Dance Halloween

The studio celebrates Halloween in a big way! They spend a week wearing costumes to class, and the high school team coordinated their efforts each night.

Night one was holidays, and Issa chose Valentine's Day:

The whole crew was birthdays, Christmas, New Year's, Halloween, Fourth of July, and St. Patrick's Day:

Night two started with Issa's littles:

I'm having so much fun watching her end her assisting career in the same age level she started with when she was in fifth grade.

The high school team chose Disney. Issa was Lightning McQueen:

The final nights was animals. Issa chose puppy for this one:

They had so much fun! Last year Issa missed the entire week because of a virus, so I'm especially grateful she had such a fun week for her senior season.
 

Happy Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween. I made loaded potato spiders webs for dinner:

And then Kai and Issa helped me set up for Trick-or-Treat:

Evan had wrestling practice, and Brad headed out early to get him. We did a whole Charlie Bro

We started on the porch because of the rain:

Kiddos could choose toy, candy, or rock--just like the Peanuts gang!

Thankfully the rain stopped and we could move to the end of the driveway. Those brick steps are so scary for smaller trick-or-treaters. Kai joined our fun at Linus, and Issa played Charlie:

I spent the whole night laughing at Kai as he tried to keep his sheet on. I was Snoopy:

Brad was the dog house with Woodstock on his shoulder:

Evan finally joined us post-shower as Pigpen:

We did not get a decent picture, but we had so much fun. We gave out 500 toys, 500 pieces of candy, and six pounds rocks. We started at 5:30 and were hauling the table in at 7:45.

We had cocoa and watched the Nightmare Before Christmas. Just like always.

My highlights:

The adults were truly delighted by the theme. We even had the moving playing above our garage.

A middle school boy came up all excited because someone did the potato in the candy bowl thing and he got the potato. I asked if he wanted another, and his eyes lit up. I ran in the house and brought back a butter potato, a fingerling potato, and sweet potato. He literally screamed and was way too excited. I'm still chuckling.

The rocks were absolutely the favorite--especially with big kids. There is something so very sweet about that.

 

Fall Fun Weekend

The kids had school off on Friday, so we spent a beautiful day at the zoo:

Brad helped do an eye surgery on this elephant years ago, so we always spend a little extra time with him:

This was also our first time seeing the new baboon exhibit:

We had the best day, and we love our little zoo:

I had to work Saturday, and Issa spent the day applying for scholarships and doing college work.

Sunday, though, we went to the ballet to see Frankenstein! For the first time I forgot to take a picture! They had two new pieces before the main ballet that were absolutely gorgeous, too. We laughed our way through dinner at Mellow Mushroom before coming home to watch Halloween Wars in the gazeebo.

It was a perfect weekend enjoy the fall weather and a little Halloween fun!

 

Senior Pictures

Another milestone is in the books:

Issa had her senior pictures taken yesterday:

We could not have asked for better weather, and Duke Gardens never disappoint:

And having Robin as the photographer just made it perfect:

Issa used to dance with her daughters, so Issa felt totally relaxed within five minutes. We also fully trust Robin, so we just followed her around the garden, and she found incredible poses:

We should have the photos in a week, but I will be forever grateful for the afternoon capturing my girl.
 

What a Weekend

Friday night was our first without a football game. We made pizzas and I fell asleep on the couch before nine. I'm grateful for the rest because the rest of the weekend was a blur of fun!

Saturday, I went to a former student's baby shower:

This is a class that I was particularly close to, and I love celebrating these milestones with them!

As soon as I got home, we headed for the fair. We drove two and half hours before we bailed on the fair! It should have been a 30 minute drive, but the weather had been cruddy the past two weekends and it seems the entire state attempted the fair on Saturday. We had all been hoping for arepas at the fair, so we just pivoted and went to our favorite arepa restaurant. The kids also learned how to play My Father Owns a Grocery Store and the Alphabet Game. I kept saying we were making core memories, and I stand by that. I will especially remember laughing so hard I snorted and couldn't catch my breath when they only brought us two forks; Brad was so stymied me managed to shoot juice into his eye.

The only other thing Evan really wanted was a deep fried Oreo, so Brad made them:

I'm still mad at how much I love these little bites:

Sunday was our annual trip to carve pumpkins with goats:

Kai joined the fun this year:

Brad was convinced I was going to catch a horn, but I got some great goat selfies:

Nana made an extra happy pumpkin:

Brad made a goat:

Issa and Kai went very different directions:

And we are still not sure what to call Evan's:

This little goat hung with us the whole time:

And the highland cows were still a huge hit:

This year we also laughed too hard and Kai and Evan trying to do the ball toss:

Last night, Evan built us a lovely fire for roasting hotdogs:

It was a perfect fall fun day, and it was just what my heart needed.
 

Book 30

I finished book 30 this morning:

 It's the sequel to The Tea Rose, and I already started the last book in the trilogy today! 

This was just as well-written as the first, and the characters just keep becoming more and more interesting. There are plenty of surprises, but everything ends happily ever after--just the way I like it!

Senior Sunrise

Issa had a very early start to her day. The seniors gathered at 7:15 to watch the sunrise together:

Apparently, it was cold, and the hot cocoa making was not stellar (like the students coordinating dumped a couple of big containers of cocoa mix into a five gallon drink container of water that had been boiled at home and transported). Sunrise is also a very long time before schools starts, so she and Kai ended up back at our house for a while. The two of them then took Evan to school:

These three crack me up, and I'm glad I got a little extra time with them this morning.

 

Date Nights

In the midst of all of the crazy and the happening lately, Brad and I have been able to sneak in a couple of great date nights!

Saturday, we went to see MJ the Musical:

We both agree this is in our top five, which we were definitely not expecting. It tells Michael Jackson's early story through his music. I was most impressed by the choreo and how they walked through all of his influences. Our MJ also was a perfect match in both voice and movements--it was almost spooky.

Last night, we made a trip to Greensboro to see Heilung again! We saw them last in Atlanta, and we were excited to see them again closer to home. We had never been to the venue, and the area was super artsy and fun. We loved sitting on the terrace enjoying this art before the show:

We love Heilung, and they put on an amazing show.

However, as pretty as the area is, we will not be returning to the venue. I've never seen a more disrespectful audience, and I think a large part of the problem was overserving. It was sad, but I'm still glad we went.
 

Senior Night

Friday night was senior night at the football game:

In addition to the banners, the senior families made this cutouts to wave at the game:

We are now calling it a Kai-sicle, and it will likely move around the house for a while. He was very amused when came over yesterday and saw it in our centerpiece.

Y'all, I was not prepared to cry my way through a football game. I hadn't thought it through that I knew so very many of these seniors since kindergarten or first grade. We lost--again--but they played hard. After the game, the coach spoke to each senior on the 50, and Kai was last:

I'm so stupid proud of this kid:

He took on something brand new this year. It's his first time playing high school football. Our team hasn't won a single game. But man. He has gotten better every week, and he is the biggest encourager on the field. He is reflective and thoughtful, and those skills will serve him well off the field.
 

Work and Rest

I'm traveling this week to do an accreditation visit to another teacher prep program. The days are jam packed with focus groups and interviews and report writing, but the evenings are spent quietly alone in my hotel room. I have gotten so much work accomplished in the evenings! I have also spent time reading, crocheting, and watching HG TV:

This morning, I watched a beautiful sunrise:

And I was way too delighted but housekeeping bundling my otter:

These visits are exhausting on some level, but I also find the evenings some a time of rest. It's a good balance. That said, I will be very glad to be in my own bed tomorrow!