Underwood Farm with Carter's Kindergarten Class

Today, Carter's class went to the farm.  Well, the reality of the field trip was that we didn't really see a lot of the farm, or even many animals.  But, the kids got to go on a school bus, they rode on a wagon pulled by a tractor, they saw some crops in fields (berries, pumpkins, strawberries), and they got to pick out a pumpkin.

The nearly hour and a half bus ride (each way) was spent sharing a seat with these two boys.  It was not as calm of a time as this photo suggests.

 When we got to Underwood Family Farm we waited for our tour.

 First, a girl talked about how pumpkins grow and showed the different pumpkin varieties. 

 

We went on a tractor ride around the farm. 

 A highlight was the set of tunnels covered in vines we went through.  Vines hung down and touched us as we passed, which is very exciting if you're 5 or 6.

 Let's just say a few photos and lots of urging happened before I got this shot of Carter.

 The class (including the 10 moms who came along, minus me)

Then we got to pick a pumpkin.  Many pumpkins were set out in a patch that still had some pumpkins on the vine.

 Me and my boy

 

We then ate lunch and took a quick photo before loading the bus.

Carter's class

 

 Yay for a successful first kindergarten field trip (and bus ride)!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

This year our annual visit to a pumpkin patch was with our friends, the Mountains.  We just love the Mountain family!  Our kids play so well together, and we always have a great time with them. 

Our big plan was to head out to Oak Glen to pick apples, press cider, and pick pumpkins. After finding out that there weren't apples to pick or cider to be made, we decided to not make the long drive out, simply to pick a few pumpkins while fighting big crowds.

After quite a lot of discussion, we ended up at a pumpkin patch in San Dimas.  It lacked the charm of a farm-style pumpkin patch, but we were with friends, so we still had fun.

The annual family at the pumpkin patch photo

 Big boys in front of a really big jack-o-lantern

 After picking our pumpkins, the boys ended up driving mini John Deere's.  They had a blast!

 The girls opted for getting to hold baby chicks.

Since the boys' ride cost more than the girls' chick encounter, the girls got to have their faces painted.  Here's the result:

Following the pumpkin patch, our two families ate dinner in San Dimas and then took a long walk from the restaurant to Baskin-Robbins for dessert.

We knew the walk back to the car would be a bit of a challenge, but the dads made it into a fun soldiers march.

 We had such a fun time with our friends! 

Priorities

Today at Ashlynn's soccer game, as the other parents and I cheered, coached, and encouraged the girls, I had a thought:  What if every parent was as involved and concerned about their child's learning as they are about how they do in sports?  Seriously.  There was so much cheering, even when the team was scored on.  Parents were guiding the girls to the right place on the field.  They reminded them how to throw in the ball.  They told them they were doing well.  They called to them when they seemed to be zoning out or weren't giving their best effort.  They were so involved! 

I could totally get on my high horse about all this (as I'm sure most teacher could), but I won't.  I just thought it was interesting.

Saturday Date Night

On Saturday night, Eric and I both had dates with our kids; He took Ashlynn out and I took Carter. 

Because I am me, I had to take photos before we headed out.  Ashlynn was silly, but took her picture with her Daddy.

 My date was less cooperative about the pictures, so this was the best Eric could get of the two of us.

I took Carter to North Woods Inn.  I had a feeling he would like the place with the fake snow on the roof and love getting to throw peanut shells on the floor.  I was right.  He loved that the place looked "Christmas-y" because, as he liked to point out, "Christmas is my favorite holiday!"  (The kid has been counting down the months until Christmas since like March.)

 Like a gentleman, he (tried to) open the door for me.  Those big wooden doors are heavy!

He liked the cabin feeling and especially loved the Shirley Temple I ordered him and getting to crack the peanut shells open.  He probably would have been okay if his dinner consisted of peanuts, Shirley Temple, and the cherries from his drink.

 However, I insisted that we share one of those huge North Wood's Inn meals (I used the peanuts, drink, and cherries when I negotiated him through the meal). 

While we ate, Carter totally cracked me up.  Early on, I told him, "You know, when you go on a date, you spend time talking to each other."  On his own, three different times he asked me a question.  He asked: "What is your favorite color?"  "What do you like to do with me at home?" and "What is your favorite fruit?"  Those would be funny questions if it were an adult date, but it was pretty cute coming out of the mouth of a 5-year-old.

Eric and Ashlynn went to a Chinese restaurant, Fu Shing, for their date (although Ashlynn apparently did not let Eric call it a "date", insisting that it was an "outing").  After, they got dessert at Baskin-Robins, which was the point that Eric realized I had sent him with a camera.    

It sounds like they also had a nice time together, which was what we were going for.

100 Points!

At the start of the school year, Ashlynn made a goal for herself that since she earned over 200 Accelerated Reader points last year in 2nd grade, that she wants to earn 300 points this year.  While she can be a competitive kid, this was totally to challenge herself, not to beat anyone else.

This past week marked the end of the 1st quarter at the kids' school. About a week before the end, she realized that she was about 14 points short of a hundred, so she decided to try to hit it by reading a number of the How to Train Your Dragon books.  She did it!  On Monday, with a few days left before the 1st quarter points cut-off, Ashlynn hit 100 points on AR. 

I was thankful I was off work that day, so the three of us were able to celebrate after school.

It was a pretty hot day, so we hit Yogurtland, 

 we stopped at the library (of course!),

 there was a celebratory sign on the front door,

 Daddy brought Ashlynn flowers,

and we ate homemade burgers (which are Ashlynn's favorites and had actually been on the meal plan for that night) with Nana and Papa for dinner (no photos taken).

Ashlynn's new goal, after hitting 100 in one quarter, is to reach 400 by the end of the year.  That is a lot of reading, books. and quizzes, but I know she'll go for it!

A Place for Everything

Since Carter started kindergarten, the amount of paperwork I've been processing at home has hit a new level.  The corner shown below was doing okay for the first few weeks of school, with a pile for each kid's school stuff.  Somehow in the last two weeks things got out of control (I blame the two 3-day work weeks I had in a row).

This is what the corner looked like this morning:

AHHHH!  I know.  The sad thing is, I know that paper hell at not just home but school too.  And yes, many trees must die so that my children (and others) may be educated.  No worries... I'm a great recycler.  As a teacher, I am all for going back to slates and reciting for assessments.  That would make my life easier and my school bag lighter. 

After a trip to Office Depot and a little organizing, this is what that corner looks like now.

Not amazing but a big improvement, huh?  Between that corner and the laundry I'm working on, I'm going to call today a success.

You Lose Some and You Win One (or something like that)

If you know my Ashlynn you know she's an emotional/ moody kid at times.   Not sure if that is a nature or nurture thing but I have a couple of ideas about where she gets it.  By the way, remember, I like to keep it real on my blog.

Her last few soccer games have been pretty tough.  You know, it's sometimes hard to come back after a pretty successful game (her first game was awesome), especially when the next 3 involve big losses for your team.

Last week's game is one she'd rather not remember.  She got super frustrated and ended up in tears because she felt she didn't help her team.  Yep, the ball got past her a few times when she was on defense and she took major responsibility for it.

Today, there was a different Ashlynn on the field.

In the first quarter, Ashlynn played left forward.  Nothing particularly exciting happened with Ashlynn.  She was kind of in the action but also did some running after the pack of girls.

In the second quarter. she was put in goal.  It was her first time playing the position and I think she and I were both a bit nervous.  It turned out that her team kept the ball at the other end of the field for the whole quarter, and she never even touched the ball as goalie.  Phew!

In the third quarter she sat out, along with the team's strongest player.  The assistant coach has been trying to encourage Ashlynn, especially after the prior week, and told the girls that they were resting up to be the team's secret weapons for the final quarter. 

The fourth quarter started out okay, with Ashlynn in as center forward.  At some point Ashlynn got the ball and headed down field to score.  The funniest part was that her cleat fell off, pretty early in her move down the field.  She just kept on going.  Here's the play:

 I love her teammate's expression as she looks at Ashlynn's shoe on the grass and isn't sure what to do.

 Go, Ashlynn, go!

We need to work on her reaction to success.  She doesn't like show-offs or braggers but her reaction to scoring a goal looks like she's upset. 

 Hugs from her teammate, Ali.

 There's a smile!

 After that, the kid was on fire!  Minutes after the other team kicked off, she was back at it, taking the ball back down the field.  She didn't score again, but her confidence was high.

 A big post-game smile

I'm hoping she can build on this week's success and learn that you have to keep trying when you face frustration or failure.  It's not an easy lesson, but I'd rather she learn it as a child.