Pick of the Patch!

This weekend I took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch out in Gardnerville. Last year we went later in the season and all the perfect pumpkins were taken already, so I decided we would go opening weekend to get the best pickin! It had been beautiful all week and then hellooo wind! We started out at the petting area. Kelsey had fun feeding the goats (until one literally jumped on her). Although she didn't find it funny, I thought it was hilarious! Wish I had a picture of it though.Chase and Sadi were not as brave as last year and were content to watch from the hay bails.After a bit they found some brushes to groom the miniature horses with and decided this guy need some TLC. We also got up close and personal with the pigs. Had to pick who we thought would win at the pig races. This is Oreo, he was favored to win.As they came barreling down the raceway it was clear Oreo was not going to win, however the one who looks like he is in last place (Bacon) pulled through and won, beating out Pumpkin and Spooky as well as Oreo. The girls really had fun roping on the ranch,and Chase loved ridding (even if the horse didn't move).We also spent quite a bit of time in the corn maze. The corn was HUGE this year! It had to be over 10 feet high easily. This year the maze was carved out in the shape of Nevada with all the major cities. They gave those who wanted a challenge of finding all the cities within the maze and you had to bring back the answers for a prize. I love how it was also educational. As every year in the past, we had the same guide... To end the day we headed to the acres and acres of pumpkins to pick the best pumpkins. A bit harder to choose this year because there were sooo many. Sadi wasted no time and picked the first one she saw...Chase took his time and finally decided on one that was still a bit green. Kelsey finally decided on this big guy...It was a good picking day!

Six!!!

Yesterday was Chase's Sixth birthday...did I just say that? He is 6! The morning was planned for him to have to weave through the balloons strewn through the hall but they all dropped by morning so that was less than thrilling. Looked good the night before...Good thing he is only 6 he still thought it was cool. It was time for a superhero breakfast!! Because he had school he opened cards and we gave him a new Captain America t-shirt that he could wear to make it a little fun. This is new territory for me, I have never had a kid with a birthday on a school day before....not so fun I gotta say.When he got home it was time to search for his presents. He had to read rhyming clues to find his presents. Each present that was hidden had the next clue to find all his gifts. He LOVED this. He went from the closet, to the laundry, to even hunting in the garage.He was excited to get some new imaginext superheros he didn't have,and was thrilled to get his Captain America shield. Shoots real discs!We let him choose where to go for dinner...mind you this could be anywhere. Where does the kid pick?After dinner we headed back home for some super hero cake!Hope this boy's birthday wishes all come true!!!

A giggle in the office

Back to school for us has meant lots of trips to the Dr. for check ups, dental cleanings, and orthodontist check-ups. Since Sadi hadn't started school yet, she got to go along on every ones visits. At Kelsey's dentist appt. I had all the kids with me so decided I would help Chase with his homework while we were waiting. Sadi has been really into reading the magazines in all the offices but on this particular trip she had the giggles (I mean laugh out loud giggles) while looking at a magazine. I kept saying "shh", "quiet", but the giggles continued. Finally I had to ask "What are you laughing at?". This is what she could not stop laughing at..... A guy in his "underwear" (according to her). I guess I have to bring my own reading materials for her next time eh?

Did I just see what I think I saw?

You may have at one time seen one of these cross the road...But, have you ever seen one of THESE cross the road? I now can say I have. While taking a trip to Reno with Matt and Sadi, we were traveling up 6 mile canyon road. As I was driving I noticed something up ahead but couldn't tell what as it was on black asphalt. As I drove over the top of it I had to say "Did you SEE that?" (I didn't realize what it was until it was so close and I was past it. I had to turn around because Matt didn't believe I just saw a HUGE spider. When we returned to the spot this big guy had almost crossed the road. It was BIG! (I think like 4-5 inches in diameter). Matt got out and snapped a picture while Sadi and I were content to see from afar. So next time you are in Dayton, watch out for these guys crossing the road...ew!

Back to School

Today was finally Sadi's turn to go back to school. She was super excited! She usually sleeps in which had me worried she would be cranky to wake up and get ready to go....just like her to totally do the opposite. She woke at 7 and that is when the "Is it time to go yet?" every minute began. Not sure why the modeling in this photo but hey she's looking at the camera AND smiling! And of course keeping with tradition when I went to pick her up she hid and then cried the whole way home. This kid loves school!! Thank you Ms. Beanie for another great start!

First Grade...Really?

So far I am not to thrilled about first grade. Let me explain, Chase has the new teacher who came down from third grade. She did not even know for a full 24 hours before we met her on the Friday prior to school starting that she would even be teaching this year. She was less than friendly, and since then I have been trying to help out in the classroom (with whatever her needs may be) unsuccessfully. BUT, that is NOT (okay it is a little) why I am disappointed so far. Chase had been telling me for 2 weeks that school is "boring". Chase loved school last year so I am still trying to detect what the problem is. HOWEVER, I am now suspecting school may be boring because take a look at week 1 homework.... Write the letter A?, and if that is to difficult:

fill in the blanks for numbers 0-10 (and don't worry if it is to hard they filled in 3 of the numbers for ya!!). I am all for review but really? If we don't know our letter A and numbers through 10 isn't there a problem?! Then week 2:

Really? These are the spelling words? I actually had to go pull out last years spelling tests to verify that yes these were words from week 4 of Kindergarten. Then as a cherry on top, they sent home their reading books for the week I couldn't even take a picture of the lame books like "MY DOG" that was 5 pages long. That get this they should take the kids 15-20 minutes to read. Chase did all in 4 books in about mmmm 4 minutes. Good thing we have a great library at home to supplement the lack of resources from school. I am hopeful school does not reverse all the progress he made over the summer...ugh.

They're Baaaack!

Today was the first day of school!! We prepared yesterday by playing "what if" if with Chase (example: What if you have to go the bathroom and it's not recess, What if you see someone being bullied, etc.), and of course I had to find this cute book to prepare him...Kelsey started her Sophomore year (what?), she is really looking grown up. I think this is the earliest she has been up all year, and trust me she snuggled those blankets till the very last minute. Chase was off to First grade, can you believe it? His teacher this year is Mrs. Frusteri (ya how hard is that for a first grader?, I can barely pronounce it). He was excited even though almost all of his class from Kindergarten got the other teacher. I thought he looked handsome even though Matt teased me that his outfit screamed beat me up. It was a loooong day for me. Do you know how much you can accomplish with only 1 kid? I went to the bank, dollar tree, grocery shopping, and the gas station, to get the 4 year old a special "I'm not is school yet" soda and I looked at the clock when I got home....not even 10 a.m.!!! So, I planned a fun first day of school dinner (in between playing Rapunzel ALL day long). I made these pencils with Rolos and Hershey kisses with a note saying: You are so sharp, hope you had a fun first day. Aren't they cute? One day down, how many to go? I CANNOT play Rapunzel everyday (seriously folks it is Sadi's made up game that NEVER ends). Three more weeks till Preschool!!