Tis the Season

We wanted to try a new family tradition, so we went to a local pumpkin patch. When we first moved out here, I thought the idea was kinda cheezy. Growing up, we went to the exciting grocery store to choose our pumpkins. Little did I know about all the farm land out in the west...

Wow, my head kinda resembles these orange things.

Yeah, I want one of these when I learn to drive.

I like this one.

Dad, go really fast around these stinkin' pumpkins. I promise to hold on tight.

Getting Old

Today while walking away from our car, on the way to get a ton of blood taken out of me by a mean nurse, a car honked just as Dan went past. It caught us off gaurd 'cause it was that short, get-someone's-attention honk. I really didn' feel like seeing anyone we knew right before getting pricked with a needle. Anyway, inside the car were 2 "little old ladies" giggling. They were eyeing Dan, and I though they were flirting with him. Just past the giddy grandmas, though, was a third old lady searching for... yep, her car. Her friends were not being friendly with Dan, much to his disappointment. They were playing Marco Polo via car horn, guiding their lost friend home.

My Girls

Yesterday my class played Red Rover for PE. (remember the last blog about RR?... I was a bit nervous) No injuries this time, but I witnessed something that was pretty funny.

After PE, we stay outside for recess. I told my class they could keep playing, but I wasn't in charge anymore since I had to watch the other classes. Some left for the playground, while a bunch still wanted to play. They mixed up the teams themselves: girls vs. boys. Immediately I heard a few boys say that they would win because boys are stronger.

Well, the girls called a name first and the boy didn't even break through. I thought, "way to show 'em, girls." Then they "caught" the 2nd one as well. The boys side ended up regaining their 2 lost teammates, and then the girls did something pretty tricky. (as adults, this may sound snotty, but these girls are not at all)

When the girls called out their next name, the boy backed up to get a good start. As he ran towards the line, all the girls ran from the game and headed to the playground. The game was over, leaving the boys thinking that they scared the girls with their strength and fast running.

Boys have a lot to learn about girls!

Reincarnation?

So now that Josh is mobile, he gets in to everything! (which was expected) It has been interesting the items that he decides to head for when we put him on the ground. We are constantly comparing him to our former cat, Jackson. Here are a few of the major similarities: (we are not totally bad parents... Josh is mostly supervised)

Paper-
*Jackson would first lay on whatever piece or pile of paper he found around. Then he would wrestle it until he was sure it was dead. Finally, he would eat it.
*Josh doesn't wait for the kill, but can have 1 regular-sized paper gone before we even notice how quiet things have gotten!

Plastic Bags
*Jackson would either crawl inside and hang out in a bag for a while, or drag it around the house in his mouth as if he were claiming ownership.
*Josh will sit in the same spot and play with it, shaking it in front of him because it makes a noise louder than him.

Electrical Cords (think we're terrible now?)
*Jackson actually chewed through cords that connected some speakers to a computer. No cord-like objects were safe. (he also chewed through a bra strap...mine, not Dan's)
*Josh has a few to choose from since we have 2 laptops and all their cords throughout the house. He will put the cord (not the end) in his mouth and let go, as if saying, "Look mom, no hands!"

We hope that Josh won't end up on the tops of things (shelves, table, fridge) as he learns to climb.

Why I Teach

Today I was reviewing some high-frequency words (aka: "magic words") with my class. We are at the point where putting them together creates readable sentences: "I see the cat." "I like me." I had them read three sentences, which they did as easily as if they had been reading forever. (this is the 1st year I have had no readers enter my class, so they are ALL on the same beginning level... which is rare)

I then asked, "How many of you wanted to learn how to read when you came to Kindergarten?" They all raised their hands. Then I told them, "You just read these sentences to me all by yourselves!"

These kids looked at each other with complete, honest amazement all over their faces, as if it had been done by magic. It was such special moment for all of us. It's nice to have 24 beaming faces looking at you with admiration, as well as earned pride for themselves.