Party Hardy

I am one of those moms who has a hard time letting my kids go.  A pro and a con I'll admit.  I am usually the first to tear up at events whether big or small, or with the slightest sign that they may be growing up (ex. doing their own hair, making their bed without a reminder, not asking for help with homework, losing a tooth, etc).  It is this reality that drove me to volunteer to be room mom for all 3 of my kids' classes this year.  Before you raise eyebrows and tell me to get a life, let me just say that it has been the most rewarding opportunity!  I LOVE working alongside the teachers whenever possible, and getting my hands dirty right alongside the kids! :)  One of the biggest perks of being room mom?  Communication.  Communication with the teachers, and communication with my kids.  It's wonderful to know who they are talking about when they mention little Billy on the playground, or Suzie at lunch.  Okay, so there are no Billy's or Suzie's here in Brazil, but you get my point! ;)

 

This year I was able to take charge of the art projects for the Halloween parties, and help coordinate the food being brought in by the parents.  Both my boys' classes did 3 projects the day of the party:

• Paper Bag Pumpkins - brown lunch bags stuffed with crumpled newspapers and painted bright orange (minus the stem of course!).
• Witch Hands  - plastic gloves filled with candy corn for nails and popcorn.
• Glitter Webs - children trace glue onto a pre-drawn web design and (with a little parental help), sprinkle it with glitter.  You can then make spiders using an ink pad and their thumb prints to put around the webs. :)

As if that wasn't enough I also made 75 "dirt and worm" pudding cups to distribute amongst the 3 classes.  It reminded me of my teaching days. Those were fun days.. 

We made these adorable skeletons with multicolored noodles too. SUPER cute!

Since the boys' parties were at the same time, I got a decent workout that day running back and forth between classes. In both classes there were FANTASTIC mom volunteers helping do all the dirty work so it ran incredibly smoothly! It was great to be a part of the fun for both Sir L,

and my handsome Mr H!

The projects turned out fantastic! I do so love Halloween :)

The classes went trick-or-treating from one room to the next which was BEYOND adorable to watch! 

Here's Sir L with one of his teachers and about half of their class :)

One of the most amazing things this year has been to watch my little man go from being incredibly independent and not really caring to interact with other kids his age, to making friends and even designating a "best Best BEST friend"!

Handsome H is one of the older kids in his class this year (it's a Montessori mix of K3, K4 & K5's). It has really helped him come out of his shell and step into a leadership role with the new "big kid" title that he so proudly wears!

Even though he's "big" now, he's not too cool to stop and show some TLC to his sweet teachers :). That's my little man!

With the help of some amazing moms, each class had quite the spread!

Miss B's party was later in the afternoon (thank heavens!). They had quite the spread as well!

..Complete with a squash monster inspired by the Mo Willem's pigeon series books :).  LOVE it!

Although the 1st graders don't go trick-or-treating from class to class, the moms pitched in so they could collect all their goodies around a well stocked table! Let's just say that NO ONE went home complaining ;)

Miss B has quite the tight little group of friends going on this year - it is so sweet to watch my once shy little girl turn into a crazy social butterfly!

I just can't get enough of these two!!!

The whole group :)

Every once in a while we're lucky enough to capture one of those pictures that really is worth a thousand words. These next two speak VOLUMES as the girls watched the school parade approach.. It may be an American holiday, but the school threw in a little Brazilian flare as the parade was led by samba drums! It was incredibly loud and SO cool! All of the Lower School classes were paraded in costume through the halls of the school where anxious parents waited amongst the Middle and High Schoolers to cheer them on. It creates such a sense of unity and excitement! Sir L was home by this time (the noise tends to cause some of the younger kiddos to freak), so just Miss B and Handsome H were a part of it.. though (as you can see from the video), it was a bit hard to get Handsome H's attention amidst all the ruckus!  I'm sure they will forever be gravely disappointed by school Halloween parties once we return to the States..

 

Off to join the parade!

H was quite relieved when he finally spotted me.. it took a while and as it was his first time being a part of the big parade, he was happy to have the extra reassurance ;).

I feel so blessed to have my kids be a part of such a great school and all of these multi-cultural events!  An American-Brazilian Halloween?  DEFINITELY a winner in my book! :)