Thankful November

This year I decided to give the boys a list numbered 1-30. The idea was each day they would write one thing they were thankful for. Reece finished the entire list on day 11... and Riley never finished. I guess he has such a rough life that he couldn't think of 30 things to be thankful for. I guess my worst fear was proved that kids are spoiled and truly don't understand how much they are blessed with.

Reece: (I will keep the spelling as-is because it's still so cute!)

1. I am thankful for my family
2. I am thankful for God
3. I am thankful for food
4. My house
5. for toys
6. out side
7. Colorado
8. Jesus
9. Learning
10. Books
11. electronics
12. warmth
13. school
14. water
15. cars
16. air
17. gravity
18. the sun
19. light
20. police
21. communitte
22. fire men
23. hospatals
24. Science
25. clothes
26. games
27. softness
28. music
29. fun
30. the world (I think you can tell he really is enjoying 3rd grade Science)

Riley:

1. My family
2. Food on our table
3. A house to live in
4. wealthy family (???)
5. education
6. clothes
7. Friends
8. Toys
9. Music
10. Electronics
11. Books
12. beds
13. TV
14. transportation
15. Instruments
16. Teachers
17. Skiing 
18. Fans and heaters
19. Movies
20. Electricity
21. Winter Clothes
22. Water
23. Blankets
24. Chairs
25. Pillows
26. Sports
27. School
28. Pay day (Hmmm.... he was stretching it there towards the end. But he gave it a shot!)

Sleepwalker

It's been awhile since we've had an episode with Reece, but when you mix several hours of being very sick (darn stomach bug) and extra tiredness... you are bound to see one.

Reece wanted to sleep on the couch one more night (he was doing much better by the evening, thankfully) I obliged, and he wanted me to sleep out there too. I have a soft spot after I see my boy suffer all day... so a campout in the living room it was. We were both exhausted so our campout began around 8:30. After this the timeline got a little fuzzy, because I didn't have a clock to refer to in the living room.

Reece woke me up as I heard him get up from the couch and start walking to our room. I called his name, thinking he forgot I was on the other couch. He came back and when I asked what he was doing, his answer was, "Giving dad a hug." That was my red flag that he was sleepwalking. He likes hugs at these times... He laid down, then he got back up and touched my shoulder. I asked if he was okay, yes, are you sleepwalking, no.... "Well, what are you doing?" He mumbled something about the bathroom but he was walking the opposite way... I told him to get to the bathroom and he followed my directions. (He is also very obedient at these times) I heard him, and things were so rushed in the bathroom I was almost worried that he left a big mess in the bathroom, which Jake checked and thankfully it was fine... Reece came back out and began getting settled down, that's when I heard a very quiet, "What the heck?" Then I hear him heading back to our room. Jake is talking to him, and when he walks him back out to the couch, Reece stretches his arms out to show just how big the snowball under the coffee table is. (What??) Yep... like normal, he almost hallucinates during his episodes, he carried on about the snowball under the coffee table, I mean it's HUGE, and Jake was indulging him and talking about the snowball, saying it's okay, and that we will get rid of it later. Reece must have mentioned something about shooting it with his gun... but his panic subsided and Jake got him to relax and lay down, and I thought that was the end. Nope. Shortly afterwards, Reece got up one last time and went to Jake...finally, Jake had him just lay in my spot and close his eyes and I never heard from Reece again that night. Now I'm just extra, extra tired while I'm slowly getting ready for our healthy, back to reality Thursday!

"Mushroom Rock"

Michelle and I hiked the Red Trail in Carbondale on Friday. Just another magnificent view of Mt. Sopris. Because of these cool red bubbly rocks at top, it's been nicknamed "Mushroom Rock." Can't wait to take the boys on this one!

#1841: Elk Creek Trail

Another trail we didn't complete...because once again our trail map didn't exactly give "clear" directions on how to find it... so we drove around for a bit longer than desired. Oh well, now we know how to get there and next time we will make it to the end! Sadly, we saw zero elk.

Kick Ball with the Scrutons

Last Saturday the weather was amazing! (I've learned it's actually amazing more often than not...but we will see what winter brings.) Reece was very eager to get outside and play some soccer, so the Scrutons  suggested we head up to "Gates Soccer Park' (I seriously cannot wait for Reece to be old enough to play games here....I mean the scenery is gorgeous) and what was supposed to be soccer/baseball fun, turned into a fun kick ball game. We even had a family of deer as brief spectators. I just love it here!

"Mom, take a picture!"
(Typical Reece)

Reece's Conference

We had Reece's conference with Ms. Foster and all reports were great... shocking, I know! ;) We are still in the "number" system when it comes to grades, and he received 3's and 4's across the board, 4 being the highest on the scale. Mostly 3's, which is "proficient." There wasn't a whole lot to discuss. I guess you have to take that as a good thing... because if there was a problem, I'm sure we'd hear about it. 

Ms. Foster left this comment: "Reece is doing a great job in homeroom. He is always ready with a thoughtful answer when called upon. His progress has been consistent across the subjects."

He has Mr. Hardcastle as his Literacy teacher and his comment was: "Understanding the learning objectives and goals, becomes involved with the themes of literacy, and engages with others in an attempt to create a community of learners through sharing and implementation of ideas. Somewhat shy on occasion." (Reece thinks Mr. Newcastle is a pretty cool teacher... I think it's a male thing, because Riley had his first male teacher in 3rd grade and had similar feelings. As great as all the boy's teachers have been, I think male elementary teachers are an important figure in kid's lives. There are kids out there that can truly benefit from that kind of role model at this young age. Mostly those kids that don't have that positive male figure in their home lives.)

Reece wrote this at the beginning of the year. Love the Jayhawk colors and how he spelled "multiplication"...he hears all sounds and that's a tough word to attempt!

Reece got a great grade on this assignment.
"Bob was at Best Buy. He was so ecxited! He wanted a flat screen TV in his room on the wall. He had $38,999 the TV was $24,891. He bought it. How much money does Bob have now?" He got a "4" for the math problem and a "3" for his writing."
I'm glad Bob is so wealthy and can afford such an expensive TV... and his picture is nice too. Rows of TVs at Best Buy.

Does this picture look familiar!? It should... it's a pretty accurate picture of the Giant Canyon Swing we have been on several times. I love his detail! This was his "capture the moment" writing assignment... Ms. Foster had to help him turn a "multiple day story" into a "moment" story, but she was pleased that he was very receptive to her help.
"On a hot dry mountain everyone was screaming! I was running to the rides. My hole family was there. I told my mom I wanted to ride the scariest ride the swing. I ran down to the swing. It was huge! They called me on. I gasped. It started. I was feeling funny like I was going to fall. But it was my favorite moment up there."
Love the detail he squeezed in there!

I miss the artwork that came home from McPherson... but I do love the sea turtle that Reece brought home from here.  I hope to see more as the year goes on!

Sydney & Sami

On Halloween, I asked for pictures of all my nieces and nephews all dressed up so I could blog them. I wanted to see them all dressed up since this is the first year I wasn't in Kansas to see them in person, and I wanted to blog them. Well, I only got pictures of my Utah nieces... hmmm, I have 19 nieces and nephews (some of them too old for trick or treating) and only got these 2 cute girl's pictures... you do the math.

Sami the "Gypsy" 

Sydney the "Cop"

Thanks, Jill, for the pictures!

Utah Cousins

The boys really do have cousins in Utah... unfortunately I did NOT take a single picture of them. We didn't do much, but the kids had an awesome time getting acquainted with each other and they stayed very busy for the day and a half we were there. Here are some pictures of our drive... and of a tree in the park. Haha! ;) We'll go back for Thanksgiving and I will have to take some pictures then! 

School Pictures

Reece~3rd grade~Ms. Foster's Class
(I'm so excited he showed his teeth... he's coming out of that "no teeth" phase...slowly)

Riley~6th grade~Ms. Hopgood (Advisory teacher)
***
We had Riley's conference last week... all good remarks. He had a lower grade than normal in Humanities, but he didn't know he had a missing assignment so he is working on that. He is doing great in Science and Math. His science teacher left a comment:"What an amazing young man! Riley has exhibited great work ethic and leadership in all areas in science, along with great reasoning."
Middle school conferences are very different and not very in depth, so this is about all I can say. His math classmates have definitely pinned Riley as a strong math student. I think Riley likes that attention... he usually enjoys blending in, but it's nice to get recognition for something you are good at.

Halloween 2013

"Cute" just can't be in our Halloween vocabulary any more... we've grown out of it. And Riley has already said this is probably his last year for trick or treating. Ladies and gentlemen, I present my big "soul taker" and little "zombie."

We met up with the Scruton's... Abby was a 70's chick, but it was cold, so we aren't seeing her fun costume, just the fun hair.

Jake got to see what hair felt like when the trick or treating was all done... what do you think?