Halloween 2017

Shane and I went trick or treating on the Lawn at UVA. We missed out last year, but Shane remembered the epic hall from years ago.

I didn't expect him to stop at the first porta-potty we saw. "Touch nothing."

Shane was back on the road quick enough. There was a pep in his step. We parked at my school and walked almost 3/4 a mile. I heard no complaints.

We joined the crowd when we made it.

And boy, was it a crowd!

Shane wasn't very chatty. His mind was on one thing and one thing only: Candy.

I had to keep pulling him back as he drifted ahead in line and into others.

He ended up with a huge haul.

I overheard that the candy the students pass out is subsidized by the university. It makes sense. It also makes me a little less impressed by their generosity. At one point, I think it was student sponsored, but now it's a public relations decision by the university.

Round trip was two and a half hours of walking and standing around.....and yet Shane was ready for round 2 when we got home!

There was a lot less action on our cul-de-sac. There were only three houses with lights on when we walked down the street we connect to.

Which was fine by me. Shane had a ton of candy and I was tired. Carrie used Shane's UVA haul to pass out to trick or treaters while we were out!

We got home shortly after 7 PM. The pumpkin was our main decoration.

It turned out well!

We're all going to be snacking on candy for months to come if I don't throw some of it out.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving 101

Soccer was cancelled, so I decided it was time to carve our pumpkin. I learned my lesson from carving it too early last year. 

I cut it open and told the boys to scoop it out.

Shane lasted about 30 seconds (if that).

Raheem was a little smarter. He picked the pumpkin up to the trashcan to scoop out the innards directly. I congratulated him for figuring out what I was going to do.

Rah's attention lasted about a minute. Then they rode bikes.

I ended up doing the scooping.

I messaged Silas to ask if he was a covert pumpkin artist. He wasn't, but he came up the street with Zora. She ran around, Silas played basketball with Raheem, and Shane and I worked on the pumpkin.

Shane drew a design on one side. I twirled it around and made it a little clearer and then let him work on carving.

Both boys wanted in on the final picture.

Ryan came out with Appa and the dogs had a after-pumpkin play party.

Favorite moment: Shane threw his slingshot ball-toy at Zora. Shane realized his mistake instantaneously. Zora scooped up the ball and took off running with Appa chasing after.

Turns out, Shane can't outrun a dog. He should have thought before he acted on that one.

We laughed and let them all run around until Zora (half-exhausted) stopped for a breather near Silas. He fished out the ball and dropped the slobber covered mess into Shane's hand.

A Poorly Handled Apology

Shane got himself deep in the doghouse today. Carrie was cooking, I was on the computer, and he yelled, "Help! Help! I'm trapped!"

Now, he didn't sound in pain or in a panic to me. I got up, but it wasn't a flat out rush.

Carrie went into full on Mommy Battle Mode. She dropped what she was doing and ran. 

I moved faster at that point. I tried to get in front of her and say, "I'm on it!" I wasn't quick enough and she tore up the stairs looking for Shane.

It turned out Shane was on the stairs. He watched us run by. He had zipped himself into a large plastic bag. 

Shane decided to speak again and say, "I'm on the stairs," when Carrie was already in his room looking for him. I unzipped him and he said, "Oops. I zipped myself in."

Carrie was furious.

Trapping himself aside, she was afraid/livid she might have stepped on him when she sprinted to the rescue.

And Shane couldn't apologize without smiling.

Shane ended up in his room.

Maybe he was remorseful. He didn't convey it. Maybe it was a nervous smile. He didn't hide it whenever he tried to apologize.

Shane's apology attempts only served to dig him deeper into trouble and it made for a rough morning. We went to church and back before Shane managed to make amends. Carrie eventually went up to him and they worked it out.

Trick or Treating Downtown

Rah ran up to the car when Shane and I got back from Costco. He asked Shane to ask me to take them on a trail ride while I put up groceries.

Instead, I offered to take the both of them downtown for the City trick-or-treat event. Rah got permission and then I went to double-check (there was confusion last time).

Shane went as a Wild Kratt and I gave Rah a minion hat.

First stop, the Discovery Museum. I wanted to get my parking validated (I highly recommend joining if you're the parent of a youngster and you like to go downtown).

Then it was candy central. I think the Parks and Rec people were trying to offload their stash so they didn't have to pack up as much. The gave out candy by the handful. Rah went back to ask a question and got two handfuls and a surprised look on his face..

The games were supposed to end at 4:30 PM before we arrived. However, the bounce houses hadn't been torn down yet. Shane and Rah sprinted over and got to be one of the final groups to hop around.

At least we got to see some of the stuff. I had intended to aim for the end to avoid tracking Shane in a large crowd.

We all got to see different people we knew. I would have loved to have stayed and talked more, but the boys were constantly on the move.

We walked up and down the whole area.

The boys wanted to check if the bounce house was up one last time.

They ended up running around the pavilion before I said I was done for the day.

It took a lot longer than expected to return home. I parked on floor 2 out of 4 of the Market St Lot and it took over 15 minutes to get out of the garage.

Shane and Rah didn't mind. They ate candy, talked, and listened to Hank the Cowdog (it was on at least).

Two Games Left After This One....

Where is everybody? There were only three kids who showed up for the game today!

It's a three day weekend with the teacher workday and right before a holiday....maybe they all went out of town?

The other team was small. They only had seven kids. They loaned us one kid each half and we played a four-on-four match.

For the first time, we were clearly better than the other team. Largely, it was because of Anthony. Shane, Nels, and our loaners helped. Shane's discovered his "Rocket Cut." He likes to throw the ball in hard, far, and with a charge up and sound effects. He did manage one beautiful toss over everyone towards the goal. Nels (or was it the loaner, Leif?) turned around and tapped the ball the rest of the way into the goal.

Two things for Shane to work on: 1) Not standing still after he kicks the ball (he likes to watch where it goes) and 2) Pay attention to the ball! Shane was turned around and making sounds effects and what not to everyone and he got hit in the back of the head by a throw-in. Maybe that drove the point home!

I felt a little bad for the coaches. They'd bought two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for the kids and then no one was there. Shane and I helped by eating one each! Nels' family brought popsicles for snack, so the kids all got to leave sugared up.

Toilet Humor

Teacher workday. I dropped Shane off at TKD Day camp, got my allergy shot, and went to work. Carrie worked went to a vet appointment.

The great thing about teacher workdays is I tend to get done earlier in the day. Carrie and I got to run some errands together when I got back.

We got smoothies and she almost bought me one of these shirts (I love that woman!).

I'll let you guess which shirt.

Nana and Pop Drive-Through

Nana and Pop drove through Thursday night! They picked Shane up from school and took him to a playground and Krispy Kreme. Carrie and I met up with them at Wegmans for dinner.

It filled up our evening, but it wasn't a long visit. It's amazing how time flies.

Pop has a video of Shane in the wild I'll put up eventually. 

Shout-out to Wegmans' bathrooms. They save water, paper, are clean, convenient, and cool. 

TKD

TKD is still on the downslide. Shane forgot his belt and spit a mouthful of water on the mat today. All of the other kids earned a stripe for good behavior. The teacher said Shane would have earned one if he had a belt, but I doubt it. 

It's not that he's awful, but I expect Shane to know how and when to show respect. We had a talk on the way home.

Upward Basketball Evaluations

Today was something new for us: Basketball evaluations. It helped that they were at the church we went to for VBS.

They checked Shane's height and had sample jerseys to try on for sizing. Shane's a YS.

Lord of the Beans was on to help people wait until it was their turn to join an evaluation group.

There was a timer set for 30-second intervals. It would buzz. Someone would start. It would buzz again. They were done. There was normally a small gap in between as they examiner readied the next kid and then the process repeated. It was well organized and there were multiple groups running through multiple exercises off the same timer. Shane noticed the timer and I saw him watching it on and off (especially when it was his turn).

The first exercise was to side shuffle between two cones. Shane did well.

The next exercises were to dribble right-handed and left-handed between the cones. Shane did....

Dribbling is not his strong point. He did better with shooting.  

The kids were asked to shoot from the right and left and to aim for the backboard.

The final exercise was lane shooting. The shooter was supposed to change position from right to middle to left and back to middle after each shot. Shane did well, but would have done even better if he'd kept his focus.

Shane was OK on the sidelines. I had to give him stern signals to stop climbing on a basketball hoop and trying to sit on a cone and sings about his butt a couple of times. The other kids had trouble waiting sometimes, too. He was the most animated and likely to leave the line (though he basically stayed in the same area, so that's a win!).

We're supposed to hear from whoever will be our coach around Thanksgiving.