Happy Halloween!

Stella's class is having a Halloween party today with a costume parade, and I was lucky enough to get Stella into her lion costume. I bought it for last year, but she didn't wear it because it was really big for her and she was sick at Halloween! It just fits this year!

Today is also the anniversary of her baptism! Thanks for reminding us, MB! What a day that was!

Thank you to everyone who sent Halloween cards to Stella. Yesterday she had quite a stack of orange envelopes to open.

We're supposed to get quite a few trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood tonight. I hope I have enough candy.

Stella loves Grandma Susan!

My mom just left this morning to go back to Kansas. She stayed a whole week, and we had a great time. Stella wasn't sure about her at first, but warmed up to her after a few days. By this morning before Grandma Susan left, Stella was pretty attached.



We got a cake for my birthday, which was Tuesday. I really don't care if I have one for my birthday -- god knows I don't need it -- but Stella loves the birthday cake episode of Elmo's World, so I got a birthday cake that said "Happy 34th Birthday" and Stella enjoyed that and ate quite a bit of it!



Stella will be looking good for school, too, since my mom bought her a lot of clothes and a couple of pairs of new shoes. Some of it was from my favorite kids' catalog Hanna Andersson. The busdriver has already asked me if we spend a fortune on her clothes. "No, but other people do!"

And I just had to add this picture of Stella and John in the backyard. We have a new appreciation for all those leaves now that we see Stella running through them and jumping into the piles.

The earliest snow in recorded history

Today we woke up to snow on the ground, and it's been snowing all day -- sometimes it's been almost blizzard-like condtions. And we haven't even reached peak color and not a whole month into Fall! Unbelievable. I had to go to a doctor's appointment, and I could barely see on my way there.

This picture is from earlier today when there was less snow. As John says, "Green leaves, red leaves, snow." This is our backyard.

This is the neighbor's tree out the front door. It was too cold to venture too far outside the house, so I stuck the camera outside the door.


Stella was home from school today because she's very stuffy and not feeling her best. Let's just say it's been a tough day for me. She's so hard to keep entertained. I am soooo thankful for her school and the way they keep her busy. I hope she feels better tomorrow. After my conference and perinatologist appointment the first 3 days of the week, I thought I'd have Thurs. and Fri. to clean up for my mom's visit. I can't believe she'll be here on Sunday; it's been 2½ years since I've seen her in person!

Not to mention, Stella was sick the day after we got all her transportation issues hammered out with the district. I hope they don't forget our deal!

Well, I hope wherever you are, you're warm! We're just not ready for temps in the 30°s!

Now, the second week of school!

It took Stella a couple of days to get used to school, but by Thursday, Stella's teacher was reporting that she was doing well and smiling a lot at school. She certainly comes home happy every afternoon, and is ready for bed between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. Given the sleep issues we used to have, I appreciate that very much. Between this wonderful school program that she's in and the Risperdal she's taking, I think some of everyone's prayers have been answered.

However, Stella hasn't taken much to school lunches. I bought school lunch for her Wednesday through Friday, and she never touched a bite of it! So we're back to packing Stella's favorites .... meatballs, spaghetti, nuggets, berries, grapes ... maybe an occasional Twinkie.

It is really cute to see her get on the bus every morning. It is really crazy to see a 2½ year old get on a schoolbus, but she has adapted really well and has never cried during a busride.


All I could get was eyes-closed.


The morning schoolbus.

Stella's Grandma Susan -- my mom-- from Kansas will be coming October 15 and will spend a week with her. We're looking forward to that!

Karmel

Note from Stella's teacher

Today was Stella's first day at the ASD classroom in Albion. Leaving her there was hard because I heard her screaming and crying, so I naturally thought about her all day and so did John. But when I picked her up at 3:15, she looked happy and the teacher carried her to my van. She left a note in Stella's backpack:

Stella had a pretty good day, even though it started a little rough. She was upset for about 5 minutes after you left before I got her interested in collecting some of the balls in the classroom. She did well during circle time and she enjoyed our singing. She did cry a few times throughout the day -- mostly when we were transitioning to new activities.

She didn't eat very much for lunch, but she was falling asleep at the table, so we decided to lay her down. She slept for about an hour -- she woke up about 1 p.m.

Today we let her explore the room at her own pace. During booth time I used the time for Stella to get used to the booth and allow her a chance to play with all the reinforcers. She really liked the vehicles and farm animals puzzle.

Tomorrow morning may be hard also. I'm sure she's not going to be ready yet to let you go, but she does calm down pretty quickly and she had fun today

Nicole

So there you have it -- Stella's first day at school!

John took a quick trip up to the cottage this weekend and wanted me to post some of his famous up north photos.

Pastoral


Sailboat