Kindie Fieldtrip

Yesterday Evelyn went on her first fieldtrip complete with a bus ride to Four Mile Historic Park.  It was also my first official fieldtrip chaperoning as I have gone to the zoo with classes before but I think my mom was the chaperone for that one as she was in town.  I thought it was going to be snowy and cold and since most everything was outside a very miserable time but thankfully the Colorado sun came out to warm us a little and no snow came.

On the bus ride to the park

 

The other cute kindies I was over

 In the schoolhouse obeying the headmistress

Eating a cracker with freshly churned butter

 Playing with the bison

 Doing farmyard chores like sweeping the boardwalk

 

Seeing the huge horses up close and personal

The whole class and their fearless leader Mrs. Jansen

An end of an Era (for now)

After coaching soccer for eight seasons (I think) between Elizabeth and Rachel, I'm going to hang up my hat, at least for a season or two.  It's been fun learning how to coach kids to enjoy the wonderful game of soccer but I think we're going to try out volleyball next season.

My team minus one this last season and I didn't forget the trophies this year.  Thank you Starfire!

Halloween

I have come to realize that Halloween may just be my favorite holiday of the year.  It doesn't seem to come with as much stress as Christmas with the gift giving and endless list of things to do but it's just a fun holiday.  We went to our ward Trunk or Treat, a friend's party, and trick or treated on Halloween so got plenty of use out of the girls' costumes and got plenty of candy.  The rules for candy in our household are few but important--1) no candy before breakfast! 2) if I find wrappers around the house the fine is 10 pieces of candy 3) Mom & Dad can enter your room any time of day or night to get their tax of candy for providing you room and board :)

Our cute little Cinderella

Our very own Hermione--Lumos!

A little girl who will soon be transforming into a woman like this caterpillar/butterfly costume

 All three together

 

And a Family Picture

Yes, Eric and I dressed up as Daddy Warbucks and Orphan Annie to everyone's delight!

 

We even won a "major" award for the 2nd year in a row!

 

And what would Halloween be like without some pumpkin fun?  We finally carved our pumpkin on Halloween.  Here's a before of the huge pumpkin from our very own backyard pumpkin patch.

 

And after for all the princess girls we have (plus it was really easy carving)

 

I think a meal in a pumpkin will become tradition for Halloween night dinner.

 

 And last but not least, a pumpkin cake I made for a party dessert.

 Eric and I are already working on costumes for next year and our costume stash might just rival the girl's dress-ups.  Happy Halloween!

MythBusters

Eric took the first day of fall break off along with us and we went to the Museum of Nature & Science to see the special exhibit "Mythbusters."  The girls have watched some episodes on Netflix and enjoy it as dad tries to stoke their scientific questioning and exploring.  Elizabeth was selected to participate in a light/sound buzzer reaction buzzer contest.  Turns out our brains and motor skills respond faster to sound even though light travels faster.

 

Doing the "pull the tablecloth off" routine

 While Elizabeth and Rachel watched a movie about black holes, Evelyn got to play astronaut and have the world in her hand.

Out with the Old, In with the New

I felt like we spent most of our one week fall break preparing for getting new carpet or putting things back afterwards.  I think our basement is now done and I'm excited the kids have a playroom again with a small bedroom and bathroom for guests (pictures to follow on that project). 

Here's the old yucky carpet throughout the house, just too light and stain ridden for my liking.

Juxtaposing old & new

Ta-da it's all in!

Who knew new carpet could be so exciting (and smell good)?

A Mom's (& dad's) Bragging Rights

I normally don't do this kind of post bragging about my kid's school accomplishments but oblige me for one post.  A few weeks ago the school had a HERD assembly to give out awards for student achievement.  Evelyn and Rachel received the Silver Antelope award where the teacher chose one student from their class that exemplified the HERD qualities--Honor, Effort, Responsibility, and Dedication.

Not to feel left out, the next day I received a letter in the mail informing us that Elizabeth would now be in the Gifted & Talented program for language arts and math.  A proud parent couple of days that made me realize even more how lucky I am to have these wonderful daughters in my life and I look forward to all the great things they have yet to achieve.