Halloween

After two great soccer wins today, we headed over to Hank and Leslie's for a night of Halloween fun. Taylor was first on the table to have her makeup put on. 1 hour and 15 min worth of work to look like..... this! After she put on her costume,wig, boots and choker, she was the best Paul Stanley I had ever seen. Great work Hank! Taylor ate dinner and played with the other kids while the rest of her band mates got into costume.

Reana was the cutest Disco Diva.

Allison made an adorable chef.

And the two of them were cute as could be.

Matt posed with the son he never had.

The band was finally ready and looked amazing.

Everyone was finally ready for Trick-r-Treating.

The kids got lots of candy, but especially enjoyed this cool haunted house along the way.

I have a feeling Hank is already brainstorming ideas for next year!

EI EI Oops

EI EI Oops has become a 2nd grade tradition at our school. The students have been working hard learning their lines, dances and songs and getting their costumes ready for the performances today. Matt and I attended the 9:30 show and then I returned to watch the 2:30 show as well.

The farmers and all of the animals spend the entire performance trying to get their cow to "MOO" using tactics like singing, joke telling and compliments.

Marley got the show started with a nice welcome and introduction.

Allison and the "cute chicks" are ready to go.

The cow and the scarecrow.

The chicks (Allison and Lorien) dance to "Cute Chicks-Aren't we just adorable?"

Lorien and Allison with their friend, Cooper the pig.

Mrs. Falciano's Class

Pumpkin Painting Party

Our Charlie's Angels team is all about team building and having fun (and winning of course!). With only a few weeks left in the regular season, we thought it would be fun to paint pumpkins before practice today. We didn't know the wind would be gusting at what felt like 30 miles/hour, but we made the best of it. Mary provided the paints and the table, I provided Halloween cookies and each girl brought their own pumpkin. It is always fun to see the girls interact away from the game. They have so much energy and love to share funny stories. They were also very creative pumpkin decorators.

Taylor's masterpiece

Even the siblings had a chance to participate.

Kylee and Allison have had fun on the sidelines all season during practice.

The girls posed with their pumpkins and then put their game faces back on for a tough scrimmage against the Cobras. Only 2 more games before playoffs and we are hoping to stay undefeated!

Shoebox Guitar

Matt has proven once again why he will be our designated Science Project helper. Allison came home last week with a "Build Your Own Guitar Out of a Shoebox" project to learn about sound and vibration. This had Matt's name written all over it and he was up for the challenge. After a trip to Home Depot and some painting and woodworking, they put the final touches on the guitar tonight. She watches the master at work.

Allison is the "lovely assistant" as Matt carves grooves in the popsicle sticks.

Allison wanted a pink guitar covered in butterfly and heart stickers. Good thing we had extra paint from her bedroom! Matt stained the handle and added little wood pieces to make it look like a real guitar handle.

Rockin' out with the finished product.

I've never seen Bob Marley playing a pink guitar.
Great Job Matt and Allison!

October Birthday Bash- Hawaiian Style

Lisa and Daniel hosted the Annual October Birthday Bash with tropical flair. The Hawaiian-themed decorations were beautiful and everyone looked great in their Hawaiian shirts and dresses, leis and floral hair accessories. Dinner was delicous Hawaiian BBQ, banana bread, Hawaiian rolls, sticky rice and macaroni salad. We even had Hawaiian smoothies and guava nectar to drink. As if that wasn't enough, we were treated to chocolate covered macadamia nuts, pineapple upside down cake, cupcakes and a shave ice machine!

Lisa and Daniel sampling the first snow cones and pina colada smoothies.

The girls loving on Miss Olivia.

There were quite a few contests, as well. Taylor and Allison are pretty good hula hoopers so they had fun with this event.

I got my hands on Olivia as much as possible!
She was such a good girl.

Contest # 2 was the limbo. The kids had a ball with this one and several parents gave it a whirl too. Matt was more limber than I thought!

Mahalo to the Rapo family for another great Birthday Bash!

The final contest was Best Dressed Hawaiian family. The Damato's took 1st place, but it was a tough call. Everyone looked great! I will add all of the family photos once Daniel sends them out.

Week in Review

Red Ribbon Week has come to an end. The girls had a fun time dressing in each day's theme, but got a little sick of me making them pose each morning before leaving for school. Every morning I would hear, "Is this going on the blog?". Well, of course! Monday- Dress in your Hawaiian attire

Tuesday-Wear red from head to toe

Wednesday-Wear a lei (Allison was crying in the car-something about her shoes. Ugh!)

Thursday- Crazy hair and clothes

On Thursday, students from Great Oak came for a special Red Ribbon Week assembly.

Allison spotted our neighbor, Melanie.

Friday-Wear your hat and sunglasses.

Reflection's Gallery Night

The girls both added another trophy to their book shelf tonight after being honored at the Reflection's Gallery Night. The theme this year was BEAUTY IS... and Taylor turned in entries for Photography and Literature and Allison entered in Photography and Visual Arts. The participants and families had a chance to view all of the work and enjoy some cookies and juice before the awards were announced.

Allison won the Award of Excellence for her photo of Half Dome that she took on our summer vacation in Yosemite. She was so surprised and excited to hear this photo will be advancing to the district level!!

Taylor also took a photo in Yosemite at Vernal Falls. I just love the rainbow she captured in the bottom left corner. She won the Award of Merit for her grade level. She has been a finalist for 3 years in a row!

Next year the theme is TOGETHER WE CAN... I look forward to some more creative entries!