Necessarily Rewinding: Part 2

Most of these events occurred JUST during the month of October 2012. (We have crazy busy Octobers.)

There were a handful of sweet moments our kids experienced during their brief stint in public school. Cute crafts, for instance.

And being recognized for good character in the area of "responsibility":

Saylor's bestie was recognized, too!

Plus the fun dress-up days:

Those things are certainly fun, but let's face it. Couldn't we do those things ourselves in our homeschool and/or for our play dates? It's a matter of choosing to be creative. One sad thing we noticed after the kids started public school is how much they seemed to miss one another. The afternoons after school were pretty crazy with three kiddos needing help with homework and dinner to cook. There often wasn't much time left for just playing together or being creative. Fridays, however, were noticeably more relaxed. All our fun selves came out on Friday.

"Pretzels" (game created by Noah)

The world's longest straw? (also created by Noah)

An architectural masterpiece (created by Gabriel)

And on Saturdays, of course, we needed to decompress with our fully functioning, onsite restaurant,

("spigety, pizza, sadwich, lemen, water"...for a "totle" of 14 cents.)

some refreshing lemonade,

and spontaneous naps, which are perhaps the cutest kind.

Being an always-homeschooled family, we were accustomed to the flexibility of our schedule, which was just not very flexible anymore once in the public school system. We did squeeze in a quick weekend trip to see family, though.

Saylor played dress-up and tea party with her cousin. (Notice there's a brother hiding behind that pillow. He was watching the festivities.)

Noah spent time with his uncle.

And Atticus sneaked a game on his brother's DS. (Oh, dear.)

While all the fun was going on, Da worked to get us unstuck. (Always fun.)

Noah's class had a field trip to see a play. Well, to be fair it was really a field trip to see the last third of a play. I chaperoned and was appalled when the buses finally rolled up over 30 minutes late! There was some sort of mix-up with the buses. Mind you, no one got a refund for the trip nor was there a "make-up" activity for the kids. I know the teachers were so embarrassed, even though it wasn't their fault.

There was a Q and A session afterward.

Then Gabriel's class tooks a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch that Atticus and I got to help chaperone. More pics here. Gabe was so excited to have me in his classroom.

First time EVER to ride a bus!!

BIG moment!

He hated the bus ride. It freaked him out. Even his teacher told me he was holding his heart and breathing fast. **grin** He's such a little worry wart. (Awww...) But at least he had a good time once we got there!

Gabriel got to go home early with me (he avoided that return bus trip!!), so I put him down at nap time when Atticus went down. He was OUT in record time! My poor, little exhausted baby. Kindergarten is way too much.

October also meant that Saylor Girl turned EIGHT years old!! We took her out to her favorite restaurant.

As if that wasn't enough fun, the Rackleys came home on furlough! Wahoo!! We were reunited over dinner and dessert. Such a special family.

The next day was our churchwide picnic. We just love God's people in this particular congregation.

Next (just a few days later) it was Atticus's birthday. He turned FOUR! He chose sushi and hibachi for dinner.

Speaking of Atticus, he met a dear, little friend in his Mother's Day Out program and was blessed to attend his birthday party. (He shares a birthday with Saylor!) His mother and I just melted when this happened:

Just a few days later, we were blessed with a visit from our other cousins. We had dinner together and a little playtime.

And then the next day we met at a park to celebrate a cousin birthday! It was lots of fun.

Loved his reaction.

Noah had a family camp-IN for Cub Scouts. Paul was too tired, so he stayed home with the little boys, and I did the Cub Scout thing, along with Saylor Sis. Noah and his good friend pitched the tent all by themselves.

And they participated in a skit.

I didn't realize Noah would be getting an award that night. In fact, the tradition goes that with this particular award, the dad is supposed to hold his son upside down when he receives it. Well, that job fell to me.

And then, because we just can't GET enough birthdays in October, we made a trip back to the 'Burg for yet another cousin's birthday party!!

Some of us can't help but call her "Emma Cake."

Sweetness.

And that was MOST of October 2012. Whew! (Here's hoping I can ever catch up...)