Jam-packed fall!

Here I am again, back with my sporadic blog posting!  Thanksgiving will soon be upon us, and I haven’t even posted Halloween pictures yet.  Anyhow, please enjoy these little snapshots from our fall activities:

Celebrating Jordan’s birthday!

Astros Day at school!  We were hoping for another shot at the World Series, but alas.

Eliza was SO excited about her very first school field trip!  Riding a bus for the first time was even more exciting than the Houston Zoo itself.

She carried her map around the entire time.

I chaperoned, of course!

GaGa and Jed did some delicious baking while Eliza and I were at the zoo.

Unboxing an LOL doll.  

And lego time, of course!

I’m the Art Masterpiece volunteer for Eliza’s class at school, which means that I get to go to her classroom and teach an art lesson once a month.  For October, we decorated the food drive box.

Yay for Oktoberfest!  It took place at the same church where Jed and I go to preschool.

Jed and Emma.

Fun in the corn!  She doesn’t have a black eye–she wanted her face painted like a dog.  Not sure why.

She had to decorate a “G” vest for the alphabet parade at school.

Sorry, it’s kinda blurry, but you get the idea.

Warming our toesies by the fire!  It’s been a chilly fall!

1950’s Dress Up Day at school!

This costume may look familiar….

This is Halloween!

And Crazy Sock Day!

Golly gee, they are so cute!

While searching for “grumpkins” (giant acorns), we found this baby turtle instead!

Halloween Day!  That means costumes at school!

I’m so glad that I get to be with Jed during his final year of preschool.  Such a sweet gift!

Party time!

I’m amazed at his drawing skills!

Finally time for trick-or-treating!  Too bad a huge rainstorm began around 5:30.  We still managed to have great fun, though!

I’m hanging onto coordinated family costumes for as long as possible!  I love Halloween!

And now, pictures from another of my favorite annual activities!  The Texas Renaissance Festival!  So glad to be joined by beloved family.

Cyborg face paint.

Beautiful goddess.

Ara, my second cousin, actually works there this year!

Ahhh…..the swings.  What great fun!

So glad we found Gandalf!

This girl loved the turkey leg!

Love this one!

Beautiful Ember!

Behold, a beautiful autumn leaf!  She still wanted to wear her flower crown at church the next day.

And at school, the day after that.

That’s all for now!  Thanksgiving pictures arriving soon!

October, I love you!

Life has been full of fun and adventure, and school is going well for all of us!  We’re excited to celebrate the spooky Halloween season in the mysterious forests of Kingwood!

He worked very hard and saved up his money so that he could buy this double lego set!  That look of joy is priceless:-)

Jed loves the creepy stuff at Spirit, the Halloween store.

While digging in the playground mulch after school, the kids found the most enormous grub I’ve ever seen!  About the size of a man’s thumb.  According to Google, it’s a rhinoceros beetle grub.  So disgustingly fascinating!

Time for a performance of Peter and the Wolf  with the Houston Symphony!  The kids loved it, and we were so happy that GaGa and Pappy joined us!

Yes, we wear costumes to the symphony:-)

Jed seldom makes a normal face for pictures these days.

Walking home from church.

Time for one of their favorite activities…choosing pumpkins at the pumpkin patch!  

It’s actually Warren’s, our beautiful local nursery/landscape design place.

Such joy!

All set!

Having some quiet time in the butterfly garden at the Kingwood Library.

Pumpkin painting time!

And fun with face paint!

He was thrilled to play with fake blood for the first time!

She was so happy about face painting day at school!  She still wants to be a face painter when she grows up:-)

Fall is here!

There’s a cool breeze outside today, and fall seems to be making its way to Kingwood!  Such a wonderful time of year.  Also–Fridays seem to be my best day for blogging:-)

Here are a few of our adventures from this week:

A performance of Peter Pan at the Prohibition Theatre!  We had a blast!  So glad Jennifer and Jeremy joined us.  Just to clarify–Eliza and Jed weren’t actually in the show, they just love to dress up:-)

Meeting the cast is always her favorite part.

Dads and Dogs Breakfast at Jed’s school!  A great time to hang out with dad and do a service project for shelter animals.

Iron Man joined met yesterday to pick up Eliza from school.

Eliza’s art teacher encouraged everyone to wear dots today!  Apparently, it’s International Dot Day, inspired by this book by Peter Reynolds.

Jed made a shirt also, but he didn’t feel like taking a picture.

He did feel like enjoying a donut, however!

Roaring Twenties!

This past Monday, it was 1920’s Dress Up Day to celebrate the twentieth day of school!  Such fun!!

She’s so outgoing and confident.  She amazes me every single day!  I just love being her mom 🙂

Whew! We’re still here!

Unsurprisingly, back to school has been a beautiful whirlwind.  The days are full of activity.  I’m happy to report that both kids are absolutely loving school, and I’m having a blast teaching at Jed’s preschool!  Jed and I don’t have school on Fridays, which makes it a perfect blogging time.

Gearing up for our daily walk to school.

Giant sticks will never lose their magic.

Legos forever!

Jed always notices butterflies.  He helped this one find the courage to fly out of the street.

Eliza is full of happiness and energy after school!  And Jed will find any gun-shaped stick.

Hanging out at Kingwood Ag headquarters with a new friend from kindergarten.  And also a baby lamb:-)

Bliss from a cat-shaped cakepop.

So silly at HEB!

HEB is always an adventure!  I will miss these precious times so much when they are too big for the car basket.

Another amazing marvel on the way to school.  An imperial moth!

We have so many opportunities to study nature!

Each Wednesday, Jed explores nature at Tadpole Club with JJ and Papa!

Crazy hair day!

We’ve been enjoying these rainy days!  So far, we’ve still been able to walk to and from school.

Crazy hat day!

Fun and love!

“Look, Mom!  I covered my face with lipstick!”

Pizza making with Millie!

Creative time with cousins!

Our dining room looks cheerful now!

Fancy for a wedding!

How he feels about Aldi these days.

Fun and food art with JJ!

I love to watch him play legos!

Saying goodbye to Peter Pan, her favorite chapter book of the summer!

She was a little reluctant to return it.

Just a little back to school shopping.

Meet the teacher night!

Jed brings a snack to school every day, and Eliza brings two!  So Amy and I got our snack game on.

It’s the first day of school!

We walked Eliza to her kindergarten classroom, then Jed and I headed to his preschool (where I’ll be teaching right across the hall)!  The kids were so excited to wake up and go to school!  It was a really great day.  I LOVE that both schools are within walking distance of our house!  It’s magical:-)

I’ve heard that the beginning of kindergarten can be a very emotional time for moms, but I was fine!  It’s probably because Eliza is very confident and has been ready for kindergarten for a long time.

Jed also had a great day!  He loves school, and he really enjoys being in a classroom environment.  I can’t wait for him to make some new friends!

My camera was still a little foggy, but Jed was feeling silly!

She was so ready!!

I don’t know why he gives me a constipated face when I ask him to smile.

Such a big guy!

Squee!!!!!

Goodbye hugs!

We’re excited to get started!

A little mini trip to Austin!

Tracie and Justin, my friends in Austin, are having a girl!!

 

And more singing from the little lady who never stops singing:

 

 

Kemah!

We met up with some Corpus friends on the boardwalk this past Sunday.  So hot, but so much fun!

Aquarium Restaurant.  So relaxing!

Jed was SO excited about the Ferris Wheel!  

Back home, and time for superhero battles.

 

The kids are really into Peter Pan lately.  If you’re familiar with the Broadway show, you might know this song:

Marvel Superheros!

Quality father-son time.  What a blast!