The Feast

Jackson had his Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast this last week.  Prior to the feast, I was able to go into the classroom to help the kids bake some of the treats for our feast.  The day I was there we made pumpkin corn bread muffins, but they had also prepared carrot cake to eat as well.  Jackson was very excited that both Mom and Dad were able to come to the feast and watch.  The three morning kindergarten classes sang songs for their families and then enjoyed eating the yummy treats the kids had prepared.

The Pilgrims ready to sing

Our handsome Pilgrim

Ready for the Feast

Jackson's Kindergarten class (he is in the front on the right)

 

 He's obviously very comfortable up there!  His hat kept falling down over his eyes, which was driving him crazy.

  

I think this second video is so sweet!  The little girl next to Jackson was crying and he was trying his best to console her but still do his job of singing.  You can see him ask her "what's wrong?", and then he follows her into the audience when she finally went to sit by her parents.

Hot Chocolate

Jeff and I recently ran in the Hot Chocolate Run in downtown Chicago.  I was ready to challenge myself beyond a 5k, and decided to register myself and Jeff for the 15k.  I had heard great things about the Hot Chocolate in the past and was really excited to run it with my hubby.  It was definitely a fun morning with Jeff!  We got to spend five hours together, just the two of us, BUT we enjoyed the morning with 40,000 of our closest friends! :)  There were so many people it was hard to even move.  The race itself was poorly organized from beginning to end. :(  We were on our feet standing in a large mass of people for over an hour before we even started running.  Once we crossed the starting line, there were so many walkers we were dodging people left and right.  To top it off, it was the most.boring.route.ever!  I guess in the past the route has been totally in the city, but this year we ran south of Soldier Field along Lake Shore Drive, which you would think would be picturesque...it wasn't.  We saw a lot of empty parking lots and ran in dark tunnels underneath McCormick Place.  I told Jeff after we crossed the finish line, "I will NEVER do that again!"  But of course now that I've had time to think about it, I kind of want a "do-over."  I ended up with a crummy time, way slower than all my training, and I want to finish feeling good.  So we will see!  All in all, I'm glad I did it, I'm happy I finished, and it was fun to spend the morning with Jeff.

After the Race.  Feels good to be done!

Jeff with his Finisher's Mug.

The best part of the race, the chocolate at the end!

Happy Halloween

My boys desperately wanted to be Transformers this year for Halloween.  Of course two of the three wanted to be Transformers that aren't typical costumes you can buy at the local Party City.  Dad to the rescue!  Jeff told the boys he would make their costumes this year, and I think he did a great job!  I have to admit I was skeptical but he proved me wrong. :)  With a little help from Costco (boxes) and some spray paint we were good to go.

Grant (Lugnut), Jackson (Optimus Prime), Cooper (Heatwave)

Jackson at his kindergarten parade
 
The little boys had a parade at their preschool too, but of course I forgot my camera. Cooper loved it, Grant cried and clung to Daddy through the entire parade!

We trick or treated with friends, the G family and E family this year. It was chilly but the boys were all bundled up and didn't seem to mind once they started filling their buckets with candy.

All six of the the boys
 

The parade of parents
 

The cutest Woody ever!


Time for pizza after trick or treating


Our family Halloween 2012