NOVEMBER: Field Trip

Alice's second project top was grocery stores. I helped to chaperone the trip to Dahl's. This is Alice and her best buddy Maya posing for a picture after they interviewed a grocery store employee...


There was lots of learning going on...


And after they learned there were free cookie samples in the bakery, all the learning was done...

MORE OCTOBER

This is the candy corn wreath I made that I thought would last for years to come. Will had other plans, he could not stop eating the candy corn off the wreath!

Carving pumpkins was a huge hit with both kids...



And then there was the church carnival...

OCTOBER: Bryan's Wedding

Bryan and Michelle were married on October 30th and Alice was the flowergirl. She was over the moon excited about being in the weddingand absolutely worshiped Michelle on the big day. She wanted nothing to do with me and it was almost like she was saying, "Mom, I'm grown up now and I don't need you bugging me."

She spent the morning with her Gigi getting her nails and hair done. She looked so beautiful...

And so did Gigi...

And then there was Will... He was such a ham...





Brad and I cleaned up pretty nice too..


After a fun, but exhausting wedding, we still had more celebrating to do the next day. In the morning Mom put on a brunch for both families...

And in the evening, there was trick-or-treating...


The kids were thrilled to trick-or-treat with their cousins...

OCTOBER Alice's First Culminating Event

Alice's school has many special things about it, and as times goes on, we just love her school (and so does she) more and more. One of the special things is Project Based Learning. The kids study a certain topic for a few months and then have a culminating event, at which they have to present what they have learned. I was always scared to death of public speaking, so I think it's wonderful to start working on this at such an early age.

This is Alice in her shirt she made with her 5th grade buddy...


The first event was about apples. They went to an apple farm, where had to ask a question that they had thought of. After they got their answer, they went back to school and had to find a way to represent what they learned. There were many other activities they took part in a school to further their understanding of the topic.
Alice, being the little author she is, did two...






This is her giving her presentation. She did such a good job presenting and answering everyone's questions. We were so proud.

SEPTEMBER Recap

With Alice starting school, September was a time of big transitions. Alice had a hard time adjusting to going to school all day. She was used to 2 1/2 hours of preschool, during which there were absolutely no demands placed on her. Her teacher's first comment to me was that she takes are really long time to get things done and has a hard time transitioning quickly. Well that makes sense, because no one had ever asked her to do anything quickly. At the last conference in March, he said he felt like it took her several months to adjust and that she often just sat there staring at the other kids. And when she got home, that was a "whole different talkshow!" She was a exhausted and difficult to deal with, which made me so sad because that was the only part of the day I got to be with her. Needless to say, there weren't many structured activities in the afternoon.

Over the weekends there was some rollerblading and bike-riding...

And a few craft projects..

Painting with corn syrup...



Painting Rocks...




Making apples with colored rice...




We tried out our new apple-peeler-corer. Brad was not excited about a new kitchen item, but as you can see in the picture, he enjoyed it just as much as the kids...



We also made our own apple tree (you can see it in the background of several of the pictures).

After peeling all those apples, you have to do something with them, so we made apple muffins (my Aunt Harriet's recipe)...

and apple crisp...



And that was September!

AUGUST- The Night Before Kindergarten

When you have an infant, you feel like your child will never be old enough to go to Kindergarten. I just can't believe how quickly those five and a half years went. All summer I was so sad about Alice going to school. I knew she was ready to go and that she needed to go, but I just loved being at home with her and just wanted to keep her for myself. I was the one who taught her everything and was with her for every little moment. It was such a foreign idea to send her off and let someone else take over her education. There were many nights that I woke up from a dead sleep in tears. After she started school, it took me months to get my bearings and I still don't fell whole when she is gone.

The day before school started, I tried to make everything very special for her. We both went and had manicures and pedicures.

She was fairly anxious throughout the whole experience. She hates having her fingernails cut and the toenails are even worse.
I even sprung for flowers on the big toes and fingers. She was thrilled with the outcome.

We had a special dinner...

The MENU:
Alphabet Pasta and Meatballs
Bread Shaped Like The First Letter of Your Name
Pencil Cookies

After dinner we took a family picture which I attached to her backpack so she could see us if she got at all homesick (I really don't think she did!)


And before bed, Brad read her The Night Before Kindergarten

And as was customary in Brad's family, she made a clothes person with her first day outfit...


This is what her face looked like all night. I don't think she got much sleep...