Price Chopper Field Trip

Wyatt got to go on a very special field trip! The two pre-k classes each took a trip to Price Chopper to shop for food for the school Thanksgiving Feast. They prepared their lists earlier in the week. We had a tour guide at the store to help us find all our items. One of his classmates wasn't there, so it was the four students, a few of us parents, and Mrs. Moyer.  Mrs. Moyer was so good about letting each child get the same amount of items to put in their basket. Of course, Wyatt kept track too because that's just the kind of kid he is. He follows his list and checks it twice!

 After we found all our items, the store manager took the kids in the back and showed them the stock room. They also got to watch the box crusher in action. I don't know if it was the fact that there were only the 4 kids or if it was really that boring, but they didn't seem to bat an eyelash at that contraption. The manager said the morning bunch (which has 12 kids!) was all about the box crusher!

Then it was time to head up to the register to pay. They each took turns taking items out of the basket.

 After our groceries were bagged and paid for, we went over to the cafe area for cookies and apple juice! That was probably the most fun I've had at the grocery store for quite some time!!

The Peanuts Movie

I have a confession- we skipped school early just to see The Peanuts Movie! Grant hasn't missed a day of school yet this year, so what would missing two hours hurt?? We surprised him at school to pick him up at 2:00. He had no idea what was going on!! So when we got in the car and he saw Mimi in the front seat, he became more excited! When we were all in the car I said, "We're going to The Peanuts Movie!!!" You would've thought it was Christmas!! 

Wyatt had been in on the secret for the whole week. You better believe he made sure his treasured Charlie Brown shirt was hung up safely in the closet awaiting this day. The hardest decision he had to make was which of his little stuffed Peanuts friends would he bring with us? Snoopy won, by the way!

We loved the movie!! But we love all things Charlie Brown! We own many of the holiday specials and rent lots of other videos from the library! Wyatt has even been planning his Peanuts birthday party in March! So this movie was right up our alley! Pretty sure we will be buying that one on DVD. 

Oh, and I will definitely leave school early again to see The Secret Life of Pets. Shhh, don't tell Grant's teacher! (Actually, she was fully on board and proud of our decision to put family first! Love her for that!)

Fall Leaf Fun

While walking to school one morning, the boys and I were so giddy about the beautiful colors on the trees and the crunchy leaves under our feet! We had to stop and take a picture ankle deep in the leaves!

 And then Grant saw his best friend pull up to school, so he kissed me goodbye and ran the rest of the way!! So on our walk back, our neighbor, Linda, has the most beautiful burning maple in their front yard with the brightest leaves on the block! Yellow, red, orange! So vibrant! Wyatt and I just couldn't resist playing in them for a minute!

 While walking up to our garage, Wyatt found this mammoth leaf on our driveway. It was literally bigger than his head! I'm not even sure where it came from because no tree around us has leaves that big! But man, it was a sight to see!!!

We still have a few more trees with quite a lot of leaves on them still! One of these days, I'm hoping to rake a huge pile and PLAY!!!!

Forever ROYALS

For the second year in a row, the Royals made the playoffs!! Our October was pretty consumed with baseball!! The playoff games were so exciting and took up many of our afternoons and evenings! But it was a great problem to have!! While our boys aren't obsessed with the Royals or any sports team for that matter, they definitely got into the Royals spirit. They'd ask if we won, or who we were playing. They took quite a liking to the players and were always asking about who was batting, pitching, etc. And as they kept winning, our excitement kept growing!!One day, one of the playoff games started at noon. And it wasn't quite over when it was time to pick up Grant from school. So we waited til the last second, ran up there super fast, and ran across the street to Angela's house to catch the last inning. Wow, that game was EXCITING!!!!

It turned out to be a very....

Kansas City got super into the Royals too and you couldn't really go anywhere and NOT see something showing some Royals pride! About every fountain in the city was dyed blue! The boys had a sleep over at my parents house and my mom took them to the Lenexa PD fountain!! See all the blue all over town was AWESOME!

Every time the Royals scored, Levi would throw Wyatt in the air and Wyatt would do some crazy arm movements! The game we won 14-2, Levi's arms were pretty tired!!!

And, in an awesome Game 5 of the World Series, down 0-2 in the 9th inning, we somehow managed to tie the game and sent us into extra innings. After some amazing plays, the Kansas City Royals were the World Series Champions and this town erupted!!!!

The school districts decided to cancel schools the day of the parade! I picked Grant up from school on Monday when they had announced that Tuesday would be a no school day and he says, "We aren't going to that parade, are???" I knew that we would be watching it from the comfort of our own home! Grant and crowds don't mix! But we sure did like watching the parade on TV and seeing all the players up close and personal!!!

And after hearing there were about 800,000 people at the parade, I'm kind of glad we didn't go! But look at this view of people?!? Such an amazing sight to see!!!

We are already looking forward to opening day next year! 

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was on a Saturday this year! Which meant we could make the night last as long as possible! But then the Royals made the World Series and game 4 was on at 7:07pm. So after church, we came home, changed super fast, and hopped on the best Trick or Treating ride we could possibly have with some of our besties! Thanks to the Hoskins for decking their golf cart out for the evening! I can't imagine Trick or Treating this neighborhood by foot- we'd get 5 houses away and would be tired! So this did the trick! We managed to make it around half the neighborhood in one hour flat! My little Power Rangers bags were so full, Wyatt's actually ripped in two places, so we knew it was time call it a night! But what a way to Trick or Treat! 

Pumpkin Time!

We used our Halloween Eve to carve our pumpkins. I always seem to almost run out of time, but we squeezed it in, because no Halloween would be complete without carved pumpkins. My boys can never just settle on a typical jack-o-lantern face! They always like to scour the internet for something different and creative! So after a little browsing time, they had their ideas and I got to work. My boys really don't like to be involved in any of the carving process. The guts gross them out, as well as the smell. So I'm usually flying solo! I get the occasional, "How's it looking?" every few minutes. So when the finished product comes out, they get so excited to see it all done!

This year, they were difficult! But turned out pretty decent! Wyatt picked out a Royals pumpkin and Grant chose a monkey. For some reason, I didn't get a picture of Grant's not lit up, but you get the idea.They were cute and the boys were super happy with them!!

 Say "Pumpkin!"

Pumpkin Pancakes!

Grant was out of school on the Halloween Eve, which meant it was the perfect day to head to Ihop for free Scary Face Pancake Day!! We went last year and they loved it so much! When Levi asked to meet us for lunch that day, it was the perfect opportunity! Lunch as a family, free kids meals, and festive fun?? What's not to love about that?!?

Wyatt's Halloween Party

Wyatt's little class had a parade and party of their very own!! They are the only afternoon class at the preschool, so their parade and party was a very low key event! But it didn't stop them from having fun! They paraded around the church office and then into the big room for the parents to see! Then Mrs. Moyer led them in some adorable Halloween songs. Wyatt is so funny during these performances- he is so serious and has to do every action just so. He tries not to smile at us because we are so distracting! He's a riot!! So they sang their adorable songs and that was that! They usually do their party activities and snacks without parents, so we snapped a few pictures and headed on our way so they could enjoy the rest of their afternoon!

Hidden Messages

I can't remember how it all started, but Wyatt and I have spent the better part of a month writing hidden messages to each other. I think he was coloring with a white crayon and I showed him what would happen if you used marker over it. And so it began. And oh my goodness, I think we went through a whole pad of paper that first day writing messages back and forth! They are all so precious, they are definitely going in the scrapbook!

Grant's School Halloween Party

Grant had a short week the week of Halloween, so we had their school party a few days before Halloween. The other room moms and I had been planning for quite some time, so we were excited for the first school party of the year! Lots of games and activities were involved, as we shared our party with one of the other first grade classes, but all turned out great!! Lots of fun, giggles, smiles, and happy first graders, which was exactly what we were hoping for! 

Since this is Grant's first year with all day school, we hadn't experienced the all-school halloween parade they do every day! The whole school does a parade around the school, which kicks off the beginning of party time. It was rainy this year, so they paraded inside. But the whole school goes around every pod and all the parents come to watch and see everyone's costumes! It was so cute to be able to see the whole school and all the creative costumes!

After everyone was back in their own pods, the party got started! We had three games in our room, three games in the other first grade room, and two stations out in the pod. Lots of fun and excitement! Even Mimi got to come help out at the party, which made Grant super excited!! I was juggling about 10 different things so I'm thankful for the pictures I do have!! I love Grant's class! He has a great group of kiddos and an amazing teacher!! It's a fun bunch to be around!!!

 Grant immediately took off his costume when the party games started! He was wearing his skeleton shirt and brought his raccoon hat with him, so he was dressed up at least!

Love my big first grade boy!!!!