Trick or Treat Parade

On Thursday, October 30th, the school hosted a Trick-or-Treat parade for the children. The children went trick-or-treating to the classrooms on campus as well as the administrative offices. Luke was so pumped for this! For a while he kept saying that we were going to "chocolate treat" rather than "trick-or-treat." I would prefer to get only chocolate too!

Batman Luke practicing his moves

Miriam was just along for the treats at the parade. You will see her in costume on Halloween! Luke the Protector!

Luke was the only Batman in the parade. Someone asked Luke to say "hello" to Robin. After we left that office, he turned to me and asked: "Mom, where IS Robin?" At the first office, Luke got his treat and then walked to the back of the line and went through again. The man said, "I already gave you a treat but I'll give you some more." He was giving out chocolate so I am not sure whether Luke was confused as to how the trick-or-treating was supposed to go or if he understood the process a little too well.


Just waiting to go to the next candy spot...

The Ross Prep School Ghouls

After the parade, the students went back to their classroom. It took an hour and a half for the parade! Luke was so sweaty and tired by the end. However he found his second wind once he opened the bag and discovered all the treats!

While Luke was opening multiple lollipops, Miriam found that Luke's school has so many fun things to explore. She especially liked taking the paintbrushes out and then putting them all back in the canister.

Icky Bites on Miriam

Just take a look at what happened to Miriam....

Miriam fell asleep in the stroller on the way to pick Luke up from school. When we got home, she had been attacked by some kind of biting, flying insect. She had all these welted bites on her leg. Poor Miriam. Thank goodness for Benadryl anti-itch cream!

After 2 weeks, the bites are almost completely gone. Miriam must have the sweetest blood! She seems to attract all the bloodsucking insects.

Luke's 4th Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday Luke! The great thing about having my birthday and Luke's birthday within 2 days of each other is twice the desserts! Luke loves cupcakes so that was his "cake" this year. I enjoyed only having to make cupcakes rather than trying to create some masterpiece of a cake. Since Luke's birthday was on Sunday we decided to keep it very simple. We invited the Lynn family, the Taylors (Chelsie is one of Luke's favorite people- she has babysat the kids in the past and they are always asking for her to come over and play), and Adrian. Simple gathering of friends and chocolate was how we celebrated this year. I am sure that I will completely overdo it next year to make up for it. :)

"Finally, a dessert that I like!"

The kids in their "Cars" party hats


Luke's birthday was also the same day this year as the Primary Program at Church. Luke's part was: "I know that I am special because Heavenly Father gave me a family." He spoke clearly and loud into the microphone. We were so proud! After we got home from Church, we let him open his birthday presents. He could barely wait for us to get through the door so he could get his presents. He got a Lightning McQueen race car, the Sheriff car from the "Cars" movie, the engine Percy from Thomas the Tank Engine, a Thomas book and Captain America and Hawkeye. Luke loved his presents so much that he sleeps with them every night along with his pet dog "Molly" and some of his favorite artwork pieces. Soon there won't be any room left in his bed for him!


Miriam was so excited to see Luke's new toys. We are still working on Luke sharing them with her though.

Our big 4 year old! I am so grateful for this little light bearer in our home. Luke is such a kind and forgiving little boy. He loves to laugh and thinks of new ways to humor us each day. He has such a good heart and is genuinely a great kid. He wants to do what's right and he says the most innocent prayers. Luke has brought us so much happiness and we feel so blessed to be his parents.

Kristin's 31st Birthday

Happy 31st Birthday to me! To celebrate, we had my favorite Yoshida's marinated chicken (thanks Kimi for the marinade!), rice, apple crisp and homemade vanilla ice-cream. Morgan gave me a huge Cadbury chocolate bar and a gift card to itunes.

Miriam thought the ice-cream was the best dessert we could have ever had! Just look at how she enjoyed it!

I wish for....

Boxes

Now that we made the decision to go to Miami for 5th semester rather than staying on Dominica, I have been busy organizing and trying to sell the things that we won't be taking with us. In this whole process, the kids found a box and thought it was so fun to play inside. Once again I am reminded that children don't need expensive toys to be happy.

Here's a video I found of Luke when he was 27 months old (just one month before Miriam was born). He has loved boxes as toys for a long time.

Forgotten Papers

As Luke and I were on our way home today, he realized that he had left some papers at school. Luke started crying and was so upset. I kept telling him that it would be OK and that we could get them tomorrow. Nothing soothed him. Once we got in the apartment, he was in complete hysterics. He was crying so hard that he started throwing up! Man, those must be very important papers!

Morgan helped to calm him down and get him cleaned up. I think that Luke was just so tired from school that these forgotten papers was all that it took to send him over the edge. After his nap he was more rational and willing to wait until the morning to go back to school and find the papers. Otherwise I was going to have to find a way to climb in through the windows at school in order to get a moment of peace.

Luke likes to show me his papers each day when he gets home from school. Yesterday he came home with a toilet paper tube craft of Goldilocks. He was so proud of it! He really likes to do dot-to-dots now and he is trying to color more. Coloring is not his favorite activity! He would rather peel the paper off of the crayons or turn them into lightsabers. However he is trying now to color more of the object and even use different colors. He is also starting to write his name. I am so proud of him!