Carving them up

So we finally got around to getting our pumpkins carved tonight. Megan brought her pumpkin home from her field trip already carved with a face on it so all she needed was to add details. Andrew had a fresh pumpkin that we had to clean out and put a face on.

Megan added ears, eyelashes, and whiskers. She is calling her pumpkin a cat. Andrew just stabbed at his pumpkin making lots of little dash marks that we are calling hair. I had to help with a basic face and he did all the hair.

It was great fun and the kids loved it. We took the pumpkins outside and lit them up. The kids got to see them glow and thought it was really neat. Gotta love pumpkin carving.

Harvest Pumpkins

Megan is really enjoying her 1st grade year. She was able to go to her Harvest Carnival at school and really had a great time. We were able to pretty much play every game and hang out with some of her friends. I think it was fun for her to feel grown up and do fun stuff with her classmates.

We stayed for almost an hour and a half and did a few of the fun games twice. The most popular game was the strobe light boogie. They got to go on the stage that was curtained off and dark and dance around to music while a strobe light flashed and made it super fun for the kids. I'm glad I was able to take her again this year.

A few days later her whole 1st grade class got to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. It worked out just perfect that I was able to go as a helper parent. I think Megan really enjoyed her Mom getting a chance to be there. I seem to always be having to help with Andrew so this was a special treat just for her.

This was the same pumpkin patch that Andrew's preschool class visited last year. Megan was able to go with us so she was familiar with the place and knew what the tour was all about. It was a bit different this time going with 1st grade classmates rather than Andrew's preschool class. I think she enjoyed it alot more this year.

The highlight of the pumpkin patch trip I think for pretty much all the kids was the corn maze. They were running around in there for the bulk of the free time. An adult had to round them up to get them to come out for a quick snack before it was time to leave.

It was really nice to be able to go. It allowed me to go to each of my kids field trips and they both got to experience the pumpkin patch seperately from each other and had tons of fun.

VoFo Family Disneyland Trip 2008

On the farm....

Andrew got to go to a Farm today with his preschool class and loved every minute of it. There was so much to see and do that it kept him pretty entertained the whole time. Our first part of the farm tour was a hay ride. Andrew and the other kids loaded in a hay wagon pulled by a tractor. I think this was the highlight of the outing for him.

The hay ride took us out to the apple orchard where each child got to pick 3 apples from the tree to take home. We got a brief instruction on how to pick the apples correctly from the tree. As you might have guessed Andrew wasn't listening :}

We then got back on the hay ride to take us to see the chickens. There were a ton of chickens all behind a fence and about 3 loose chickens for the kids to touch. The tour guide gave the children bread to break in pieces and throw into the chicken area for feeding. All Andrew was interesting in doing was trying to kick one of the loose chickens :{ Not sure where that impulse came from and it was a bit hard for him when he got in trouble after several kick attempts. We had to sit out for a bit until he could make better choices and he didn't like that at all....


Once we over the chicken trauma, we got to get in the hay ride again an head over to the potatoe patch. Each child got to help dig up 3 potatoes from the ground. It was good time for the kids to get their hands dirty and play in the dirt. Andrew just wanted to pick out the small pebble like potatoes.

After the digging of the potatoes we walked across the way to the pumpkin patch were the kids got to pick a pumpkin to take home. The rule was that the child had to be able to lift it and hand it to their parents and they could keep it. Of course once again all Andrew was interested in was trying to pick up as many pumpkins as possible and throw them. Needless to say we selected quickly as that was the end of the tour and time to go home. At this point Andrew wanted to stay and do more so we had a mini meltdown on the way to the car. He basically wouldn't walk for me and sat on the muddy ground. He wanted to stay and play. It was just too much fun!!

Enjoy the Journey

So as I was working last week someone put out an interoffice email to all about working as a team and doing better business. As part of his email he asked if we were an ANT (automatic negative thinker). This one little part of the email totally stood out to me and I had to write it down. I think we can all be a bit ANT at times.

To combat this image I am reminded of my churches 178th General Conference. There were several great talks but a few really spoke to me on this topic. Here are a few quotes that I enjoyed:

Elder L. Tom Perry "In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives"

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin "The way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. . .come what may, and love it.”

President Thomas S. Monson "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family."

So as the world talks about ANT people, I find myself very thankful for conference and the uplifting boost it can give to those who actively listen and learn. There were many other wonderful talks and I've only quoted a few that fit well with my thoughts of the day. Just something to think about and ponder as I've been doing for a few weeks now.

For a list of all the conference talks click on the link below.
http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html

Think Pink!!

I just wanted to make mention that October is Breast Cancer awareness month. I've been seeing it all around me lately on the TV, magazines, and Internet. It is awesome that they dedicate a whole month to the people that have been touched by this or will be.

As I gear up to visit with my Mom's side of the family next month it kind of brings up a lot of emotions. I've been thinking pink lately and wanted to share those feelings.

And the Doctor says....

We had our doctor's visit today with a specialist to help us figure out what is going on with Andrew. We have been on a waiting list for 8 months and finally got our turn. The visit lasted for about an hour and basically we were told that Andrew is a typical boy with some communication delays. Pretty much what we always thought but wanted a doctor's opinion. He looked over all the paperwork that we sent in and interacted with Andrew. He said Andrew engages and makes eye contact and from what he was seeing he does not feel that Andrew is on the Autism spectrum. He did leave a window open and said that as Andrew gets older by age 6 he would like to see him kindergarten ready and more able to fit in. He should be making more progress and growing. If he isn't progressing then we might need to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate him. By then 2 years will have passes and we will be looking at different issues. He did recommend for now additional speech therapy to help him communicate more clearly but that we should have no real concerns and continue just what we have been doing. We are doing the right thing by having him in preschool and that that was the best course of help for him at this time. We don't have any follow up visits just stick with what we are doing and hang in there.

It was a bit frustating to leave an appointment that we have waited eight months for and not know anything new of different then we already knew. On the other hand it was a bit of a relief to hear that we didn't have to give him a label other than delayed. We are really in the same spot we were in before the doctors visit just knowing our little guy is special and can be "neat" most of the time. He is really cute and we love him bunches. I guess we'll just keep on the same path we've been on and hope that he starts to catch up to where he needs to be. The next few years might be rough but we'll hang in there.