Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! Last Saturday we went to the Blue Ridge Church Halloween party. As always we came home with more cakes than we can eat. We went with the Bowdoin's. The kids had a great time. This week has been busy with Halloween Parties. Kyra had her's on Wednesday. She had fun and come home with lots of treats and prizes. Today Valynn and Mason had their parties. I helped with Valynn's party so I was unable to attend Mason's but he said he had a great time. Tomorrow night we are going the the Bowdoin Boys' birthday party and then all the kids are going trick or treating around the neighbor hood.

Yesterday I watched Annika for a couple of hours. She had fun exploring a new house and as you can see her and Kyleigh play together (if that's what you can call it when one takes another's pacifier away and then gives it back). We're still dealing with sickness here, Mark was out of work on Monday and finally went back to work on Tuesday. On Tuesday night I came down with chills and a headache but never did get a fever. I'm still not 100% but I'm hoping I'm over with it by Monday. Work is going well, I got my first paycheck today and was pleasantly surprised to find I got a raise. Today I was the Mystery Reader for Valynn's class. I read the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh the places you'll go". Kyleigh has finally figured out how to wave bye bye and she's trying more sounds, I get the feeling that one day that girl is just going to start talking in sentences since she doesn't seem interested in saying too many words right now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

PT Conferences

Warning parent brag: We had Parent Teacher conferences this morning. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Mason was home sick three days last week. Mark is home sick today. Yesterday was Mark's birthday. We were going to have the neighbors over tonight to celebrate but canceled because he wasn't feeling good. Last week I found out I was head room mom for Kyra's class (somehow the note got lost), so other moms and I are scrambling to get ready for the Halloween party next week. Anyway, here's the results of the conferences.

Valynn: Top of her class in math and reading and very well behaved. She needs to speak up a little more and read out loud slower. Otherwise she is doing great. She is starting to get letter grades this year in Spelling and Math and received an A+ in both subjects.

Mason: Top of the class in math and reading and very well behaved. He is starting to talk a little more and is starting to get friends. His weak point is his handwriting which he is working on and getting better. We're working on his lower case letters.

We were happy with both conferences so Mark and I went out for breakfast since we were paying for a baby sitter. I worked after breakfast this morning then Kyra, Valynn, and I got our haircut.

We have a busy weekend of Halloween parties and hope to finally make it to church this weekend.

Happy 8th Birthday Valynn!!!

It's Valynn's 8th birthday today. Happy Birthday! It's hard to believe how grown up she is getting. She is constantly surprising us with what she knows and her maturity. Saturday night she had a sleepover for her birthday. She had five friends stay over. They had a great time playing the Wii, watching Hannah Montana the Movie, and just hanging out. Mark and I have decided that finishing the basement is now a priority because they are LOUD and our house echoes so bad. The girls were very well behaved, stayed up late and woke up early.

Friday after school I got a little surprise. Valynn and Mason came home from school with an extra kid. There was a mix up at school, a dad called to say K had a paper to go home with Mason and the teacher interpreted it as K has a paper saying he can go home with Mason. Mason goes "I don't know why he came home with me". K said "Mrs. S. told me to go home with Mason". I knew there was a mix up somewhere. So I called his mom who then called the dad to see what happened and then his mom came and picked him up. Definitely reaffirms why we live in a small town, we just laughed at the incident and were thankful we were acquaintances so that we had some idea of who our child goes home with.

Saturday was Mason's last two football games. It was COLD outside, no snow but if there was any precipitation it would have been snow. Mason carried the ball twice, once for 25 yards and another for 5 yards. Sunday we stayed home and watched the Vikings beat the Rams. The kids are home from school today, we're going to get a few things done around the house and just take it easy.

Kyleigh has gone through a mental growth spurt in the last couple of weeks. She is really starting to comprehend what is being said to her. If you say time to brush your teeth she is in the bathroom on the stool waiting for her toothbrush. If you tell her nap time she heads to the bedroom. When you tell her to go find dad, she takes off looking for him. She still isn't saying much for words but I know that will come soon enough. She even learned how to climb up the stool to see what's on the counter.


Have a great week!

Disney Day 7: Going Home

It was an uneventful trip back. We arrived home around 6:30. Everyone slept well in their own beds. Grandma and Grandpa left Sunday morning for South Dakota. Valynn and Mason enjoyed themselves and has Kyra excited to go in 5 years.

We did the Disney dining plan and ate way too much dessert. Dessert came with Lunch and Dinner. We spent most of our snacks trying different foods in Epcot which was cool and Mark and I got our nightly bottle of wine which is always a bonus. We also ate at restaurant we normally wouldn't have because of the price. Kyra got Sleeping Beauty pajamas and Kyleigh got princess Minnie mouse ears.

We now get to gear up for reality of school and work. I start working this week as well. I will be tutoring like I did last year. I'm excited because the hours are flexible and the pay is better than subbing. Kyra has her first dentist appointment this week and we start round two of birthday mania at the Rinkel household. Valynn is having a sleepover on Saturday night (wish us luck). Have a good week all, it's nap time here.

Disney Day 6: Epcot

First we went swimming at the pool. The kids went down the water slide at least 15 times each before heading back to Epcot for our final day at Disney. We went on Soarin' and The Seas with Nemo. We went to Turtle Talk with Crush, Journey into Imagination with Figment and Honey I shrunk the audience. We then started the Kim Possible missions. The kids were given a cell phone and told to find a clue in a country. They would go around the country and find the clues shown on the phone, when they found a clue something would light up, spin, etc. When they got to the last mission something bigger would happen, in Mexico the volcano exploded, in Germany a German girl chased the bad guy. We did four different countries before the cell phone was decommissioned (park closed). This was one of the kids' favorite activities, it also gave Mark and I a chance to stroll around the different countries while the kids were finding clues. The kids also were given masks and at each country they were given a different accessory for the mask that represented the country. In China, Japan, and Morocco they also showed the kids what their names look like in those languages. We doubt Valynn's is correct because they had never heard her name before but the Japanese lady could read Mason's name based on the Chinese spelling. It was another late night before we got back to the resort and then had to pack for home.

Disney Day 5: The Magic Kingdom Part 2

We went back to the Magic Kingdom. Valynn's hair held up through the night that she got to be a princess for a second day. This day we toured the Swiss Family treehouse, rode the Magic Carpets, went on the Jungle Cruise and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean. We did the Astro Orbiter, Tom Sawyer Island, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (twice), Stitch's Great Escape, Monster's Inc., again and Splash Mountain (3 times), and Thunder Mountain Railroad (3 times). Can you tell what the favorite rides were?

Disney Day 4: The Magic Kingdom

The day started out with Valynn getting a new Cinderella dress and shoes and Mason getting a new Power Rangers shirt and Power Ranger sword. We then went to Downtown Disney where we looked around for awhile and then went to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique where Valynn got her hair, nails, and make up done just like a princess and Mason was done up as a Cool Dude. We then headed to the Magic Kingdom where we road the train to Mickey's house where we got to meet Mickey and Minnie. We also went to Minnie's House and Donald's boat. We rode Goofy's Barnstormer and the kids got to drive a racecar at the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. We also did the Mad Tea Party, Dubo, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We then went to Cinderella's Castle for supper at Cinderella's Royal Table. We met Cinderella, the mice, and the Fairy Godmother. The put on a little show and we had a wonderful meal. After supper we went to the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor before watching the Spectro Magic parade. What a wonderful parade of lighted floats and costumes. We had a great time watching. After the parade we did Peter Pan's flight and It's a small world before we watched the fireworks.

The kids had a great day. The whole day the Disney staff kept calling Valynn princess and other little girls would call her Cinderella.