Connor's Field Trip to Mayse Farm

This week, Connor's class and a couple other classrooms went on a field trip to Mayse Farm. Connor was so excited since he had already been there with the family a couple weeks ago and knew what to expect (and what to look forward to). He said they got to ride a school bus to Mayse Farm, they did all the same things we did as a family but with his friends, and he even got to pick out a baby pumpkin. That evening, he decided he wanted to paint his pumpkin. At his request, I painted the face of the Jack O'Lantern and he painted the remainder.

What a great job Connor!

Our First Jack O'Lantern

At Mayse Farm a couple weekends ago, we selected a nice pumpkin for carving the week of Halloween. This will be my first memory of a pumpkin carving (although my mom said we tried one year) and the boys first pumpkin carving. Daddy researched pumpkin carving templates online and selected an appropriately scary one.

Since the boys did so great with their flu shots today (no fighting or crying), we decided tonight was a good night to carve the pumpkin. While daddy was carving the pumpkin (very professionally I might add), I suggested we pick out the pumpkin seeds for toasted pumpkin seeds. Of course, this became my task since the boys decided they didn't want to get their hands dirty.

The end result - a scary Jack O'Lantern, yummy cinnamon flavored pumpkin seeds, and a new memory with the boys!

Teenager attitude early or just a preview?

Connor and Brady are giving us a glimpse of what teenager attitude will look like with their new favorite phrases.

Connor has decided to end the majority of his statements or respond to our questions with "whatever". Imagine this being said in a smart alleck tone as opposed to being an answer to the question of what do you want for dinner. I have identified who one of the influences to this word were - daddy! Daddy has been caught on occasion responding to mommy's questions this way. Daddy now has some reform work to do!

Brady's new phrase is "I know that". The majority of time this is said as a statement that he knew something we just told him. It has came off a few times as smart alleck also in that we just told him something he already knew and we wasted our time telling him again. Well then!

Gotta love the personalities that are developing!

Fall Family Fun with the Boys

Today, we had an adventurous day enjoying the nice fall weather. We met several friends at Mayse Farm Market for an afternoon of fun. We went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch where we picked out a nice pumpkin for carving (which will be a first for me and the boys). We had fun on the slide, playing in the straw castle, finding our way through the hay maze to ring the bell, finding our way through Simba's Corn Maze, and drinking fresh apple cider (which Connor calls spicy).

After a long afternoon nap, we then ventured to "Boo at the Zoo" with Mimi & Papa. The boys had fun getting some nice treats and seeing and petting a few animals. The Jaquar was very active from all the people traffic, so Connor was excited about that. We were really disappointed that they decided to not run the haunted tram this year (which was the main reason we went), but at least there was some spookiness in walking through the zoo in the dark.

In conclusion, it was a nice way to spend the day together and to start some family traditions of picking out a pumpkin. We will definately make that an annual event.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fall Festival "Troopers"

The Friday before the Fall Festival started, Connor asked if we were taking them because he heard there was going to be food and rides there. (Thanks to his friends at school). We had avoided the trip to the Fall Festival with kids up to this point - now we had no choice but to entertain Connor's curiosity.

We ventured to the Fall Festival Wednesday night with the boys and Gma Darla (extra support just in case). As soon as we got there, Connor was intrigued by the Ferris Wheel and other "older kid" rides. We focused on food first (of course). The boys had typical kid food - cheeseburger and corn dog. They especially loved the fruit haystack which was fresh fruit with mini-marshmallows. I decided for the first time in many years to venture beyond my favorites and try some new items. I tried the Hawaiian burger (Yummy!) and the Eagle Egg (also Yummy!).

After everyone got their share of food, we went to the outrageously priced ticket booth. I bought a small amount of tickets to give Connor the chance to ride a few rides. Well, Brady decided that he wanted to ride also. He wouldn't ride at Holiday World, but the Fall Festival rides interested him for some reason (go figure). We rode THREE kiddie rides for $15. I think next time, we will consider going on the Family Sunday and purchase an armband to allow them to ride many rides. The evening was fun and the boys will now be a part of the annual trek to the "Biggest Street Festival" in our town!

Montessori Update

Connor is doing very well at Montessori - we are very satisfied with our decision to move him and know that he is learning a lot. As well as the education, they also focus on basic practical life lessons that strengthen their fine motor skills as well as calling upon their sense of order, concentration, coordination, and independence.

Last week, they went on a field trip to Cmoe and received favorable reports about their behaviour. Later this month, they will be visiting Maise Farm to explore the pumpkin patch.

Following are a few pictures of Connor showing how he spends his days at Montessori (thank you Ms. Beth). The first picture is Connor in the quiet corner, where they said he is always careful to take his glasses off. The kids are allowed to go to the quiet corner when they need to take a break from the school day for whatever reason.

Let's Stick to the Routine - I want to know what's next!

Connor has always been a little fanatic about the routine and knowing what the order of events will be. About the time we started the nightly routine, he would usually recite what it was as sort of a confirmation that we weren't going to mix it up - Bath, Cookies, TV show, Book, Bed. Apparently, he finds comfort in this area as it allowed him to transition more comfortably at Montessori also. Ms. Beth said that once he knew how the day would play out, he was like "Okay - I'm good now".

Connor has now started extending the routine beyond a couple hours of time. On Friday mornings, he will recite what will happen from Friday morning all the way until Monday morning. It's so funny that he finds this important - "we go to school today, then tonight we start the weekend with mommy and daddy, this weekend we are going to do _____, then Sunday night I got to bed and when I wake up it will be time to go to school again (lots of enthusiasm here)". Talk about fast-forwarding the weekend....

Brady has started picking up this "trait" also. On the way home from school, he recites what will happen when he gets home. Usually I have to change the order because he tries to force a snack/dessert in there before dinner.

Week 4 at Montessori

Connor concentrating on a number puzzle

They say there comes a time during your child's school years that you are learning all over again with them. I just didn't realize it was going to come in the preschool years...Connor has learned geometrical shapes in his 4th week at Montessori. He told several of us the shapes he was learning - sphere, cube, cone, cylinder, ovoid, and ellipsoid. I had to get the last two from Ms. Beth's blog (see below). I think he has a good understanding of them too since he could give you examples or tell you what geometrical shape something was when quizzed. He's learning so much at his new school and growing up so fast!

Ms. Beth's Blog excerpt:

Each morning at circle this week, the children have learned a new geometrical solid shape. At first, some of the children called the sphere a circle and the cube a square, but after comparing the flat shapes with the 3-D shapes, the children caught on quickly. We began Monday with the sphere and the children named some things that we had in our room that were also spherical in shape such as the globe. I also introduced cube, cone, cylinder, ovoid (egg-shape), and ellipsoid (think football). We go around the circle taking turns naming the shapes, then as we take attendance, each child comes to my work rug, I place a handkerchief over their hands, and place one of the shapes into their hands. They are really good at figuring out which shape they're holding without even peeking! Other geometrical solids they'll be introduced to are the triangular prism, rectangular prism, square-based pyramid, and triangle-based pyramid.

Family Road Trip - St. Louis, MO

After much debate, we finally decided that our family vacation would be a road trip to St. Louis. Surprisingly, St. Louis is close to home, fun-filled, and inexpensive (<$650 for entertainment, lodging, and food for 4 days).

We kicked off the road trip on Thursday morning with our first stop at the Magic House. The boys had a blast in the Children's Village where they had exhibits where the kids could pretend grocery shop, run a restaurant, play house, run a bank, and more. They had exhibits that entertained both kids and adults alike. My favorites were the recollection room where your movements were turned into art and the shadow wall. The Magic House is undergoing a 32,000 sq ft expansion, so we can't wait to return.

Friday, we started off at the City Museum which was made up of tunnels, caves, and slides that were made of recycled materials. At one point, Connor and I were 4 stories high in an airplane that required climbing through fused metal to get up to and back down. Not my best parenting decision, but we survived and had a blast! We then ventured over to the Science Center where we spent the afternoon building an arch, watching the Energizer machine, escaping the roar of T-Rex, played in the science park, and watched Peeps get tortured in a science experiment.

Friday evening, we were planning on seeing the Forest Park Balloon Glow. About 4:30, we decided to walk over to Central Field (from the Science Center) to make sure we knew where it was located. It turned out to be quite a walk and there were people and food/game booths everywhere. We ended up staying (even though we sent Chris back to the car to get a blanket and money) - we people watched, ate expensive festival food, and ended the evening with the Balloon Glow. The boys were out by time we got back to the hotel about 9pm.

Saturday morning, Mimi & Papa joined us for the remainder of the weekend. We ventured to the St. Louis Zoo for the day (which is a very well-maintained zoo and it's free). I was really surprised by the massiveness of the Elephant and Chimpanzee exhibits. We also were able to see the Dinoroarus exhibit which featured 16 life-like dinos. By the end of the day, the boys were exhausted and Connor even slept all through dinner. We ended the evening watching the end of the Balloon Race before heading back to the hotel for a quiet evening.

After a large breakfast Sunday morning, we went to Grant's Farm. The visit starts out with a tram ride through the farm where you can see animals roaming free and then the tram stops at an area where you can pet and view more animals. Feeding the goats bottles of milk was really neat - Brady enjoyed it, while Connor was scared and had a major death grip. We also saw the Budweiser Clydesdales, which I had no idea were so large!

After Grant's Farm, we decided to check out the WFPRR train ride (which I assumed would be similar to the one in French Lick). Apparently, I missed the key word "mini". It was a mini steam rail system where you take a scenic route along the Meramac River on 2 feet wide flat beds. I think everyone ended up enjoying the ride - especially since we had some comedic mishaps like the engine separating from the rest of the train.

There were times where the boys tested our patience and we were tempted to return home. Our naps and eating schedules were thrown off, so that is a lesson learned for future vacations. All in all, it turned out to be a very nice vacation for the family with lots of memories.

Week 3 at Montessori...Short Week

Friday night, I received a message from Ms. Beth that Connor is definitely comfortable with the classroom and has even moved on to the "testing the teacher" mode. Even though she had to get firm with him on Friday for his stubbornness, he still claims she is his best friend. When I read the message to him, he immediately started giving me excuses for an incident that must have happened that day.

Week 3 for Connor was a short week due to our family vacation and it went well. I think the teachers must coach the kids on what to say to the parents, because here is what we hear each night.

"I had a good day. I played with my friends. I didn't hit, bite, kick, or pinch any of my friends. I listened to my teacher." It is a repeated mantra every evening...and also when he hears the computer beep for a new message (which he comments is possibly from Ms. Beth).

Ms. Beth maintains a weekly blog about what is going on in the classroom, upcoming events, and various pictures. I allowed Connor to review the pictures and he surprisingly knew several of the "works" that his classmates were working on. He didn't know all of the kids names yet though.

Coming up at Montessori..themed sharing day, field trip to Cmoe, Fall Festival Booth, and more.

Brady's "Big Boy" Bed...Compromise

Ever since Mimi took Brady with her for bed shopping (for her house), Brady has been commenting more on Connor's "big boy" bed and he wants to go in there at bedtime. We weren't ready to move Brady from his crib directly to a twin bed (like we did with Connor), because we are guaranteed to have a runner since we hear "I want out of here, get me out of here". Therefore, we decided to compromise by converting his crib to a toddler bed. We took off one side of the crib and replaced it with a bed rail. The bed rail is large enough to where he can't slide out of bed easily without some awkward maneuvering. He loves it and he now sleeps with a comforter too!

Connor loves it too as they played in it all weekend..."Brady, let's go play in your bed." We caught them in there several times pretend napping or reading books.

Week 2 at Montessori

We ended Week 1 with Connor reporting that it was a sad week and that he would not be returning when he woke up on Monday. He told us this story several times over the weekend, so we assumed Week 2 would be another heartbreaking week.

Boy, were we wrong! Connor has officially accepted his "BIG BOY" school. On Monday, when I asked him what kind of day he had, he said "I had a BAD day" with the biggest grin on his face. I knew then that there was nothing further to worry about.

He had a few stories during the week...He said Ms. Beth is his best friend because she teaches him lessons. He said he has been working on fish on a string, feed the monkeys, grasping, pouring, and scooping. He said that he loves playing in the rocks and dirt (his clothes show it). As much as I hated the sand at Central, at least his clothes stayed clean(er)! Few other things Connor has picked up "I have a question (this is usually a statement)", "When I am talking to you, you need to listen to me", and my favorite is a new (interesting) song that I have never heard before (I had to look it up online).

Five Fat Sausages Five fat sausages sizzling in the pan Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, (rub hands together) and one (Connor inserted Brady's name here) went bang! (clap!) Four fat sausages………

So, in conclusion, Week 2 at Montessori went great. One downside to the Montessori program is Connor has some pent-up energy at the end of the day - he is WILD in the evenings!