Pumpkin Patch

We lucked out and last Friday ended up being a nice day.  So after the walk-a-thon the kids finished up school then Daddy came home early.  We tried to tease the kids and convince them that we weren't going to the pumpkin patch but Kayda couldn't be fooled.  We like Maris Farms so much last year that we decided to go there again this year.  The only thing we don't like is the corn maze, it just isn't set up well. The kids were SO excited when we got there.  We had already bought our pumpkins at another farm but we wanted to go for the activities. When we got there I told them the condition was that they had to have their pictures taken and be good about it. They held up their end pretty well!

 Once again they thoroughly enjoyed the giant wood box.  I can't remember what it's called.  It's around 8 ft tall and maybe 5 ft wide and 5 ft deep and it's an obstacle course that they crawl through essentially.  They loved it and did it at least three times.

  Of course we had to play on the jumping pillow... a few times.

 Daddy got in on the action!

 Carson was riding in the little section alone so Dillon decided to join him.  Dillon just barely fit.  Without the disadvantage of smaller wheels (like on their bikes) Carson kept up with Dillon no problem.

 Carson wanted to ride the big one with Mommy.  Considering how you're situated to pedal it was quite a feat.  He had to straddle my legs with his feet sticking out each side and then he would bounce side to side as I pedaled.  It was probably like an amusement park ride! Fortunately Daddy helped us up the little incline because there is absolutely no way to pedal very effectively with a 5 year old bouncing around on your thighs.

 The tug of war only lasted one time.  The kids against Daddy.  Daddy won but it was fun watching the kids try.  Dillon ended up on his stomach!

 They added human foosball this year.  Dillon was enamored with it.  While Carson and Kayda moved on to the new zip-lines Dillon kept on playing foosball.

 Then Carson didn't want to stop the zip-lines.  He would've ridden them all evening if we'd let him.

 Kayda, Carson and I "raced"  I think the next pictures are pretty fun because you can see each of us hit the stop in turn!

 We had to do the pipe rollers again.  The kids worked hard to get them up the incline and touch the poles at the end.  Carson ended up sliding in the bottom of it a few times because he couldn't keep up.  There was one time he AND Kayda were down but Dillon kept plowing ahead while they slide in the bottom of it.

 Kayda desperately wanted to do the corn maze.  The boys stopped after the first half but she and I finished it.

 Back to foosball!  Our family played against another family and we definitely won!  The kids had a blast playing this game.

 Carson really wanted to go back to the jumping pillow so made sure to stop by there for the last few minutes before it closed.

It was a great day, exhausting day.

Walk-a-thon

Friday was the walk-a-thon.  I was really disappointed that they didn't take pledges this year.  The school decided that they shouldn't ask the parents to do it since they had just finished a selling fundraiser.  Considering I don't let my kids do those, it was really frustrating.  This is one of the only kinds of fundraisers I'll let them do.  Anyway.  The kids were all really excited because it's their costume day.  They had parties in their classrooms and had 30 minutes for their walk-a-thon.  They earn little feet at the school for every mile they do (they can spend time during certain recesses too).  I thought it was interesting that the mile was measure differently from last year.  Last year they said each lap was 1/8 of a mile so every 8 laps they earned a foot.  This year it was eleven laps.  Which implies the bus loop magically went from 1/8 of a mile to 1/11.  Anyway.  Because of that the kids each only earned one foot but boy are they excited when they do!

Dillon's class had the first time during the day.  They were all really pumped up about it.  He jogged for most of the time.  In the whole half hour I got to walk two or three times around with him. 

 Kayda is on student council so she was there and got to sign Dillon's card when he came around.  Arianna, her best friend, is also on student council.  They get together every once in a while to make posters for different things.  

While I was waiting for Carson's time slot I helped in his class.   He cracks me up because he is friends with mostly girls.  Yesterday, for the first time, he told me a boy was his friend.  It came about because they played werewolf at recess.  Carson was the "hungry werewolf" and if he caught them they became werewolves too.

 Bella is on the left and Alexis is at the head of the table.  Alexis was in preschool with Carson and they became great friends as soon as school started.  He came home the first day telling me about his friend Alexis. For a little while he was peeved at Alexis so he was no longer her friend while he became best buds with Ellie.  Eventually he came around and realized he could have more than one friend though.

 Anxiously awaiting the start of the walk-a-thon!

 It was quite the experience trying to get all the kids in the class to stop by and get their cards signed.  Most of them were running the whole time.  I got to walk around once with Carson.  I was really glad I've learned all the kids' names because I was able to call them out of the crowd by name to get them signed. Unfortunately this time slot wasn't on Kayda's council schedule so she couldn't sign his card.

Kayda had the last time of the day (for my kids).  Last year she refused to do more than walk until the last few minutes and then she ran.  This year she ran one, walked one, ran one, walked one.  Which means I got to spend more time with her than I did the other two.  It is so much fun watching her with all the student council stuff.  I was always too nervous to do anything like that but she is thriving.  There is no fear of rejection, no concern that she won't get picked.  She had to "run" for a certain position within the council and she did it.  She was so excited because she got one vote (that wasn't hers).  She didn't even care that she didn't get it.  This year she is watching and learning and I've no doubt she'll go for it again next year.

I ended up spending almost the entire day at school so I could be with them all for their turns.  I am so grateful that I get to be home and do this.  It means so much to me to be able to run something over that they forgot, pick them up when they don't feel good, work in their classes, get them to all their appointments and deal with household stuff without having to lose family time in the evenings.  I love being able to give them the security of knowing that Mom is always there and available to them.  So thank you Daddy for working so hard.

Soccer!

We're getting toward the end of the season, watching the boys figure out the game has been so much fun!  

Dillon loves the game and is already planning to play again next year.  He is the best keeper on his team by far!  It so much fun watching him play that position.  You can tell that he is cheering on his team because he spends his time waiting bouncing around "playing" as his team is trying to get a goal.  He hasn't played the defender positions in a while but this last game he was given the chance to try it and he definitely has what it takes.  It's taking him a little longer to figure out the offensive positions.  He is a little too hesitant but he is getting better.  They play a game called lightning.  There is one kid trying to score and another playing keeper.  If the keeper stops the shot then the offensive player becomes keeper and the keeper gets in line to shoot.  If a goal is made then the keeper is out.  Dillon loves this game.  According to Daddy he is always one of the last 2 or 3 (out of about 10) and he has won.  Yesterday he went several rounds against CJ.  CJ has the best ball handling skills out of the lot but Dillon held his own.  They kept switching back and forth until finally Dillon snuck one by CJ.  Dillon was SO excited!

 I'm SO irritated that this picture didn't focus correctly!  But I had to post it anyway.

 His position is cracking me up!  He is still learning how to "boot it".  His kicks just don't go that far.  Now put him in as keeper and he can THROW it more than halfway down the field.  His teammates are still processing that one, they haven't quite figured out where to wait for it!  Though he does a good job putting it where they should be...if they kept running.


*Side note from Daddy, I was talking to Dillon's coach after practice.  He did state that Dillon had probably the best play of the season.  He has been working on season on getting the ball outside, down the sideline, then crossing to the middle.  Dillon had a break down the sideline and made a perfect cross because all the defense came to him.  Unfortunately, his 2 teammates that were there hesitated and missed the ball.  They only had to get a simple kick in.  He also stated Dillon has probably come the farthest of anyone on the team this year, and he wasn't bad to begin with.  Always love hearing good things about my kids, especially when I know they work hard and it shows!

Carson is just like he was in tball.  He is very serious and wants to play HARD.  It's fun for him but he is a very determined player.  Watching him figuring out how to get that ball and keep it has been exciting.  He is very much an offensive player by nature.  Considering they don't really play positions yet that is just my prediction.  He still does well defending and is often the only player from his team that can run fast enough to get between the goal and the other team.  He is makes most of the goals for the team.  He is FAST.  I can't emphasize that enough.  He gets that ball and he's GONE!

Daddy has taken them to most of their practices and often ends up playing with the boys. He'll help the coaches with a drill, play against Dillon's team or just kick the ball around with Carson while waiting for Dillon to finish.  He has really been enjoying soccer with the boys.  I started coaching Kayda's volleyball so I couldn't go to practices anymore but even before that Daddy would almost argue with me about going.  I'd say I was going to practice and it would be "I don't mind going.  I like this stuff."  It would go back and forth a few times until I gave in and just sent him.  Most of the time I was just fine with that!  Kayda and I have gotten a lot of one on one time.

Parent Conferences

We had our parent-teacher conferences the very first day we could.  The kids always love conferences because it means they get to go to the book fair.  Daddy and I are always excited because we get to hear about our kids.  Fortunately we have amazing kids so we don't hear anything bad.  Every parent loves to hear how great their kids are so we're pretty thrilled when this time comes around.

We had Kayda's conferences first.  Per usual she is at the top of every subject.  She is such a hard worker and the teacher is thrilled to have her in class. Her teacher is new this year and hasn't really figured out how to handle the class.  The class often loses recess time and such but Kayda gets to go out because she is pretty much always on task.  She is usually done with her work well before the other kids and spends a lot of time reading.  With the teacher being new it means that Kayda isn't getting the push that she needs.  I'm working with her teacher trying to find things that will push Kayda but it's not easy.  Kayda loves being in school, she loves being in student council and (despite the classroom management issues) she loves her teacher.  We're working with the teacher to try to find ways to accommodate Kayda's level.  Right now she is starting a research project on ocean pollution.  I'm working behind the scenes to try and figure out what exactly she should be doing and to try to guide her along the way.  Most of the work is intended to be done at school but right now she's so excited to be doing it that she works on it a lot at home. She loves to learn so much and I hope that we can keep that going.

Carson's conference was next.  He is ahead of a lot of the kids in his class he already knows his alphabet and sounds.  The only one he struggles with is the Y sound but he self corrected so she thinks he'll have it down in no time.  There were a few other things that the teacher wasn't sure if his speech was getting in the way of expressing the knowledge so we're working on arranging for either her or his speech therapist to do his testing at school.  He understands sequencing across the board.  The concept was pretty new and was demonstrated by putting events in order.  His teacher was VERY impressed when he, without prompting, extended that to putting numbers in order.  He is a very calming influence in the class.  He is always on task and apparently when kids sit at the table with him the whole table does better behaviorally.  She told us that he surrounds himself with kids that are also calm and on task.  She encourages other kids to be his friend because of the influence he has.  She often uses what he's doing to help show other kids what they should be doing, and that started just a couple of days into the school year.  He can already count to 49 and they only have to be able to make it to 100 by the end of the year.  He still needs to learn his 3D shapes and he struggles with triangle.  Overall he is doing outstanding and you can tell that his teacher ADORES him.

Dillon's conference was last, and with one of our favorite teachers.  She had Kayda last year and was so impressed.  When Dillon came in she was super impressed with him too.  She told us that he is on task, helps other kids, is always kind and inclusive.  He is right where he should be for his grade level everything but his math and reading comprehension, which are a little higher than most.  They each get to work with the teacher to make a goal to work toward.  He decided that he wants to work to get the highest reading comprehension score possible.  When I come in to his class to volunteer it is right as they come in from recess and they have silent reading time.  There are always some kids just kind of looking around and fiddling with pages but Dillon is always diligently reading.  He has already mastered his 0,1,10, 2 and 5's for multiplication.  He is currently working on his 3's.  Occasionally the kids will get to choose a song to dance to in their class (they have to earn a certain number of good behavior points).  I got to witness it.  She put a song with a video from "Kid's Bop" on the projector screen.  The kids on the show dance and her class dances with them.  I should sign him up for dance class because he was IN TO it.  He was right there with the kids on the screen and he was intense!

Over all we are blessed with three outstanding children.  They're all great kids and they all have different strengths.  We love hearing about their school experience and I love being able to witness snippets of it every week when I'm in their classrooms.  I dread the day that they get big enough that they don't want me there, or when they'll stop wanting to give me hugs and kisses at the school doors before we part ways.  Watching them grow up is amazing, but every now and again it makes me sad.