Countdown to Christmas

What a crazy time of year this! We had a fantastic Halloween, including, but of course not limited to, visiting Grandma, Aunt Margaret, and Uncle Don and Aunt Mary's house. I laughingly joked that we should get shirts that say "Tour of Rory 2009"! Rory loved Trick or Treating and thought it was pretty cool that people just willingly gave out candy to total strangers. It is kind of a crazy holiday, if you really think about it. Rory really went crazy when we went home... check out the youtube video called SUGAR HIGH.

When we returned home he dumped all his candy on the table and just went to TOWN eating everything. But, we still had trick-or-treaters visiting, and the candy we had just wasn't good enough I guess. Rory wanted to give HIS candy to the 'big' kids- you know, the ones that SHOULDN'T be trick or treating, but do anyway. Actually, Brandon reported a trick or treater with a BEARD this year. Yikes. Anyway, Rory insisted on giving his candy to the kids (there were only a few). When we asked him what his favorite part of Halloween was, he said "giving out the candy". He's a giver... loves to give. When we laid in bed that night, we talked about how EVERYONE goes trick-or-treating.... his friends here, his cousins in florida, all his classmates, etc.... And he asked if anyone in Haiti goes trick-or-treating. I said no, it's just here. Then he asked if Witchy (one boy still in Haiti waiting to come home) would go trick-or-treating and I said, "No, Witchy isn't home yet so he can't go, but he'll go next Halloween." Rory was visably upset and asked why Witchy wasn't home yet, etc.... etc.... which turned into a long conversation. Then Rory asked if he could send some candy and his costume to Witchy so he could have Halloween in Haiti. How sweet is that... I just about melted.

Rory got his first report card in October and we had our first ever parent conference. It was really interesting being on the other side of the table. I actually teared up when the teacher was telling me how far he'd come and how he was writing (MY CHILD! WRITING!). I swore I'd never be that 'emotional' parent, but I do get it now and it just kind of brought it all home. He's come so far in just 8 short months. We are constantly amazed at the the things he says and does. The other day he just out of the clear blue sky started singing "Who let the dogs out!! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" If I had a dime for evertime I say "Where did you hear that?"

Also, Thanksgiving was great. We had a small gathering - same as last year, but with Rory here, it was a whole new ball game. He had a countdown until the "big turkey". We made a little pilgrim hat and collar for him to wear too. He was really excited about the turkey, and he had a leg of it at dinner- hey, that's what he wanted, so I simply obliged... it's a holiday for pete's sake! He also loved the rolls and Grandma's chocolate pie. He was bummed to go to bed while the rest of us played cards. He wanted to stay up and play with us saying "Hey, guys, let's play cards".

The day after Thanksgiving was awesome. We got out all the stuff, boxes and boxes of it. Rory loved the newspaper :) in the boxes... thought that was really cool for some reason. Rory loves the dancing snowman and all that stuff. Grandma and Grandpa sent him a reindeer and dog that both sing and dance. He played with them last night for an hour! We are gradually adding to our collections around the Christmas tree and Rory says there are 31 right now. He could be right, but I'm not going to count them! The cutest thing is that he asked Santa for four things (a train, a drum set, a transformer, and a teddy bear) so he BELIEVES truly that he is going to get those four things and nothing more. Boy, is he going to be surprised on Friday! We can't hardly STAND IT!!!

In the meantime, we are going to have fun during our school break. I'm drinking coffee and typing this in my pajamas. The break comes just in the nick of time. Don't get me wrong- my job is great, but let's just say, that this year... I'm working for every red cent they pay me!