Happy Halloween! 🎃

I have been running between school parades and Halloween parties and doctor appts and everything else today! So I'm taking a couple of moments now to post a few snapshots of Callum, in costume, before we head out to trick or treat and then I collapse for the night. 😉

Sadly (for me, it doesn't seem to bother him), Logan did not care about dressing up this year, so no costume or trick or treating for him! He's looking forward to handing out candy instead.

Callum decided he wanted to be Bowser this year, which is probably the trickiest and most challenging costume I've made yet, but I think it came out pretty well (and probably a blessing that I only had one costume to worry about vs two!).

Here's a few snaps I took as we left for school and later in the day, at school. :)

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday morning the boys attended another baking class where they made all sorts of Halloween themed goodies. They had a blast and Jon and I had a nice, relaxing and quiet breakfast on our own. :)

In the afternoon, Callum had a friend over and the two locked themselves in the bedroom playing with their Mixels (a type of Lego) for 2.5 hours straight!

So, he was still in the Mixel making mood and worked on another masterpiece this morning before school (second two pics).

Last pic I've included is of Mr. Personality at his best. Every Monday and Tuesday afternoon, I pick him up from school and we have roughly 20-30 minutes of 1:1 time, almost always hanging out at the nearby Starbucks, before we pick up Logan from his after school class. Today, Callum was in rarer form than usual, dancing and jiggling in his seat, to the tunes the baristas were blaring. It was a good day. :)

Finished!

Here's Logan's finished project, he turned in today. :)

Sneak peek from our family photo shoot ❤️❤️

4th Grade Home Activity

Logan's been working on a fun project at home this week, which is due tomorrow.

They have been given a list of 20 various home activities that they can choose from, all supporting their units on "First Californians" and "Rocks and Minerals". He has 3 to do over the next 3 weeks.

For his first one, he chose this:

Make a drawing or model of a house or village of a California native tribe. Write a paragraph about the house/village.

(I think they also have to present it to the class on Friday).

I took this pic a couple of nights ago after his structure had dried and was ready for paint. He has a couple of finishing touches he wants to add tonight, so I'll have to take another pic of the final product once he's done. It's really neat!!

How 2 Draw

One of the books that the boys' have been enjoying, provides steps on "how to draw" at the end of the book. I found Callum practicing, all on his own, this evening. :)

Lion’s Cut

The vet gave Minion a "Lion's Cut" today, since his long fur has gotten out of control with tons of horrible mats. :( He hasn't been grooming as much (which had the vet concerned, so that's why I brought him in), and the mats had gotten so bad that I couldn't work them out myself!

Now he looks so awkwardly funny, but super cute. :) We're hoping this is all he needs to sort of "restart" on his grooming habits and so on....

Saturday night

Late night movie with my monsters, since Daddy's out of town! 💜

First rain

Forgot I snapped this, this morning. A quick glimpse of Logan's bus heading off to school. And the gorgeous view of the sun rising, after our first rain (thank goodness), last night! :)

Check!

Tough guys checking off their flu shots this year. 💪🏼🤓

Pumpkin Patch Day

We pass by this local pumpkin patch multiple times every day. And every time, Callum wistfully (and/or loudly) asks to go. I'll admit, sometimes I even choose the longer way home JUST SO we don't have to drive past and remind him of what he doesn't get to do!

Because the air has been so crappy lately, I've basically put a moratorium on any outdoor activities, but today, the kids were going a little stir crazy and since I keep putting the poor kid off, I thought Hey! The air is much better today, it's actually warm outside too, so let's just go over to the pumpkin patch for a quick visit.

Callum had a ball and was so happy we finally made it. Yay!

Poor Logan, however, was quite bored (as were his parents). I think he's finally aging out of this sort of thing (this particular patch *is* geared more toward smaller kids anyway, which doesn't help).....kind of makes me a little sad, but also excited at how much we're witnessing him growing up.

This makes my heart sing

Not only because they're reading, but also because they're quiet. 😉

Napa Valley Fires

Napa Valley has had record breaking fires since the weekend. It's been horrible and depressing and worrisome, to follow on the news. Thankfully, we are safe.

But, the air quality here has been terrible! We have been smelling smoke all week long - it's very hazy/smoggy looking outside, people have started wearing masks while out in public, all outdoor activities during school have been canceled and kids are being kept inside, and at times I've even seen ash floating in the air! All of this is so crazy, given we are ~90 miles from the fires!! (And also really elevated the worry for everyone up north - if it's this bad for us, I can't even imagine what they are going through!!) 😩

Even though I've tried to limit our time outside, I've been feeling the effects myself - a pretty bad/constant headache, tightness in the chest when breathing deeply, a slight burn of the eyes, stuff like that. When we headed out for the bus this morning, Logan and I both were hit with a pretty strong smokey smell in the air - which really bothered him. He asked me if he could wear a mask to school - of course! I said, and went back inside to grab him one. Who knew that the masks I hung onto from Callum's treatment would come in handy again!!

The fires have upset both boys a fair amount, but primarily Logan. Not just from the physical aspect of having trouble breathing - but the first day really heightened his anxiety, since he thought it meant something was burning near us. And, as each day drags on, I think they're both realizing how awful the fires have been, and continue to be. Each night they've both commented that they hope the fires are put out by the next day.

The fires HAVE given us an opportunity to talk about gathering up some toys or clothes that we don't want or need anymore, and which we could give to the families who've lost their homes. We've ALSO talked about how it's important to keep an emergency pack available for these sorts of events - I've been wanting to update our earthquake pack for awhile, so I've now solicited Logan to help me put a much more robust bag together for our family. :)

Ewww, yuck!

After school today, Callum and I stopped by Starbucks for a snack. He ordered his usual bagel with cream cheese and hot chocolate. But, halfway through his munching, he started wiping his tongue off with a horrible look on his face. He swore the bagel didn't taste right.

I took a couple of bites and said "I don't know what you're talking about, it tastes fine to me."

And then I noticed the cream cheese.... 🤣🤣

(We stopped by Safeway on our way home, to pick up some bagels and - REGULAR - cream cheese. Which he promptly scarfed down for dinner tonight.)

San Jose History Park

Earlier this week, I joined Callum and his classmates on a field trip to the San Jose History Park. The Park has several older/restored buildings and homes set up in a mock-town setting, as it would have been, back in the late 1800's/early 1900's. The kids had a chance to explore a home from that period of time and "act out" a few chores that children would have had to do back then (see pics!!).

After exploring the home, they also got a chance to enter a one-room schoolhouse, where the docent played her part as the strict teacher, having the kids read from their readers (from the time, placed on each desk), stand and bow/curtsy whenever they had a question, and practice their arithmetic on the individual slate boards at each desk.

After their lesson/tour, we ate lunch outside on the park benches before heading back home. It was all pretty darn cute and fun, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it!

Our bookworm

Earthquakes Game

Jenn scored 4 additional tickets to the Earthquakes game last night, so that both of our two families could hang out and enjoy the game together! We had a great time. :)