Neon Day

Last Friday was Neon Day.  Grandma was in town and helped me find something for Aric to wear.  There were no doubt about whether he was wearing neon or not.

Ryan put on his neon shirt just to meet Aric's bus when he came home from school.  He's a good dad.  And I have a break from school spirit this week, I think...

Veteran's Days

It all started with a turkey.  Aric's class read the story, 'Twas the Night before Thanksgiving.  Aric had to bring in a turkey in some sort of disguise.  The only requirement was that we needed to use things around the house.  We weren't allowed to purchase anything for the turkey.

At first we had planned on using camoflage to turn the turkey into a hunter, but Aric quickly changed his mind and wanted an Army turkey.

Last Monday Aric brought home something for Ryan from school.

Ryan seemed touched and a bit embarrassed by their appreciation.

Their thankfulness didn't end there.  The kids had another school project to make a pilgrim and find something to be thankful for.  Aric's teacher told me to check them out while I was at Aric's school last week.

Notice the similarities between Ryan and Aric's turkey.  I love kindergarten spelling.

One of Aric's classmates was thankful for Ryan, too.

I think it's great that Ryan will stand in front of a tank to keep all of us safe.

This week Aric is Star of the Week in his class.  Ryan, Kellyn and I are supposed to go in on Friday to visit the class.  I told Ryan he should keep his uniform on, because all of the kids will be really impressed by it.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Things Heard Around Here

Kellyn: Mommy, I'm using my imagination to pretend these cars don't talk.

I like that she's using her imagination to pretend her cars aren't talking.  However, I'm a bit concerned that she thinks she has to pretend cars don't talk.  Do cars talk to her?

Crazy Hair Day

After missing the memo on Pajama Day, I have been careful to pay attention to all of the silly days at school and allow Aric to participate.  He wore silly socks, brought a stuffed animal, and yesterday was Crazy Hair Day. 

Laura was happy to help me spike Aric's hair straight up.  I'm not sure how long it stayed that way.  By the time Aric got off the bus in the afternoon his hair had gone from crazy hair to messy hair.  He liked having it spiky and crazy for a day.

Next Friday is neon day.  I'm not sure what we will do for that since the only thing neon in the house is this shirt:

...which happens to be a bit too big for Aric.

Trick or Treat

This year on Halloween we had a fun dinner with friends.  The menu was German food: spaetzel and schnitzel.  It was good even if we had a slight problem making the spaetzel.

After dinner we dressed the kids.

Aric was Darth Vader and Kellyn wanted to be a pink cheetah.  The Darth Vader costume was pretty easy to procure.  The pink cheetah was a bit harder, but we were able to make it happen and Kellyn was quite pleased with her costume.

Laura and I dressed up with the kids. 

My costume was a last minute decision and I made use of what I had.

The kids had a great time and I am glad to be done with Halloween.

Pumpkin Carving

This past Sunday Ryan and the kids carved pumpkins.  This year Ryan made the kids clean out their pumpkins before he would carve them.

 They didn't like that so much.  They found help.

After they were cleaned, the carving began. 

We had carving templates leftover from last year.  The kids were excited about them.  Aric picked a Clone Trooper and Kellyn picked Boo from Monsters Inc.

Ryan was a good sport about it, but said next year he will only make simple Jack O' Lanterns.

Those kids are never serious.

Family Photos

There is a reason why we don't have any recent family photos.  They tend to come out like this:

Kellyn would not look at the camera.  She was upset that we wouldn't let her play with everything in Aric's classroom.  Regardless, I thought it was a cute idea.

Things Heard Around Here

Me: Kellyn, look at the horses.

Kellyn: Oh, wow!  What's the building next to them?  Is it the glue factory?

Before you worry, it was just the barn.  However, I have no idea where she heard about the glue factory.

Aric "The Avenger"

This morning at Aric's soccer game the team was announced.  We had to supply a nickname for Aric.  It took us awhile to come up with something, since we don't call Aric by anything other than "Aric".  After throwing out multiple names, Aric decided on Aric "The Avenger" Peters.  Well, actually, he thought he was Aric "The Adventure".  It took a bit for us to get him to realize he wasn't pronouncing the word correctly.  I think we have that problem fixed now.

Aric's team ran through the tent three separate times.  After the first run through they decided the parents needed to line up and give the kids high fives.  I thought I had recorded the second run through, but apparently I didn't.  I did manage to get the first and third run through.

It was cold this morning, which was a bit better than the last two games when we were sweating and miserable.  While it wasn't hot and miserable, it was early.  Kellyn was cold, tired and hungry.  She spent the game whining, giving everyone the stink eye and cuddling in my lap.

Aric played well.  He most plays defender in the back of the field.  He got in a few good kicks and was able to take a turn as goalie, which is his favorite position.   There are only three games left, and I think he will be sad when soccer season is over.

Things Heard Around Here

Kellyn: Does God brush his teeth when he has stinky breath?

Me: I don't know.  We'll have to ask him someday.

Kellyn: Can you also ask him if he has a toothbrush?

Things Heard Around Here

Aric: Where do the disciples live?

Me: In heaven.

Kellyn: Where does Jesus live?

Me: In heaven.

Kellyn: *Gasp* He died?!?

Me: Yes, He died for our sins.

Kellyn: Was Jesus a baby?

Me: Yes, a long time ago.

Kellyn: Did he eat all of his food and grow big?

Me: Yes, he did and you should too.

And that was our conversation on the way to VBS last night.

Future Soccer Mom

Awhile ago we decided Aric was ready for some sort of organized team sport.  Ryan suggested T-ball or soccer.  We asked Aric, who decided he would like to play soccer.  I finally found an organization through a local church that would be a good introduction for Aric to a team sport.  He begins practicing in mid-August and the season lasts until the end of September.  Not too long for his first time and not too long for me to have to drive him to practice and games.

In an effort to build up Aric's excitement, Ryan bought tickets to see Sporting KC play the Vancouver Whitecaps.  The only tickets they had left were in the Budweiser Corner, which means unlimited food and drinks were included in the price. 

The kids were pretty excited to go to the game, but had a little hunger-related impatience by the time we were able to go inside.  I don't blame them.  Ryan and I were pretty hungry, too.  As soon as we were able to get into the Budweiser Corner Ryan and Kellyn went to save us seats while Aric and I went after food.

After we finished inhaling hotdogs and nachos, we went in search of warmer clothes.  Even though it is July in Kansas it was rainy, windy, and cold.  Thankfully, we were in a covered section of the arena, but we still felt the rain.

The kids were pretty patient waiting for the game to start.  They enjoyed the pyrotechnics and fanfare of the opening show, but Kellyn thought it was too loud.

Once the game started they were pretty excited.  Aric rooted for the other team for awhile, but eventually changed his mind and cheered on Sporting KC.  Kellyn claimed the pink guy as her team.

The kids were semi-distracted for awhile taking silly pictures of each other and the rainbow in the sky.

They quickly settled in and enjoyed watching the game.  Aric decided he wants to be a professional soccer player.

Now we all want to know when can we go back?