"Where's My Sock?"

On the way home from school yesterday, Oct. 21, I looked at Ian, riding quietly in his booster seat, and noticed that only one sock was peeking out from under the bottom of his pants. I happened to already know that several of his classmates, and him, take their shoes off for nap time. But why was the sock gone? I asked him, and he said: "Momma, I had to take it off. That's the only way I could see my foot." In that "duh" moment, I was still just as puzzled, so I asked him again, this time more specific: "Ian. Why did you take your sock off to even look at your foot? And why didn't you put it back on?" "Because, Momma," he said,  "Melody couldn't see what I was showing her through my sock. And I don't know where my sock went."
The sock is still lost. So I think I've won the "Weirdest Item Lost at School" award. Can anybody else beat it? I'm calling you fellow bloggers out.

First Field Trip

Ian, Will, Maggie, and Brooklyn

Ian's first ever field trip was yesterday, and they chose to go to Whitmore Farms, outside Jasper. We were grouped with a very fair kid/parent ratio (Ian and I was paired with some very familiar faces, Tasha and Maggie, and a very sweet new face, Brooklyn), split into two groups as a whole, and started out exploring the neat farm. Our group, which was about 20 kids and 10-12 adults, started the morning on a very HUGE inflatable slide, which all the children, with the exception of a couple, loved almost as much as the parents wanted to. From there, we climbed our way across to another inflatable, yet smaller obstacle course/slide. Every child had a new and better way to jump, flip, and slide down the other side. It was so fun to watch some of the shy kids come out of their shell at this point. Next, we bounced our way over to the last inflatable, the moon walk. Since this had to be done in smaller groups of about 5, some of the kids who had already taken their first turn, used the wait time to have their faces painted by a member of the farm staff. They had a choice of spider, ghost, or pumpkin, and of course Ian chose the spider. (A small word of advice for anyone that will ever attempt to do face-painting: make sure you include all eight legs if you paint a spider. Children who are learning about new things will definitely pick up on the mistake of only using six legs.) Afterwards, the kids had a picnic lunch that was provided by the school lunchroom. Concessions were provided for the chaperones. Our group then set off for petting the farm animals. While they didn't get to touch every single animal there, they did their fair share. They saw a baby pig, dove, two rabbits, blue chicken, pony, pygmy goat, miniature horse, turkey, and of course, the farm dogs. After getting a generous amount of Germ-X, we went into the barn for scarecrow building, and hay jumping. It was then time for a quick trip to the farm's pond, where each kid was given the job of watching their very own bobber at the end of their cane pole. No fish, though. Next, we hitched a ride on a huge trailer filled with hay, pulled by a tractor. The hay ride took us all across the farm to a pumpkin patch, which was no more than a bunch of picked pumpkins spread out on a fresh-cut hay field, but the kids still had fun hand-picking their very own pumpkin to take home. They had a quick snack, loaded all the kids and their pumpkins, and headed back to the school. We really had a good time. First field trip: a success.

Ian on the giant slide. If you look close, you can see the top of the barn roof behind the slide. That's how tall this thing was.

Ian sliding down giant slide.

Doing tricks on obstacle course slide.

Ian would not touch blue chicken.

Ian, Maggie, and Brooklyn petting donkey.

Jumping into large bales of hay.

Ian and Brooklyn

Tasha, Maggie, Brooklyn, Holly, and Ian enjoying the hay ride. Camera was a little shaky.

 

Luke and Ian bringing home their prized pumpkins.

The rare six-legged spider from Whitmore Farms, found in it's natural habitat: children's faces.

Allow Me To Introduce....

These angels are my world. They are who this blog will be centered around. Those beautiful, innocent faces are the product of a wonderful, almost fairytale 7 year marriage between me and my wonderful husband.

Allow me to introduce you all to my first-born son. Big Boy is now 5, he's in kindergarten now.

This Little Man is 7 months old now, but at the time of this picture, he was about 3-4 months. He's a lot bigger now, and I'll try to post some more recent photos soon.

I Know, It's Surprising

Before you say a word, I know, I know. Me? Blogging? It's crazy! I've got to do something to keep up with my sister-in-laws. They're so good at all the blogging, facebook, etc. Anyway, I'll do my best to update as much as possible. It's not easy out here in the woods, though. Dial-up is still the choice-connection out here. Believe me, it's not MY choice, but what can you do when there is no other way.

I can't wait to start blogging about my wonderful family. I hope you enjoy what I have to say, so check back in!