Halloween

Avery got to come to work with me for our office potluck at noon... Our group did Disney Princesses (the guys) and their sidekicks (the girls), and we were one person short so we needed her (and Camden's costume from last year)! From left to right: Mouse & Cinderella, Belle & The Beast, Elsa & Olaf, and Ariel & Sebastian.

Then of course, trick-or-treating after work... Camden went as Michael Jackson from "Thriller," but threw a fit when we started putting the zombie makeup on him, so he only got about 1/3 of his makeup done and ended up looking more like Mike Tyson.  Avery was Elsa from the "Frozen Fever" animated short.

Food Art

Avery has been making some awesome artwork lately, 

which has inadvertently called me out as being a parental failure in the nutrition department. 

 The Food Book

Quesadillas

Oranges

Mixed Veggies [pictured here with spoons from Yogurtland]

Mac and Cheese

Ice Cream

Watermelon [which she hates]

Doughnuts

String Cheese

Ravioli

Strawberries

The Lunch Box Project (in which they had to decorate the outside of a lunchbox and fill it with pictures of food, cut out from magazines)

Avery: A+

Mom: F

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to have a little family mini-vacation and rented a beach house in San Clemente with my cousin Julie's family and my cousin Patrick's family. The kids are all close in age, the weather was beautiful, and everyone had a blast! 

There is a good chance this could become an annual event...

(Camden loves Melissa so much, he even called for her to tuck him in at bedtime!)

Tooth Fairy's First Visit

On the night of September 25, we got our first visit from the Tooth Fairy! Avery twisted her tooth out in the car on the way to the Fairmont Fall Festival, after several days of faithfully wiggling it back and forth and side to side. 

Avery wrote a sweet note, asking the Tooth Fairy to please leave the tooth (so that Avery could save it in the "My First Tooth" box that came with her baby book).  She was very happy the next morning to find that her tooth was still under her pillow, along with a $5 bill and a whole lot of glitter!

Avery's First Day of Kindergarten

On Tuesday Avery and I visited her new school for orientation.  

She got to see her classroom, her desk, her classmates, and meet her new teacher, Mrs. Tippets!

Her teacher is awesome, she is great with the kids and has lots of reward systems in her classroom.  She also has her own 5 year old daughter named Avery! And she reminds us a lot of Avery's Auntie Brandi. Avery was very happy.

On Tuesday afternoon, Avery said goodbye to all her preschool teachers, and woke up VERY early Wednesday morning because she couldn't wait to put her uniform on for her first day of kindergarten.

Shortly after 8:00, Mrs. Tippets asked all the kids to put their backpacks on the hooks and find their name on the rainbow rug. Camden did not understand why he couldn't stay on the mat with all the other kids. He is so eager for school too!

Then she told the kids, "Look around the room at all your mommies and daddies. Look at all their smiles! They are so proud of you. Now blow them a kiss, and say, "I love you!" and say, "It's time for you to go!""

At that point, all the parents shuffled out, heads down, wiping their tears!!

That afternoon, I couldn't wait to pick her up, and she was so anxious to tell me about how the stuffed gingerbread man went missing from the teacher's desk... But he left clues, and they got to follow the clues all around the school until they got back to the classroom and found that he had returned to the classroom and brought a plate of cookies for all the kids. I wish my workday was that much fun!