Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween

Two weeks before Halloween, we went trunk-or-treat at our school and church.  I love the idea of the kids getting to wear their costumes more than once, and the kids like the idea of getting more candy!  It's even more fun now that we could go with Kelly and Keith's family.  :)

 From left: Elvis, Rapunzel, a ballerina cat, Sulley, a Greek goddess, and a cute toddler

 Ethan and Reid just had fun handing out candy and entertaining the rest of us.

A few weeks later, the kids went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Unfortunately we had bad storms on Halloween, so they postponed trick-or-treating until the following evening.  It was actually a blessing in disguise because the whole family was able to celebrate Grandma Linda's birthday on her ACTUAL birthday!  That never happens!  :)

So on November 1st, the kids got dressed up and headed out to trick-or-treat for the first time in our new neighborhood.  Grandma Linda and Grandpa Stan came over to see the kids in their costumes.

 Ryan didn't want to go up to this house or any that had any kind of creepy decoration like this guy.  Reid wasn't afraid of it and actually started talking to it.  :)

We had a great time and talked to a lot of neighbors.  Reid didn't last that long, so he and I got to hand out candy together while Joel took Reese and Ryan out.  They ended up making it to all of the houses in the neighborhood!

At the end of the night, we sorted out the candy and Reese and Ryan made their exchanges.  I think we are still eating Halloween candy a month and a half later!  I would say it was a very successful night!

Walk-a-Thon and Hoosier Hysteria

October 4th was a crazy fun day.  First, it was our school's annual Walk-a-thon.  Each year this fundraiser gets bigger and better!  Last year the kids were bummed because it poured down rain, thus forcing us to do our walk in the gym.  But this year it was hot and muggy...though I don't think the kids cared as much as the adults.  :)

Here is my class warming up for their walk.

Fr. Pat giving high-fives to some of the supporters during the 5k race.

As if it wasn't enough fun to be outside for 3 hours for the Walk-a-thon, we left immediately afterschool to drive to Bloomington for Hoosier Hysteria.  We thought about not going since the kids and I were all exhausted from the heat, but all we needed was a little A/C and the promise of Jiffy Treet ice cream.  :)

It was so great to be back at Assembly Hall!  It definitely wasn't as packed as last year when they were starting the season ranked #1.  ;)

We met up with our friends Anne, Will, and Charlie.  We love our fellow SLDM/Hoosier buddies!

My favorite cheer!

Each time I always joke about the letters running into each other as they try to criss-cross.  Well, wouldn't you know that there was an extremely close call or two that had us all holding our breath!

The biggest disappointment was the fact that Jiffy Treet by Assembly Hall had closed.  What a bummer!  But we still had a great time getting to see the new team.  They might not have the great season they had last year, but it's still great supporting IU basketball.  Go IU!

First Day of School ~ 2013

This year we sent off a fabulous 4th grader, a scholarly 2nd grader, a talkative 3-year-old, and a terrified 3rd grade teacher.  Just kidding...Reid isn't THAT talkative!  :)  Here are our first day of school pictures:

We all had a wonderful first day of school!

Changes

So the blog has been a little ignored for the past few months.  I went back to work full-time this fall, so it's been a huge change.  I have to say I absolutely love having my own classroom again.  Of course it means double the planning and grading, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons.  I also started a health and fitness challenge the week before school started (what was I thinking??), so it was hard to find time for everything.  Blogging has been such a great hobby for me, but something had to give.

In order to not be posting about the first day of school in December, I've decided to lump some posts together.  I promise to try to be better in the future, as I truly want to make sure I'm capturing the important events in our family's life.  I also will try to catch up on other blogs soon!

Thanks for all of your support with the transition back into full-time teaching!
Kristy

HHI: Wrapping it Up

Doug and Marsha had to head back a few days early, so we went out for a nice dinner at Hudson's on Wednesday night.  I was hoping to get a good family picture, but that usually means that all 5 of us have to be looking at the camera at the same time AND smiling.

Right here you are witnessing a miracle!

This family makes it look too easy.  ;)

The whole family

Grandma Marsh had taken the girls shopping a few weeks earlier to get them matching outfits.  The girls are growing up!

We went to Coligny and the girls saw these really cool lights.  You could pick out any colors and the guy would assemble them with these plastic pieces, making these circular lamps.  Riley chose one for her upcoming birthday, and Reese picked out one to receive at Christmas time.  They are so fun!

Of course we had to stop at the Frozen Moo for some ice cream.  :)

On our final night, we attempted to go to The Salty Dog Cafe--an island favorite.  But the wait was too long, so we ended up at their sister restaurant next door.  We then headed to Harbour Town.

The kids had a great time on the playground.

We woke up around 4 a.m. the next morning to head home.  We were back in Castleton by 5 p.m., making it our fastest trip back ever.  We definitely have to do that in the future.  We had such a wonderful week just being with our family.  Thank you so much for everything, Doug and Marsha!