Pioneer kids

Last week we volunteered for the first time at Pioneer Farm. We spent the morning at the farm, and we pretty much just wandered around, learning all we could. It was so nice being there. So quiet and peaceful. We all really enjoyed it. Avery and Rhys decided that they'd like to volunteer as much as possible in the house that has the big kitchen. The homemade pumpkin pies they were making while we were there were hard to resist.

We plan to volunteer once a month (me and the kids - Bill will stay home with Griff). They gave us our pioneer costumes, although mine is too small and has to be exchanged. Avery and Rhys love theirs, and I have a hard time getting them to wear anything else! Avery feels like Laura from The Little House on the Prairie, and Rhys keeps saying he's a farmer.

Tooth fairy

This is the note Avery left for the tooth fairy tonight (she lost her 6th tooth):

Dehr tooth fary,
Ar you a boy or a grl? Wat is yor naym? Ar thr lots of fary's? Do you knew Santa-Clos? Do you liv with him? If you liv with him I stil love you. If you answr my cwstoins I thnk you.

P.S. Wil you lhev my tooht? Tnk you.


Translation:

Dear tooth fairy,
Are you a boy or a girl? What is your name? Are there lots of fairies? Do you know Santa Claus? Do you live with him? If you live with him I still love you. If you answer my questions I thank you.

P.S. Will you leave my tooth? Thank you.

I'm in love

Today, I got a new camera. I'm in love. It's so wonderful. It is an early present for Christmas, birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day...actually, I think it's the last present I'll ever get. But that's ok. I love it just that much. Except, I wouldn't mind a new lens for it. Oh, and another flash. And.... ;-)

Here are some pictures I took today while trying to learn how to use it.

Gymnastics

This week was parent observation week at gymnastics. On Monday, I watched Rhys's class, got to see him get a certificate, then he took me around showing me all that he's learned. Then we got to do the same thing for Avery's group.

Gymnastics is going very well for both kids. Rhys moved just two weeks ago from a Parent & Tot class to a preschool class. We were worried that Rhys wouldn't do well in class without Daddy helping him, but he has done great! He loves his class, and likes to be with his buddy Trevor. Avery is doing fantastic in Hot Shots II -- she loves going twice a week and is always excited to go. On Monday she did a flip flop for the first time off the trampoline onto a big mat! She was so proud of herself. Since then, she's done about a thousand flip flops at home on her mattress on the floor. I think she'll be doing it on the gym floor in no time!

Griffin, 7 months

Renaissance Festival

On Sunday we went to the Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. It's such a fun place for people watching. And, oh, the food. Mmmmmm. We were in festival food heaven.

Last week...

Avery had strep for the first time! Poor thing, she was absolutely miserable for a couple of days. Luckily, once she got going on some antibiotics, she started feeling much better. And even luckier, nobody else it the family got it. Yay!

Since Avery was so sick, we spent the first half of the week hanging around the house. I rented some movies for the kids, and Rhys got to watch Star Wars for the first time. That boy is hooked! He is constantly pretending to be a different Star Wars character, and his favorites are the "startroopers" (stormtroopers) and "Eee-errr" (Darth Vader -- Eee-errr is the sound Rhys does for Darth Vader's breathing). He told me that he plans to ask Santa for a red lightsaber so Daddy can pretend to be Eee-errr while he's "Ben Kamobi".

As of this week, Griffin is officially crawling! He's no longer doing his centipede-crawling move; now he crawls with his tummy off the ground. And he's *fast*! He's so much happier now that he can go whereever he wants. Yay for Griff!

Besides the sickness, we went to two birthday parties this week. One was a spy party at a friend's house and the other was a party at the children's museum. The kids had a blast at both parties. Rhys insisted on wearing his Harry Potter attire to the parties (glasses and wand). Dress up is huge with him right now, and he makes such a precious Harry!

Ice princess

Avery has been dying to learn how to skate, and Papa took her today for her first time! She did really well and made lots of progress. She told me, "You know, everyone finds something that they're made for, and I've found what I'm made for. I'm made for skating." Needless to say, she can't wait to go again!

Rhysisms

Rhys to me: Mom, can you hold me? Because you're my mama.



At the park...
Me: Why don't you go play, Rhys?
Rhys: Because that boy over there is freaking me out.
Me: Which boy?
Rhys: I don't know. I can't choose.

On Saturday...

We went to the Italian Art Chalk Festival that was held at Central Market. It was really cool! Artists were doing chalk drawings right on the asphalt. Some were reproductions of Italian Renaissance art and some were original. There was a little area set up for the kids to do their own chalk art. The only downside to the festival was that while we were there, there were two religious fanatics that were screaming at everyone about sin. I'm sure they get lots of converts that way...ha!





After the Chalk Festival, we went to the Powwow. Avery was very into the dancers. It was so cool! Unfortunately it didn't hold Rhys's interest very well, and it was sooooo crowded that we didn't get to stay that long.

Griffy the dog

Halloween

This year, we decided to have a Halloween party here. I was feeling nostalgic for the Halloweens I spent as a kid trick-or-treating with a huge group of family. So we recreated it! It was just as fun as I remembered. Not everyone could come this year, but we still had a nice time. I didn't get my act together to get a costume, but I plan to next year. It was so fun seeing the adults that dressed up.

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating too. Avery was Hermione from Harry Potter, Rhys was a construction foreman, and Griffin was a puppy dog.

Happy Halloween!

Co-op Halloween party

On the Friday before Halloween, we had a celebration for the kids. Everyone wore their costumes and we read Halloween stories, did Halloween crafts, and took a walk through the church's labyrinth. It was great! Unfortunately Griff started to fall apart towards the end, so we had to miss the yummy food. It was still fun!

Latest update

Let's see...Avery just finished up the African drumming class she was taking. She really enjoyed it, but I'm glad that it's over! The class itself was great, but it was very hard to keep Griffin entertained for the hour that she was in the class. I would wait with the boys and the other moms and little siblings at Kerbey Lane, and it somehow always worked out to be right at Griffin's naptime! A cranky baby at a restaurant is not my favorite thing.

Homeschooling has taken a different turn, but it's going very well. We decided to go in more of a child-led direction, because I was feeling too much responsibility and a big reason for our homeschooling is that we want the kids to take charge of their own educations! So, inspired by the American Girl books, we're taking a break from medieval world history to delve into early American history. So far, it's going wonderfully! Avery is very excited to learn about it. She's been reading lots of historical fiction on the time period, then I follow up with some facts and history texts. She is very self-motivated, so I'm not sure why I ever thought I needed to play cruise-director! She's speeding through her handwriting book because I told her that once she finishes it, I'll buy her the one for cursive writing. She can't wait!

She's still a reading machine. Besides the historical fiction, she's been reading Halloween-themed books this week (Harry Potter and The Witch Family) as well as the ever-present Laura books.

Rhys is getting ready to start his big boy gymnastics class without Daddy! He's been ready skill-wise to move out of the parent and tot class for a while now, but he hasn't been emotionally ready. We're still not sure if he's emotionally ready, but we're giving it a shot! I'm a bit nervous....Rhys has spent the majority of the past few weeks outside every waking moment. He lives in the sandbox outside with Jasper. Poor Jasper, Rhys spends a lot of time pouring sand over his poor little doggy head. He's a good sport though, and I think he just really enjoys Rhys's company.

Griffin is getting sooooo close to crawling! He gets up on all fours, pushes both knees forward, then throws himself down on his tummy, propelling himself forward. It gets him across the room surprisingly fast! He also pulled up the other day all by himself! I left the room for a second, and when I returned, he was standing up holding on to the bookcase. Time to babyproof!

"Tick friends"

Last week, we decided to go to a homeschool park day that we don't normally go to. I told Avery that we might not know anyone there, and I asked her if that was ok with her. She said, "Sure! I can just make some tick friends!" I said, "Tick friends? What are those?" She replied, "Those are friends that I meet, and we play and become friends, and then I never see them again."

So when we left the park, I asked her if she had a good time. She said, "Yeah! I made some half-tick friends!" She went on to explain that half-tick friends are friends that she meets and plays with, but only sees maybe once a year.