Halloween

Derek and I decided to dress up this year as well. Ms. Linda was kind enough to take our picture before we headed to church for Trunk or Treat.

My grape costume was a big hit! The stem had a little problem staying up. Derek was also popular as a tourist.

Ethan as the Incredible Hulk and Aubrey as Ariel. The mask was really hot and did not last for long.

One of the perks of being on staff at the church is that you get special privileges and get to play on the inflatables early before the crowd arrives. This was great because the kids got to play for at least 30 minutes for all that they wanted without any lines.

Aubrey struggled with the climbing walls.

Once again struggling on another of the walls.

Ethan tried to help her, but was not successful.
Mom to the rescue!

Down she goes!

Finished playing and back into my grapes as a spectator.

This was their favorite one and they did it over and over again.

Our good friends the Butlers were there and we had to get a picture of Aubrey and Haley both as Ariel.

I love this one, this is more of their true personalities....off to get into some mischief.

Aubrey got sweaty from all the fun and her red spray in her hair was all over her face and her. She was in desperate need of a shower!

Going around the trunks for their treats.

We had a great evening and it sure was a lot of fun!

Pumpkin Carving

This was the first year the Ethan would actually get some of the guts out of the pumpkin.

I helped finish the job.

Aubrey had a bad week at school with her behavior and Friday in particular. We have struggled with getting her to realize how important it is to us that she behaves at school. Her punishment was not carving her pumpkin. I know this may sound harsh, but we had to figure out something that she really wanted to do. We did let her wash her pumpkin and let me tell you she had one clean pumpkin!

Bruster checking out what is going on

Aubrey wrote her name on her pumpkin as well.

Aubrey was pretty sad that she did not carve her pumpkin when Ethan's was glowing that night. We told her that if she could have two good days at school this week, we would save her pumpkin and she could carve it then as a reward.

Ethan's pumpkin is supposed to be a wolf. I messed up on one of the eyes though.

Student of the Month and Class Play

Ethan was student of the month for the character trait of integrity. This is what his teacher wrote about him:
"I would like to nominate Ethan Overton for student of the month for Integrity. In our class we have defined integrity as always being honest, doing what is right, and staying true to yourself no matter the circumstances. We have talked about listening to and trusting our inner voice at all times even when nobody is looking or listening. Ethan is a role model for integrity because I know that I can always count on him to do what is right even when others might make different choices. He is always on task in class, and is ready to learn whatever is being taught. I have no doubt that he has a bright future; he will always make good choices and be a model of integrity throughout life. "

This is his third year in a row to receive this award in October. It is always the day they get to dress up for Halloween. It has become a inside joke for our family. We will see what next year brings! We are very proud of our young man!!!

I got called in to sub for a Kindergarten class, but I was able to come and see him get his award. That is one of the many things that I love about his school. They are so flexible and family friendly. I was even able to get someone to come in and watch my class again so that I could see his play as well. This was then tail end of me giving Ethan a hug. It was very, very windy!

Ethan getting his A honor roll certificate! We found it funny that his lowest grade was a 95 in PE. Usually, that is the highest grade. They must give out 95's across the board.

Aubrey very excited that I got to come and see the class play.

Ethan's role was a leopard frog.

Reading his part.

I have it on video and will upload later, can't find the cable right now.

Sea World Halloween Spooktacular

Sunday after church we went to Sea World for the Halloween Spookatcular. Aubrey is Ariel and Ethan is the Incredible Hulk (he chose not not wear his mask to the park). Yes, we colored their hair with the spray in coloring. We got several comments on Aubrey's hair.

There was lots of candy stations around the park.

There were all these characters dressed up as well.

Aubrey still loves the Polar Bear cave the best at Sea World.

She would have played here all day long. It was close to 90 that day, so Ethan got to hot and took off his costume.

Another favorite is the Crab Ride.

The was my favorite part of the day. One of the characters was a mermaid. Of course, Aubrey had to get her picture with her. Aubrey looked at her and in all seriousness said, "I am just dressed up like a mermaid for Halloween, I am not a real mermaid like you." Just precious!

We saw a groundhog. I had never seen a real one before, and he was much bigger than I thought he would be. The trainer said the ones in the wild would actually be about twice the size width wise. His name was Digger and we were fascinated by him.

We accumulated a bunch of candy and it is not even Halloween yet. I knew I would get tired of the kids always asking in they could have a piece of getting onto them for eating too much. I decided to make a little check sheet to keep by the candy. Each member is allowed 5 pieces per day. The kids can have all of their pieces right when they wake up if they want, they just have to check it off. Anyone caught cheating does not get any candy the next day. This goes for me too. It is actually sort of hard because I am the type of person who will grab a piece every time I walk by the bowl. So far, it has worked well. There have even been a few days that we did not even have all of our allotted amount.