Halloween '23

 Ok, I was super lame for Halloween. Ryan was flying in from a business trip at the same time as our Ward Trunk-or-Treat, and I just never really thought about it. 

Katelyn was the only one who seemed to care. I ordered her Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter) costume on Amazon a month ago.

The boys just dug through the costume box the night before.

While Ryan has been gone, a friend of mine in the neighborhood has been bringing Katelyn home from soccer on Thursdays. Somehow, she mentioned that she wanted to make radish earrings to match her costume, so my friend Sarah invited Katelyn over last Friday to make these beauties out of polymer clay. I love Mom-Friends! 

I did sub at the kids' elementary school on Friday, so that I could be there for the Book Character Parade. Here is Ethan in Ryan's old Kermit costume.

And Katelyn, as one of the MANY Harry Potter characters. She was THE ONLY Luna Lovegood though, so I count that as a win! 

The day after the Ward Party, we went to a friends' party, but apparently I didn't take any pictures. Ryan wore his red suit and Afro wig, and it was awesome. We were running late, and we had to leave early, so that's my excuse for the lack of photo documentation.  The only picture I took that night was Katelyn with her friend Knox.

Happy Boring Halloween from us! 

10 years for E!

 Happy 10th birthday, Ethan! 

Ethan's birthday was Monday. For his activity this year, he chose to go to Six Flags with his friend Logan. Ryan took him on one of the few Saturdays this month we were available, which happened to be back on October 7th. They rode a bunch of rides (Pandemonium, Sky Screamer, and Roadrunner) and played Minecraft & Fortnight in the new video game area. 

It got super crowded in the evening (with people arriving for Fright Fest), so then they headed to Red Robin for dinner - cheeseburgers, unlimited fries, and a stack of donuts with dipping sauces. 

On his actual birthday, he had french toast sticks for breakfast. I was subbing in his grade-level, so we got to eat lunch together out in the courtyard. I also got to do his recess duty, and he brought chocolate cakes to his classmates. 

For dinner, Ryan came home early to grill cheeseburgers. He also wanted baked beans and Spicy Doritos. 

We are totally out of ideas for these kids for gifts (not good as we head into Christmas season), so he got a new Lego set. Ryan spent a good long time putting together one of the cars included, even though he was flying out the next morning for Japan and still had to pack and put together slides for a presentation. What a Dad! Turned into an all-nighter for him even. ;-(

For his cake, we tried a new store-made one - Boston Cream. It was not very good, but he still ate the fudge off the top. ;-)

* * *

Soccer

Ethan is still playing goalie and defense in soccer. Another player's mom was a goalie in high school, so she has been working with Ethan during some practices. It's amazing the difference a little training has made! He even dove to try to save a goal this past weekend. He's still got a power kick in the back, and he is still loving his team. 

Math

They started long division this past week at school, but Ethan begged to learn long division back in 2nd grade after he learned his multiplication tables. Anyway, this week he begged his teacher to let him to the class! He is still such a whiz with numbers.

YouTube

Ethan is quite the tablet-addict. He used to come home and immediately put on noise-canceling headphones, but I've outlawed those. Now he has to stay on the main floor, and the noise must come out into the air. Ryan wants me to limit their hours, but on the best nights they get a max of 2 hours, and I'm usually so tired after school that I just want to relax and veg out too. We'll see. 

Robotics

Ethan starts after-school robotics this week. He's looking forward to this school club. He did a n online programming class a few years back, so I'm hoping we can get him more into computer things, like Collin. 

Happy 10th, E!

Ring of Fire Eclipse '23

San Antonio is in the path of totality for two eclipses this school year. This one was called an annular eclipse, and is nicknamed "Ring of Fire." 

We had lots of plans and ideas, and everything kept falling apart, so we finally found ourselves as a nearby park. It ended up being relaxing and perfect. 

The kids played, and we took breaks to watch the sun - with safety glasses, of course. Brennan went for a run on the trail, and we kicked around the soccer ball. We even flew the drone for a bit afterwards. The weather was perfect, and it was a great fall day together. 

I think the ring shadows may have been my favorite part. So fun! 

The next eclipse is a total eclipse, and it will be on a Monday in April. I am hoping to get us camping reservations, since school is canceled that day. We'll see though.