Halloween Parade and PTA Party

It's time for our favorite holiday!  Everyone was in the Halloween spirit and Tom headed to work dressed as Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, whose nickname is Thor. 

 Posing with a Ghostbuster and the Tooth Fairy.

 A quick picture at the apartment before heading to school.

I took one more picture before they parted ways to go to their classrooms.  

 Serafina, Sonja and Sarah posing in the kinder yard.  Sonja was dressed as a character from the Disney movie The Descendants.

 The kids waited on the blacktop for the parade to start.  I had a shopping bag in my purse and I had Serafina sit on it so she didn't mess up her costume.

 Leo was in the front row of his second grade class as they watched the parade.

 Time for the kinders to start off the parade.

 Serafina walked in front with her teacher and Juliana, the little blond girl that cried all morning.

 Oh my little Tooth Fairy loved parading around and having an audience.

 Once she was back in her spot to watch the rest of the kids, she complained that the sun was in her eyes.  I loaned her my sunglasses.

 The second grade teachers were minions.  Here are Leo's teachers - Mrs. Spinks and Mrs. Johnson.

 And Leo leading his class.  His belt was a last minute project that I did last night.

 He looked great and seemed really happy in his costume.

 Homemade proton pack, of course.

I didn't get a chance to hang out with the second graders much because I was with the kindergartners, but another parent sent me this group shot.  

 Kindergarten class picture.

Toothless Tooth Fairy.  

 I had her change out of her costume after the pictures because it's delicate and I don't want to clean it between today and tomorrow.

 All the school fun would have been exciting enough, but we had a big afternoon planned.  As part of the PTA's silent auction, my friends Lizzy and Aida and I co-hosted a Halloween party in Aida's backyard.  Parents paid the PTA a fee to have their children attend the event.  We had snacks and lots of fun activities.

Here Lizzy is helping kids fill up gloves with popcorn and candy corn to make mummy hands.  

 It was a wee-bit messy

 Less messy was decorating pumpkins with stickers.

Bean bag toss.  I made the board since I have bean bag toss experience. 

Nana came to the party and helped Felix with some cookie decorating.  

 Leo had fun decorating cookies.

 And being silly with the monster.

 It was very fun party and the kids all enjoyed themselves.  Leo was done about halfway through and didn't want to stay any longer.  Luckily, Nana was ready to head home too and took Leo to her apartment.  It wasn't until the very end that Serafina even realized that Leo was gone.  Shew...it was an exhausting day.

Serafina promoted to pre-comp

Yesterday, Serafina was tested to see if she was ready to move up to pre-competitive swimming.  And of course she was!  She was proud of herself and I was so very happy to have them back to swimming on the same schedule.  For the past two months, one or the other kid has had swim every day and at two different pools.  It was making me a wee bit crazy, especially on Tuesdays when Serafina went from swim lessons to dance class with only a hour in between for showering, changing and driving.  But now she'll be swimming at the same time and place as Leo making my life much better.  

She's a little nervous about pre-comp since she has watched the practices and knows it's hard work.  I know she'll do great though.  She's a very strong swimmer.  

We were rushing to dance class yesterday so we didn't get a chance to celebrate so today we stopped at the same bakery we went to when Leo got moved up to pre-comp.  

Halloween Dance 2015

Serafina performed a Halloween dance in her costume today.  She's done this before at this studio and once when she was really little.
Since Nana is now a local grandma, she was able to come watch too.

Serafina looks pretty cute in her tooth fairy costume.  I'll have many more pictures her costume and Leo's later this week.  

After the performance, we were able to stay in the class for the ballet portion of the class.  Nice toe point for Serafina.

Nana's big move

Yesterday, I drove with my mom from Southern California to Northern California so she could become a happy retired resident of Campbell.  

My aunt Sheila came over to bid up farewell and give us some treats for the road.  

 The drive went smoothly and my mom likes her new place.  I picked it out without her, so I was relieved that she felt it was a good fit.

Her stuff was delivered by the movers this morning.  We came over mid-day to help with the unpacking and the kids immediately found her old wigs.

We are so happy to have Nana local.

Spina Pumpkin Farm with friends

On Friday while I was making my way to Southern California to help my mom move, the kids visited a pumpkin farm with their friends.  Serafina has visited Spina Farm before. 

Here are all the kids in the pumpkins.  

 And on the big chair.

 One of the moms was getting arty with her pictures apparently.

My two goof balls.  

 Hay ride.

Goodbye growth chart

The bedrooms of our house will be repainted soon, which means the growth chart we've been marking on Leo's wall will be painted over.  

 We went to visit it this morning and take some pictures.  Since the carpet is gone, the sizing is no longer accurate.  Leo pointed this out for me.

 It made me a little sad but it's time for a new color in this room.

Final FaceTime

Almost every Sunday, the kids FaceTime with Nana.  They usually act silly and get too close to the camera so they can examining their own mouths.  Nana is incredibly patient and tolerant.  Today was the last time we'll be FaceTiming since Nana is moving local next weekend.  Squeeeee!  We are very excited.  Here's the final virtual chat.  

Then the kids spent some time being strange and silly.

Leo had a baseball game this afternoon.  He sat on the bench one inning because they had too many players.  Here's how he passed the time.