Hey where have I been?

Halloween was great. J went with her friend, A, trick-or-treating and to a party. K and a bunch of friends went over their friend C's house. They walked around stocking up on candy from the neighborhood stores and avoiding the flying shaving cream, lol. B and W trick-or-treated on our block together. I worked that night and my department won a contest and we each got a $300 gift card to PC Richards! Woohoo!

Thursday K stayed home from school, B stayed home from work, and we all went to a homeschool group class at an environmental center in Nassau. The class was on endangered species. It was a great, hands-on class with as usual, eager participation from everyone. The educator was a pro with the kids (we'd had him last time for the monarch butterfly class). They played a jenga game which signified pieces of the environment being taken away one by one and how the whole area can just "collapse". There was also an outside game where the kids were all part of a grasshopper-sparrow-hawk food chain and how the pesticide content of the hawks originate with the grass eaten by grasshoppers. The kids loved it and K was happy to see her friends again. In the afternoon, J had acro and jazz.

Friday morning, the kids and I were so excited to go to the brand new Trader Joe's in Queens! It's the first one in Queens and the largest one in the state (according to the worker there). We stocked up on produce, Joe's O's, cats cookies, edamame, and Earth Balance. Then onto our regular grocery store for the regular weekly stuff. Saturday I worked, J had 4 hours of dance, and K was treated to dinner by the boy she likes. He's a good kid - very respectful, very attentive. We approve.

Today the kids had CCD (K was teacher's aide). W had homework - writing his name, phone number, and address. He did it with no protest this morning before class. He made sure it was neat and correct since he really wanted the teacher to approve. It was interesting to see this kind of motivation from him. He enjoys the approval he gets, but he's not over-invested in it and is more proud of what he accomplishes for himself. I think that's a good thing. :)