October and Half of November Wrap-Up

The month of October has been full of many emotions, both happy and sad. On October 19th, Chris grandmother, Maxine Condra, passed away after struggling to recover from another stroke. She will be greatly missed. I don't think I'll ever be able to think of green beans without remembering how this was her trademark dish that she cooked for many family gatherings and would flavor them with bacon fatback and "cook the green out of 'em."  The loving way that Chuck stood by her side and took care of her "in sickness and in health" until death did them part was a beautiful thing to see. The kids haven't quite fully grasped death as a concept yet. Riley is a little closer though because when I told him the news after picking him up from school, he replied, "Mom, that's the first human we know in heaven! Leroy was the first dog in heaven and now Grandma Condra is the first human." Maggie told Chris at dinner that night, "Dad, Grandma Condra died....on a cross!" Hmm...glad she knows the story of Christ's death, but she may have over-generalized this just a tad! Riley was so sweet in his prayer that night as he asked God to let her "be happy in heaven and everyone here be healthy."

A few other stories from this month include the following:

• At another dinner time, Riley remarked, "This is the tooth-hundred time I've had an eggroll to eat." 
• Maggie is quickly learning how to shift the blame. Discovering a black mark on her clothes, she concluded, "Somebody drew on my shirt and it wasn't me. Maybe it was Spencer or one of my friends at school." Spencer is our dog-sitter who Maggie rarely sees. Silly girl!
• Riley can be so loving with his words. The other day, I wanted to celebrate Riley's good grades on his first-ever report card, so I pulled out an "Honor Plate" that I had painted a while back from one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. I explained how proud we were of Riley working hard and doing his best in school not only with learning a new language, but also being a good listener and a respectful friend. Upon hearing all this, Riley responded to me with this, "Mom, that really burns my heart up. You know that means I love you." Later he told Chris the same thing and added, "It also reminds me that I'm awesome." Glad he has a healthy sense of self-esteem! :)
• Just the other day, Riley told Chris, "Dad, I like to play with you and spend time with you." Chris does a great job of coming home as soon as he can from school, being patient as he is bombarded with stories and requests from the kids the minute he walks in the door, and then changing clothes and taking time to play with the kids until supper is ready. Lately, he and Riley have been bonding over playing basketball. 
• Another time, Riley just came up to me and gave me a hug and said, "Mom, I love you." I gave him a big hug back and said, "Riley, I sure do love you too. Know how much? To the moon and back." He said without missing a beat, "Well, I love you to Krypton and back!" Krypton is the planet Superman is from. Such a cool thing to hear from my superhero-loving, affectionate boy! 
• Maggie came home excited  from school about the "Jack-O-Land" that they made at school and how Ms. Morris turned off the lights and it glowed in the dark. 
• Nan and Pap came to visit us for Halloween as you'll see in the pictures below. And Nan got a kick out of the story that Maggie told her about eating a lot of popcorn at the "movie -ater".
• One of Riley's little idiosyncrasies is that he does not like to have his closet door open even a little. He says it makes him a little scared. That's one of the reasons he sleeps with both a nightlight and a lamp on. 
• For November's verse of the month we are learning Psalm 150:6 that says "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Immediately after hearing this verse, Maggie made the connection to a song that's on one of the scripture CDs we have in the car and started singing "I will praise the Lord at all times. It is praises is always on my lips." I think the "it is" part is supposed to be "His". What a beautiful thing to hear from the mouth of our 3-year-old. 
• My 5-year-old continues to amaze me with what he says as well. The other day I was saying how I'd be thankful for winter because that means the grass wouldn't need to be cut as much and then we started talking about how it snows sometimes in winter. Riley informed me that he knew all about snow and "the figurization of it up in the clouds". Later relaying the same story to Chris at dinner, he added the details that "raindrops drop on a flake and it calibrates into snow." I love his love of learning, even if it isn't completely accurate yet!
• Speaking of words that get a little mixed up sometimes, I was painting Maggie's toenails during our "Maggie and Mommy Time" that we have each day. And I was asking Maggie her favorite color and she said it is was "white pink, not dark pink." 
• I love Riley's prayers from his heart. For Veteran's day I asked him to say a special prayer for the people who are veterans and helped fight for our freedom. His prayer went something like this, "Dear God, Thank you for the veterans for saving our world and for fighting evil. Some are gone. Dear God, I hope you can help them, The End." 

Here are some pictures from the last few months. One of my favorite traditions with the kids is to dress up like pirates for "Talk Like A Pirate Day" at Krispy Kreme and then deliver the free donuts we get for wearing costumes to fire fighters and police officers to let them know how much we appreciate their service. This is our 3rd year doing this together and I hope it's something that we can continue for many years to come.

 
Look at my little diva! Here she is all ready for her school pictures!

 And look at this tech-savvy kid--surfing the web all by himself!

 Maggie got to go on her very first field trip at preschool and Grandmama was able to chaperone. They went to Cherry Place Farm and got to feed animals, play in a corn pit, eat some popcorn for snack, go on a hayride, and pick a mini pumpkin to take home. From the report we got, it sounds like it was a pretty successful day!

 

 This year, we decided to go to the Anne Springs Greenway Fall Frolic as our festival outing as a family. There were a lot of activities for the kids to choose from including a corn maze, hay ride (which had a really long line so we didn't go on it this time), a canoe trip around a lake, a hay bale maze, a corn pit, a petting zoo, and of course, we had to check out the snack trucks and ended up with some Kona Ice snocones.

 For Red Ribbon Week at school which is a campaign to remind kids to say no to drugs, Riley had a blast participating in the different themed days. Here are two pictures from the week. He loved the idea of wearing fleece pajama pants with a shirt and hat for mismatch day and he made a pretty handsome rooting-tooting cowboy for "Give Drugs the BOOT" day.

 Both kids were super excited this year to create faces on their pumpkins. They weren't quite as much help scooping out the pumpkin "guts", but in the end we got the job done!

 

On Friday, October 30th, Riley participated in his first ever Tiger Trot, a school fundraiser where kids run laps outside and collect pledges and donations that go towards improvements around school. Family members were invited to come along and participate, cheer, and support the little athletes. We were blessed that Nan and Pap were able to drive down and attend. It really made the event all the more special for Riley to have Pap run along with him. Maggie and I even got in a few laps as well! 

 We love Senora Notaro's bright smile and passion for teaching and family! She just returned this week from a quick 2-week maternity leave after adopting a precious baby girl named Billie Ella. Senora Notaro has a 10-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son who happen to be adopted as well. 

 We are proud of the 9 laps Riley was able to complete in the 20 minute time period. He ran most of the time and only took a few walk breaks. Principal Maness talked to the kids about "Making a Difference" both in living a healthy lifestyle and in supporting the school. Winthrop athletes were on hand to share their favorite stay healthy tip.

 Some afternoon fun with pumpkin carving, vampire teeth, and glow sticks!

Halloween day and night were spook-tacular!! The kids got to attend a neighborhood festival complete with bouncy houses, face painting, pumpkin painting, a cookout with hot dogs, hamburgers, and lots of yummy side items, and a hayride to check out all the scary decorations around the surrounding streets. It was a great way to keep the kids entertained as they counted down to the time where they could dress up and go trick-or-treating. Chris and I joined in on the fun again this year and went as a Superhero Family. Maggie and I were Princess Elsa and Queen Mom and Chris and Riley were Spiderman 1 and 2. 

 Here's a picture of Riley and Isabella (not only a neighbor, but also a good friend in Riley's class). And here are Maggie and Leo. Leo also lives down the street from us and is in the same preschool class as Maggie.

It was a real "treat" to have Nan and Pap participate in the festivities with us! 

 

 One of the best part of Halloween of course is checking out all the amazingly sweet loot! Riley loved sorting his candy into groups while Maggie loved chowing down on Tootsie Roll lollipops!

The teacher side of me still loves to put together activities to reinforce what the kids are learning at school. So we did some "experiments" with our five senses. We learned some phrases in Spanish too. The kids got to guess what objects were inside 5 eggs using their sense of hearing and then they got to feel those same items that were placed in brown bags using only their sense of touch and see if they were right. We used our sense of smell with different spices and I had them close their eyes and try to sniff out the one that smelled like mint and the one that smelled like pizza. Of course, the one they loved best was using their sense of sight to look at different food items and then taste them with their tongue. They had to see if they could correctly guess which item was salt or sugar and then we talked about the different kinds of tastes-sweet, salty, bitter, and sour (you can see Riley's puckered face above after tasting lemon juice). It was a fun, learning time with my "sweet" kiddos!

 An idea on Pinterest inspired us to create a banner of objects from nature that spelled out "Give Thanks". The kids did a great job helping glue down popcorn and sunflower seeds, various leaves and sticks, and even long blades of grass. This year, we are literally counting our blessings. Each day,we have a different prompt that is inspiring us to think of something special that we are thankful for and then we're writing them on a list under a special home decor sign that I believe my grandmother gave me one year as a gift. One day, Riley got to go around with the camera and take pictures of things he was thankful for. So the pictures of the Transformer, Dad, and family were a few of his favorites. Maggie got a turn as well and popcorn, a Leapster, and Irving topped her list of things that she appreciates the most. For me, I'm so thankful for this beautiful home that God has blessed with me, but more importantly, I am thankful for the people with whom He has given me to share it! Life is short. Our next breath is not guaranteed and I hope that my life can be a reflection of loving God and loving others. Chris, Riley, and Maggie are among my greatest joys and biggest treasures and I am so grateful that I get the opportunity to experience life with them by my side.

Riley's school has a mission to teach children to "Make A Difference" in the lives of others. Each week the principal features a student in his weekly newsletter who is making a positive impact in a big or small way. Here's what Riley e-mailed his principal:

Riley would like to tell you in his own words how he has made a difference:

"Mr. Maness, Sometimes I gave all my money from my allowance and I am making a difference for other people. I'm getting money because I am doing my chores. I am using the money for people to get animals like rabbits and chicks. The rabbits are going to help the people to buy stuff. The chicks will grow into a chicken that lays eggs and they use the eggs to buy stuff like food, clothes, and medicine."

So just to add a little more detail-we decided to support Heifer International and purchase some farm animals for people in need in other countries. Both kids get paid a daily allowance and in the past, we would ask that they donate just one of the up to 5 coins that they earn to give back to the church or others.The responsibilities/chores are pretty basic like brushing teeth, making their bed, setting the table, saying please and thank, and not whining when they talk. This month, we decided to focus on this project and created a little chart to track their progress. Riley earned some additional money one day by doing extra chores around the house like cleaning the bathroom, taking out the recycling, and helping me sanitize my music instruments. We've really appreciated his sacrifice these past 2 weeks because he chose to give his entire allowance to meet his goal even faster. We've been talking about how blessed we are in our country and how many people in other countries can't just go to the grocery store or refrigerator whenever they want. This is a pretty tough concept to comprehend, but it's starting to make a little more sense. We have so much to be thankful for and isn't it only natural that if we've been given so much that we would want to share it with others?! I hope that the attitude of gratitude lasts longer than just this month and that we will continue to give back whenever we see the opportunity arise. 

School Days, School Days, Good Old Golden Rule Days

On Saturday, August 15th, we had Meet the Teacher at Richmond Drive. The kids and I prepared a few a little back-to-school survival kit for their teachers. Each item corresponded with a pun in a poem that we gave them. If you know anything about me at all, you know these are some of my favorite gifts to give! 

 Riley is on the Green Team which means he is in Senora Notaro's homeroom. He and Maggie had a good time finding names on the poster outside the classroom. We knew several of his classmates already which was a special blessing. Several of my Bunco friends have children in the Immersion program (McCord, Stella, Miriam); Isabella is a friend in our neighborhood; and Sophia was on Riley's soccer team last fall. Riley received a special candy treat (a roll of Smarties) from his teacher that night and couldn't wait to dig into them! 

 Senora Notaro only speaks in Spanish in the children's presence. She is responsible for teaching Riley math, science, and Spanish literacy. She had her daughter with her at Meet the Teacher to help interpret for us. 

 Riley and Maggie couldn't wait to check out the playground that is right outside his classroom door. He's been in school for about a month now as I write this post and recess is still his favorite highlight of the day to tell me about. I love hearing his stories about playing chase, Power Rangers, and superheroes.

  

 One of the best features about Mrs. Smith's classroom (who teaches Riley reading, writing, and social studies) is the green bathtub that is used as a special reading spot for kids. Riley has also been super excited about sitting in the Author's Chair in the classroom and even came home this week begging to write a story. He went and got 4 sheets of white printer paper, used a stapler to staple them into a book, and drew pictures for his very own Riley Hunter text. He took it to school and added labels to all his pictures by sounding out words like flying bear (fliy ber) and giant hunting sack (jgiyint hutne sac). This is the second book Riley has written this year. Inspired by a David Shannon author study using No, David  books, Riley and I co-wrote a book titled No, Carl that is dedicated to his future son and contains some sound advice and rules for how he needs to act as a young child.

 At Meet the Teacher, Senora Notaro and Mrs. Smith sent home a Sweet Dreams gift that was only to be opened the night before the first day of school. Inside was some colorful confetti to sprinkle under his pillow to help him sleep well. Little touches like this add so much magic to childhood--I love it!! 

 I don't think Riley could have been more excited for his first day of school on Tuesday, August 18th. He was beaming all morning long and ready to jump in the truck with Chris way before it was time. He always gets a kick out of breakfast when I make foods into silly faces, so this time I made him a "Snake Breakfast S-S-S-Sandwich" since he recently has been fascinated with reading and learning about snakes. We've got our morning routine pretty much down pat now--eat breakfast, read Bible story if he wants it, get dressed, make bed, brush teeth, get shoes on, and maybe play for a few minutes if there is any extra time (which there usually is).

Maggie and I tagged along since it was the first day and we all walked him into school and took a few pictures. The day was made even more special by his teachers planning a Gingerbread Scavenger Hunt around the school that showed them some important places like the nurse's office, cafeteria, library, etc. and ended up leading right back to their classroom complete with a gingerbread snack surprise.

 Check out Riley's favorite things board that I made this year at a Do-It-Yourself store in Fort Mill. Riley walked right into class with no hesitation at all and sat down to start the sorting activity that Senora Notaro had put out for the students. We had to ask him to give us a hug and kiss goodbye! :)

 Love this sign in the main entrance to the school that talks about all the different traits that make Richmond Drive so unique! Senora Notaro is pictured in the top left corner. 

 Isn't this just the most joyful picture of sibling love you've seen!!?? I'm a little biased, but I captured this sweet moment coming home from church and just adore the bond that these two little angels share!

 We made a thank you card for his teachers after the first day of school to let them know how much we appreciate them making Riley's Kindergarten experience so memorable and fun! 

 Maggie, of course, wanted to make a card as well! :) 

 Here are just a few other cute pics of the kids. 

 Maggie had her Meet the Teacher event on Wednesday, August 26th. Mrs. Cranford (in stripes) is her teacher and Ms. Morris (in black) is the assistant in the classroom. These two ladies have such a sweet passion for kids that has been evident since our first encounter! Maggie may not look too confident that day, but she really is LOVING preschool! And when she heard her teachers' names, she was so excited about Ms. Morris because it "sounds just like s'mores!" 

 She loved finding her name on the sign outside her classroom door and she also knew a few friends in her class before starting on the first day as well (Isla is a friend who shares a common adoption bond and Leo is a 3-year-old boy down the street from us). 

  Check out Maggie's Favorite Things board (I especially love her favorite food and her BFF (best friend forever)! 

 Isn't this too stinkin' cute!!?? I love that little coy smile and dimple in her cheek! So precious!

Maggie also went right into her classroom on the first day of school (Monday, August 31st) and didn't fuss or cry at all. I guess the positive is that we are raising some very independent, confident kids. The downside is, I wouldn't mind being missed a little more! :) Just kidding! I get sweet, tight hugs from Maggie everyday when I drop her off at school and big smiles when I pick her up. Her favorite thing to tell me about each day is what they had for snack! She also will tell me what book Mrs. Cranford read, if they did a craft, and if she played outside or in the gym. She says that she plays by herself, but according to other folks I'm not sure that's entirely true. Maggie stopped doing naps about age 2 1/2, but I am requiring her to do about 30-45 minutes of "Room Time" (quiet playtime) each day before we go and pick up Riley from school. The other day this is how I found our precious princess! And some days she takes a quick catnap in the car as we wait in the line to get brother. Most days though this little trooper doesn't slow down a single bit until finally at bed around 7 or so.  

 I had one week before I had to start teaching my music classes at Goddard and Oakland, so on Sunday night and Monday, I was able to prepare 21 freezer meals. It was a plan online that used ingredients from Aldi and said you could buy most everything you needed for $150. That seemed like a pretty great deal to me! We've had  quite a few of the meals so far and I think they've been decent. It's definitely been nice not to have to think about preparing meals every single night. I'll have to keep this in mind for when I return to teaching. 

 One last thing that has been going on recently that I thought I would mention is that our old QCP gang has been getting together on Thursday afternoons (all four moms and 10 kids). We've been rotating houses or parks around the area and letting the kids play from the time we pick them up from school until about 4:30 or 5. This has become one of Maggie and Riley's favorite days. I love this picture of Jackson, Riley, and Callahan all dressed up in different costumes ready to take on the world. I hosted everyone at my house on the 27th of August and loved being able to have both some adult conversations and hear lots of childhood giggling and playing going on at the same time. Now it's never easy to finish a conversation (at some point one of the ten little ones needs us), but at least we try! :) 

Silly Sayings Summary (Part 2)

Here are some humorous anecdotes that I collected from this summer:

• The other night, Maggie was bouncing off the wall with her endless supply of energy and Chris made two comments: 1) That she was really wound UP and 2) That she was a spark PLUG. A few minutes later, as Maggie is still running around the couch acting crazy, Riley looked up and said, "Yep, she sure is PLUGGED UP!" 
• Not to be outdone, Maggie has her own confusion over phrases and her newest one happened tonight around dinner time. Chris was on the phone talking to his brother, Tim, and Maggie told her uncle that we were eating ham, mac and cheese, and "muscle sprouts" (aka brussel sprouts). 
• Brussel sprouts, by the way, still remains Riley's favorite food whenever you ask him. He often says this before he says a cheeseburger from "Old MacDonald's". Maggie has recently decided that she also likes unique vegetables and has fallen in love with "head-amame" (in other words known as edamame)!
• Maggie likes to race others up or down the stairs, and no matter what direction she always yells: "I'm going to beat you up!" And it always comes across sounding like I'm raising a bully instead of a competitive stair climber! 
• The other day, we were keeping a dear friend of mine's sweet little one year old girl named Sadie. A few hours after she left to go home, Maggie wanted to know when "Shady" would be coming back! 
• Riley got his first kiss a few weeks ago when we went to visit Carson and her family down in Charleston. It seems that he impressed Camryn enough to earn him not just a little peck on the cheek, but a bonafide "married kiss"! This is the Walker way of explaining a long kiss that happens between people who are typically wedded to each other. :) Riley had mentioned earlier that day that he no longer wanted to marry Maggie, but thought he should marry Camryn instead. You should have seen the child's eyes when he started launching into his whole spiel about how they are going to have 2 kids and he already has the names all picked out for them. When I suggested that perhaps his future wife might want to have some say in selecting the names, he promptly looked at Camryn and said, "Okay, I'll name the boy and it'll be Carl Reuben Riley Fisher and you can name the girl. Her name will be Maddie, okay?" So much for a demacratic marriage! 
• The kids had a blast at VBS this year! Our church did an Everest theme and it made my heart swell and my eyes tear up every single day as we gathered at the end our time and the kids were shouting at the top of their lungs about how powerful our God is! Maggie is still singing these songs randomly and it's been almost a month since "Bible Story Camp" (as she so affectionately called it). Today she was singing the song that mimics the Cupid Shuffle. What a great way to teach kids to worship! 
• I bought the kids some mouthwash for the first time a few weeks ago. And Riley's remark after he tried it for the first time was hilarious. He walked up to Chris and said, "That mouthwash didn't 'spice me out'! I really liked it!"
• Maggie was holding a toy in her lap the other day and made this comment: "I'm going to give this toy to my babysitter because I'm all grown up now and I'll have a baby when I'm a Mommy, but I don't like babies right now." 
•  Both kids got to get new shoes at the outlet mall for their back-to-school shopping. Maggie fell in love with the "Twinkle Toes" brand that light up on the top. A few days later, I call the kids down for supper and Maggie says, "I'm not Maggie, I'm Elsa. I mean, I'm Twinkle Toes." And Riley replies, "And my name is Superman Batman Superhero Ninja Blackwidow Police FreezeMan!" 
• Riley was helping me clean out the toybox yesterday and he found a flag keychain. Without missing a beat, he states, "Oh yeah, this is from the parade that I went to with Grandmama, and Papa, and Maggie, and Daddy." And later when I was telling Chris how he remembers where he got just about every toy, he adds that it's a flag from the "Free From the King and Queen Day". Obviously, Chris had tried to explain the meaning of the 4th of July and that's what stuck in Riley's sweet head! 
• We are working on new goals for our daily responsibility charts. Both kids have to get dressed, brush their teeth, help with indoor chores (if they do 2, they can earn a piece of candy in addition to a little money), and not say bad words or make gross sounds. We've been having a lot of potty talk lately and belching on purpose. Maggie's bedtime prayer the other night made me laugh out loud: "Dear God, Thank you for the world you made. Thank you for everything you made. And help me not to burp for real."