I'm Slacking Again

I just can't seem to keep up here.  So let me try to give you a quick update of things happening with The Barnes Bunch.

Natalie
Natalie is in the 8th grade now.  It has been a bumpy start to the year with her being placed in the wrong classes.  I'm still working on getting that all straightened out, hopefully within the coming weeks.  But for the most part she's doing well aside from being bored in these unchallenging classes.

Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn started 5th grade this year and so far it has been relatively smooth.  She is taking on a lot of responsibility in the school helping out with a lot of the younger grades.  She has applied and just interviewed for the school's safety patrol.  We don't know yet if she got it, but even if not she'll still continue to help out with getting the younger kids to their class.  Which of course includes CJ.

Here teacher has been out for a few weeks and that has been tough on her.  She's not crazy about her substitute and I was really hoping to get to talk to him more about what to do for Kaitlyn and middle school next year at conferences, but he won't be there.  So I'll have to wait until he comes back to talk to him.

CJ
CJ is in Kindergarten and it has been a tough transition for him.  He is one of the youngest in his class though so it's understandable.  He was not completing work at school and having to do a lot of extra work at home, but now he's coming home with less incomplete work.  His teacher has been great and super receptive about things.  We have already discussed CJ a few times and what we can do to help him at home and in school.  She has someone who comes into the class and she lets her work one on one with CJ and she has been sending home lots of great resources which we have been working on here at home.  Still, teaching him to write the letters of the alphabet has been hard, but in just a few weeks I have been seeing a lot of growth in him already so I think he's settling in and getting used to his 3rd new school in 3 years.

Alyssa
Alyssa is 20 months old now.  We went to her 18 month check up a couple of weeks ago.  She's still a peanut weighing in at 19 pounds 11 ounces.  So close to being 20 pounds.  The doctor is a little concerned and wants us back for a weight check.  She looked at her and said she doesn't look frail though.  So I think she's just going to be a peanut of a thing.  But she gets all the good fattening stuff added to her food in the meantime to try to fatten her up.  Seriously, this kid is a bottomless pit I don't know how she's not gaining more.

Developmentally she's not doing too bad.  There's still really no words from her.  And the words she does say usually leave out consonant sounds.  She is still getting speech therapy.  That's going okay.  I think she'll just start talking one day.  She completely understands everything that is said to her and she is starting to identify her body parts. 

The Barnes Bunch As A Whole
So now here's what we have been up to as a family.  There has been apple picking, fairs, and The Big E.  Here are some pictures from those adventures.

Apple Picking

Looking for some apples

CJ picking apples

Reach up high

Beautiful view

 Mum Fair

Touch a Truck

A boy in a truck

Now that's one big truck

He could sit right in the tire

In a firetruck

Alyssa in on the action

Making a truck

Kaitlyn's building

Natalie's building

Banging with the hammer

The finished product

Daddy's helpling

Natalie's all done

Alyssa

CJ finished his truck

 The Big E

We met some friends up at the Big E.  It was a very long day, but lots of fun.

Clydesdale horses

Chick hatchery

This little piggy

Mama pig

Alyssa liked the pigs

Alyssa needed to walk

On the swings

Driving

Motorcycle

Rollercoaster

Here come the horses

CT building

The General Lee

A Lego Man

There's lots of stuff coming up this month.  A pumpkin fair, pumpkin picking, CJ's birthday party.  Maybe I'll be better about posting.

Enjoying some Family Time and Nice Weather

Today the weather here in CT was just beautiful. And unseasonably warm. Temps in the 60's. Go figure, Monday we had snow. Ahhh as the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in CT wait a minute."

Joe was off from work today which is rare for a Saturday. So since everyone was home and the weather was so nice we took advantage. We cleaned out the inside of the van and then went to the store to pick up some flowers to head to Joe's parents grave. Joe's mother's birthday was on Wednesday and of course his father being a Korean War Vet and Thursday having been Veteran's Day we figured this was the perfect time to pay our respects. We found their headstone and placed the flowers and Kaitlyn read her Me-ma a letter she had written her. Then we left.

Then we went and picked up some sandwiches at the store and found a park to eat our lunch. We had a nice picnic lunch and then the kids ran around the field for a while. CJ learned the fine art of rolling down a hill. Oh the giggles out of him. Then we headed back to the car and just went for a drive. Finally we decided to head back home though. Joe took down the Halloween lights and I started some baked ravioli for dinner. Now everyone's beat. Perhaps everyone will be off to bed early tonight. I love spending the day with my family. Glad we were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Fall Leaves

Over the weekend we enjoyed some nice weather. It was actually pretty warm. So for a little while the kids went out to play in the newly fallen leaves. This was the first time CJ had played in leaves before. He loved every minute of it.

Fall Festival

Our PTA did it's annual Fall Festival last night. It was a huge success. We had a nice turn out and lots of fun. I managed to snap a few pictures of the evening while I was running around making sure everything was going as it should.

Our friends Spencer and Mia working on their pumpkins

Mia with her pumpkin

Spencer with his pumpkin

A group of people decorating their pumpkins

CJ giving a helping hand

Natalie caught off guard

Kaitlyn playing a game

CJ chipping in to clean up when the night was over

So far I've heard nothing but good feed back about the night. Natalie did guess how many M&M's were in the jar, but someone else guessed the same amount. We gave it to that person because we did not want it to appear rigged. Well, actually the guess was in CJ's name which was nice of Natalie. She did four guesses and the guess she made for CJ was tied for being the closest.