Hunting buddies

These two boys were like peas and carrots at the deer lease this past weekend. Lots of memories made for their first hunt!

Teacher Conference - Austin

I wasn't so sure what to expect out of Austin's teacher conference. He's not one that usually talks much about school. Avery usually overtakes the question when I ask how the school day was and every once in a while he chimes in. His comments tend to be more about what happened on the playground. He hasn't shown near the interest in writing his name or letters or working on homework. He does love to read with Wes at night and likes to draw.
Ms. Winkelmann said Austin was doing great in class. He is quiet, but seems to be coming out of his shell a bit. He still has a little ways to go on his letter recognition, but Ms. Winkelmann said he was still in line with the rest of the class. His self portrait was adorable. Like his sister, he included knee caps!?!? He plays well with others but also likes to play on his own and overall is a great little guy to have in class.
At the end of our conference we discussed the idea of holding the kids back a year or keeping them with their current class. Avery & Austin are the babies of the class w/ an August 15th birthday. I go back and forth alllllll the time with what we will do and maybe one day will post about it, but this is a decision we will need to make this year. It's a huge decision, one that could affect the rest of their lives, or at least a good portion of it. I know what every decision we make, we ahve to be confident in and stand by it.

Teachers conference - Avery

Avery loves school - writing, singing songs, reading books and most of all, the teacher's attention. Ms. Winkelmann, her Pre-K teacher, had nothing but positive things to say. She noted that Avery usually prefers to go to the reading center when they are allowed to pick where they want to go and she loves writing her letters. We see that at home too. Avery likes to participate and always raises her hand when a volunteer is needed. I got to see some sample work she did for sake of a mid year evaluation and it still makes me smile to see the art of a small child. I loved the self portrait. It was a basic stick figure but for some reason she included knee caps?!?

Parent/Teacher conference - Caleb

At the ripe old age of 2, we are already having parent/teacher conferences. No need to fear, this was a scheduled conference, not a "your child is a real terror, we need to talk" conference. Actually I love to have the time to sit and talk to the teachers without 10 other kids running around in the room.
So I met with Ms. Becky today to talk about Caleb's progress as a Frisky Frog. I'll spare you the boring parts, but one thing I found interesting is that when playing inside, Caleb tends to hang around the teachers. They often times have to tell him to "go play". I have been told the same thing about Avery. It really is eerie to see how alike those two are. Now when the class is outside, Caleb is off and running and could care less where the teachers are at. His vocabulary is very extensive for his age and he holds well thought out conversations. As she is telling me this, I am quickly reminded that he is only 2, but so often we think of him as 4. Overall he is doing great and off to a good start! Unless she was keeping some things from me, it is obvious that some of his behaviors at home have not carried over to school. Thank goodness!
As I drove up the drive after work today, I was met by my kids - the hunter, the cowboy and the gymnast. Wes had picked them up and they chose to change as soon as they got home. Have I mentioned that this drives me crazy??

Weekend report...

Well my first weekend of the season as a deer widow has been far more manageable than it was a year or two ago. The ability to throw on clothes and load up in the car sure beats the process of packing bottles, diapers, baby food, change of clothes, etc. A few highlights from the weekend:
- The kids stayed w/ Mimi and Popo on Friday night since I was in Dallas at a workshop for the day. I came home late Friday night to a quiet house. It was almost an eerie feeling.
- Saturday Avery and I had a first - a Paw-ty - a birthday party for Maggie, a puppy. She was 21 in dog years!
- Saturday night while the girls were at the paw-ty, Popo took the boys hunting at New Years Creek near by. The plan was to hunt about an hour and then go out to eat at Applebees. Turns out, Popo shot a 10-pointer which made going out to eat out of the question. Caleb said "I don't want that deer. I want to go to Bumblebees." Austin was so excited about the deer and even attempted to help get it on the bed of the truck.
- Sunday morning we skipped church and went to the park mid-morning. As we drove up to the house on our way home, buzzards were circling in the back yard.... never a good sign. I was able to find two dead chickens in the yard. 3 were hiding in the cedar trees and there is still two MIA.
- We made Halloween a two weekend event. The kids dressed up again today and we went to both great grandma's here in town. We missed both last weekend. We got just what we didn't need, more candy.

Deer hunting...

After getting off a deer lease two years ago, Wes is back on a lease and has a place to escape during deer season. He left for opening weekend on Friday, and so far no kill to report. There was a time I wasn't so crazy about his deer hunting weekends.... the long drive, packing up, bow and arrows, no scent spray, gun.... all to "maybe" shoot a deer. I admit I still don't understand sitting in a wood box in frigid cold, luring animals with food just to shoot them, nor do I understand the "thrill of the kill." But, I do understand that hunting is something Wes enjoys doing, takes pride in, and gives him a little "me" time. One other perk is it puts meat in the freezer.
I remember when I was pregnant and we found out we were having a boy and a girl, one of my first thoughts was "Wes has his hunting buddy and I have a shopping partner (I got a shopping diva!)." When Caleb came along, Wes gained one more hunter - one shopping partner is all I need!
This year, Austin will be able to tag along a few weekends with Wes. Austin is SOOO excited and I'm pretty sure Wes is too. Every night, they look at the calendar and count down the days until they leave. They are going w/ Kade & Dane Rau next week. For the boys sake, I hope they see lots of deer and shoot something. Austin will likely put on camo all week long and I will find tons of acorns in the washing machines, the ones he is saving for the deer. Thats ok, the excitment in his eyes when he talks about those deer makes it all worth it.

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2010 has come and gone and we've got the pics, dress up costumes and LOTS of cavity producers to show for it. Austin, Avery and Caleb all knew fairly early on what they wanted to be for Halloween this year. I admit I talked Caleb out of the fireman costume only because I am all about the all in one costume - 1 full piece of clothing to keep up with! So we wound up with 2 super heros - Batman & Spiderman and 1 butterfly. They wore their costumes with pride and decided Halloween was no day for a nap so after our 3rd stop trick or treating at family, they decided a little cat nap was neccesary before taking to the streets for some door to door action. Thanks Kristen & Jared for inviting us over!