Halloween 2008

I cleaned out and carved five pumpkins this year and gave one pumpkin to my mom to display for her trick-or-treaters. The kids loved looking at the pumpkins lit and of course Cody had to kiss them!!

Mickey & Minnie Mouse

Cody and Carleigh were very excited to get into their costumes! This was the first year that Cody kept a head piece on!! He kept his ears on until well after coming home from the harvest party! I think the ears were a hit! It also helped that they were tied at the bottom of his chin! The kids had a fun Halloween this year.

Trick or Treating at Aunt Connie's

Our first stop was at my sister's house. Cody and Carleigh received treat bags and loved showing their costume off for Aunt Connie, cousin Brittany and friends.

Trick or Treating at Memaw & Papaws

We had to go trick or treating at my parents' home before heading to the Harvest Party. Cody and Carleigh received special treatbags from them.

Playing games

At the church fall festival, the kids played games to receive candy. They came home with a bag full! The first pic is the Schmidt grandkids.

Our Halloween Plans

After Matt gets home, we will eat dinner and then head to my parent's neighborhood where we will trick or treat my old neighbors that we know very well. Then it is off to our church's Harvest Party that starts at 6:30. They will eat hot dogs and then begin playing carnival like games for candy. They will get loads of candy which when added to the candy they received yesterday, yikes! The kids' bus drivers are really sweet and gave them cupcakes and treatbags. Then their PM bus driver gave them a treat bag with lots of candy. So on top of candy from their party, they came home with 6 treat bags with lots of candy. I guess I will have to store the candy away because they are candy-holics and I am going to limit a piece or two a day.

If you are participating, I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Carleigh in her tee

At Carleigh's fall party yesterday, she made a Halloween shirt with her footprint. It's perfect for her because she loves ghosts!! She bought a hula hoop with her Bible bucks and Cody & Carleigh love to play with it.

Unexpected Day Off

We got a call around 5:15am. At first I thought, oh boy, did we lose power at the school?!! Then I woke up and realized it was my mom calling. She was sick and could not babysit the kids. So, Matt stayed home. I will be taking off tomorrow so that will give my mom 4 days to recuperate. I sort of wanted tomorrow off but knew that it would be a crazy day to take off with a special event at the end of the day (too hard to explain). And now I got my wish! Of course, right now while I am eating lunch, I am getting sub plans ready and papers ready so that everything will be laid out for the sub. Honestly, I would rather come to work sick because I have to do MORE work in preparation for being out. I don't have a job that can sit and wait until I feel better. No, I have to give page and page explanations of what to do , how to do and when to do it. *sigh* Oh the joys of teaching!

Last two days...

Tuesday afternoon, I went to my doctor. He wasn't concerned about the coughing (it is getting better) rather he was concerned about my blood pressure....160/82 Is that a fright or what?!! The top is WAY too high for someone my age. Sadly high blood pressure runs rampant in my immediate family and my parents and sister and I are all on blood pressure meds. This explains my "weird episodes" and why I have been having more headaches. He changed my meds and now my dad and I are on the same prescription! Strange!! He did give me a special card to use which makes my meds only cost $20 a month. Yay! Three meds a month can do a number on the budget and Matt is a diabetic which means he has 3-4 meds a month as well.

Today I went to Sunrock Farm with my class and although it was a bit chilly at first, it was sunny and warmed up to be a BEAUTIFUL day! I wish I could have taken Cody and Carleigh because they would've had a blast. We may have to go there sometime on a weekend.

Tonight, after taking care of a few things, I gutted 5 medium/large pumpkins. Tomorrow night, we will be carving the faces. Gutting a pumpkin is the least favorite part of the job. I did try a few things differently and my hands didn't get as yucky as usual. I will take pics of the pumpkins when they are lit. Cody and Carleigh have a Fall party in their preschool classes tomorrow and I am sure they will have a blast! They will be wearing their orange shirts and Snoopy & Pumpkin socks for the occassion. (They love decorated socks!)

The next post will probably be pics of the cutest rodents on the planet!!

Sick again!

I am just tired of being sick! First, I think I have had Bronchitis from an upper respiratory infection of last week. Then last night I started feeling "weird" which is honestly the best way to describe it. Then, my stomach has been really bothering me all day. Ick! Running to the bathroom all night has not been fun! I am hoping I can work tomorrow and of course we have the all-day farm field trip to Kentucky on Wednesday. Don't you just love the timing of it all? Seriously, I could use some prayer. Luckily, I will be going to my doctor tomorrow so hopefully we can deal with all of these sicknesses and get some nice meds to make it all go away!

Off to bed and hopefully will be waking up feeling much better. *sigh*

Observers

Cody and Carleigh are becoming fast observers! Carleigh has become obsessed with ghosts and other Halloween yard decor. There are two ghosts on my mom and dad's street and every time that we pass by, she yells "Look! A ghost!" and smiles with glee! She's too young to understand the negative connotation that goes with Halloween and ghosts, but she just loves to look at them and of course pumpkins. We were at the mall the other day and she saw a large blow-up pumpkin on the top of a roof and she cried "Look! A big pumpkin!" Woohooo! She is using adjectives now!!!

We have to drive past my mom and dad's house to go to church. Well, every time that we pass it now, Cody points to mom and dad's house and says "Papaw!" He goes nuts if we do stop because he is just crazy about his Pappaw!!

They notice everything these days!!

Making cupcakes

Carleigh and I made pumpkin cupcakes. She really enjoyed helping me. She would say "I did it!" "I helped Mommy!" We plan on making treats each holiday and of course she will start helping with the Christmas cookies I make each year.

She decorated her cupcakes with mult-color m & m's!

Our day so far....

I really had a bad night. I was chilling, coughing and very weak. This morning I felt much better and the coughing was less. So, we had to go to Tri-County Mall to drop off our old cable modem and we decided to take the kids without strollers. Boy were we adventurous! Things were going very smoothly and they were walking beside us. That is until we came upon KB Toys right next to the cable company's office. Of course that wanted to go in. I have some Christmas ideas, but of course Cody did NOT want to come out and flipped out when we took him out and the whole time we were in line dropping off the modem, he kept saying "TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!" and I had to pick him up and hold him because he was trying to break free from my grip and make a run for the toys. Carleigh did a fabulous job! She was very well behaved other than not wanting to hold my hand in the parking lot. We then went grocery shopping and came home. Now, all of my bones are aching. Not sure what is going on with that but at least my cough is better! Plus, the kids are both napping! Wooohooo!

Sick

Today was absolutely exhausting! School was crazy and of course I coughed my head off last night so I didn't get alot of sleep. When I came home, I was wiped. I had planned to go out to dinner with Matt's family to celebrate his parents' birthdays, but my cough and energy was awful! I had the chills and had a hard time getting off the couch. I kept Cody with me as he is the easier of the two to handle and he had a great time spending time with me and having the whole house to himself without Carleigh bothering him.

I am betting that I will be heading to my doctor on Monday. I think it is Bronchitis. I usually get it bad once a year. Argh! It is not fun when you are sick on the weekend! I really need to get out tomorrow so I hope by staying inside and away from the cold rain, that I will feel a little bit better tomorrow.

A Beautiful Fall Day!

Although we had a chilly start, today was an absolutely beautiful fall day! We went up to my sister's house and Carleigh collected all of the pine cones in Connie's yard. She also spent some time with cousin Brittany. Cody enjoyed watching Papaw and Matt fix Matt's taillights that went out.

More Fall Fun!

The girl grandchildren, cousins Brittany and Carleigh! Carleigh of course loves to call her "B.B" and she helps my mom get Cody and Carleigh on the bus each morning.

Top: Cody is Papaw's helper and sidekick.
Middle: Cody loves to play in Papaw's truck.
Bottom: Carleigh and I!

Picky Eaters and Worms!

You are probably wondering about the worms? Am I right? Well, one of our families organized a Science presentation for my second grade class. It is called "Mad Science" where a scientist comes and brings lots of fun and exciting hands-on science experiments on a specific topic. The units we study this quarter are plants, animals, and habitats. We decided on "Worms."

I learned so much about worms and no doubt my students went home and told their parents that they touched and played with worms today. Did you know that a worm has 5 hearts? I never knew that! They each had an earthworm on a paper plate and conducted experiments with the worms. Many wanted to bring their slimy friends home, but we released them behind the dumpsters. My room mom made pudding dirt cups with gummy worms to complete our afternoon.

Cody and Carleigh are entering that picky eater stage. It's mostly Carleigh. Her newest dinner phrase is "I don't want it!" They cannot eat well for all 3 meals. If they have a good lunch, then dinner will be less and vice versa. I am trying to add more veggies and Cody really liked steamed green beans tonight.

I re-arranged their bedroom while they were at church this evening. I had to stay home and finish a mistake on the report cards and so I had a few minutes. So, I cleaned the room and moved the beds around. It really gives them a LOT of play space!! Woohoo!

More Ramblings

It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do for you! Of course, I still didn't get as much sleep as I needed, but it was enough. Of course I now have a sinus infection and came really close to losing my voice in the classroom. Not good let me tell you!

Today while heading out to the store, Carleigh looks at the sky and days "Moon....where are you?" Then Cody starts repeating her. He is repeating alot these days....like a little echo machine.

We are so loving Sprout and Noggin! When we need a moment of sanity, we turn to 295 and ahhhhhhh.....they are glued and I can have a sane moment. Thank you satellite!!!

My Princess

On her royal throne!

So tired and getting sick

Last night, Cody cried and cried and we could not figure out what was bothering him. At 11:30pm I decided to give him some Tylenol. Matt sat in the family room with him, he finally crashed after midnight. He did have a slight cough and I think maybe he had a sore throat. I couldn't go back to sleep and slept just a few hours off and on. I woke up totally drained and was facing a long day. I had a half-day at work due to Cody's eye appointment, plus I had a college student observing me and she will be here all week. And grades need to be averaged and entered into the computer system by Wednesday at noon. No stress?

I take Cody to the eye doctor and I tell you that I would rather go to the dentist than to take him to any doctor, especially the eye doctor. First of all, you have to wait which is not Cody's strongpoint. Then, we get called back for a few minutes for the nurse to examine him and bam, we are out in the waiting room. Cody wants to run around and I try to be very creative and get a magazine. It distracted him for about 5 minutes. Cody's eyes are still crossing so depending on his next eye exam in December, we may have to start patching his eyes again. ARGH! He hardly keeps his glasses and I highly doubt that the patch will stay on for a half-second.

Oh, did I tell you that we lost his glasses? We thought he left them at school on Thursday which was Picture Day. I write a note to the teacher and the PM bus driver looks in her bus and finds them! Cody had neatly folded them and placed them into the seat. The little stinker!! So now, the bus driver will take his glasses off and put them into a pouch in his backpack for safe keeping.

Now, back to grading! *yawn*

HallZOOween 2008

Trick or Treat

The kids enjoyed receiving treats at the treat stations. They received candy, chapstick and bananas.

Checking out the animals

Cody and Carleigh loved looking at the animals with DJ!

Carousel and Lollipops

They received lollipops right before going on the carousel. Of course they had to have them RIGHT THEN and so we rode the ride with them in their mouths. Cody dropped his though, but enjoyed the ride anyway.

A SpongeBob Moment

Right before leaving, we came upon a SpongeBob statue. Of course we had to stop and Cody hug SpongeBob and people around were "awwwing" and I was trying to prevent him from kissing him. My funny boy!

Leaving the zoo

This is what happens when you spend 5 hours at the zoo! Thanks Mary Ann and Trent for inviting us! Cody and Carleigh crashed before hitting the interstate and did not wake up until 2.5 hours later!