Halloween: Pumpkin Patch & Trick or Treat

Josie's class went to the Cobb Pumpkin Patch for Halloween and her dad was able to go along. He was in charge of Josie & Grace and it seems the girls kept him on his toes.



Josie's class seemed to have a great time, even if it did turn chilly this week.


No more kitties, no more brides...we've moved on to cheerleader this year. Oh my.

"Ewwwwwww!"

Pumpkin Carving, Josie Style:

Josie thoroughly enjoyed drawing the face on the pumpkin, helping light the candle, and blow it out at the end of the evening. Here's the part she didn't like:

Fiftieth Day of School

Normally, I'm pretty excited to have the school year under way and routines established in my classroom. This year, things seem to be flying by at top speed and I'm stunned that we are already into the 2nd quarter of the school year. Conferences will exhaust everyone this week but it will also be nice to meet all of our parents for some 1:1 conversations to let them hear how their children are doing in school.

Still, in the back of my mind I know/hope that this will be my last year of job sharing and working part time---financially, it's time. I'm enjoying having the opportunity to help in Josie's classroom and to get to know her classmates and delight in her excitement. Next year I won't have those opportunities if I'm finally working full time and teaching my own class.

So, this week when Josie celebrated her Fiftieth Day of School followed by her first loose tooth, I started to feel sad that time is slipping by too quickly. Whatever next year brings, I hope that Josie will have as much fun as she's having this year and remains enchanted by her teacher, classmates, and school.

Here are some photos from Josie's Sock Hop this week:

First Wiggly Tooth

Josie's been very happy for the few friends who have had wiggly teeth recently. She's heard stories of putting teeth under your pillow at night to find "shiny huge quarters" in the morning. She's been imagining loose teeth in her mouth for weeks but for the first time, she finally has a LEGITIMATE loose tooth! She squealed with delight after brushing her teeth on Thursday when she discovered that she could wiggle that little tooth with her finger. She ran to tell Marilyn, who was staying with us, and then had to call her daddy on the phone to share the excitement with him, too.

Once again, my video skills are worse than poor, but this is still a keeper clip:



Shortly after making the video, Josie began to wonder what it might feel like if she lost a tooth. She burst into tears and was inconsolable at the thought of a tooth falling out of her mouth. She pretty much cried herself to sleep even with all of my reassurance that it really won't hurt and it probably won't even bleed.

Fortunately, when she woke up Friday morning, the excitement had returned and she quickly looked under her pillow to see if the Tooth Fairy had delivered any of those "shiny huge quarters". I explained that she'd actually have to lose the tooth before the Tooth Fairy would visit. Stay tuned...hoping to get some photos of a gap-toothed Josie grin in the next few weeks!

Real Life Consequences

If you choose to send an email that bashes the presidential candidate that I admire without checking the facts, you will get a response from me.



If I sit at the computer typing my response and supporting it with examples and research, then Josie will have some free time on her hands.



If Josie gets 100's of Halloween stickers from her Grandma in the mail AND has free time on her hands while her mom is distracted at the computer, there will be stickers haphazardly placed.



If the large picture windows in the living room are available and already sporting Halloween decorations, they will acquire some haphazardly placed Halloween stickers.

If you're still paying off the large picture windows and don't want to view Halloween stickers for the next few decades, you will spend almost an hour picking stickers off the windows.

If you love your daughter and think she's pretty clever, you'll sweetly tell her that stickers should ONLY be placed on paper.

If you realize that there's humor in the morning's events, you'll take the time to capture it on film and write a blog about it.

Life does have Natural Consequences.