweet personality and listen to what her teachers say about her.  She is our creative, determined, focused, music-and-art-loving little princess.  I was very glad to hear Mrs. Mckenzie say that Ava takes constructive criticism well.  She has been sensitive in the past with crticism, but seems to really be embracing any criticism if it is given in a constructive way.  With their writing assignments, Mrs. Mckenzie says each child in the class is given a "Wow" statement, as well as a "Wish" statement.  The "wow" statement giving praise for something the child did, the "wish" statement allowing the teacher to give the student some constructive criticism.  I love that every child gets this, that it is given in a structured way, so as not to make the child feel inadequate.  Ava is blossoming in class.  She can be playful at times, but when she is told to change her behavior, she does very well. 

She really seems to love school!  We let her pick out a few books at Target that night, to celebrate her amazing report card.  :)

Peace, love and a GREAT first report card!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

This Place is a Zoo!

Ava’s class at school was scheduled for a field trip to the Atlanta Zoo on Thursday, October 20^th.  Fortunately we got a rental van in time, as I had planned on heading there with Ava.  I took a vacation day from work and met Ava and her class at the zoo entrance.  The kids and teachers had taken the school bus, but parents drove to the zoo and met the class at the entrance.  Other parents from class were familiar to me, so I joined up with them while we waited for the kids. 

Everyone was bundled up, since it was such a chilly day!  The cashier in the ticket booth told me the gorillas wouldn’t be out as early as they normally are; it was too chilly for them. 

The silly picture. :)

We stuck together as a class.  There were 21 kids, with 9 parents showing up to accompany their kids.  I was impressed that there were that many parents there!  Mrs. Mckenzie split up the kids, so each of the parents helped with at least one child other than their own.  Ansley White was the little girl that tagged along with Ava and me. 

The parents who attended the class field trip.

We ate an early sack lunch in a little seating area toward the entrance.  After lunch, we saw the gorillas, monkeys and chimpanzees.  We went into the reptile house, and also saw giraffes, hippos.  Ansley seemed particularly interested in the reptiles.  We saw a HUGE Gila monster!  The pandas seemed especially playful and were fun to watch. 

After we were finished visiting the zoo, I left it up to Ava as to whether or not she would ride home with me.  I wasn’t sure if the bus would be “more fun.”  ;-)  She opted to ride home with me.   It was a fun trip!  I’m so glad I went.  It was fun holding hands, walking around the zoo with her. 

Peace, love and chilly chimps!

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

 

A Day Out With Thomas!

I saw commercials on t.v. during the month of September, advertising "A Day Out With Thomas."  Considering Liam's love of all things "Thomas the Train," I thought it would be nice for our family to break away from the retaining-wall madness, so we bought tickets. 


It was just what the doctor ordered and a gorgeous day, to boot!  We knew it was quite a trek from here to Cordele, Georgia (it's close to the Georgia / Florida state line).  The kids were great for the car ride there.  When we arrived at the Veterans' Park, we parked, took a shuttle to the festival area and ate lunch.  The kids both had a port-o-potty experience, which always proves interesting!  :)  After milling around the upper level of Thomas festivities (face-painting, temporary tattoos, live music and a huge train table area), we headed down to the train area.  It was entirely too sweet to watch Liam's expression as he first saw Thomas the train.  He was one happy kiddo. 

Liam's first view of Thomas the Train.  :)

We boarded the train and waited about 20 minutes for others to board the SAM shortline.  The kids enjoyed looking out the window, seeing the sights within the train.  When we got ready to take off, the conductor told us Thomas needed our help, and to say "Pull Thomas, pull!"  As we pulled out of the station, Liam looked over at me and said "Mommy, I don't think we're going forward?  I think we're going the wrong way!"  I was pretty impressed that he realized we were going backward.  Especially after having been seated on the train for 20 minutes or so.  Thomas actually drove us backward for the first half of the trainride, for 15 minutes.  Once we reached the end of the SAM Shortline, Thomas then switched directions and we pushed back toward the station, for the last 15 minutes.  Liam was in his glory the entire time we were on the train.  It was so fun to watch him have fun with this train, since he knows EVERY. SINGLE. THOMAS. TRAIN. by name.  It was his time.  It was so fun!

The weather got a little warmer as the day progressed.  We waited in line to take a picture with Thomas.  We stocked up on all things Thomas in the seriously full-of-gnats gift shop tent.  Even Ava wanted a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion.  As girly as she is, she often plays with Liam and his trains.  :)  The kids then went in a bounce house, cooled off with a lemonade and also had their picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt before we called it a day.  Liam slept the entire car ride home (over two hours).  

I'm so glad we went!  When we went to the Princess breakfast at Disney in February, I felt like it was perfectly timed for Ava.  She was just the right age.  I feel like this was the perfect age for Liam to have gone to see Thomas, as well.  Quite often, lately, when we're working on this retaining wall, I feel like we're short-changing the kids.  I know it's temporary, but know they are in need of attention, as well.  A day like this was perfectly timed, the perfect occasion for us all, where we could just enjoy the "sunshiney" weather and each other's company.  

Peace, love and one memorable day out with the family,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam