This and That

We had our neighborhood Halloween parade today. Camden had been looking forward to the parade since we told him about it last week. You see, Camden spends quite a bit of time in costume these days. Ever since we bought his Ninja Turtle costume in preparation for Halloween about a month ago, he's spent a good portion of each day dancing to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme song while in full costume. Lately, though, he's had a new request when dressing up: he wants Macey to be in her Minnie Mouse costume too. And he wants her in full costume-- including her black and red Minnie shoes. This morning, as we were scrambling to get ready for the parade, Macey took those Minnie shoes off about 15 times. Finally, I gave up and decided I would put them on her once we got to the parade. Camden, however, wasn't having any of that. He takes this costume stuff seriously. After several failed attempts to put her shoes back on himself, he came to me and said, "Mommy, I'm really worried about Macey's Minnie shoes. They need to be on." It was hilariously adorable. Thankfully, Macey was much more willing to comply with her brother's request once we were outside. Finally, seeing Macey in full costume, Camden could relax.

Matt stayed up late Saturday night working on this minion pumpkin. His dedication paid off; he took home the grand prize in the pumpkin carving contest at the neighborhood parade. He'd never admit it, but he was totally proud of this pumpkin.

 

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In other news (and at the risk of sounding like the most indecisive person on the planet), I am still enrolled in school. It's actually kind of funny-- I waited so long to drop the class I was taking this semester that when I went to meet with my advisor last week, he told me it was too late to withdraw from the course. So, my options were: fail the class and just be done with it or talk to my professor and try to catch up on the assignments I had missed when I stopped doing work after I decided to withdraw from school. It's strange; I actually felt relieved that I had missed the withdrawal deadline. It was like being given a second chance. I went home that night, emailed my professor, and caught up on all of the assignments I had missed (there were only two) before I even heard back from her. Thankfully, she is willing to work with me, and while it's doubtful that I'll get an A in the class due to the late work, I might still be able to pull off a B. The best part, though, is that I'm back on track. I still have some doubts and hesitations, but they're things I think I can work through (for example: I have zero desire to teach in my current county, but there's no reason I can't work in other counties). It all comes down to this for me: I will never regret getting my teaching licensure. I may find, after a couple of years of teaching, that it's not the right fit for me and that's fine. But I know I would regret never finishing my licensure. There's a reason, after all, that I keep coming back to this time and time again over the past ten years. I'm over halfway done; no more quitting for this girl.

 

 

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And finally, Macey and I are taking a road trip with my mom this weekend. One of my best friends from childhood is expecting her first child in December and her baby shower is on Saturday. Since Macey has never met my grandmother (something I've been feeling immensely guilty about!), Mom and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to visit my grandmother on the way up to my hometown for the shower. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous about this trip; Macey isn't what I'd call an excellent car rider. She'll tolerate a 30 minute drive with no problem; anything more than that and she's over being restrained and ready to run around. This will be a 4 hour drive so it could get interesting. I'm also a tiny bit worried about how she'll do sleeping in a hotel room. She's such an awesome sleeper now that I dread doing anything that will mess up her routine. But I'm completely willing to risk a less than pleasant car ride and a sleepless night for Macey to meet her great-grandmother. Fingers crossed that it goes more smoothly than I'm expecting!