Rain, rain, go away...

For the past week, it mostly rained here. We desperately needed the rain as it hardly rained all summer and we are having drought-like conditions in NC. But as much as the rain is welcomed, it is also keeping us inside a lot. Even though it is mostly drizzling and raining heavier at night, everything is wet and cold outside. Today, we have a balmy 57F (14C)....brrrr. But I'm not complaining as this is exactly what I was missing during our hot and humid falls in South Florida. To stay dry and warm, I made a delicious cheddar and corn chowder (recipe by Pioneer Woman) one night and apple cake (from our orchard harvest) and apple cider. My house smelled so good...

But to keep the kids from getting stir-crazy, I took Elliot on Monday morning to the library for story-time. They sing songs, dance, and read stories for 25 minutes and he loves being with the other kids.

And since Amelia has been asking to go to the library too, we went there again on Tuesday afternoon. Every Tuesday, they have a dog come over so the kids can read aloud to him and practice their reading skills. Amelia was excited to read to Baron, a German shepherd, but didn't want to sit too close to him as he was quite big. So proud of my little reader!

Elliot had a play-date at a his friend's house on Tuesday. He enjoyed playing with 5 other children his age, while the mommies chatted, and we managed to do a little Halloween craft too.

Amelia learned all about colors and the letter C this week at school. She and her classmates loved experimenting with different colors. They also had a little explosion (coke and baking soda) last week in the yard and worked with shaving creme and play-doh on their fine motor skills. Thanks to her great teacher, Ms. Susan, who takes pictures throughout the week, we can see what she is up to in school. As you can see below, she loves being in school and learning.

She did had her first homework assignment this week and I was ready to help her but my little girl wanted to do it all on her own. Her independence and eagerness to learn reminds me a lot of myself when I was young. She truly loves her transitional kindergarten class and I'm happy that we made the right choice. Also, Elliot doing his "homework" in the car:

 
To finish off their C week at preschool, they had Cap day today:

Our church offers a fellowship dinner on Wednesday nights before Amelia's choir practice. So the kids and I met some friends there and enjoyed dinner together. While Amelia had her practice, Elliot hung out in the nursery and I got a few minutes to myself and watched a beautiful sunset. 

On Thursday morning, Elliot and I joined some mommies for a play-date at a gymnastics place in town. The kids were able to jump, balance, run, and climb on the equipment for an hour, which was the perfect outing on a rainy day.

Hopefully this hurricane Joaquin will pass by the East Coast quickly and don't drench us with flood waters. For sure, it will be a wet and cold weekend, just perfect for baking pumpkin cookies, making Chili and watching a movie with the family.