Halloween 2012

The porch lights have been turned off and the boys are in bed. Halloween 2012 has come and gone and we now have loads of candy.  

Oliver refused to put on his monkey costume so we made a last minute wardrobe change from a monkey to a dragon. (Thanks Grandma Cox for dress up clothes!) However, they were both still cute as ever.  Both boys enjoyed trick or treating and Oliver wanted to eat every piece of candy he got as soon as it hit the basket.  We started sneaking the candy from his basket into Owen's in between houses to keep him from eating it. :) 

My Preschool Classroom

One aspect I've always loved about teaching is classroom decorating. Teaching at my current preschool is interesting because we share our room with another class on the days were aren't there. Because of this, 4 teachers plan and decorate the class together.

Here is what we came up with this year..a crayon theme.

The door...each crayon had a student's name on it.

View from the door

We have this huge mirror on the wall.  We started with the quote from one of our favorite crayon quotes from The Crayon Box That Talked. "We are a box of crayons.  Each one of us unique.  But when we get together, the picture is complete!" There is a crayon box for each class and a crayon for each child.  Each student colored their crayon and we wrapped it around a paper towel roll to give it a 3D effect.

I am proud of those boxes as they were labor intensive.  I had to wrap a sweater box in paper, then a yellow plastic tablecloth. I cut out all the letters with my Silhouette and then we put contact paper over them to seal it all in.

Art display bulletin board

Little artwork cubbies with YMCA character traits above

Calendar station with alphabet above

Reading corner..tree changes each season.

Color board, helper and behavior chart

Teacher cabinets with birthday chart above. For each month, we took the kids holding the date of their birthday. (Thanks Pinterest for the idea!)

The name plates over the bookbag hooks outside the door.My class is the top row.

Owen's 1st Field Trip

Monday, October 8th our preschool took a trip to Hunter Family Farm. This is an annual field trip for us, but it was Owen's first time going.

Fall weather finally arrived on Sunday, so there was a chill in the air. While we had coats, I underestimated just how cool and damp it would be. Our fingers were freezing by the end.

The farmer drove us in a covered wagon around the farm and then dropped us off at the milking barn.  He showed us how to milk the cow and gave the kids facts about cows and life on the farm. After this barn, we moved over to see the livestock.  Owen was fearful of the animals, but wanted me to feed them and take pictures of them.  We saw cows, goats, chickens, and the cutest little pigs. We then took a covered wagon ride back to pick out a pumpkin.

The farmer's wife telling us about our tasks to do around the farm, including shedding the corn off the cob.

Farmer's son (I think) teaching us about the milking cows.  This was Sweetie.

He hand milked her to get us some milk to take back to the learning station.

Owen didn't want his picture taken, but he wanted me to take picture of some of the animals. This was a cute little miniature pony. 

Owen and his classmate David looking at the baby pigs

Sweet little pigs trying to get warm by burrowing down in the hay.

Mr. I-don't-want-my-picture taken and I in the barn

Farmer's wife taking all our supplies and making corn meal

Owen's favorite part: picking out a pumpkin

"How about this one?"

Finally a shot where he's looking. :)

Sadly we were so cold that I didn't want to stay to have a picnic there, but Owen was adamant. So we compromised and ate in the car. :)

It was fun to go on a field trip with Owen, but I found it hard to wear my parent and teacher hat at the same time. Hopefully Owen had fun though! I know I did. :)


 

Owen is 4!

Our sweet oldest boy is 4!! I told Jeremy the other day that sometimes I feel like he's been with us longer than 4 years then other days, I can't believe he's already 4.

At age 4, Owen:

• weighs 38 lbs (68%) and is 39.5 in tall (31%), short and stocky evidently
• wears 4T shirts and 3T bottoms, and size 9 shoe
• loves superheros, esp. Spiderman and Batman
• eats just about anything
• still has to wear pull-ups to bed at night
• likes wearing hooded sweatshirts, his green crocs, and gym pants
• loves playing games on my iPhone and Nana's iPad
• loves puzzles, sandboxes/tables, and playing with his Daddy
• would watch movies all day long if you let him

Owen is still receiving speech therapy 2x a week for 30 minutes.  He continues to struggle with certain constants, like s and k, and sh. He still struggles with studdering and mumbling. They are working with him to talk louder so people can understand him.  He will continue to work with his service coordinator on some academic areas, like counting consecutively and letters.  (He'll also get help for that in preschool.)

He continues with physical therapy once a month just to work on his strength.  According to his PT, he can do everything required of him, but he may not do it to the degree that his peers can.  For example, he can jump but not as high as other 4 year olds. We are going to continue working on his core strength and hopefully can get him involved in some extra curricular sports soon.

At his 4 year checkup, Owen failed his hearing screening. His doctor noticed his left tube had fallen out into his ear.  The hole (where the tube was) is still in his eardrum.  This could be causing him not to hear or it could not.  We will be following up with an ENT soon. 

Now Owen's world, according to Owen...

What is your favorite color? green
Favorite food? bananas
Movie? Lightning McQueen (Cars)
Book? DC Superfriends Flying High (he just got it for his birthday)
Toy? Superhero Action Figures
Sport? Soccer and baseball
Favorite activity? Playing with my Batcave
Who is your best friend? Samuel
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Make houses/castles out of couch cushions
What about with Mommy? go to Target :)

Funny things he says these days...

Mommy: Owen, would you like to take swim lessons?
Owen: Maybe when I get big and have a dog.
(We told him he couldn't have a dog until he was bigger and could help take care of it.)

Mommy: Owen, you're a silly nut.
Owen: I'm not a silly nut, I'm just a boy.

We love you buckaroo! May the Lord continue to bless you in the year to come!

Visiting Blue Heaven

Saturday October 6th we made our yearly visit to Blue Heaven (aka Chapel Hill) for a football game.  This game was unique in that it was called the "White Out" game.  Tar Heel fans were encouraged to wear white so we could white out the stadium. As a Southern girl, I hated it! A man must have planned this, because every girl knows you don't wear white after Labor Day. :)  Evidently rules went out the window, but I saw many girls in white dresses.

For October, it was a really warm day (80s) but luckily we sit in the shade. Jeremy, Owen, and I went to the game while Mom and Oliver went shopping with my aunt.  I do believe though, this was the longest game ever! The first quarter itself lasted a whole hour thanks to penalities and time-outs.

Owen was really into 1 quarter then quickly grew tired and slept most of the 2nd quarter.  I'm amazed that he slept through the cannons and fireworks going off. 

After the game, we tailgated in the parking deck. Owen and Jeremy enjoyed looking over the edge at all the other late tailgaters. 

Dr. Adams brought his big Ramses, which the boys thought was fun. Oliver kept giving him fist bumps. :)

They also "played" cornhole

The master griller (Papa)

It was a great day (minus a few poppy potty accidents at the end)! The Heels took home a victory and we brought home another day of family memories. Thanks Nana and Papa for taking us!

Camp Cox

My amazing mother-in-law made Owen's birthday present. Recently Owen has been obsessed with making houses/tents around the house.  He asks Jeremy to build them out of couch cushions and blankets.  We have been hanging a blanket from his bunk bed to make a tent.  I had the idea to make him something more fitting for the bunk bed and found some cute ideas online. Sadly they were all expensive so I asked Emma for her help in creating one.  Being the great mother-in-law that she is, she took it and ran with it.  She made something WAY better than I could have ever done.

Check out this awesomeness!

It even has screened windows with roll up curtains.

Thank you again Emma for an amazing present that I'm sure he will treasure forever.