Book Character Day

Today was Book Character Day at Red Bug!

Pumpkin Carving

Lauren carved a pumpkin with Mommy and Daddy. She was a bit hesitant to put her hand inside and feel the guts! Mommy had to show her how it was done and Daddy finished scooping the guts to carve it for her. Every year I do a math activity with pumpkins in my classroom so I am very use to feeling the inside and pulling out the seeds. Lauren liked playing with the seeds. She just prefers keeping her hands out and waiting for us to scoop them to her.
"Yuck"

Pirate Lauren

Lauren attended her best friends Halloween Party. They played games, ate yummy food, and wore their costumes! This year Lauren decided early on that she wanted to be a princess. She narrowed it down to Cinderella. But in the last two weeks she started asking to be a pirate. Bubbie had a pirate costume put away for her birthday so we took it out to surprise her. Just add some boots and the costume was complete."Arrrrrrgg", says the pirate.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we took Lauren to a pumpkin patch at the Altamonte Chapel.

Lauren picked out a mini-pumpkin for her room.

Then, she looked around for a large pumpkin.

The chapel was having a fall festival so Lauren got to enjoy riding her first real horse.

She was a pro! Not scared at all.

Caught in Action!

Lauren told me she was going in her room to play with her doll house. I heard her playing and then a couple minutes later............ I hear a noise in the kitchen. I walked over to the kitchen to find my sneaky daughter standing on her step stool with an open bag of Cheetos (those are currently for Kendall...wink, wink.) I wish I had a camera to catch the look on her face when she saw me standing in the kitchen. She had a surprised face covered in orange! I used a stern (holding back my laughter) voice and asked her if she had permission to eat the Cheetos??? She ran straight to her room and started to cry. Well, she may be a bit sneaky but at least she has a conscience. Don't worry we had a long (3 minute) discussion about this incident after she was done punishing herself in her room.

Epcot Food and Wine Festival

It is always a fun and exhausting time going to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. We went to celebrate Abuelo and Abuela's birthday. Lauren has a smidgen of milk chocolate creme brulee on her lips......yum!
Lauren and Abuelo listening to the Louisiana Band.

Mommy was sitting on one of the few benches that was clear and a gentleman sitting next me asked, "Did you have to flash your belly to get those beads?" After a surprised Mommy face I turned to him and said, "No, I had to flash my belly to get this seat."

Lauren's first meeting with Jasmine, Aladdin, and Genie.

Auntie Renee's meeting with the Aladdin. Aladdin: "Do I know you from somewhere?" Auntie Renee: "Ya, I've seen you in a movie." That was an interesting conversation to observe!

Visiting the Vet

Bailey had her annual check up today. She is healthy, but the doctors put tears in my eyes when they reminded me of her age. Bailey turns 10 this December.

Since she has a bit of arthritis, I bought her a new cozy bed to make her comfortable. We also wanted her to feel special since we just put together Kendall's crib in our room. Bailey is technically our 'first child' and we don't want her to feel pushed aside by any changes. She does really love this new bed! I also spoiled her after her annual shots with a new chew toy ~ but of course, she hid it somewhere in the house. Those silly beagles!

UCF vs. Miami

We lost. Can you hear me sobbing? Unfortunately we had to play our freshman quarterback and the results were on the board. We were lucky enough to stay with my Aunt and Uncle so we brought Lauren down with us. She enjoyed playing with my Aunt while we went to the game. Our trip was so quick we forgot to take pictures. I would have loved to take pictures of her sleeping in her Strawberry Shortcake bed........thanks Aunt Jan!

Team Emerson

A co-worker of mine had a beautiful baby girl on Saturday, September 27th. Soon after meeting her for the first time she was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome. As a school family we came together with her family and created a team to walk in this weekends Buddy Walk. The goal of the DSACF Buddy Walk is to promote awareness and acceptance; raise funds for education, research and advocacy; and to influence local and national policy. The Buddy Walk is a 1 mile casual walk around Lake Eola, followed by a morning of festivities in the park. There were bounce houses, games, crafts, entertainment, prizes and tons of food. Lauren especially enjoyed the bounce house with her new friend Anna. (Anna is my prinicpal's daughter.)

In just 5 days, we donated over $4,000. We ended up having at least 50 members in our team to support the new family. I'm so proud of our efforts!

I truly work at an amazing school!

Red Bug Family

Team Emerson
Lauren hanging out in the bounce house.