Halloween pictures

Here are the 5 of us at Trunk or Treat. Brad is Phil Fulmer with a noose around his neck.

Brad and the kids about to carve the pumpkins.

The kids at Papa and Gran's before Trunk or Treat.

A Look at Catherine

It has been a while since Catherine was the topic of my blog, so I decided to give you a look into her little life.

Catherine loves coloring. About a month ago, we were going thru Sunday school papers. Brad help up one of Catherine's asking what to do with it. I looked at it, noticed that it was colored almost perfectly in the lines, and told Brad to trash it because "she can't color that good yet" and her teacher must have helped her. The next day, Catherine was coloring at the kitchen table. Big Surprise to me- it was almost perfect. She could stay between the lines. I was shocked. Lincoln was 5 before he colored that well. Then I felt bad that I discredited her work the day before. Thankfully, she wasn't standing there when Brad and I talked about it.

A couple weeks ago when I went to get Catherine and Coleman from Mother's Day Out, Catherine was not in her classroom napping with the other kids. Usually when I walk in, I find her on her mat but separated from the other kids. But that day Catherine was in "Mrs. Donna's office" because she wasn't resting in her room but disturbing others around her. Her teacher said, "Your daughter is very social." That was good news to me. For a long time, Catherine was the quiet one, not speaking very much, but that is changing. I am glad.

Catherine is very imaginative. She loves to play with her dolls and her little fischer-price dollhouse. She will say to me "Let's pretend. You be the sistee (she can't say r's) and I be the mommy." I smile even more when she says "Let's pretend. You be the mommy and I be the sistee." Catherine can play in her room for hours imagining. She will have all sorts of people over and do all sorts of things. She goes to the grocery store with her grocery cart (Lincoln's room) and to church (Coleman's room). Last week, she was pretending to be mommy and went to a "Pampered Chef show". She loves when I play with her, and always tries to draw me in to the world she's created. Thankfully, she is 3 and it is easy to get involved in her little world but playing pretend is not my strong suit. Aunt Amy was the one with the creative imagination and could have fun pretending.

The last thing that I can think of that tickles Brad and me is when she says "Don't smell me" or now she is better at expressing it and says "Don't put your breath on me." That always makes me laugh.

Catherine is our "sweetie pie" and loves helping me do mommy things. She also likes pretending to be "mommy" to Coleman who doesn't quite see the joy in that.

Lincoln's first "note" home

I could tell as he walked to the car at pick-up today that he was "in trouble". During those seconds of him walking to the car I was hoping I was reading him wrong, but then I saw it flapping in the wind behind him. He handed the note to me as he got into the car. To myself "Please be about the Halloween party tomorrow." But instead, the note read "Laura, Lincoln has been really wild......When we work he constantly talks. I am so sorry but I have talked to him.... Help!"

Lincoln needing to work on talking is really not surprising. He does get it naturally from both Brad and me. BUT to the point that I get a note home kinda makes me sad. I know from being a teacher that getting a note home means Lincoln has been warned, "punished", and warned some more. He used up his consequences at school. So our evening of carving the pumpkin may be without Lincoln and he will get a spanking from Brad. I am thankful that Lincoln isn't "ugly" or disrespectful- it isn't a heart issue neccessarily but a control issue.

Brad's home. :)/:(

Sometimes Kids Aren't Nice Back

Something in our prayer triggered a memory of Lincoln's school day (FYI- Very rarely does Lincoln share much about his interactions with the other kids at school). He shared that he had been running on the playground and accidently knocked another boy down. Apparently, Lincoln was running forward and looking back over his shoulder. Feeling bad, Lincoln apologized to the boy for knocking him down. The boy's reply took Lincoln by surprise. The boy said angrily, "Sorry doesn't change anything" and he shrugged Lincoln and his friends off. Typically, when Lincoln apologizes to a person the reponse is "It's okay" and everyone is friendly again. Lincoln told me that what the boy said made him feel sad because he didn't know what to do or say next. I explained that apologizing was the right thing to do and that sometimes when people get hurt apologizing doesn't fix it right away. We talked about how the boy might have thought that Lincoln ran into him on purpose, and Lincoln concluded that he needed to watch where he was running. :)