Halloween at the Harbor

Ok, as most of you may know I HATE HALLOWEEN and wish it would fall off the calendar.  Not because it's supposed to be "evil" - that has nothing to do with it.  I always enjoyed it as a kid, BUT,  it is an expensive holiday.  4 costumes, loads of candy and for what??? One night of walking around the neighborhood for more candy, then you never see those costumes you just broke the bank with again. 

I saw a sign that said FREE Halloween fun at the Harbor Friday night, so I thought, why not??  We loaded up the kids - no costumes - cause I just wasn't in the mood to face paint and all that, and we made our way with my VERY pregnant sister and the kids down to the Harbor.  OMG!!!  That's all I can say.  It was a nightmare.  WAY too many people down there.  You were walking elbow to elbow and all they got out of the deal was a bag of dental stuff from the Tooth Fairy and a sprinkling of fairy dust on their heads. 

Needless to say, we left pretty quickly and went to eat dinner at Joe Willy's, which our neighbors were there so we ate with them.  That was nice. 

Today, we have tickets to the FC Dallas soccer game, which shouldn't be too crowded since the World Series will be going on at the same time.  We'll see.......The game was AWESOME! And, they won!!

Tomorrow, my mom is coming over to help me take the boys trick or treating.  The twins are going with their friend and his parents so it will just be me, my mom, and Nick and Noah.  Should be fun.......well, Levin got called into work and my mom was sick so it was just me, Nick and Noah.  We had as much fun as you can, I guess.  I got the poo scared out of me by our neighbor who was walking around as Michael Myers, too

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A Night Out

Last night was our first night out without the kids in a while.  We went to a wedding.  Who watched our kiddos you ask???  It took both my sisters to accomplish this task.  We are so "old" and boring that we left the reception early and headed home by 9:30 and were home by 10.  The house was a mess - plates of pizza and Dr. Pepper cans and Braums stuff everywhere.  We expect that.  Aunts are supposed to spoil their nephews, right?  It was nice to get away if only for a couple hours to watch someone else plunge themselves into the chaos of family life.  Congrats Chrissy and Jon!

We are looking forward to a "real" night out just the two of us - the kids staying overnight somewhere so we can do whatever in the world we want to.  That RARELY ever happens here.  Our 14th anniversary is coming soon, maybe we can do something for that.

Teacher Conferences

Teacher conferences - UGH!!!  Oh, how I HATE those teacher conferences.  I have never been to one that wasn't bad and I've been to MANY!!  With 4 kids - 2 in middle school, and 2 in elementary school - I've had my fair share of the dreaded teacher conference. 

Today was my first one for Noah, who is in 2nd grade.  Those of you who know Noah know that he is a free spirit.  He's funny, energetic, and full of life.  I wouldn't want him any other way.  His teacher is concerned that his reading level isn't where it should be.  I was surprised because at home he reads like a pro.  He reads things I had no idea he could read.  He also is inverting some letters and numbers which makes his teacher think he may be dyslexic.  I have noticed that he writes some numbers and letters backwards, but he puts them in the right order.  Nick who is SEVERELY dyslexic writes the letters and numbers correctly, but puts them in the wrong order.  Noah is reading on a higher level than Nick and Nick is in the 4th grade.  Hmmmm. 

Noah doesn't get his work finished.  He would rather play with his shoes or draw little pictures at the bottom of his paper.  I know he is ADHD.  That is obvious, but dyslexic??  I'm not convinced.  I told his teacher to go ahead and have them test him.  If they think he needs the dyslexic program, by all means put him in there.  What could it hurt, right?  It hasn't helped Nick all that much.  He is reading better, but can't write a single sentence that is legible and makes any sense at all.  They supposedly use the Texas Scottish Rite Dyslexia program to teach these kids.  Hmmmm.

Well, tomorrow, I have yet another meeting at school.  This time it is an ARD meeting for Tanner.  This one should be good!  Yay!!!  His progress report last week was STRAIGHT A'S!!!  I almost had a heart attack when I saw it.  Last year, he failed every class with grades ranging from 20 - 50.  His first year in middle school and he's making all a's.  I'm soooooo proud of him!!!  Trevor is doing very well, too.  Thank you Cain Middle School and all your wonderful teachers and Special Ed department!!!