Happy Halloween

Today is a rainy day again.  We had a lot of rain Saturday night too.  So things are getting very soggy.  A branch on one of the trees fell.  Thankfully it fell between the car and fence, so nothing was hurt.  Andrew has enjoyed using a little bow saw cutting into the log and even cut a section off of it.  He likes doing things he sees his dad do.

Last week Ruth enjoyed going to Activity Days.  I am thankful that she has friends she can be with at church functions.  Andrew had Pack Meeting.  He earned two belt loops, his first things awarded him in Cub Scouts.  He was happy about it.

We had lots of fun at the park last week.  Caleb and I played a couple of times with friends.  Then Saturday late afternoon we went to the park as a family.  The kids rode their bikes on the track.  Spencer rode the tricycle around the 1/2 mile track.  Then Caleb ran chasing him to get a turn on the tricycle.  Caleb ran all around the track.  They took turns on the tricycle after that.  It was a beautiful day and many were at the park.  It was nice to spend time together.  Then this week when I went for walks Monday and Tuesday I asked Caleb if he wanted to run again, so he did.  He will run around one time, 1/2 mile, with a few stops and pauses, and then he waits for me to catch up and gets back into the stroller.  Andrew is loving to run too.  Last week for a PE free choice day he told me he ran 7 laps on the 1/6 mile track at school, without stopping.  He wants to run the turkey run the school is doing in November.  

Friday we had the missionaries over for dinner.  They are good young men.  

Saturday we decided to put the bunk bed back together.  We have had three twin beds in the boys room, with the bunk bed apart.  Their room was crowded, but it worked.  Now that the boys are older we decided to try the bunk bed again.  They are all happy to have all the extra floor space in their room.  And they have been pretty good about not playing on the top bunk much.

Saturday we also took time to go to the new Waco Stake Center building, before we went to the park.  Neal had a key and we were able to go inside.  It is such a beautiful building.  It is bigger than I thought it was from the outside.  It is going to be really special to be able to attend church there.  This Sunday will be our first week meeting there.  There is still a lot to get ready for that day though.  Tonight the ward leaders are meeting at the building to access what we need to do to be ready for our meetings Sunday.  Then Saturday our ward is meeting to do any work that is needed.  I am sure we will be ready.  Neal has already packed up the clerks and bishop office things and will get the boxes moved over tonight.  (Right now it is all in our bed room, so I will be happy when it gets moved.)  As a Relief Society presidency we met Monday to go through things at the old building to see what we needed to move.  Hopefully we can get that done by Saturday.  I took pictures of the outside of the building finally.  I didn’t feel I could show the beauty of the inside in pictures, so I didn’t take any of the interior.  You will have to come and see it yourself.  (We would love to have visitors, it has been a long time since any one has come to see us.)

The front of the building on the chapel side. 

From the other side of the front

The back of the building

Last Sunday was a little sad for me to think about leaving our other church building.  We have meet there for over 8 years, while we have been in Texas, and there are so many memories there.  Then last night we had a ward dinner and trunk or treat for the kids, at the old building.  It was nice to be there, but I know that might be the last time I am there for a long time since our ward wont be meeting there.  The party was a lot of fun.  The kids were so excited about dressing up.  Andrew was happy I had finished his costume, I stayed up late Monday getting it done.  Ruth looked cute as a cowgirl and Spencer couldn’t decide what dragon costume to use.  Caleb had a hard time deciding on a costume.  For preschool yesterday morning he dressed up as a monkey, then last night he decided to try the lion.  He liked the lion so much he wore it today to story time at the library.  He is a cute lion.  Although last night the lion, tiger and dragon were getting a bit too excited with seeing who was the scariest.  I had to remind them to be nice to princesses and fairies, we didn’t need any little girl scared at the ward party!

Caleb the lion

Andrew the tiger

Spencer the dragon, in both costumes at once

Ruth the cowgirl, in her boots!

A growl that turned into a laugh!

A pretty mean tiger!

Caleb is being amazing with his self motivated search for knowledge.  His favorite toy right now is an alphabet puzzle.  He plays with the letters, puts them in order, says their names over and over.  He is trying so hard to memorize it.  He sees letters around and likes to say them.  He is also amazing in his math skills.  Spencer was doing his home work last night and said a problem out loud and Caleb answered it, Caleb was looking at another paper that had the answer, but he still knew what all the numbers names are.  He counted to 50 today while looking at a poster at the library.  I think he is trying to catch up with Spencer.  It is fun to help him learn.