What happened in October around our house? Of course we had Elora's birthday. She got to help decorate her awesome heart cake,
and we brought some delicious treats to her class (Recipe courtesy of our Betty Crocker wall calendar). I'm not very good at creating culinary beauty, but these sure were tasty!
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| Halloween cupcakes, complete with candy! |
This month Joseph has been taking a free EMT class at his school, with a handful of other staff. He's really excited about it, and having fun learning how to help in emergencies. One day he got to bring home the board to which they tie children in an accident, and he practiced with each of our kids.
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| I kind of found it disturbing to see Jonah this way; lets hope he's never in one of these for real! |
Maybe we should get one of these to keep around the house for misbehaving kids? Then Elora got to go to class with him to let other people practice with her.
The downside to the class is that it is held every Saturday (all day) and Sunday (afternoons) until December, and it's no fun to not have Joseph home on the weekends. Plus he's supposed to have experience riding in the ambulance based out of Eagle Butte, so they're thinking of transferring the last month of classes there, meaning he'll get home even later at night...as in eight pm or so. He also is supposed to pay for some of his own equipment, and pay for a big test at the end.
I just hope he passes the test so it was all worth it! Joseph thinks having this accreditation might make him more of an asset in other rural schools when he applies to teaching positions in other states when we want to move.
This month we also did Elijah's blessing at church. Wasn't he a handsome boy? I think he looks so old in this photo, and so serious. I love how his eyes slant down just like his daddy's. He was about six weeks old in this picture.
We had all of the Halloween activities this month as well. We decorated pumpkins right before Halloween, and everyone did a great job!
On Halloween day, we dressed in our costumes and went over to the school where they have a Halloween parade, or at least that's what they call it.
We got to sit with daddy, who let his hair down for the occasion.
Yes, Jonah was there too, right by Cousin It:
For the "parade", they call everyone up by age category- preschool through high school- and they walk around the gym to some Halloween music, like "Monster Mash", "Thriller", and "Ghostbusters". Our preschoolers started out walking with Daddy,
but soon our two Supermans had a great time running around to the music, unlike the other participants who all just walked slowly in a big circle:
The preschoolers all got two dollars each, while the other age categories were judged on their costumes, with a first, second, and third place awarded. Elora was a witch, as were four other girls in her class (with only seven girls total, that's a lot of witches!) But somehow, she won first place for her costume! I guess maybe because it was colorful or quirky or something? Almost everyone there had mostly black costumes. Anyway, she got $20 for winning! Sweet. Doubly sweet because we didn't have to buy anything for it: she was happy to wear the same costume she wore two years ago.
After the parade they had activities in the other gym, from face painting to balloon animals. Joseph was in charge of a frisby throwing booth, While Elora and Joshua had fun making caramel apples. I couldn't believe one of the teachers was running a Bobbing for Apples booth...seriously, are they trying to spread germs? It wasn't very popular.
Then around five, they had a dinner for everyone, after which we went trick or treating in the neighborhood around our house. It was a great Halloween!
Finally, Joseph has spent a lot of time this month cuddling with Elijah. He's very fond of telling people how he can lay down in the couch with the baby, and the baby will quickly fall asleep under his father's expert care. I have captured video evidence of what really happens when Joseph helps the baby go to sleep....
