Trick or Treat and Other Mischief

Libby and Caleb thoroughly enjoyed their trick or treat this year. They made it completely around the neighborhood this year for the first time. They also rang the doorbells and actually said "trick or treat" and "thank you" on their own. Libby chose her dress in September and could barely wait until Halloween to wear it. All year, she was planning to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast until she found this dress. It is a white wedding dress with satin and lace and little rosettes. She loves it and wants to wear it all the time. She wore a long sleeved white shirt under the dress since it was quite chilly, damp and windy on Halloween this year. Caleb was Dracula. He told people he was a "vampi-uuuuhh". They was both so cute! We took lots of pictures of them. Sara stayed with Grandma and took a nap. She didn't fit in Caleb's pony costume from 3 years ago, and it was really too cold to take her out for very long. That evening, Dad excavated the swing out of the basement and brought it up for Sara to use. She loved it! The mobile, music and lights really kept her attention. She just stared and stared without blinking for the longest time.

In other news, Libby is making great progress in her reading and math this year. She can sound out so many words now and is almost through the alphabet sounds and some sound combinations like "sh", "ch", and "ar". Caleb is specializing in good natured trouble making. In an average day, he can really make a mess! He always says, "Sorry" in such a forlorn way that you can't help but forgive him and prepare to cleanup the next disaster. One example is how he tried to help himself to Libby's birthday cake a few days after her birthday party. I found him eating frosting off the side of the cake while it was upside down on the floor. He has recently discovered painting as well, and enjoys painting masterpieces with some rather muddied water colors. He is so proud of his new ability to color within the lines when he is coloring. We are working on color recognition now - just yesterday he colored a purple sandwich. Sara is such a good little baby. She is still sleeping all night - usually from 9-7 or longer if Caleb doesn't wake her with his racket in the early morning.

Annie and Millie are caring for their sweet little kittens and have most recently moved them to Caleb's room. I don't know what they were thinking when they chose his room over all the other places they could have gone in the house. Hopefully, we can convince him to leave them alone when he is supposed to be napping.

I was comparing pictures of Libby, Caleb, and Sara when they were babies to see how much they looked alike. Sara looks so much like Libby that she could be her clone. Here are a few pictures to compare. See if you can tell who is who. The rest of them are posted online.

This month we are teaching the three four and five year old kids at church. They are so much fun! They are the same kids that we taught last year, so I am enjoying having my kids back again. Libby is going to be in the children's Christmas production at church this year, so she has a littler practice after church each Sunday.

October Already

I can't believe October is nearly gone already! This summer has zoomed right on by and now fall is almost over, too. The leaves are all coming down and we are enjoying a nice Indian summer this week. We're trying to get all the fresh air we can while we still have the chance. Libby, Caleb, and Sara enjoyed playing in the leaves at Grandma and Papa's house this weekend. Fall is fun!

The kids just celebrated their birthdays - Caleb turned 3 in September and Libby turned 5 in October. Sara is 12 weeks old now, too. They are enjoying learning new and mischievous things each day. Libby is doing homeschool kindergarten this year. She is whizzing through her math and phonics books - learning her numbers and letter sounds like a champ. She is also learning to read! I'm so proud of her progress. We are using the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons text book and I'm quite happy with it. She is reading lots of simple stories in the book as well as picking out words and sounds that she recognizes on road signs, in story books, and on TV.

Caleb just moved out of his toddler bed into a twin size "big boy" bed. We are still having trouble convincing him that he actually needs to stay in his bed at night and not come visit us five or six times after he's been put to bed. Caleb spends most of his time playing with his hot wheels cars and pestering his sisters. He adores baby Sara. He can often be found cuddling up next to her on the floor and talking to her in a high pitched cooing voice. His devotion to her is really heartwarming. I was so worried that he would be jealous of her, but he seems to really truly love her.

Sara or "Sara Bear-a" as we often call her is growing at an amazing rate. She is at the top of her weight and height curve at the pediatrician's office. Her fussiness and colic that we endured at Mom and Dad's house for the family reunion in August seems to have passed completely. She is on a schedule that is working well for all of us. She has been sleeping through the night - usually ten or more hours - since she was seven weeks old. She is such a good baby. She is smiling a lot of her awake time now, though her Grandma complains that Sara doesn't smile at her as much as she would like.

The cats Annie and Millie have had their second litters of kittens recently. The eight new babies should be ready to go to their new homes by Christmas! I'm hoping to finally pay off the purchase prices of the adult cats and their vet bills after their ER visit this summer for eating the dog's pain pills. Our poor old Mandie girl had to be put to sleep this summer after she developed an inoperable brain tumor. We were able to treat her with Prednisone for 2 months before she left us and enjoyed our final time with her. She has always been a wonderful dog. We added a new black lab girl named Pepsi to our family while Mandie was still with us. She is generally a very good dog. She still needs some work to be a good as Mandie was, but she's a quick learner. As I am writing this, she is curled up on the couch with the kids while they are watching TV. Our old parakeet Oscar died this past week. He has been a widower since one of our foster cats killed his mate Kermit about 4 years ago. He had been pretty lonely and somewhat neglected up on his high shelf to keep him safe from the cats. I don't think we'll be getting another bird any time soon - at least not until we get rid of some cats.

Nathan is still at Allstate and still looking occasionally for something else. In this economy however, we realize we are blessed to still have our jobs. I am back at the veterinary office part time. We are still looking for a way financially for me to stay home with our kids full time and give poor Grandma a break from babysitting. She has been watching our kids since Libby was born 5 years ago! Maybe we should give her a raise :) We certainly couldn't do this without her and the kids love her so much.

The kids are looking forward to Halloween in Canton this coming weekend. It should be fun! Libby is going to be a bride and Caleb is a vampire. Their costumes are really cute. I'll be posting pictures after they collect their candy. Our most recent pictures are posted on my Picasa pictures.