Another awesome Halloween

Cam had a ton of fun today. He had a really cool school party, followed by a quick visit at Jordan's school party, followed by a quick dinner and a REALLY long trick or treat session in our neighborhood. He was INCREDIBLY patient as I asked him to wait for his sister to walk up to each door with him.

He's a great big brother and a fantastic superhero. Picture will come soon. I promise.

My hands smelled like pumpkin all day

I got to spend the morning with Cameron and his class. We carved pumpkins! Now the first response is -- Good Lord! Kindergarteners with knives? That's nuts! Well, this was a chance for me to learn about ways kids can carve pumpkins WITHOUT knives. It was pretty great. The kids used mallets and cookie cutters. Cameron wouldn't help us get the seeds out of the pumpkin... But he and his friends were all about hitting the pumpkin with a mallet. The end result looks strange, but it was a fun time for all.

I went straight to meetings on campus and smelled VERY pumpkiny.

Our newest pumpkin

Ready for Halloween

He's ready folks. Introducing my boy: The Flash! Cam finally got to see his new costume. He's a little loopy when it comes to these cool outfits, so we hide it until he really needs it. We had a neighborhood party today, so he got to enjoy this new superhero look. He already told me he plans to wear it when he gets home from school tomorrow.

Pumpkin fun

We had a great time carving pumpkins a couple of weekends ago... Unfortunately I forgot the rule I had given myself a number of years ago: Carve at the last possible weekend. So now Cam's current alien pumpkin is rotting. I made sure he got a picture with the pumpkin before it totally decays. It was rough explaining to Cam how this pumpkin won't make it to the 31st. Fortunately, we have another weekend to carve more.

I also found out that Cam's class only had one volunteer to help with the class Halloween party next week... So now I'm offering to help. I'm bringing cupcakes and some small pumpkins. I guess we're going to create "centers" so the kids have different games to play so groups of kids can go nuts in smaller groups. I'm also going to bring Jordan so I can visit her class party for a short time and then we can run off to Cam's big day.

Seems complicated for a fake holiday don't you think?

Homecoming excitement

Cam had a ton of fun today thanks to Homecoming. He and his Dad walked with a float to celebrate Cam's after school program. Cam's group was way ahead of Jordan's school, so he and Randy walked with our float a little at the end.

Cam had all kinds of fun handing out candy and seeing some of his old friends from around town.

After a quick lunch and nap, we went to a football game... It was the first for the whole family this season. It was so fun to watch the game and hangout as a family. I think we're seriously considering saving some money on the side to do season family tickets next year (there's a family section). Fun times for all!!! Hooray for Homecoming!

What a guy

How can someone drive me NUTS one second and the very next I just want to hold him tight and never let him go. That's the kind of relationship I have with Cam these days. He is READING up a storm. It's incredible. His teacher keeps sending home new books to read and Cam just roars through it. I love it.

Today the whole family played at Cam's after school program. We got to watch him run around with his friends in the gym and out in the playground. He was having a lot of fun -- but he's not one to dangle along the monkey bars. He did seem to have fun just running around and screaming.

Hiking pro

Cameron continued to show his hiking prowess. We hiked close to 2.5 miles AND then we hiked another mile to visit a really cool cave. Cam barely complained and he actually was interested in exploring inside the cave! I didn't bring a flashlight and I didn't feel very balanced to really go in with Jordan on my back. But it was really great to spend so much time outside with the kids.

After the big hike, we got some ice cream and enjoyed it at a really great park where I saw a bunch of people who have kids at Cam's old school. Cam climbed to the very top of the tallest piece of playground equipment and went down the tunnel slide again and again and again. It was amazing. Of course he screamed REALLY loud every time. Funny stuff.

After dinner, Cam even got a chance to meet up with a pre-school friend at the local indoor kid playground place. We were there for an hour and it was great to see the kids play again. But man, we packed a TON of stuff into the day. Hopefully Cam will sleep really well.

Food

Food. It's an aggravating topic. Cam has made big strides this year in the types of food he'll eat. But lately it's just been a struggle to keep him in his seat and open his mind to at least try ONE BITE.

So this week, I stumbled upon a couple of interesting things. First there's this article from the New York Times. It claims my child's eating problems stem from genetics. From what I know from his father and my brother-in-law, I can blame them. Unfortunately, it doesn't really help us solve the problem of Cameron's bad eating habits.

So my Mom watches Oprah and found a possible solution thanks to Jerry Seinfeld's wife. Yeah. Jerry Seinfeld's wife. She wrote a book called Deceptively Delicious. It's a theory where we should puree veggies and fold it into food without the kids knowing it. Sounds like a possible idea. I'd also like to see if there's a chapter for working moms on where to find time to puree veggies and cook all of our dinners from scratch. Either way, I'll probably give some of her ideas a try. Anything to get healthy stuff into Cam's body.

Reading and Reading

Cameron and I got a chance to go on a field trip together to the local pumpkin patch. Last night we prepared by reading a really great book: The Pumpkin Circle. What shocked the poopy out of me was watching Cam read almost the entire book on his own and we haven't read it since last Fall. It's amazing.

So today we went on our trip. I got to meet a bunch of parents and I was able to start placing names with faces. We picked out tiny pumpkins and I told Cam we'll get a big one tomorrow. In the meanwhile, Cam has decided he wants to be the guest reader in his class by bringing in his Pumpkin Circle book. I'm trying to not put pressure on him to do it after he thought of the idea... For now, the idea is exciting to him and he can't wait to read the book. He's even decided to grab every book he can find to help him "practice." Hopefully we'll have some time to work on reading his pumpkin book. I'm so excited that he's this excited about reading.

Woo hoo!! I'm physically too exhausted to upload the pictures I took at the pumpkin farm. I promise I will this weekend.

Fun and family time

Cameron had a pretty good time while I was out of town last week... But this weekend has been a big family bonanza. His Grandma and Poppy are here and so is his uncle and his girlfriend Beth. To makes things even more exciting, Cam came along to meet up with some folks who went to school with us. Afterwards, we walked over to a new park that has a great playground area AND this really fun water play area. The sprayers pop up when you least expect it. In the end, Cam got totally soaked and it was SO worth it. He has so much fun. We had a great time giggling at him.

Cam is writing up a storm these days. Today he took a piece of paper and started copying sentences from a new Dora book he got. He's reading a ton... He drawing really great pictures. He even wrote a birthday note with a drawing for his Grandma today. It's just great. His ability to draw and write are improving a TON since he started Kindergarten.