Candyland

On Halloween night we went to BIOLA's Candyland. We have done this every year since moving to California. A dorm decorates each floor (there are 6 total) on a specific theme of the board game Candyland. Each dorm room hands out candy so the kids get a lot of candy in a really short amount of time.

Here are Sky and Brad with some of the awesome Candyland decorations.

They also show the movie Candyland outside and provide popcorn and snacks.

Sky with one of the college students who was dressed similarly.

Sky with Princess Lolly.

We caught up with our friends Robby (Optimus Prime) and David (a ninja) in the game section.

This game was hilarious. There was a chocolate doughnut tied to a string and the kids had to try to eat it without using their hands. Brad had some trouble doing this (notice that the doughnut is swinging behind his head). But Sky was pretty good at this (not much can come between Sky and a chocolate doughnut).

Church Fall Festival

Our pets: two cats and a dog.

On Saturday our church had a big fall festival with an awesome bounce house. We usually attend this event every year and the kids always look forward to it.

It was great to see the kids enjoy the bounce house. They used to be scared of going in but not any more.

Lila really enjoyed riding in the cozy coupes. There was also some delicious snacks and some fun crafts.

An aerial shot of the awesome bounce house:

The kids sang some songs and heard a nice story about thankfulness.

Lila enjoyed the show. Her costume was a Disney costume from Aristocats.

My Sweet Boy

Brad can be difficult at times but he really is such a sweet, generous kid with a really big heart. Today he brought a pumpkin to preschool to decorate it there. When I picked him up, I saw that he had painted his pumpkin hot pink and put glitter all over it. When I asked him why he chose to decorate it like that, he said that he knew Sky would like it and he wanted to surprise her with it. When she came home, he gave it to her and she was thrilled.
He also had made a rubber glove filled with popcorn and candy corn at preschool and he enthusiastically shared it with a group of kids at the park today. He's growing up and I love who he is and who he is becoming.

Pumpkin Carving

The Pumpkin Patch Parable is such a wonderful story for kids. In it, a farmer grows his pumpkins, caring for them each and every day. Then he picks them when they are ready, carves them (removing all the junk inside), puts a smile on their faces, and places a light inside for all to see. It represents to kids the symbolism of what God does when He forgives our sins and changes our lives. I love to share the story with the kids each year as we carve our pumpkin.

The crabby, teething toddler even gets in on the action. She and Brad weren't too keen on getting messy but Sky dove right in.

The kids especially liked when the candle was put in the pumpkin and lit. We got both of these pumpkins for free from a local realtor who delivers free pumpkins to our neighborhood each year.

Fall Festival

Let the Halloween madness begin. Since Sky was in the 101 Dalmatians show, we tried to talk her into being a dalmatian. But she really wanted to be a cat so we convinced Brad to be the dalmatian.

Sky's school had a fall festival last night and it was great fun. I worked the 1st grade booth for a while and Ken helped with set up. The kids enjoyed the games and food and wearing their costumes for the first time. Here they are at the cookie decorating booth.

Sky briefly saw her friend Kelli (a kangaroo) who is in kindergarten this year.

And today Sky had 2 more opportunities to wear her costume as she went to a birthday party where they could wear their costumes and also a Halloween party. Hopefully her costume will last through all the fun times before Halloween! She's definitely getting a lot of wear out of it!

Cast Party

Monday night was the Biola Youth Theater cast party at the roller rink. It was Sky's first time at the roller rink and she loved the music and lights. It brought back many memories from my teenage years when I frequently went to the Christian skate night at Roller Haven in North Haven. I did not skate since I recently hurt my ankle and didn't want things to get worse. Thankfully there were plenty of older kids who were happy to take Sky around. Above is Sky's friend Emma helping her around. Below was one of Sky's group leaders helping her.

There were lots of yummy snacks at the party and they gave out awards for attendance and good character but the best part of the evening for Sky was when the older kids acted out a portion of the CATS show that they performed last spring. Sky had been to the show and had LOVED it.

In other news, today Sky was awarded the fairness award at school today which means that she will get to read with the principal later this month. Honestly, I'm not sure how she got that award because she is always squabbling with Brad over getting the bigger, better thing. But, I'm happy that she is behaving at school at least.

Brad said something really cute today. I asked him to wipe his cheeks (he had food on them) and he said I wiped this cheek (pointing to his right cheek), this cheek (pointing to his chin) and this cheek (pointing to his left cheek).

101 Dalmatians

This past weekend Sky had the privilege of performing in the ensemble of Biola Youth Theater's 101 Dalmatians show. She's been rehearsing since August (which included a 2 week drama camp) and she had a rehearsal every week since then and lots of rehearsals this past week. She has really enjoyed it all and hopes to be in their production of Annie this spring. Above is Sky with Cruella.

Sky received flowers from many friends who attended the show as well as some friends who were in the show with her. She loves flowers so she was very happy about that.

We were the proud parents of a very hard working pup!

We got a babysitter for Lila and Brad on Friday night and attended the show with Mimi and Grandpa Gene.

Sky's friend Elsie came to see the show (above) and her friend Kelli (below) also came.

I took Brad to the Saturday matinee and Sky's friends Robby and David also came to the show that day.
I volunteered as an ensemble parent and worked the show on Saturday night (as well as a few rehearsals). On Saturday night, Sky's teacher and her 3 girls attended the show but we didn't get a picture with them.

By the end of the weekend, this is what her bouquet looked like. She has had fun rearranging the flowers and making sure they have water everyday.

More Fun With Mimi and Grandpa Gene

We had a great visit with Mimi and Grandpa Gene this past week. They were able to do some fun things on their own like attend a Jeopardy taping and spend a day at Catalina Island. They stayed at a hotel nearby and borrowed Ken's car which made it easy for them to come and go as they needed to. Above is a picture of Grandpa Gene modeling the wig that the tooth fairy brought Sky last week.

Lila is really enjoying her books these days and here she is enjoying being read to by Mimi.

Best of all, Mimi and Grandpa Gene were here to see Sky perform in 101 Dalmatians. In the first half of the show, Sky was a human and she is in her costume in the picture above.

Fun With Mimi and Grandpa Gene

Ken's mom and her husband, Gene are here visiting so we took them to see the construction at Talbot. There is a 55 million dollar project going on right now which will result in new classrooms and offices.

Brad enjoys watching the diggers.

We also went to Knotts Berry Farm with them.

Sky riding a ride with Mimi and then Grandpa Gene.

The Childrens Museum

Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum for some fall fun. They just opened a new exhibit on storytelling from different places and cultures. Brad enjoyed the Native American tepee and the Irish wishing well.

Then we got to attend a cooking class where we made a snack out of acorn squash. I was wondering how they were going to get kids to eat acorn squash but when they added maple syrup and butter and cinnamon to the squash. Brad still didn't like it but Sky polished it off.

They also made these very yummy smoothies with pumpkin, vanilla soy milk and frozen yogurt. Both kids really liked those and I may make some at home.

Then the kids got to attend an art class and decorate their own pumpkins with some foam stickers.

The kids were also very happy that the carousel was working again. We had a great time with our friends Serena and Jung from and their mommies from Talbot Wives Fellowship.