Will just arrived home from a (very cold) fun night of trick or treating with Daddy. I stayed home and passed out candy - we had over 100 kids! I love seeing the little kids get so excited running at top speed from house to house. My favorite quote of the night: "No, wait! I'm loosing my pants!!" That was from a little pirate racing a firefighter up my driveway!
These are the cupcakes Will and I made for his party at preschool today.
Will helped with the icing, rolling the spider legs from Tootsie Rolls, and
assembling the bodies (chocolate covered almonds) and heads (chocolate covered raisins).
My little GI Joe Storm Ninja - complete with a glow-in-the-dark
sword, which was the selling point on this costume!!
He also enjoyed quite a few compliments on his monster hand
that Jenny gave him a couple years ago.
Will looked forward to passing out candy as much as he did
collecting it. When it came down to it though he only passed out
a few pieces before he was ready to go himself!
Will and I carved our pumpkins yesterday! He chose what shapes he wanted for the eyes, nose, and mouth then I drew the face for him and he did the rest! Here is the final product, and the second link is a (long) video of the fun!
One of the guys Jerry works with won tickets to Lincoln Caverns through the radio station. He thought Will would enjoy the caverns so he gave the tickets to Jerry. Wasn't that so kind and thoughtful!
We went yesterday and Will had such a fun time. I didn't realize it when I scheduled the tour, but one of the caverns (they have two) was decorated for Halloween as a haunted cavern. It was toned down for the kids, but there were still characters in masks and a few scary surprises. Thankfully the characters talked to the kids and engaged them in the story line of a "haunted high school." Will held my hand the whole time, but he talked to the characters and gave them "five" so he understood they were just people dressed up in costumes. I was ready to take him back out if he started getting scared but he seemed to enjoy and laugh at some of the silly decorations (snakes, random bones that we talked about the names of, big rats, etc.) I don't really like all the associations of Halloween so I tried to explain that Halloween is about enjoying feeling scared or startled when we know the things around us aren't real and can't hurt us. And of course it's about candy too!! ; )
I was anxious to see if he had any nightmares afterward, but he slept well through the night. Which is more than I can say for two nights last week. First he dreamed about a mean, talking worm that was singing a song (after we read the very NOT scary Diary of a Worm). Then for no apparent reason he dreamed about a mean twisty water tornado (the kind in the bathtub drain). It was alive but didn't talk. I have learned that my son has inherited my over-active imagination and he will come up with things to be afraid of even when I do my best not to feed his fears!
We raked leaves this week! I thought I would never finish raking - we have SOOOO many leaves! It was quite a chore but Will and his friend Grace had so much fun jumping in them.
Aside from faces, this is the first thing Will has had any interest in drawing on his own. They were supposed to draw a cat today at Two by Two preschool but Will wasn't happy with how his turned out so he got out his drawing paper to make another. He ended up drawing two cats each for Aunt Andy, Grandma, and Aunt Krissy, which we mailed. Then he drew two for me.
This is Jingles and Biscuit Head (the two cats at Grandma's house). His process begins with a big oval then he adds two legs at the front and two more at the back. Then the cat gets two eyes and a smile. Next is the little tail straight out the back (you can see them if you look closely). Finally they get fur on their backs and bellies (and sometimes on their bottoms which he finds hilarious of course!).
We have been so busy recently that I haven't taken the time to update my blog. So here's a quick recap...
Will finished up outdoor soccer with a great game. It was his best all season. He stayed focused and ran hard. He scored a goal, almost scored another goal during his kickoff from midfield to start the game, and even caught up with Drew to block him from scoring a goal. (For those who don't know, Drew is one of the best and fastest little soccer players out there!) Of course I didn't remember my camera to record the action. : ( The team had a pizza party after the game to celebrate and Will really enjoyed that too.
I spent one whole day washing windows and Will helped. I was surprised by how long he stayed interested. I guess using the spray bottle was a special treat. I wish it had seemed like a special treat to me!!!
Jerry and I worked in the basement recently cleaning out my storage closet under the steps to put up shelves for my canned foods. I canned 52 quarts of applesauce, 20 pints of applebutter, and about 25 quarts of green beans, in addition to pickled beets, peaches, and raspberry jelly! So obviously I needed more storage space! While we were working on the shelves I caught Will singing the theme song to Phineas & Ferb, which has been one of his favorite things to watch on Netflix recently.
Our biggest project recently has been the garage. We've been working on insulating, adding drywall, and painting the unfinished walls. Will has really enjoyed helping with that too. He used his gator to haul things from the garage to the shed before we started work. Then while we were putting up the drywall we sat him down with the battery powered screwdriver and some drywall. He must have drilled and screwed over 50 screws! That provided entertainment for a LONG time! Then we let him use some drywall mud to fill in some of his holes. He helped me with the sanding but got mad when I wouldn't let him use the electric sander because of the dust it created.
When we bought paint we picked up a small roller and tray for Will and let him help paint. He was so proud of himself! He said I had to judge between him and Jerry when we finished to decide who got the "A+" I made a big show of judging and I could tell he was actually nervous because he was so hopeful about getting the best grade. Of course he was awarded the "A+" and he ran to get a piece of paper for me to write it on (I guess grades only count when they're written down). I wrote his grade and then drew him a blue ribbon which he was very proud of.
Here is another short clip of Will playing. He invented a soccer game for the living room. The ball can't touch the furniture, but if it does you have to run and touch the treasure chest grandad built him to get a life back.
