October Happenings

I love October. Cool mornings, falling leaves, baking cookies, fall festivals, Halloween parties, and pumpkins everywhere! We still have the two foster babies, and we've been very busy. We went to the pumpkin patch. Yes. Me and four kids! Jessica, our 9 year old cousin, was the fourth kid. She was actually my helper. Most of the pictures I took there were on a disposable camera because my batteries went dead. The foster babies, Rocco, Jessica, and I picked out our pumpkins, went on a hay ride through a pumpkin patch, found our way through a hay maze, rode on kiddie tractors/ horses, and petted various farm animals.

Every year we paint pumpkins on the Papa's Sunday before Halloween. The kids also hunt little toy pumpkins the same way they hunt Easter eggs in the spring. They're filled with candy. All of the kids even decorate their own bags to put their treats in. And if this weren't enough goodies, most of the aunts and cousins put together candy bags for every kid. Yes, we love our kids. They're well taken care of with plenty of goodies on every major holiday. Plus it's another fun family activity for us to do after Sunday dinner. This is how our pumpkins turned out this year.

Rocco had his first school performance. At the PTO meeting held on October 28th, the pre K students sang three songs before the annual pumpkin painting. They sang I'm So Glad to be Here, There's an Alligator in the Elevator, and Pumpkin March. Jason was the videographer, and I was the photographer. We took plenty of pictures. Rocco did all of the motions and sang nice and loud. He wasn't embarrassed at all.

Following the performance, we got our family pumpkin and let Rocco paint it. Then, he ran off to play on the school playground with two of his best friends, Cade and Will.

On the Friday before Halloween, Rocco's class had their first big party. I took Capri Sun drinks and other parents brought the usual cupcakes and chips. The kids sat around and ate their goodies, then they went to the carpet to sing the songs again that they had sung at the PTO performance. After that, it was time for Trunk or Treat. All of the kids in Rocco's class, all 20 of them, had dressed up in a costume. (Rocco was a baseball player.)They were ready to walk around the parking lot and collect more sugary treats!

Several of the teachers dressed up this day at school. It was the final day for Drug Free Week, so Friday's theme was to wear your costume and not be spooked into taking drugs. I was Elvis. . . the girl version. While singing Blue Suede Shoes to one of my classes, my wig went flying off. It was hilarious - one of the teachers was videoing my and I watched it later.

On Halloween day, Jason's mom, aunt, sister and cousins met us with the kids at the local bank. After taking pictures of every one's costumes, we toured the downtown streets trick-or-treating together. It was so much fun, and the weather was beautiful. Rocco was a dinosaur. Drew always comes up with his own unique costume; he was the Ace of Spades this year. Sydney is almost 2, and she made the cutest GA cheerleader. Jessica was a 20's flapper, Colston was a clown just like his daddy, and the foster babies were Dorothy and the scarecrow.

Even though we covered a lot of ground that night, I don't think Rocco got that tired. That's probably because he did very little walking. He rode some in the wagon again this year and rode on his daddy's shoulders.

And even if I am his mom, I have to admit he was the cutest trick-or-treater I've ever seen.

Back from Jamaica

We're back from Jamaica! Jason, Rocco, and I spent 7 days there for our fall break. Our resort, Rose Hall Hilton, was really nice. Our room overlooked a beautiful golf course and had a partial view of the ocean. Other than the beach, we also had one of the best water complexes in the Caribbean. It had a swinging bridge, lazy river, water falls, spewing fountains, 2 water slides, several hot tubs, and a large pool (one day I took a water aerobics class).

The small water slide was Rocco's absolute favorite. The large slide was too rough and fast for him. He wasn't tall enough to ride in the float for it. The other slide, however, was perfect for him. Every morning after breakfast, we would ride it about seven to ten times...I lost count. The slide was actually broken in 3 smaller slides that were all connected by little lagoon areas. One of the mini slides was enclosed in a tunnel; this one was his favorite. By the end of the week, he not only went down the slide by himself, he also landed in the pool without us catching him. He realized that his life vest would hold him up. Our tropical vacations are good for him. Each year he learns another cool trick in the water. In Cancun, he learned independence in the pool so long as he had on his life vest. Slowly he began to trust that he was fine in the water even if we weren't holding him; the life vest would keep him afloat.

The slide was his favorite, but the drinks came in at a strong third. Because we were all inclusive, the juices and daiquiris were "free". When we first arrived, he drank all of his welcome juice and mine. It was a mix of mango,pineapple, & ginger.. He drank his weight in strawberry daiquiris. And of course he was quick to snatch the cherries on top before anyone else could eat them. He was sweet though in sharing some with me.

Rocco carried his little football with him everywhere he went. It's fun to watch him mature and go through different stages. He rarely plays with his cars and trains anymore. Each night while I relaxed in the bed and watched some TV, Rocco and his daddy would wrestle. "Touchdown, Daddy!" Jason would yell. They would go back and forth fumbling and laughing. They also played football in the pool during the day. While we were at the resort, Rocco picked up another sport, too. Ping pong. He would beg us to play it. He was quite the player! We called him the "Ping Pong Bandit".

I am so thankful that we made it back home safely. I always get a big rush of patriotism and pride when we land on American soil. But I must admit, there are a few things I really miss.

1) In Jamaica, it was just the three of us. The foster babies that we are caring for stayed with a respite family. It was nice just getting to focus on Rocco and my husband again.

2) Cell phones didn't work there ;)

3) I rarely put on make-up and I wore flip flops and comfortable clothes every day. No name tag. No fancy work clothes. No schedule and no to-do list.

4) I loved just watching Rocco run around on the sand, chasing leaves blown by the wind and throwing rocks into the water.

5) All meals were cooked for you and there was never a mess to clean up.

6) I miss crab hunting on the beach at night with our flashlights and the warm, gentle ocean breeze cooling our suntanned skin.

Fall break was wonderful this year! Jamaica was a beautiful place, and we made a lot of great memories there. When can we go back?