Kindergarten Reading Celebration

To celebrate the Kindergartener's progress in reading, they held a pot luck dinner, followed by an opportunity for William to show us his work!

We were a little early, and had to entertain ourselves.

Avia's memorial day watermelon turtle made a second appearance. = )

William was excited to show off all of his work.  I think he would have showed us the entire portfolio had we not run out of time (the teachers needed to go home.) The teachers give up so much of their personal time to benefit our children, I love them so much!

He has come a long way in a single school year, and we are so proud of him!

He will make an excellent first grader this fall.

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Field Day!

Despite the chilly days we've had (even into June) Field day was appropriately warm for such an event!

The twins and I bounced around between Alice and Emily and William to cheer them on. 

I was so impressed by the teachers too.  They are always so cheerful, but on this particular day they each took a turn in the dunking booth.  While it was pretty warm, we're talking 85F max, so that water had to be cold.

My big kids had a great time, and came home tuckered out!

After a trip to the car for water and a blanket, and wandering from event to event, the twins were begging to go.  So, we only stayed for the first hour, hopefully next year I can be out there for the duration.

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Kindergarten Field Trip: Binder Park Zoo

William's end of year field trip was down to the Binder Park Zoo.  I'd never been, so I was excited to join them for a fun day.  

We woke up to thunder and pouring rain, but it managed to pass over and left us be the entire day!  It was warm, and sometimes the trees would sprinkle us with residual rain droplets, but the weather treated us well.

The park is down in Battle Creek, which is about 45 minutes away.  I only had two charges, William and his friend who has been with him for two years now!

Most of the zoo is a raised wooden platform through dense forest.  The exhibits are large, many have multiple speices in them!

I don't know how the prairie dogs feel up here, their coats look much thicker than I remember from my time in Lubbock.

The zoo has a massive addition, so they provide a tram to carry visitors.  It was quite a line when we arrived, and longer by the time we loaded.  We almost missed William's window to feed the giraffes.

The path is fairly linear, so when you are walking with a group, it's likely that you'll stick with that group as you go.

My group preferred the younger giraffe to the adult.

The line was so long for the tram on the way back, and we needed to meet our group for lunch, so we walked it.  They were both whiny, so we took a break at the tram station.

It was quite a walk out to the lunch pavillion, but we didn't miss lunch, in fact, we were some of the first to arrive.

After lunch, it was time to head back.  Lots of the kindergartners crashed, including my favorite.

It was a good time, hopefully I'll be able to join the twins next year.  And maybe, we can go down as a family this summer, so that we aren't rushing through the exhibits.

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Class Parties & Teacher Gifts

Y'all, we barely made it through this week.

On Monday Emily and Billy stayed home sick.

Since Emily had put gingerbread house on the list, I bought her one to work on after I finished grocery shopping, since I figured she'd feel better after a good rest.

All 5 of them enjoyed eating it for dessert that night!

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On Tuesday when Billy tried to remote start his car, it wouldn't start.  I tried it at the ignition, it wouldn't start. lovely.  After a call to Avia, Billy was on his way to work in my car, and Avia took Emily and William to school since Alice was under the weather. While I waited for triple A to arrive (and the monthly medicine shipment) Billy was sent home from work and so he got to be in charge of Alice while I took his car to Walmart.  Avia unpacked the medicine and took the box in for recycling.  What would we do without Avia?

I didn't take any photos to document my morning (!?) except a display to show my friend.

I treated myself to lunch at Cracker Barrel, and by the time I finished shopping at 5 below, where I saw tons of cool stuff, but the long line was prohibitive of a purchase, the car was ready. Somehow, the battery was still under warranty, despite the fact it was a southern battery (which would have been the last time we replaced it,) so they fixed it for free! Walmart for the win!!

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On Wednesday I was down and out, and William stayed home sick, plus the twins were out of school, so Avia had to step in and entertain them so that I could go to the twins' IEP meeting.  

I am thrilled to report that Grace and Juliet are no longer needing any sort of accommodations or modifications.  They have been kicked out of the special ed umbrella, since their speech is exactly where it is expected to be for their age!!!!!!!!!

She stayed on so that I could rest, but I really have only a vague recollection of the entire day.  Thanks Avia!

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On Thursday everyone was healthy enough to fake it, and make it to where they were supposed to be.  William's party was that morning, so I went in and enjoyed snacks and stations with him and his kindergarten friends.

I'd found blinking reindeer antlers at the store right before I went in, and as soon as he saw them light up, he wanted to trade me for his boring ones. ; )

They did make some reindeer hats, so once he donned his creation, I did get my sparkling ones returned.  My favorite kindergartner had a great time!

After the kindergartners resumed their day, I helped clean up the classroom, then ran home to put away the few Christmas gifts I'd left on the counter (since Emily's party ran until the day's end.)

At Emily's party I also travelled between stations.  She also wanted to trade me her boring headband for my blinking headgear.

My favorite station was building a "Christmas Tree" out of gummies and toothpicks!  It needed to have space below to allow for a 'present' (piece of laminated paper on a clothespin) to stand.  We were successful!

Cookie decorating, holiday bingo and "would you rather" rounded out the stations.  My sweet Emily had a great time, and we were ready to head home at the end of the day!

That night, we had regular homework, which was sad in lieu of the abnormally festive day.  But we powered through.

Alice's teacher emailed a review key for their Math test (on the Friday before Christmas break = ((((  ) When I asked Alice to get hers out, she'd "forgotten" it at school.  Luckily for her, I was able to print of the review and modify it so that she could still get in the practice.

We start homework/piano practice as soon as they get home, and we were still going at 7:30 that night.... ugh.

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When Friday finally arrived, after taking it's sweet time, I was excited to party with my Alice.  Since her party didn't begin until 11:45, I took care of a few dozen things I'd been 'meaning to do' around the house.

I was the second parent to arrive, while the class was still at a special.  So I was put in charge of cheesing the nachos!!! yum.

They had pizza and nachos and donuts, and an optional veggie.  Alice felt extra special since her party was on Pajama spirit day!  When they started the movie, Jumanji, I took my leave and went to take care of errands that would have elsewise been put off until the kids' return to school in January.

Grace and Juliet's party was scheduled for that afternoon, but since it went until the end of the day I tapped my mom to help me with pick up.  When I asked the twins who they wanted to come, they unanimously decided on Avia.  So, she got to hang out with them while they partied, and I did errands before claiming my big kids at the end of the day. = )

I love their school & teachers so much!  I am so thankful for all of the adults who spend their days pouring themselves into my children.  This year I made personalized cups, and my mom found 5 cute baskets for each of their teachers!  I found a few other tokens to put in, but I wish I could give so much more!

We are all still limping and moaning and coughing along.  So we  are thankful for a nice break so that we can all heal and be 100% for the new year!

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Day in and day out

In the mornings, we are in rush mode to get the twins out the door to wait for the bus.  Most mornings, you'll see them eating breakfast, regardless of what it is, out on the driveway.

Some mornings the big kids join us.  And sometimes we even get to wait with daddy!

For spirit week, Emily dressed up each day, but the only ones I remembered to grab shots of were mis-matched day and college day.

Most mornings we do the kiss and go line, but since I've been substituting up at their school, I'll park and walk up with them.

My very first day of subbing, the final few minutes of the day, I was bitten by a student. (thankfully, not in any of my children's classes.)

We took a family trip up to an arcade that had bowling and bumper cars and laser tag.  It was a good time.  The twins were too short to ride the bumper cars, so they pouted and pined over them for the remainder of the day.  So, we will have to go back, when they are a little taller. = )

On Fridays the twins have homework, and they are so excited to do it (like the big kids!)  = )

I bought a Belgian waffle maker, and they are way better than eggo. = )

It's been flickering cooler weather for a month or two now, so tea has become a favorite around here. Today was the first day of really miserable cold.  Winter has begun. = (

Grace and her hello kitty  bunny were sleepy.

William noticed that the light on the floor was just like 'seven' (Aunt Rocky's dog.)

Over the weekend we played a ton of games!  The scooby doo game, battle ship, monopoly jr, candyland, several card games, and even a few rounds of blood rage. = )

And, after almost two months, and two mechanic shops, I got my car back! It feels so nice to drive it again.

So, the very first thing he did was replace the spark plugs and one of the piston heads (?)  that didn't solve the misfire issue, so he went further into the engine.  I had a broken tooth on my timing belt, so he replaced that, but it still was not the issue.  My sensors were not picking up on whatever the issue was, so he kept running mechanical diagnostics on it.  He consulted colleagues, the internet, all with no revelations. Finally, I asked him to bring it into a dealership, and see if they could diagnose it.  Within a couple of days we learned that my car does not care for the brand of spark plug he'd put in it all those weeks ago.  ugh.  Once he replaced them it was good to go.

Upon picking up my car (just in time for our grand rapids trip) I dropped off the van, since it had some issues.  He's replaced the water pump, serpentinite belt, and tie rods.  Since we just dropped 3K on the expedition, we did the bare minimum on the van for now.

And, a check engine light came in on my car.  He read the code.  Apparently my catalytic converter is (possibly) on it's way out, or at least the efficiency is reading as low.  The performance of my car is not currently affected, but it is now on the list of things to do. But I'm not willing to let go of my car again just yet.

With the cold approaching, footed pajamas have become the favorite around here.  Mostly among the older kids.  William loves them, but it makes shot nights a little tougher. = /

The day before my mom left, I accidentally poured my ground beef grease into a sink without a catch. = 0  Despite the low quantity, it was enough to completely block my drain (I'm guessing there were other things, and that this was just the last straw.)  My mom brought over chemicals, but even allowing it to sit over night it was not draining.

The next day I went to lows to get plungers and stronger chemicals, but was still unable to get it unclogged.  As these things go, Sarah was also having trouble with her drain, so we couldn't even bring dishes over to her house to run them through the dishwasher.

She took half a day off work to fight her drain and won! So, next she came over to our house with her tools and victory and unclogged my drain as well! = )

So, the other day when I made bacon, 4 layers went under the can...I'm not taking any chances. = )

On their breaks, I require the kids to read for 20 minutes each day before they turn on their electronics.  They get double time if they read to the twins.  Now that William has some sight words under his belt, he was reading to the twins. = )  He's a good reader, and an awesome big brother.

Having this week off for fall break has been nice.  It's been a little stay home and a little go go go.  But, my mom flew in yesterday, and we are so glad she's back. = )

Just like the rest of the year, October is flying by, so hopefully we can soak up a little more fall fun this weekend!

later days