The Start of Winter

Two days ago we got up and I realized {crap} that we were supped to drop off our vehicle to get an oil change. We woke up at our normal time; when we should have woken up early! Both boys did not want to get up because Halloween was the night before and it has recently started to be dark when we wake up. Isaak was the most whiny lovely child.

Off we went. Both boys seemed almost concerned that we left the house without eating breakfast. It was kind of funny! We stopped off at McDonalds to eat. It is rare that we go eat breakfast somewhere! Usually we only eat out for breakfast on Mother's Day, Father's Day and trips. The boys were super excited! It was like we were going to the toy store. Isaak is so funny because he calls McDonalds "MickerDonalds."

Yesterday it rained, hailed and snowed for the first time. It has been unusually warm here. The snow melted before nightfall. That's how warm the ground was and wet the snow was. Sometimes we get our first snow before Halloween. I'm not complaining about the warmer weather. The love for warmer weather is part of why I moved to Georgia for awhile. Along with warmer weather comes bugs, mold and lots of pollen! With the fall of allergies, migraines and the love of family, I'm back in Nebraska. Home of the Heartland.

Ten reasons why I hate dislike winter: 

1. I hate dislike putting the kids in a cold car with heavy coats on! I know I'm not supposed to put the kids in their car seats with their coats on. I was told this by a nurse when Isaak was born. I had a thin sweater jacket on him to take him home. She said, "Do you know that you are not supposed to have him in the car seat like that?" No I didn't know. How am I supposed to put the kids in their car seats without coats on? The car is freezing; their coats are hard to put on!  It's illegal to start your car here, while unattended. {The next two sentences are full of sarcasm} Why don't we just keep our kids naked and stick them in the car? They can turn into little ice cubes. I mean really! I'm one of those parents that shove their kids in their car seats with a coat on. Don't judge please. :) I don't know anyone who doesn't do that. At least I abide by putting my kids in car seats. Old times kids sat in the back or front of a car without a safely belt on. Now Nebraska wants you to have a kid in a car seat until they are 100 pounds. I'm not even being sarcastic with that last sentence! It's not a law, but it's recommended. They had a whole news section about it last year. I told Aunt Angela that she should still be in a car seat. She's tiny. Times have changed.
2. Getting up early to a dark sky! No one wants to get up when it looks like it's night out!
3. Coming home to a dark sky! It feels like bedtime when I get home from work! Boo!
4. Slipping on the ice. Yep this has happened both while walking and with driving. Not lately, but shit happens.
5. Time change bites! No matter how much you try to adjust; it still sucks. There is always one more clock somewhere that Daddy or I forgot to change. Then I'm completely confused! Read here for good time changing advice!
6. I dislike Shoveling! Enough said.
7. Retraining my three year old to put socks on. I think he's got it now. Sandals I love you!
8. Sending our kids outside to play is harder.
9. Our floors inside become a mess.
10. Traffic becomes a mess! Yes this is true. There are more accidents in the winter because it's dark and slippery. The moment it became dark in the mornings, traffic has sucked! I've ran into two traffic jams in the last two weeks.

WW - Suitcase {Linky}

This weekend I took some shots to use for Christmas cards. I do not plan on using the background that is showing. Just the boys, the suitcase and I'm collaging a train in the background out of candy. The train is taking a long time. It's looking pretty cool though.

The shot I'm using.

I liked this one to, but not enough of the suitcase was showing.

Mica going nowhere.

Isaak looking a lot like Mommy.

Post Halloween

= Tired children that don't want to get out of bed.
= College students that don't come to class, or come to class hung over. {I'm a teacher}
= More candy laying around then anyone should consume!

Happy Halloween!!!

Daddy took the boys out trick or treating, while I passed out candy. It's pretty low key. We take turns passing out candy.

The boys were super excited to go out. I made them put on their costumes early, so I could get some good photos.

These are not all of them. I just wanted to put up a few. Next week for my Wordless Wednesday I'll put up more.

Isaak the dinosaur. He kept saying, "RAWR" loudly! Daddy said that someone said to Isaak, "Can I put candy in your pail?" Isaak said, "It's not a pail, it's a bucket."

Mica as Indiana Jones. No surprise; he's been wearing his costume for the last 2 months off and on! He was excited that Mommy finally let him play with his whip. Someone asked Mica, "Can I put candy in your bag?" Mica said, "It's not a bag. It's a satchel." Funny I just looked to make sure I spelled "satchel" right, and it's defined as being a bag. ;)

Fall Festival

Mica's school doesn't have a Halloween party, but they do have a fall festival. They had all kinds of things for little kids to do. I have to say that the favorite was the spook house. Isaak didn't seem to be fazed by the people shouting, "Boo!" Mica on the other hand was a little scared. He still wanted to go again!

Now Mica keeps asking to go into Shadows Edge, which he's seen advertised on TV. It's a spook house for a little older kids! How old does a kid have to be to go in a haunted house? I would never dare take him into one right now, just asking for the future. 

Then we went to the cake walk. Isaak won a cake during the first round. He had no idea what he was doing, so it was funny to watch.

We played and did some other things. It was fun!

Apology Letters

Mica got in trouble three times last week at school. The teacher must not of thought it was a big deal because I heard nothing from school about Mica's bad checks. Mica told me. I emailed the teacher. Him getting in trouble at school is something new for us. We talked about it, did a few other things and I helped him write some letters.

• He stepped on a girl's shoelace. He wrote, "I am sorry for stepping on your shoelace."
• The second thing he did involved another student. Another boy said when the teacher stepped out of the room, "Hey Mica lets go under the table." Mica joined in because it sounded fun. Somehow this other boy got kicked. One time Mica told us it was on purpose and another time Mica said it was an accident. Mica got kicked by this same boy earlier in the year. Mica wrote, "I'm sorry I kicked you. Please forgive me. We really shouldn't play under the table."
• The third thing also involved another person. A girl tried to kiss Mica on the bus to a field trip. Somehow that didn't happen. Later on in the day the girl did kiss Mica. Mica didn't want to be kissed by this girl, so he bent her finger back. Mica wrote, "I am sorry I bent your finger back. Please do not kiss me." 

I helped him figure out what to say in the letter, wrote it down and he copied it. All the letters said Dear so and so, and signed Your Friend, Mica. I don't know if we handled this the right way or not? It's how we handled it. This part of parenting is totally new to us. We've handled Mica and Isaak fighting, but Mica doing something bad at school just hasn't happened until now. It's harder to have him write an apology letter when another person was in the wrong as well. Our message to Mica was that it's ok to not like what someone has done to you, but you don't handle it with hurting someone. Instead you tell the teacher, and let her deal with it.

Mica didn't really fight me on writing the letters. He seemed to understand why he had to write them. It did take awhile. I made the mistake of writing my a's unlike how they are learning to write. I write a circle and continue with a line tail. Daddy caught this. I'm supposed to draw a circle, pick up the pencil and draw a straight line from top to bottom. I write my a's the lazy way I guess. At least my handwriting can be read. I've seen some people who write, and I can't even read what they have wrote.

Isaak's Two Finger, Fake Whistle

He Stepped On Her Shoelace!

Yesterday Mica got in trouble at school. It was the first time he's gotten marks. He had to miss part of recess! Daddy and I were not too impressed with his behavior!

He got three marks for minor things like talking during class, and one mark for something I consider major. A girl walked past him, he noticed that her shoe was untied and he decided to step on her shoelace. Only he wouldn't stop stepping on her shoelace!

Source

It is my understanding that this girl did not fall. I only got Mica's perspective.

Daddy had already talked to Mica for 10 minutes about respect; then he got talked to by me. I also got a few CD's I won from My Baby's Going Green in the mail. I was going to wait and give the boys the CD's for Christmas. Instead, Mica listened to: Big Bully. We listened, we talked and we danced.

This weekend I'm going to have Mica write an apology letter to whom ever shoelace he stepped on. I would have done this last night, but a six year old writing a letter takes a long time.

Rocks

One thing that Daddy and Grandpa Spiehs have been into is rocks. They are artistically cool. Some of the grandkids have taken up this interest to!

Life in the Lost World has a giveaway going on right now. One reader is going to win a Ginormous Geode and Intro to Rocks Poster!

3D Puzzles

Grandpa Spiehs dug out a few 3D puzzles for Mica to try. Grandma Spiehs kept telling Grandpa that they would be too hard. They are for ages 12 and up. Mica's known to be a puzzle wizard.

He was shown what to do; then he did it pretty much on his own.

I'm thinking I should find a few of these types of puzzles for Christmas time! I have no clue where to look!