Earlier this week we attended a fall festival. Mallory is pictured with her loot from a "walking chair game."
She thought she was playing musical chairs so when the music stopped, she raced for a chair.
When she was awarded she said, "look mama, I won in the walking chair game!" It was so funny!
Blackshear, my hometown, trick or treated tonight. This is actually perfect for us because we can still trick or treat in our neighborhood (on Saturday) and visit Grannie Thigpen, Papa Sammy, and Daniel's brother, Greg, sister-in-law, Shelley, and our nephew Blake.
If you can't tell, Mallory chose to be a pumpkin this year.
In the last photo Mallory is with Blake. Blake is the good looking guy and the ugly one is Freddy--I think!
Yep, we are now proud owners of a 2 month old cocker spaniel.
On Saturday Mallory and I went into a pet shop, which was located next to Jerry J's =).
I inquired about a nice family dog for Christmas and walked away with the phone number for this puppy.
Mallory is leery about Tinkerbell and has told me several times that she is "bothering her." Tinkerbell likes to follow her and gets tangled in her feet.
Daniel brought home a pumpkin and I
bought a carving kit. We chose a pattern and Daniel got to work. Daniel did a good job but I was too impatient. I couldn't make myself use the small and dinkey tools that came in the kit. Instead I got a knife and ruined our template.
Notice that Mallory is posing with the pumpkin turned around so you can't see my awful work!
Here is a video of Mallory reading a book that was sent home from school. Although she continues to struggle with one-on-one correspondence (which effects reading and math and everything else), she is making a lot of progress. She can easily identify her sight words but sometimes adds or omits words in text. We are also working on blending sounds to decipher unknown words.
I am proud to say that Mallory has packed her suitcase and left. See Lealane, it is OKAY to farm out upon occasion.
Mallory was invited to spend the night with her Nana. This is the first time she has used her new suitcase. She was amazed at how much stuff she could fit inside. The result: over packing!!
I will be honest and say that this has not been the best week for me. But I finally have some good news!
As a member of the OFFICIAL Bon Jovi fan club I received a very important e-mail.
To view the tour dates click on the link below.
http://www.bonjovi.com/tour
Words cannot describe my excitement. I have already notified Lealane (travel agent and BFF), Krystial (BFF), and I have a message out to Kristina (also a BFF). If anyone else wants to come, let us know. We are shooting for the April 17 date.
This morning both of us was awakened by our Bon Jovi alarm clock!! Typically Mallory is awake earlier but this morning we both had a hard time getting up and moving.
This picture was taken last night. After we work on patterns and counting, we always have fun building. This structure was partially built by me-before Mallory announced that it was "time to trade blocks". She applied the finishing touches, which went on the top.
Tomorrow we go for her developmental testing. I don't think we will see the doctor. I think our only purpose is the testing and we are scheduled to return on November 5 for the results and recommendations.
Not much to report. Mallory nearly drove me crazy on Saturday but luckily I survived. We ordered pizza Saturday night. We waited over an hour and when our pizza arrived, it was the wrong order! Wasted $20 bucks!!!
Sunday Mallory went to church, wore her "red riding hood" jacket and a snowman dress. In south GA, we reached a low of 46. I have enjoyed the cool weather and hope it continues.
Tonight Mallory did well with her sight words and her writing has vastly improved. We will continue to work on counting 20 objects and rhyming words.
These are photos that were taken tonight. Daniel and Mallory went to the local football game. The weather is cooler so Mallory dressed in her new winter clothes. The new jacket was bought by Grandma.
In this picture, Mallory is wearing a new dress. The dress was given to her by her Grandma Brown. She liked wearing it as well as her new black checkered shoes. I thought she kinda looked like a school aged tween.
Today Mallory switched classrooms. She is now in the classroom with 2 certified teachers and one paraprofessional. This class is smaller and is composed of regular ed students as well as special ed students. She went in as a regular ed student but should gain the benefit of extra attention. We are hoping that the extra attention will help her complete her classwork.
I took this picture of Mallory after her gymnastics lesson. As you can see, she worked up a sweat and her hair was a mess! When I arrived, she was lying on the mat. She said she was tired and needed to rest. If only she worked this hard at school.....
To view these pictures, copy and paste this link https://www.searsphotos.com/?shareid=S207030252lPC756VWP58 into the address line of your Web browser.
Answer: however many grand kids 
are talking. In this picture: Mallory is loudly picture reading, Kirsten is reading each word in the book, and Cadee is just talking.
Yep, I traded in my "hot mama car" for this "party girl jeep." Do you like it? In the second picture, you can see how much the girls liked riding with the top down.
Okay, let me confess, this is Kristy's rental until she gets a permanent ride. But I LOVED this jeep and enjoyed the ride. Perhaps I need one, or at least Daniel does!
I am so glad that today is Friday and Monday is a holiday for us. I am ready to go to bed early, sleep late, watch television during the day, read a book, and perhaps start a puzzle. Just wished this would be possible with my little monster.
Currently, we are planning on taking Mallory to the Jacksonville Zoo on Sunday.
Check out the link below. It is a close up of Mallory's birthday cake.
http://bethscakes.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=51905432
Luckily it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Mostly S's a few N's (need improvement) and 2 U's (unsatisfactory). The N's were: following directions, remaining focused, completing tasks, performing with best effort, and answering questions.
The U's were in: following 2 step commands and letter sounds. For the letter sounds she has to match a picture with the beginning letter. She got 3 out of 10 correct and I suspect these were the first 3.
Today we traveled to Savannah for developmental testing. The purpose was to gain a professional opinion regarding Mallory's short attention span and to test for learning disabilities (I think she may have a hard time processing information visually). Daniel and I were interviewed and asked to complete a survey. The results indicated a need for further testing so we go back on 10/20/09.
Will keep you updated.
Mallory wore this pink sweater to church yesterday. 
This sweater was made for her by my mom--while she was a baby. I thought it looked like one of those short, 3/4 sleeved stylish sweaters that are popular.
On Sundays, it is my turn to sleep late. 
This morning was no exception. My first disturbance came in at around 8 but was quickly escorted out=)
I got up sometime between 8:30-8:45. I had a surprise. Apparently Mallory and Daniel went outside. While outside, they cut this rose for me and Mallory made me this card.
I loved it and made a big deal of it. Mallory loves getting surprises and thankfully she likes giving them too!
This week the over night lows have been in the mid-upper fifties. Mallory has noticed the change
and has asked to wear a warm jacket several times this week. These thick coats were really unnecessary but I know she took them off once she warmed up.
Don't panic, shes alright, just banged up. Yes, she had another accident. She failed to stop at a stop sign and got hit on the driver's side. She has a broken right foot and a sprung left knee (maybe mixed up but you get the idea). I have talked to her several times and she seems to be doing fine. She is sore and her foot and knee ache but otherwise she is in good condition--Thank God--AGAIN.
Her truck is totaled--AGAIN but she THINKS she has full coverage.
Lealane, might have 2 extra girls at the birthday party tomorrow. Will this be alright??
