We picked our pumpkins...

We finally got pumpkins to decorate our sidewalk. The boys really enjoyed picking them out. Wilson was adamant about the gourd and Jackson was very thoughtful about his pumpkin. I picked the one that looks like a giant onion just to be different. All the little ones will go to Jackson's class when they have their class party later this week. For now, we are enjoying them. Both boys put a lot of effort into getting this display just right. I think they did great.

Fall Fun Fest @ Hope

Malin went with me and the boys Friday night. This was Wilson's first "Halloween-like" experience- in the US at least. I do have photos of him dressed up as a pirate when he lived in Guatemala City, but I am not quite sure what that was about.
Anyhow, he seemed to catch on quickly. He had a meltdown at the first game, but when we got to the second game, I realized he'd already opened the first sucker he got. It was easy after that. Jackson- an old pro- had a high percentage of chocolate goodies at the end of the evening. He spent some time in the gym w/ Malin on the bouncy things while Wilson and I went from room to room playing games. Actually, Wilson realized quickly that a kid as cute as he is could go straight to the candy basket and no one but mom would dare mention that he had not in fact attempted the game.

Jackson is Student of the Month for October @ Dexter Elem!

Jackson was chosen to represent his class as student of the month. I visited him during lunch last week and got this photo of him pointing to his picture on the bulletin board (it's way at the top). He is an excellent student academically and tries hard (most days) to do well in conduct. Amazingly, my child has mouth and impulse control issues! Fortunately, he is working on it early and with those good looks, will cruise through life with no worries.

Scoutbase 2008

Jackson joined Cub Scouts this fall after school started. First graders are called Tiger Cubs. We joined just in time to get involved with Scoutbase, a large, every other year gathering of Scouts from three states. Scoutbase 2008 was held at the Tunica River Park in north Mississippi. The end we camped on included the facilities for the Tunica County Recreational Center (which just means we had some access to real bathrooms). We arrived @ our campsite about 730 Friday night. Fortunately our den leader had our tent up for us. I knew it was little but I promise it looked like 2 chairs with a beach towel over them... Most of the activities were scheduled for Saturday, so it could have been a day trip, but I guess the boys needed practice camping. Friday night there were fireworks we could see from our campsite. Saturday there was an opening ceremony with Navy Frogmen (parachuters- they are crazy but it looks neat). We're still getting used to all things Scout and the activity above did cause me some trepidation, but part of letting him join Scouts is wanting him to become more independent and be exposed to more. He earned a Trailblazers merit badge for shooting the BB gun and attempting archery. Fortunately, the Boy Scout motto is "Do Your Best," so accuracy was optional. Jackson hung out with another Tiger's family while I napped Wilson and volunteered for an hour. He earned some beads for various activities (and eventually I'll figure out where those go). Then the boys and I learned about another important scouting rule: leave no trace. We walked a short nature trail (see below; note soda!) and read about how to camp and enjoy the outdoors in an environmentally friendly way. So much of it should be common sense, but unfortunately that's not the case.

After our 2nd night of almost freezing, we packed up first thing Sunday AM and headed back. Now we're catching up on football. Overall the boys did really well. My goal was just to get us down there and stay both nights, so I did well too!

We're back!

We've been a bit quieter lately but still having fun. Jackson is doing great @ school and was picked for student of the month for his class! His picture is outside the lunchroom and his classroom @ Dexter. For improving his behavior, he earned a Jets T-shirt that we ordered online tonight.
Wilson has started saying "yeah" and "football." He's still seeing the early interventionist, but as soon as her caseload is updated, he'll get dropped because he tested out. He's still a few months behind in language but he's catching up and no one seems to think he's anything but wonderful. He does well at school too. Last week one of his teachers told me that he's the first kid in the class to start using the pedals on the trikes they keep on the playground. Lucky me.