October Misc.

Here are some random "other" activities from the month of October:

Pre-K Studs

Cody and Jaden have adjusted well to preschool, for which we are very thankful. No longer do we have to worry about separation anxiety at drop-off time. Now it's a matter of reminding the boys to give us hugs before they busily run off into their classroom. Both boys love their teachers and come home regularly telling us something new that they learned in school. We've found it interesting that their most frequent playmates at recess time are the girls in their class. Last month we received these shirts for free from the school. Since the shirts proclaim the annual theme, Live Out Loud, the students are encouraged to wear their shirts on the monthly chapel days.

Special Treats

After taking Cody and Jaden to get their flu shots last month, I rewarded their brave behavior by letting them get sundaes at the McDonalds just across the street from their doctor's office. Neither boy cried at all while receiving their shots, although Cody told me he had "two big tears sitting in his eye." As you can tell from the pics, both boys devoured their ice cream treats!

Chelsea's Birthday

Our extended family still tries to get together a few times a month for weekend family dinners. What a treat this is! Whenever a family member has an upcoming birthday, we'll usually throw in a little celebration to our family dinner time. Chelsea was the birthday girl in the month of October. Matt and Kim cooked a delicious stir fry dinner (Chelsea's request) and a super tasty apple pie.

Chelsea had a lot of helpers with the candle blowing!

After dinner, we played a few games that Kim had planned for the kids since the evening was also our monthly family gameathon night. The boys all participated in an obstacle course that involved multiple activities which Chelsea might do during her day.

Step One: Mow the lawn.

Step Two: Go down the slide.

Step Three: Color a sidewalk chalk picture.

Step Four: Push "baby Isaiah" in the stroller. (All the boys thought that this step was particularly humorous!)

Step Five: End the obstacle course by giving Aunt Chelsea a huge hug!

After the first game, the boys quickly gravitated to the beloved family Jeep. I'm not exactly sure how helpful the older 4-year-old cousins were being...

The second game we played was a version of volleyball (Chelsea's forte) with a balloon.

Finally, we ended with a cute re-enactment of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Kim led the boys in this story multiple times so that they could each have an opportunity to act out all of the character roles. Such creative games, Aunt Kim! Happy Birthday, Aunt Chelsea! What a fun evening!

Making Applesauce

One thing that I miss about our Montana home is our backyard apple tree. With the enormous amounts of apples this tree would produce some years, making homemade applesauce became an annual tradition for our family. This fall in Texas, I bought a few extra apples at the store one weekend so that Jaden and Cody could experience the applesauce making and tasting process. The apples that we used (Fuji, I believe) weren't quite as flavorful as our backyard apples from Montana. Regardless, homemade applesauce is still a delicious treat! Jaden and Cody didn't help for too long, but they each experienced the Foley Food Mill for a short time and both loved tasting the completed applesauce.