Conferences

Joseph and I had our very first parent teacher conference on Friday.  Such a milestone for us as parents, and for some reason I was so nervous!  I didn't know what to expect or even how these things work.  I was especially terrified that there were going to say something along the lines of, "Really?  You think that you can put that terror child into preschool?  Get him out of here!" or even worse, "So THIS is where he gets it..."  All of my fears were put to rest, however, when we  walked in and saw Mrs. Heithoff's welcoming smile (I see why Jake loves her).

We were so pleasantly surprised to hear that Jake is apparently a model student at preschool (or do they just say that to everyone?)  Mrs. Heithoff told us that she absolutely adores having him in her classroom and that he is adjusting really well.  She actually went on and on about what a great kid he is, how he follows directions, is kind to other children, etc.  To be honest, I couldn't believe we were talking about the same child.  It makes me so happy to hear that Jake is well behaved for other adults, even if he has to let loose when he's at home and occasionally makes me want to pull my hair out.  I'd rather have it that way than the other.  Love this crazy kid!

Halloween Happenings

Jake ended up getting tons of use out of his dragon costume this year.  Of course, this is despite the fact that he wore it every day anyway.  I don't think I've ever seen a cuter dragon.  

The Halloween festivities began on Thursday with his preschool Halloween parade and singing program.  What an adorable group of preschoolers!  Jake knew almost all the words to the songs, including "I'm a little Pumpkin" (sung to the tune of "I'm a little Teapot") and "If you're a ____ and you know it" (fill in the blank with ghost, skeleton, goblin, etc.)  

Here is Jake and his friend Spencer at the Halloween program.  Whenever anyone asked what Jake was going to be for Halloween he would answer, "I'm a dragon, and Spencer is a Pirate."

 Jake and his teacher Mrs. Heithoff.  I'm pretty sure he has a secret crush on her.  He talks about her all the time.

On Friday we went to a Halloween party on campus at the Old Capital Building.  It wasn't anything too fancy, but Jake got to dress up in his costume again, which he of course was excited about!

Saturday came our church's Halloween party.  Sadly, I wasn't able to go, and Joseph didn't take pictures because he was doing this the whole time:

Even though no pictures were taken, Jake came home with a huge stash of candy from trunk-or-treating.  So, obviously, he had a good time.  Also, did you notice the snot on Joseph's shoulder?  Oh Eli...and what a great daddy for putting up with it...

That evening we carved pumpkins!  Well, Jake painted his pumpkin while Joseph carved the jack-o-lantern.

 Finally, Monday was the big day!  Some friends came to our neighborhood to go trick-or-treating and we took a group picture.  Talk about an excited bunch!  They were all prepped for trick-or-treating from our church's trunk-or-treat, so they knew exactly what to do.

 When Jake would knock on the door he always said, "Trick-or-treat, I'm a dragon!!"

We had such a great time!  I see why they always say that holidays are more fun with kids.

Whew, did you keep track of that?  The Halloween festivities stretched over four days - Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday!  Needless to say, we've got a whole lot of candy up in here these days. Good thing we've got an endless supply of toothbrushes in our home!