Halloween. . .pt 1

Kennedy and David went to a Daddy/Daughter Halloween party this afternoon. Here they are all ready to go!

Memories

I checked out "The Man from Snowy River" at the library this week. Watching this movie with my kids brought a whole bunch of memories flooding into me. This was a favorite of mine as a young girl. I hadn't seen the movie in years, or heard the music. I forgot how much I love the music. I remember being determinded to learn to play "Jessica's Theme" on the piano. . . hours and hours of practicing, and then messing it up at the recital. It made me not only want to go buy this soundtrack, but go get a piano so I can attempt to play again.

Help!

I am the room mom for Kennedy's 4th grade class. (And I am asking myself why I volunteered !) This Thursday is their class Halloween party, and I am supposed to come up with ideas for games to entertain the kids in her class. I am getting 4 parents to come in and run different stations that we will rotate through, each one a different game or activity. One of the parents I called said she would come up with her own idea. . . .all the rest were willing to come help, but didn't want to come up with the activity. So I am wondering if anyone of you have any great ideas for a Halloween party game at school??

St George weekend. . . Zions National Park

We had a long weekend last week because of UEA here in Utah, so we decided to head to St George to check on Mom and Dad's house and have a little get away. We spent two of the days going to Zions National Park and enjoying the beautiful scenery there. The weather was perfect, and the scenerey fantastic. We drove up through the tunnel, which is a mile long. And the kids enjoyed taking the shuttle throughout the park.

After a couple of relaxing days to ourself, David's brother, Jeff and his family came to spend the last couple days with us. . . and what did we do??. . . well we decided to head right back to Zions for a hike. . . . and not just any hike. . . Angels Landing of all hikes. With the kids. Crazy.

It was so beautiful. Just breathtaking. . . in more ways than one. This hike was not easy. .. and all the kids made it!!

For those of you who have done this hike. . you know how terrifying the last part of the hike is. We didn't take the little kids on this part. Windsor fell asleep in Eliza's arms while the older boys finished the last part of the hike. I have to say, that David took Elizabeth to the very top of angels landing. . .. I can't believe it myself. She was a trooper. .. all the kids were. I started the last part, but was too terrified to do this with my kids. . . I will have to go back with out children and complete the hike another time. It was still amazing.

We had a great get away. We came home Sunday afternoon . . .back to reality.

A little laughter is good

Check this out Just a little something that my brother in law shared on facebook. Pretty funny, I thought.

trouble maker??

Well, Mia might be getting kicked out of preschool!

I had talked to teacher before the year started about her little issue with talking to others. . . those of you that know her, are well aware that she won't talk around people, even people she knows and is comfortable with like her grandparents. We didn't think it would be a problem at school. Her teacher said that she has had other children that won't talk and that they gradually open up. I was hoping this would be the case. But Mia has to take it to the next level. . . . not only will she not talk, but she has been crying in class. One day I came to pick her up and she had been crying because she had to go to the bathroom and wouldn't tell her teacher why she was crying. Her teacher finally figured it out after playing chirades (sp?). I picked her up last Friday and she had started crying during lesson time because she didn't want to do the lesson, and then she gets all the other kids upset and worked up as well.

If she doesn't stop this behaviour, she won't be able to go any more. It isn't the end of the world, and I can always hold her back a year and start her a year later in Kindergarten since she has a late August birthday anyway. But I am not sure what to do with her. I called and talked to Shareen and she did a little research for me and said that in a lot of cases the behaviour doesn't correct on it's own. David of course thinks she is just fine and that I am worrying about nothing.

Should I just give her some more time. . . or is it time to do something about her behavior??

***Update: Mia did great at preschool on Monday. No crying, at least. So she hasn't been kicked out! But I did talk to a counselor at the elementary school and have Mia set up to take a couple of tests. She may qualify for some special programs that will help her overcome her "selective mutism"