Candy = Joy

Barbie, Tinkerbell & our neighbor Amy the cat

Halloween on the Lawn at UVa

Bethany does the 'Zombie run'

Humans get a 90 second head start before being chased by the zombies who try to catch them & have them join the walking (well, running in this case) dead!

 Haven & Joni were not so sure they liked this race!

PACT Halloween party (Bethany's lab)

Christina as an Incredible

Jess as Maleficent

Daisy as a cricket being chased by a spider 

 Pictionary is taken very seriously! 

Pumpkin carving

Haven was the 'designer', Joni scooped out the guts - our kids are predictable!

Ghoulish goodies

Combine cupcakes, eyeball & bug sprinkles, an old shower curtain, & five 3-5 year old kids...what do you get?

Gorgeous fall day at Carter Mountain Apple Orchard

Bethany gets spoiled on her birthday

Among the awesome gifts the kids selected for me... fluorescent green hair spray, wood glue, & a fly swatter – extra points for anyone who can use all 3 at once!

(Pre) Halloween treats with Grandma Goody

(and thanks to Grandmama for the sprinkles that look like giant bugs!)

Exciting week at University Montessori School

Haven, Gabriella, J Alex & Dena at the school fun fair

Kindergarten field trip to Martha Jefferson Hospital
Highlight of the trip was a question from a 5 year old classmate to the nurse:
"So, do you actually hatch the babies out here?"

A whole lot of pink & a whole lot of hopping

Haven's dance class with Miss Amanda

We think Joni's pancakes must have been laced with something...

Haven's Sun Celebration at School

At Haven & Joni's school, each child takes a turn once a year being child of the week.  This much-anticipated event has many parts (making muffins for the class, sharing your "me bag" with special toys...), including the big Sun Celebration.  In this celebration, Haven walks around the sun carrying the earth once for each year of her life, while Brian & Bethany talk about special events from that year.

The next part of the celebration involves the class singing a song to Haven to celebrate her “place on the earth.”

Haven selects a book for the final stage of the Sun Celebration.  Typically, the teacher or parents read the story, but Haven asked if she could read it to the group.  This clip shows the first half of the story – of course, it is wonderful to see her excitement in reading to the class for the first time, but the most impressive part of the video comes around minute 3 when Haven manages to continue reading while the girl sitting beside Haven repeatedly tried to look under Haven’s skirt!  

Ballerinas at the Developmental Psychology Fair

Enjoying some special chances to cuddle

Girls were in heaven cuddling the cats at the SPCA.
Here, Alex very patiently made sure Joni's attempts to pet 3 cats at once didn't result in injury to the cats or Joni!

Hanging out with Reid at the park

A special late night with Janet, Director of the girls' Montessori school