Happy Halloween!

We had a lot of fun leading up to our Trick-Or-Treating on Halloween this year. Hannah dressed up as a Dog, Patrick as the Transformer "Bumblebee" and the kids even got Mom and Dad to dress up as a Flower and Cowboy. The weather was wonderful and we had a great time all day. Below are some pictures of the week of Halloween.

Halloween 2009

The Monster Mash comes home

Happy Halloween from our family and Flat Stanley, who's visiting us from Clarissa's class in Columbia, TN.

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Another First Day

Last week Patrick had to go through a week where Hannah went to school and he didn't. For a boy who loves to be first in everything, including the first to have his pajamas on, his patience was tried daily when Hannah was the first to go to school and he had to wait a week before he could go to his.

Today was his big day though. He started his first day in 4 year old Preschool at Clear Lake Presbyterian Church. All summer he's been looking forward to starting school and seeing his friends again. His first day was a great one and he jumped right in. In fact, Mom says he almost pushed some other kids out of the way so he could get into the classroom to play with his friends. Mrs. Dunn and Mrs. Fields are going to have their hands full this year - 11 boys and 5 girls - but they are all smiles so far.

Patrick is ready to head back into school for the first time since May.

One more picture and then we'll go see your friends.

"Ok, Owen, we're going to play trains - this is what you're doing to do."

Patrick, you're an amazing gift from God. Now we just need to work on agreeing that it's ok that Hannah starts school each day before you do (8am vs. 8:30).

"You Can Leave Now"

No streams of tears. No drawn-out hugs. No extended waves. Nope, from Hannah it was "You can leave now," when Mom took her to her classroom. In fact, Amy had to convince Hannah that she could actually come with her to her classroom; she'd have been content with Mom leaving her at the door.

Hannah's excitement stayed with her all day. She had a wonderful, exciting first day of school and can't wait to go back. Tomorrow adds even more fun - she's going to buy her lunch at the cafeteria.

We just need to get used to cheering "Go Thunderbirds!" (PS, Dad's ecstatic to learn that the school colors for Clear Lake City Elementary are Blue and Gold. Go Blue!)

Dressed and ready to go.

Practicing her "Bye Mom!"

Welcome back - for the first time, in our case.

At her desk, ready to start the day.

Kindergarten Already?

It's true, our little girl starts Kindergarten tomorrow. It's so hard to believe that she's already five years old and ready to head to full day public school.

Today we went into the school, met her teacher, Ms. Landry, got her school supplies set up, and made sure we were all ready for the big day tomorrow. Something that's really exciting is that two of Hannah's classmates from Preschool last year will also be in her class, including her best friend Bridget. So while there's a lot of new this year, there's some familiarity to help as well.

Here's a photo of Hannah in front of the sign at her new school.

And I also put together a quick (cheesy?) video of Hannah from Septembers past. Amazing how fast they grow!