Go West and International

Our little school holds an International Night every year where student families host booths displaying the countries of their heritage. It was so cool! We had 21 countries represented, including Russia, China, India, Kenya, Argentina, Iraq, and Trinidad and Tobago, to name a few. Hadley and I checked it out and got our "passport" stamped at all the countries.

Each country had information and pictures to admire, food to try, and items on display unique to their culture. There were performances by several dance troops and martial arts groups, and Hadley even got her name written in Chinese calligraphy. It was so cool to see and celebrate the diversity in our community!

Also in our gym a week later, Owen and his fellow 4th graders put on an adorable musical about westward expansion, called "Go West." As you can see, there were cowpokes, Native Americans, rail workers, and steamboat crew. Owen is 2nd from the left and 2nd from the top in the chorus.

He was the Mayor of Independence, and he had to memorize a pretty verbose bunch of lines, as a result. Not sure that he'll seek out more performances in the future, but it was such an "auspicious occasion."

As mayor, he had to wear a suit, along with a hat and cane to boot. Swoon! Here he is with his music teacher, Mrs. Peterson (no relation1). She did a great job turning these kids into a half-hour musical production in just over a month!

Lastly, we do make it over to see our cousins about once a month. Addie had fun spinning Owen around in the desk chair, and Will loved showing us his Dyson "bac-yume". He may be a little obsessed.

Reflections

November started off with a Field Day at school. That means extra hours of active time for the kids inside and outside. Owen was still in his splint/sling, so I thought I could accompany him and be his right hand, if he needed one. He had a good sense of what he could and couldn't do (football toss out, running in, etc.), and he kept in good spirits despite his limitations. I was impressed when he would one-handedly roll a kickball up his side from the floor for a trash can basket and he got kudos from the game volunteers for participating as much as he did.

I stuck around to check in on Hadley's grade level afterwards. She ran around with a couple of her classmates, and their first stop was the treat station. She did not need help, and she and her friends were obviously having a blast, so I gave her a hug and let her go. Glad she's finding her tribe!

One week after he broke it, Owen got upgraded to his cast. He picked green for his color, and set about getting it covered in signatures. So far, he likes it way better than the sling!

Hadley entered the district-wide Reflections art contest at school. The theme was "Look Within", so Hadley decided to draw her dream about a unicorn helping butterflies. The entries were judged by middle school art teachers and Hadley came away with 3rd place in the PK-2 category! She was so surprised and excited, especially when she got a trophy! She's been on a roll lately - she was also asked to join the competition level gymnastics class, and she's close to straight 100s in all her classes! #winning

The entrants and winners (including the 3-5 graders) of the inaugural art contest. 

More Paint

We jokingly called our house "50 shades of beige." Once we tackled the browns downstairs, the upstairs was much more noticeable, especially in the playroom where the golden tan extended up onto the ceiling. I didn't realize how dark it was until I started trying to paint the ceiling white! We're gonna need more paint!

This was quite an undertaking, since the playroom is large and is open to the front door and the hallways upstairs, and both the ceilings and walls needed two coats to cover the tan. We wanted something lighter, but kind of fun since it was a playroom, so we went with a gray that plays to blue and green depending on the lighting. Here are some before and afters.

Here's the spot that is open to the foyer and front door. We had some painters come do the two-story foyer in the same color as the rest of the downstairs. As you can see, it reflects the light a lot more, though it is not white as it appears here, and we replaced the hallway lights.

I'm not sure I like how it sometimes looks more like baby blue in certain lighting. But it's too late now! And J is not fond of how the walls meet in the corner as two different colors. That's the problem with open floor plans!

While the painters were here for the foyer, I had them paint the ceiling over the stairs too, because I was not up to figuring that out with a ladder/scaffold. And I didn't get a picture of it, but we replaced the ceiling fan, too.

Here's a better look at the foyer. We still have a wall or two to paint, but we probably need to figure out the walls in the formal living room/soon-to-be office first. One thing at a time!

The Grim Slinger and Black Witch

On Monday night, while playing in a neighbor's yard, Owen broke his arm! Apparently, he was involved in a game of chase and jumped off the slide to avoid being caught. Unfortunately, he jumped onto the swing where his momentum carried him forward, while the swing carried his feet backward, and he landed awkwardly on his arm. We took him to urgent care the next morning where they confirmed a break to the right distal radius. They gave him a splint and a sling for the next week and referred us to an orthopedic specialist, because they were concerned it might be comminuted (broken in multiple places). Fingers crossed that it's not and we can just get a cast for 3-4 weeks...

But this being Halloweek, there was not much rest for the weary! Pumpkins still had to be carved, World Series games lost (so close, Astros!), a field trip for Owen, and a field day (playing lots of games outside at school) for both all still took place, in addition to Halloween! And yes, Owen is right-handed, so he can't currently hold a pencil, throw a football, or tie his own shoes. I've been pleasantly surprised with his skill in feeding himself left-handed though! As for pumpkins, I did the carving, but I let the kids scoop most of the goop out. We got them done just in time.

Another unforeseen obstacle was how to trick-or-treat as the Grim Reaper with a scythe, candy bag, and one arm. Luckily, the sling was black, and we criss-crossed a black shopping bag over the other shoulder, which freed up his good hand to carry the scythe. Problem solved with minimal impact to the scare factor. Phew! And doesn't Hadley make a cute witch? We were all black this year! They both really liked their costumes; Owen kept saying how comfortable his costume was! As usual, the kids loved figuring out the porch decorations. Owen says we need way more skeletons...

This is our trick-or-treating group from the neighborhood. We're in all-black in the middle. It was actually kind of chilly (by Houston standards) that night, but nothing compared to our Idaho Halloweens. 

Looks like they got a decent haul! Candy sorting is always a perfect cap to the night. We'll see if the kids can be persuaded to sell some of their candy to the dentist and troops this year. 

Fire Station, Costumes, and Piano Fun

Our school has a program called WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students) that encourages dads to volunteer on campus on Fridays. They help out with whatever is going on at school or in the workroom, and kids get to have a regular male presence at school. It's a very popular program, and the kids were super excited that their dad came to school!

It was a beautiful weekend when community activities abound. One of which was the fire station, right next to our neighborhood, had an open house. We biked over to check it out. I feel like Owen went to so many fire station tours for birthday parties and field trips, but somehow Hadley did not (or was too young to remember). She wasn't sure what to expect, so she was pretty excited to check it out. First stop, photo props.

It's a pretty new fire station, as those go. I was a little disappointed that they weren't letting us see the part where they live/sleep/cook, which we got to walk-through in Idaho, but they did have a lot of other stuff for us to do. For example, the kids got to spray the fire hose! Pretty exciting stuff! The fire station had a cute little house set up where they could knock down the flames with the water.

They also brought in the fire safety trailer, which simulates three different rooms in the house where fire fighters talked about kitchen safety, fire detection, and escape plans. Owen even got to make a pretend 911 call with a fireman on the other end of the line. He did fairly well, but apparently, we need to memorize our new house street number!

Even Sparky, the mascot, was there for pictures. I asked the kids if they wanted their picture with him, and they surprised me with a yes! They also got to step inside an ambulance (where the EMS told them that he needed a bulletproof vest for shootings!), see a demonstration of fire fighters breaking down doors, eat some popcorn, and check out the fire truck.

A little later that same afternoon, we gave our Halloween costumes a test drive at our church's Trunk-Or-Treat. This year, we have a witch and a Grim Reaper.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but there were so many people there! Hello, Big City! Standing in line for 5-10 minutes for one piece of candy and a simple game got kind of old, fast. So after sweating in a few lines (it was in the upper 80s with no shade or breeze), we decided to move on. We ended up at the store with ICEEs in hand and picked up some candy for trick-or-treaters.

I finally signed the kids up for piano lessons to bridge their Let's Play Music foundations (that were interrupted by our move) to more universal musical skills. It's been fun for me to see them learn to read music and play songs. And oh my gosh, when Hadley sings while she plays - there's nothing better! They will tell you that they hate it, but Hadley has shown a real patience for playing things over and over until she gets it right, and Owen has a natural ability that I hope he will fully appreciate and harness someday.

Pumpkins, Pigeon, and Playgrounds

October began with National Night Out. It was a warm and sticky night, but the kids and I biked around and ended up at a neighbor's house where the kids ran in herds in search of bugs, lizards, and frogs. This might be their first frog catch! I thought it was a pretty nice portrait of the three of them.

About a week later, the kids' school held a Mother-Son Game Night, which was fun. Owen and I ran around for a couple of hours participating in 11 different events, and scarfing down some pizza! For completing our scorecard, we got to submit it for a door prize, and we won a family pass to a local entertainment center!

Our church is known for their annual pumpkin patch. It's not quite like our U-Pick of years past, but we did get the pumpkin-y feel of the season, despite the lingering summer heat.

Speaking of pumpkins, the elementary library is having a pumpkin decorating contest featuring a favorite book character. We brainstormed a bit and then decided on Pigeon from Mo Willems' series. I helped a little, mostly with the hot glue part, but Hadley did the majority of it herself. I think he came out pretty cute! Fingers crossed that it'll get H some book credits for the book fair.

Owen's weekly football practices have moved to a different elementary school not too far away. Hadley has enjoyed accompanying us and trying out all of the new-to-her playground equipment. It's taken on extra intrigue since we've started watching American Ninja Warrior every once in a while.

Lastly, we went out for some fro yo to celebrate our straight-A report cards! Love these hard-working, all-star readers!