Rainy Halloween

We had a good Halloween. We went trick-or-treating in Warren Village. We were the first ones at the library. They had candy, hot cider, playdough, and free books. The roads were mostly closed off so we could walk on the road with the kids. Everyone was super nice and we even got to trick or treat out of the back of a fire truck. The kids had a lot of fun. I was a little grumpy. It was very rainy and soaked through my coat, jacket, shirt, and under garments. Luckily it was not cold rain. When we got home the kids got a warm bath and I turned the heater up. Our coats and shoes were soaked. I had the thought to put them straight into the dryer, but I ignored it because I was tired. There was a terrible storm and the power went out at 2 am. I sat with Sienna the rest of the night because she was sick, scared of the wind, and scared of the dark. Good thing we had lots of jackets and everyone but me had an extra pair of closed toed shoes. I wore socks and flip flops.

School Pictures!

I forgot the day of or else he probably would've worn a button up, but this is more true to what he actually looks like going to school and I love how they turned out.

 Sienna looking cool at the grocery store.

This school Gabriel goes to is incredible and I wish all other schools were like it, so imagine how sad I was to learn they plan on closing it after this school year and joining it with all the other schools to make a big school. Even though to won't effect us personally I wrote a letter to the district advising against it. Their response? "We know change can be hard, but we are building  a better bigger community." Don't they get it? The schools are incredible because they are small. So sad. 

Last week of School

We are definitely experiencing a lot of emotions about this last week of school. I have really fallen in love with the staff and all the wonderful people that have worked with my Gabriel. He doesn't want to go to school in the morning unless it is P.E.
 But even on non-P.E. days he has so much to tell me and I can tell he has so much fun. He even made friends and got to have his first play date yesterday with his very own friend, it was a beautiful first. Today I helped him make some thank you notes. I am sharing them so I can remember some of his favorite things about his different classes.

Waiting in the gym for Gabriel to get out of class. They had just run for 5 minutes straight.

 For Mrs. Abbot-Koch

 Gabriel loves PE and is excited to go to school on PE days. When he started drawing the picture of his favorite thing they do he said, "You use your body to do this one," to explain why he was drawing a body.

 He wasn't a huge fan of art and said he didn't like coloring or painting but I gave him a caramel to draw pictures of them anyway.

 He actually really enjoyed French and his first day of French class he came home and told me, "Mommy, I am ready to travel the world with you." It was super cute, especially since we had talked about traveling to another country and he was against it. The activity he described sounded kind of like bingo but with French words.

The girls and I also took the car to get the oil changed before our big trip. They sell maple syrup at the car place and I thought that was funny. Only in Vermont. 

Sweet Saturday Hikes

I remember hiking with my family as a kid and I wanted to do that with my kids. This year has been really great in that respect. We were by provo canyon for two weeks and then here in Vermont for 2 months and the hiking trails have been perfect.

This is a new hike for us, across from Gabriel's school.

 Pointing to the cool tree in the next picture.

 Daddy, Bridget, and a bent tree

 Bridget took this picture, pretty good for an almost 3 yr old

 I had to take this, because I love how fancy Sean makes food look.

 Gabriel and a 6th grader made this scarecrow together and now it decorates the school.

 Bridget took this picture of me this morning while I was cleaning up.

Ward Halloween party

We had a great party with our Montpelier ward.

 The miraculous ladybug

 Owlette

 Unicorn

 Enjoying dessert

We made brownies this morning for the party tonight and I gave Bridget the bowl after. 

Elsa visited

This morning we woke up to snow on the tips of the mountains.

Haircuts

What homeschooling looked like today.

 She set up this picnic while Sienna finished her work.

 After school work I tried to brush Sienna's hair. It had not been combed in 3 days, and short of forcibly yanking a brush through her hair while half sitting on her it wasn't happening today either. Sienna threw a huge fit, we had several discussions, end result her hair is short again. Yeah. I let her look at pictures online of short hair and she didn't like them. So I looked up fun longer hair-dos and let her pick something fun to do with longer hair. She picked something and I started doing it. Two minutes in she said, "Nevermind, just cut it." I asked how she wanted it cut. "I don't care as long as it is easy to comb." It should be nice and easy to comb now.

 I decided to trim mine too and give myself bangs while I was at it.

 Bridget's birthday present from Grandma and grandpa came today, and being me, I let her open it a few weeks early. It has been tentatively named "Cutie"!

Here is Sienna's haircut all styled for church this Sunday. Ahhhh! So cute and so so easy to do. The combing was so easy and she liked the flat iron curls. 

I stopped on my drive home to take a picture of how beautiful it is. It really feels like home. We even have friends, legitimate hang out with each other friends....knocks the wind out of me to think we will once again be in transition in three weeks. I am torn between being so grateful we got to be here, that we have friends, a job, a kitchen...and panic. It's mostly good. I am grateful. 

 We went to a new playground. Only took a few months....ha ha. The overcast weather is getting to me.

 Started an insurance claim after I came out of the grocery store to discover my door open and I was unable to shut it. It even got as far as setting up a rental car, but I just felt so off about the whole thing. The same level of off I felt and ignored before I got in a car accident a few years ago. I prayed and re-examined the door to find a fist sized rock wedged in there. So grateful God heard my prayer and that the door is now functioning.

 This is a picture of Sienna returning a brick she took from the steps of the library....can't make these things up. I don't even understand.