Keeley's Positive Referral

In October, Keeley was recommended for a Positive Referral award by her teacher, Ms. C. This is a big deal, as not many students get this reward. I believe it is just one boy and one girl from each GRADE each month. :)

In early October, we had parent-teacher conferences, and Ms. C. told me that she had recommended her for the award. A week or so later, I received a call from the Assistant Principal that Keeley had received the award, and Keeley and another boy from her class were in the office picking out a new toy each!

She also mentioned that the awards would be announced at morning assembly on November 4.

Here is her certificate, signed by the Assistant Principal.


This morning was the assembly day. Keeley was SO excited about getting to go up on stage in front of everyone and have them all clapping for her!
Once all the kids were in the auditorium, she seemed worried and upset, so I asked her teacher to check on her. She was nervous because the other little boy in her class wasn't at school yet, and she was obviously relying on him for familiarity, and was NOT pleased at the prospect of making the trek on her own. Fortunately, Ms. C. found him, and Keeley's face lit up!

Once the names were announced, Keeley went up with confidence, a wave, and a smile!
I have video that is too large to post on here, but I took a few photos after the assembly, when the award recipients took a group photo.

Here is Keeley with her fellow award-winning classmate.


And, here is a quick snap of the whole group. You can see that this is a small group in a school of 800+, so it's quite an honor to receive this award!


We are so proud of our beautiful, kind, smart, hard-working Keeley!

Walking Wednesday

The kids' school is promoting walking to school by having "Walking Wednesdays." We enjoy our walks in the morning! Sometimes the kids scooter, like this morning. :)

Halloween!!

Halloween - so much fun!! Dressing up! Trick-or-Treating! Handing out candy! Whee!

This year, Luken wanted to be Batman!




So, Keeley opted to be a Bat Girl!




How CUTE are they???!!!


Keeley's dress lit up!


Some fun scenes from our trick-or-treating.


These people had a projection TV and screen set up on their lawn so they wouldn't miss a minute of football. :P


Blow-up haunted house.






After the kids were all tuckered out from walking around the neighborhood, they took over the duty of passing out of candy to other trick-or-treaters. :)

Luken'sssssss Birthhhhhhhday Paaaaarty!

Luken has been so excited to have a Zooniversity birthday party for a LONG time!

The invitesssss...


Luken decorated the front door and the inside of the house!






We started the party by having our guests each decorate a picture frame with some zoo animals and creepy crawlies.






Photobomber Jacob!! LOL!






Soon, the zookeeper arrived with Luken's 6 choice animals, and the party really got started!


Going over the rules.




Learning about the first animal.


The Red Eye Crocodile Skink - "Bullseye"


As the Birthday Child, Luken had a special chair next to the zookeeper, and he got to hold every animal!








Close-up!


Next animal was Apalachicola Kingsnake - "Kink"




Then, the African Burrowing Bullfrog - "Sampson"


When he grows up, he'll be as big as a dinner plate!


Next up, the Bearded Dragon - "Velcro"


He's sticky. :)




Then they met the Frilled Dragon - "Draco"






Everyone got a chance to touch every animal, as she showed them around the room.


Close-up of Draco!


The grand finale, biggest, coolest animal Luken picked was the Columbian Red-Tailed Boa, who is 7 feet long, and 40 pounds!


The kids practicing opening their mouths as wide as a snake can!




Luken got to hold half of that heavy snake, and show her around.






After the presentation, each child got to pose like this for a picture with Velcro. :)


Sadly, then we had to say goodbye to the animals, but the party continued. Time for CAKE!

Of course, I had to come up with some kind of cool snake! I used colored rolled fondant to fashion a snake, modelled after one of Luken's toys.














All the decorations were made from fondant, and the cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting. I ground up some chocolate cookies to make "dirt." I thought it turned out pretty cute!

We also made some vanilla cupcakes, and sprinkled bug candies on top. :D




Time for candles!






After cake, Luken opened his presents! He got some very cool stuff from his really wonderful group of friends!


Later, the cutest partygoer helped herself to another cupcake. :)


Grandma taught her how to care for her baby doll. Aren't they so sweet?


The party was a success, and I think a good time was had by all! Thank you to all our guests for coming and celebrating Luken!