School Halloween Costume

The girls school evidently has a lot of fun celebrating Halloween.  All the kids are encouraged to dress up and the classes all have Halloween parties.  But the kids all play on the play ground and do regular activities - so we chose not send them in their Halloween costumes. Instead they went as cats.  Below are photos.

Rose

Roni

They came how with their make up gone and Rose has misplaced her ears. I think the call not to send them in their full costumes was a good one.

Getting Ready for Halloween

The girls are excited.  They've had their costumes for a few weeks now.  Tonight we tried everyone's costume on to make sure they fit and wouldn't require any alterations.  I think they look real cute!

School Field Trip

I had the privilege of being a class chaperone today. The Kindergarten classes at the girls schools went to a farm.  They had a blast.  They jumped on a big dome shaped jump pad, climbed on hay bales, rode a "train", rode ponies, petted various farm animals, did duck races, shot a corn cannon and took a hayride.  It was fun - the girls had a blast - and I melted in the sun and humidity.  It was great.

Rose on a bounce horse

Rose on a pony

Rose making a hay "angel"

Roni on the bounce pony

Roni on a pony

Roni making a hay "angel"

On a hay bale

Flashback Friday - Start of Pre-K

Roni's First Day

Rosie's First Day

Visiting Grammy (on the no no couch)

Favorite Spot at School (the steps on the way to the office)

Visiting Daddy at Work

Making Tiaras

Rose and Roni received a foam kit for their birthday.  We took the kit over to their grandparents house yesterday.  Daddy was busy setting up their new computer with granddaddy while grandma cooked dinner.  I kept the girls busy and out of trouble making tiaras.  As you can see the kit was a big hit.  

Roni

Rose

Rose and Roni

First Week With Puppies Comes to an End

So the puppies have been here for a nine days.  We are still working on the potty training - but the crate training has gone great.  With the exception of a few nights - they have slept from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.  The girls are getting better at walking them and are still enjoying feeding them.  Roni helps clean up accidents, but Rose gags at the poo.

Coon Hollo Corn Maze

Today we went to Coon Hollo Corn Maze. The Hollo is a local farm that sets up a corn maze every year.  We went last year with my sister and her family and decided to go again this year.  Last year it rained and this year it was blazingly hot, but the girls still managed to have a good time.  They rode the "train", played carnival games (football toss, knock down the milk bottles, flip a chicken and knock down the crows), took turns on a tire swing and played with shelled corn in a big hopper. But they did not do the corn maze.

Meeting Grace Lin

Last night the girls got to meet Grace Lin.  I posted a recommendation for her books the other day.  Our FCA (Families with Children from Asia) group were privileged with the honor of her doing a presentation for our group.  We ate a hasty dinner and rushed over to the local church for the event.  Rose had drawn a picture for Grace, but forgot to take it. She told us she forgot it when we were halfway there after fighting traffic for almost twenty minutes.

We got in line with everyone else and waited for our turn.  The girls were excited - they each had one of the Ting and Ling books in hand.  Rose noticed that all the girls had black hair like her and Roni - she thought that was cool.  Thy liked even better meeting Grace - Roni kept telling me how pretty Grace was.  She was very gracious, loved seeing twins - she asked that they take a picture for her of her with the girls.  Rose and Roni were so excited to meet her.

Meeting Grace Lin

After everyone got to meet Grace Lin we all sat down to wait and we didn't have to wait long.  The kids who were Kindergarten age and younger were invited up front and Grace read them the Ugly Vegetables.  After the reading she answered questions - Rose and Roni both asked questions - they were both so darn cute.  

Then the younger kids were invited to go do an activity while she talked to the older kids about Year of the Dog and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.  The kids asked a lot of really good questions.  I loved that they got the chance to meet someone who looked like them and shared their heritage, who was successful, talented and so smooth in how she talked about and taught them about Chinese legends.  She also taught them how to draw a dog, tiger, dragon and monkey.  Oh and talked to them about the animals in the Chinese zodiac in an entertaining way. It was a wonderful experience.  Rose and Roni did take a break and they both drew Grace a picture, but they came back in time to learn how to draw the tiger, dragon and monkey.  

Drawing the monkey.

After the drawing lessons we got a group photo of all the kids with Grace Lin and then my girls got the honor of giving her a gift from the group.  As we left they were given a yummy dragon cookie that they ate on the way home.  

The Morning Mile

My girls school participates in a program called the "Morning Mile" - it is a program designed to get kids moving.  With childhood obesity being at record highs in our country it is a great program. Teachers also find that the kids are better able to focus in class. It is a program that all kids can participate in no matter what their fitness level is. 

The morning mile program kicked off this week and Rose and Roni were eager to participate. If you participate in the program you don't have to stay in class and do the classroom morning activities.  I was a little surprised that they were sent to the track without an adult - they buddied up and went - but was thrilled that they were eager to participate.  Rose had recently been having some anxiety about school, but getting a chance to start the day with a run seems to help.  

In other news the puppies are doing great.