Ryan's Christmas Show

All of Ryan's songs from his Christmas Show are posted to the right- under "Our Movies." They are in reverse order, so It's best to start with the third one down. Halfway through Rudolph, Ryan realized that Pop O was there and after that his performance picked up a bit. Sorry the footage is so dark. The teachers requested the lights be kept off so that the candles could have the greatest effect.

cousins

My step-brother Steve and his family came to Disney for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we caught up with them at Animal Kingdom for the day. My camera was not cooperating much of the day, but I was able to capture this one photo of the 4 kids. They had a great time playing around with each other. Honestly, I think they enjoyed their visit with each other more than the park itself.

some cute pics

My camera is dying. It has suffered multiple contusions, abrasions, loss of parts, and is malfunctioning with increasing regularity. So, I don't have very many pictures from the last month or so. Here are a few that my camera consented to capture.

Update on Rebecca

Following my sister's lead...here is an update on each of the kids, starting with Rebecca.

• Rebecca is all girl. She often skips or dances/ twirls from room to room. Often singing at the same time. Usually both the songs and dance moves she has made up herself. She plays with her baby dolls, stuffed animals and (still) toy animals the most.
• She is doing well in Kindergarten. Her teacher told us at the first parent teacher conference that she is right on track, and she has experienced no behavior problems. (Yea!) Rebecca is learning a lot, and more and more often she seems to be able to report back to us what she's learning in school.
• Every day, she asks, "Where are we going?" If it were up to her, we would go somewhere every day all day. Last weekend, we had lots of fun events we attended, a festival, a fair, a birthday party, the circus, and more. After our third event of the day (around 5:30) she asked as soon as we got in the car, "Can we go somewhere else?" When we have friends over to play (an acceptable second choice to going somewhere) as her friend is packing up to leave, she always ask, "Can another friend come over?" Exhausting.
• She is just starting to learn to read in Kindergarten this year. However, as I predicted she much prefers to be read to, or to read stories "her own way." She is often disappointed when she read the actual words of the story. They are hardly ever as imaginative as the stories she has created.
• Speaking of imagination. She has a wonderful one. The other day she told me that she can speak to cows, and that she understands cats meows. She often creates a whole fantasy world and lives in it for a whole afternoon. She'll be happily playing by herself, and I can hear her acting out the parts of a princess, a fairy, and a mean witch all at once.
• Her newest obsession is coloring. Every day when she comes home from school, she immediately gets out her crayons or markers and stats drawing. She makes at least 20 pictures a day. We go through paper like crazy. She often draws pictures of things that happened during her day, or of characters in books she's read, or sometimes just make believe stories.
• She has a temper too. When she gets really mad at one of us, she writes our name on a piece of paper, draws a circle around it and then draws a slash or a x through the circle and brings it to us to show us how mad she is. She calls this, "X-ing you out!" Ryan dissolves in tears when she X's him out.
• She's in a phase right now that I hope passes soon. She wants everything. More of everything. Nothing is good enough. If you offer to give her one thing, she wants 2, or she wants the most expensive of the one thing, or a different version than you had intended, and is completely put out that you won't get her exactly what she wants. Sigh.
• Things she is excited about: She is 6! She lost a tooth, and has 3 more wiggly ones!

Ryan update

Here is an update on Ryan.

• He is a 3 1/2 year old bundle of energy. Many mornings he's up before dawn- 5:30 or so and when I say, "up," I mean "UP." If he is the first to wake up (most days) he yells from his bed, "Mommy! You forgot a wake me up!!!!!! I AWAKE NOW!!!!!" He only runs form room to room. Never walks. Sometimes somersaults from place to place, and loves to be upside down.
• Although he is perfectly delightful most of the time, he does have a temper. He reminds me of the Incredible Hulk because when he gets mad he squeezes his hands in fists, tucks his body in a ball, clenches his teeth and growls "rrrrrrrrr" so hard and so loud I half expect him to turn green.
• He LOVES books and stories and songs and dancing. If they can all be combined, all the better. He loves going to the library for the storytime programs they have there. He participates fully in each story, hand motion, dance move and craft activity. His teachers report that they always have his rapt attention during circle time, and that he loves that part of the day the best.
• He is FUNNY. He makes funny faces, he makes funny sounds, he does funny things JUST to make other people laugh. He does this so often when we are out in public that Rebecca will often tell the grownups that he's entertaining, "Um, my brother's just a little bit crazy."
• As much as he delights other people, he is constantly delighted with other people. Everywhere he goes, he looks to be delighted, and he is rarely disappointed. He makes eye contact with everyone, and if they make eye contact back, (and even if they don't) he starts a conversation with them by sharing something he has just learned or seen or thought about. Many many times, these complete strangers stop what they're doing so that they can continue talking to him, or so that they can make him laugh. He often has this look on his face like he's just getting ready to laugh, like he's just waiting for the punchline, and any little thing can make him laugh.
• When he is asked what his name is, he always responds, "Wyan Wiyam Stewat." This is humorous to watch because most people do a double take, expecting a shorter answer. The other day he was wearing a t-shirt that read "Hello, my name is Trouble." People kept saying, "Well hello, Trouble." Every time he responded, "I not Twouble! I Wyan Wiyam Stewat."
• As long as he is being entertained, he can pay attention and sit still for long periods of time. This summer we attended a series of free childrens programs at the library featuring a local magician and juggler, Magic Mike. Ryan was front and center for each program. He paid close attention, and tried very hard to figure out how Magic Mike could do all the tricks. This fall, I took the kids to a community production of Into the Woods. The first act was an hour and half long, and Ryan watched the whole thing sitting on my lap. I was going to call it a day at intermission figuring I had pressed my luck with a 3 year old sitting still that long. The people behind us stopped us when we got up to let us know that there was another act. (Thanks folks.) So, we stayed, and Ryan sat still for another hour and a half. Not only did he basically sit still on my lap for 3 hours, but he really enjoyed the performance. The director and star of the show approached me afterwards to let me know how impressed she was, and to let me know she thought I had the best children she had ever seen attend live theater!!!

Happy Halloween

The kids were so pooped after Boo at the Zoo and all the fun activities at school, that they only made it to about 6 houses before they were all done trick or treating. They both helped pass out candy for a little while, but were in bed and asleep by 7:30.

I carved this one myself from a template. Rebecca colored it with a green crayon, which was helpful and decorative.

Costume Changes

So, each year we have several Halloween dress up events to attend. The kids opted for a different costume at each event. The first was the MOMS Club Halloween party. It was very chilly the morning of the party, and we were expecting to be outside for part of the party, so thye opted for winter outfits. Rebecca chose a "Snow Princess" dress she got as a hand0me0down from my friend Alicia. Ryan chose the infamous Hermey oufit Santa brought Rebecca two years ago.

As you'll see below, Ryan chose the pumpkin outfit for his school parade, and Rebecca chose Little Red Riding Hood. Both of those days it was in the 30's and 40's for much of the day.

Then, for Boo at the Zoo, since the weather was warmer, both kids decided to change into different costumes. Rebecca chose the one costume I di buy this year- it's a Disney fairy costume, without the wings because they were bothering her...And Ryan chose the Little Caesar costume I bought for Rebecca two years ago at Caesar's Palace.

Then, after dinner, while preparing to trick or treat, we noticed that the temperature was dropping fast, and we recommended changing into a warmer costume, or at least putting on a long sleeve shirt. Ryan chose to back to the pumpkin costume, and Rebecca changed into an Ariel princess dress she received as a present from Alicia two years ago...this dress looks very much like the fairy dress she was wearing earlier, and not a bit warmer.

The kids love dressing up, so I don't really mind all the costume changes. Especially since I only paid for one of them this year. This is Ryan's 3rd year in a row wearing the pumpkin costume to one event or another. We've gotten great use out of it.

Boo at the Zoo

This year, the kids friends Kaitlyn and Jeffrey joined at our annual outing to Boo at the Zoo. The weather was beautiful- mid seventies!

Ryan was a riot, as usual. He chatted up each of the characters we passed. He asked them who they were, what they were doing, why they were doing it, and often asked for further clarification, or added his own commentary/ thoughts to the responses he received. I don't think the students were used to so much conversation from a little kid. This particular encounter was really amusing, because the characters were sirens- you know like from The Odyssey. As the kids walked by, they beckoned to them, saying, "Come closer, so we can take your soul!" All the time they had beautiful smiles and seemed very friendly. Ryan asked them, "What souls are?" He got no answer from the sirens, who were kinda stumped as to how to give an answer that a 3 year old would understand. Then he asked, "What you want em for?" Also, the sirens hadn't prepared an answer to this question. "Finally, he figured it out. "Oh- You tricking??" Yes. Yes. that's it. He pronounced them very silly.

Storybook Character Parade

Rebecca's school holds a Storybook Chacter Parade every year for the Kindergarten and 1st grades on Halloween. All the kids dress up and then parade through most of the 2nd-5th grade classrooms. Rebecca was SOOO excited for this day to come. She opted for Little Red Riding Hood. Nancy found this hooded red tshirt at a dollar store, which worked perfectly as the cape. (That is a black cat tattoo on her cheek.)

This is Rebecca's friend, Isabella with whom we carpool now. She lives in our same neighborhood, although a little more than a mile away. Her mom painted her face. Amazing!

Can you believe it?? Rebecca's teacher dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood too!!!!

Ryan's Costume Parade

This morning was Ryan's costume parade at his pre-school. All the kids dressed up and trick or treated around the Haile Village Center where Ryan's school is located. The shop owners were great, oohing and aahing over each costume, and the kids had a great time. Ryan chose to wear the pumpkin costume for the 3rd year in a row. Gotta love that. He will tell you that the hat is "a little snug" this year. Usually it's still hot this time of year down here, but we've had a cold snap this year. Yesterday and this morning, it was in the 30's when we left for school! This is why you're seeing all the long sleeves, pants and jackets on the people in the pictures.

This video below is Ryan is saying Trick or Treat. Soooo cute since he doesn't pronounce his "R"s...Sorry this video is sideways...um just tilt your head.

Pumpkins

A pumpkin patch is hard to find here in Florida. On the day we had scheduled to go to the pumpkin patch as a family, the pumpkin patch was almost out of pumpkins, and we didn't get any good pictures. The next week, we tried a different pumpkin patch, and luckily, they still had some pumpkins left. But the best part for the kids was that there was a free bounce house as well! Ryan was not interested in carving the pumpkin as he felt it was "too yucky." Rebecca was a good helper though, and enjoyed each step of the process this year.

Rebecca lost a tooth!

So- the dentist pointed out the wiggly tooth to us at her 6 month appt on October 8th. It was barely moving. I mean you had to use a little imagination to see any movement.

It hadn't made much progress 10 days later on the 18th, and I didn't give it any thought when I gave Rebecca an apple for a snack. After 6 or 7 bites she told me her mouth was hurting and that she was bleeding a little bit. I took a look, and that tooth had gone from barely moving to a full board wiggler. She played with it non stop for the next 24 hours and then the next night when she brushed her teeth, she spit it out with the rinse water. Luckily we caught it before it went down the drain. She is VERY excited about it!

Yard of the month

Yup- we won this month! And the same day we won, my perennials decided they were all donw for the season...

More fall fun

Here are some random pics some several different festivals...

Tractor boy. He rides a tractor any chance he can get.

Rebecca gets her face painted any chance she gets. She chose a unicorn this time.

Both kids got a kick out of getting their hair sprayed...Still haven't gotten it all out after 3 shampoos...

These are kids from Rebecca's dance studio performing Thriller in the street in front of the ballet studio for Oktoberfest. I thought it was a riot. The kids were very confused about the concept of zombies...

Grossology

So- we headed over to Grossology. If this exhibit comes to a museum near you, be forewarned that it is indeed gross. There is one area where you prime a pump and a nasty smell comes out and you have to guess what it is: stinky feet, an armpit, bad breath, or poop. So gross. The kids favorite part was climbing into a mouth, sliding down the throat and then crawiling into the intestine and coming out as poop.


Can you see Ryan in that gigantic nose?

This was fun- a giant Operation game.

Rock wall of skin problems...

And here, you can make this attractive dude burp and belch.

Butterflyfest

Next great event is the Butterflyfest at the Natural History Museum. The kids get to make a mask, some wings, and antenna for a complete ensemble. Ryan chose butterfly wings and antenna but opted for a bat mask, so we decided he was a "bat-erfly." Not a lot of picture here, because...at the Natural History Museum, there is a traveling exhibit called, "Grossology" based on the series of popular books by the same name. One has to walk by this exhibit in order to get to the free butterfly crafts and childrens area. Well, Ryan got a sneek peek, and that's all he could concentrate on. He sat down and worked on his butterfly wings for about...2 minutes and proclaimed that he was ready to go see the gross stuff. I explained that we needed to stick together and wait till Rebecca was finished before we could go see the exhibit, and maybe he might want to spend more time on his butterfly crafts/ costume. So, he sat down and worked on it for about 30 seconds more and announced he was done, and wanted to go see the gross stuff. Since he wasn't getting anywhere with me, he sought out the nearest grownup for assistance. Happily, this happened to be a museum staffer. Here is the conversation that took place...

Ryan: You know they have gross stuff here?
Staffer: No way!
Ryan: Yeah! Wanna see?
Staffer: Yeah! Show me!
Ryan: (Runs out of the childrens area and over to the exhibit.) You SEE! There it is! It's GROSS stuff!
Staffer: That's so cool! Thanks for showing me.
Ryan: Want to go with me?
Staffer: Well, I think you should stay with your mom.
Ryan: Oh man, we have to wait for Becca. (Walks away dejected)

Rebecca has become extremely interested in anything artistic lately, was all about the butterfly costume, and wanted to take her time decorating it with markers, stickers, glitter glue and paint. She was happily ensconced at the craft table for 30 or 40 minutes in her own world working on her costume. Ryan and I entertained ourselves by talking to the vendors and scientists, anyone who was interested in having a conversation with him.

Cute kids

Here's a couple of cute pics of the kids...with my poor camera that is in bad shape and has some dust caught on the inside of the lens which causes that flare in the middle of the picture.

Maybe my talented photographer sister could photoshop that out for me when she comes out for air sometime next year...

Corn Maze

Every year there are dozens of fun events, happenings, festivals and must do family activities in October, and we try our best to get to as many of them as we can. The Newberry Corn Maze is a perennial favorite, and we look forward to it every year. Unfortunately, this year it was very very hot, and the kids were restless and excited to be there, so I didn't get many great pictures.


Here is the Corn Hut, where Rebecca and Ryan could spend hours if allowed. In this picture are some of the kids from our playgroup who joined us there.

So, last year we did the corn maze and enjoyed the walk. Last year, the corn was about 3 feet high, and mostly dead. This year, as you can see, the corn was WAY over our heads, and the paths were hard to find at times. The walk was a little treachorous as there were several giant anthills housing fire ants. About 30 minutes prior, Rebecca had been bitten by about a dozen fire ants and had broken out in hives, so she was very wary of them. (Luckily Jocelyn brought her Benadryl cream.) Also, there were some pricker types of bushes which each girl walked into at one time or another and at various times we moms banded together to gently pull the prickers out of their hair, or to pull a girl out of the pricker bush. After the third time this happened, we appointed one of the taller boys to pricker alert duty and moved him to the front. He shouted back to the group when he saw some prickers so we could all avoid them. We got lost a couple of times as well, and it took at least 25 minutes for us to get out of the maze. Needless to say, we were happy to be out!

Ryan and Elyse held hands the entire way. They reported that they were protecting each other from the dangers of the corn maze.

Ryan was so funny (well ok - he's funny a lot.) He was a little nervous about this decorated area. There was an archway that hard to see in this picture, and other kids had just run through it. He was checking it out from a distance, not sure he wanted to get any closer...

Then, he put on his "fierce" face and quickly ran through the open archway. Happily, he lived to tell the tale.