Halloween 2014!

Here are some pictures from the Halloween party this evening! We were rescued from the endless stream of trick or treaters at 8:30 when it starting thundering, raining and even hailing! 

Parent Teacher Conferences

I had Charlie's parent teacher conference today and got his first quarter grades. His teacher said that he is "a very bright little boy" and "very strong" academically. He got straight A's this quarter with a 100% in Social Studies, a 99% in Science, a 96% in English Language Arts and a 94% in Math. His teacher said he tested above grade level for both math and reading at the beginning of the year and that his reading is already where it needs to be to pass the dreaded EOG test at the end of year. He needs to work on taking initiative, following directions and working independently. (No big surprise there.)

I told Charlie that in addition to getting $10 for each A, he could pick something special to do since he got straight A's. Did he pick a day at Carowinds amusement park? A weekend at Great Wolf Lodge? Nope. All he wanted was dinner at Qdoba lol. 

Way to go on a great report card, Charlie!!

It's Pajama Day!

And We Have Olaf!

The final piece of Amelia's Halloween costume, Olaf the snowman :-)

Halloween Party

Here are a few pics from the Beverly Crest Halloween party this afternoon. Did Amelia rip her costume in the bounce house? Yes. Did Charlie catch a snake on our way out the door and did it spray all over his costume? Sigh. Yes... 

A Sunday Spent Baking

On today's menu, lemon pound cake. I realized my helper has been watching too many baking videos on YouTube (her latest obsession) when she informed me that I should be using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugar!

Gearing Up For Halloween

We are gearing up for our first Halloween in Beverly Crest, a holiday that is apparently almost as big as Christmas in these parts, judging from the decorated houses and number of festivities. 

Amelia is dressing up as Anna from Frozen and she is going to be *so cute*!! I am going to braid her hair in 2 braids ala Anna and color it brown with a white stripe or two and we ordered an Olaf doll from the Disney store for her to carry with her -- I'm sure she won't be the only Anna in Beverly Crest but she'll be the cutest! Charlie is going to be a skeleton Ninja for what, the 4th year in a row? Oh no wait I think there was a swamp monster in there somewhere... Mike and I are even joining in the dressing up festivities; Mike as the grim reaper and me as a witch but how much of my costume I'll wear other than the hat remains to be seen...

This Friday there is an adults only Halloween party at the club house, but seeing as we already have a babysitter lined up for Saturday night we'll be skipping that one. Sunday there is a kids Halloween Party at the clubhouse, which we will definitely be going to, and then on Halloween itself our street is having a block party so there will be lots of before and after trick or treating fun. Good thing Halloween is on a Friday night! 

2 Princesses & A Vampiress

Stocked up!

(Now we just need some decent wine glasses and an excuse to have a party!)

Family Fiesta Night/Book Fair

We took the kids to Charlie's school tonight for the above mentioned fiesta night and book fair. As soon as we arrived in the cafeteria to collect our dinner catered by Qdoba, Amelia found some of her little friends from summer camp and promptly ditched us, taking her tray and going to sit with a group of girls across the cafeteria from us. 

Later, at the book fair, I was approached by a woman who asked, "Are you Amelia's mom? My daughter Iris knows her from summer camp, she just loves her!" With that I realized that Amelia probably knows more kids at Elizabeth Lane than Charlie does and I cringe to think what it'll be like when she's a teenager...

The picture is of Charlie and his new favorite book, The World's Grossest Joke Book...

Thanks For The Halloween Cards Grammy & Grampy!

Amelia turned hers into quite the art project, which of course eventually resulted in an entire bottle of glue spilled on the table... ;-)

Charlie's 3rd Grade Picture

In his usual state of needing a hair cut of course :-)

Singing In The Rain

(Or maybe she was dancing in it? In her bathing suit, of course!)

Southern Banana Pudding

This recipe involved, among other things, a can of sweetened condensed milk, an entire package of cream cheese, an entire tub of cool whip and 2 packages of shortbread cookies. I swear I will never make it again but it is soooo good!

Pictures

It was a chilly drizzly day today but we still managed to make it out for family pictures at the JCC. Here are a couple pics of the kids beforehand:

Salon Buddies

Mandy and I both got new 'dos today:

Maybe people will stop confusing us now?? But probably not -- a little girl ran up to me in Manhattan Bagel this morning and said, "Are you Rebecca's Mommy??"

End Of Week Update

Mike survived his first full week of commuting to work full time since MAY and is liking his new job so far, yay!

Amelia was up most of the night with an ear ache last night so I took her to the doctor this afternoon (we finally have insurance yay!) and she does indeed have an ear infection so it's amoxicillin for her twice a day for 10 days. 

Charlie managed to squeak his Math grade up from a 92 to a 93 over the past 2 weeks and with his other grades holding steady that means he has straight As with 2 weeks to go in the marking period. Way to go Charlie! Next hurdle? A science test on Tuesday for which he has to know the 6 steps of the Scientific Method in order, as well as be able to define "independent variable" "dependent variable" and "control group." Oy. 

Tomorrow I am getting my hair done and Sunday  we are having family portraits taken for the first time EVER!!

Slowly Getting Better At My French Braiding Skills

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

So yummy, why have I never made you before?? Oh I know why -- because the recipe involves carmalizing butter and brown sugar, separating eggs, whipping egg whites into merengue, and weird ingredients like cream of tartar, that's why...

I Decided It's Time For Halloween Already

(With a little help from Charlie and Ben, who dragged a box of Halloween decorations over from Mandy's garage...)