What's in a name?

I just got home from school where my identity was on double duty -Mrs. K and mom.  I subbed in Carson's class this morning and it was so much fun.  Carson is a GREAT student and I knew that it would be easy to be his mom and also his teacher- and it was.  There were a couple of times when I heard, "Mom, how do you spell _______?" 

When I didn't know something about their routine, he would tell me quietly what I needed to know.  He was so excited to have me there, as was I to be there.  I get to be in there in February for 4 days and am looking forward to getting to know some of his friends better. 

I know this opportunity is short lived and not often possible so I am going to enjoy it as much as possible. 
In a few weeks I get to be in Connor's class and know that my experience will be the same!!!!   
     

Pumpkins!

Kaelynn's class took a field trip to the Dakota Carriage Pumpkin Patch this morning.  It was one of the best pumpkin patches I have ever been too.  They had tons of things to do and great picture opportunities. 

Here are some of the kids in her class

Do you like the wind blown look?  It was slightly breezy.....

There were a couple of stagecoaches the kids could climb on and in.  Kaelynn and Ava went for a ride out west somewhere.

They had a great hay bale maze with a little slide.  The kids loved it!

They even had mini-golf. 

Teeter-tottering.....

Grover rode with us so he did all of the activities with us too.  Kaelynn plays at Grover's house when I am working on Mon, Tues, and Thurs so Grover and Kaelynn are good friends.  It was fun to get some pics of the two of them. 

We even got to pick out a pumpkin.  Kaelynn did a great job picking one out.  It was pretty much perfect!

Going through the corn maze....

 Sitting on a hay spider with Blake and Sawyer. 

Fall fun- for lack of better title :)

Yes we have been busy with life, but we have had time to do some fun things in the midst of all of it.  Hunting season is upon us and so far it has been very successful.  The boys also had the opportunity to do some fall fishing with grandpa.  They got some good looking fish:

Hunting season has been great for Andy and it's not over yet!  You know it's hunting season in our house when you walk into our garage and see blood spattered on the floor!  A few more weekends filled with ducks and geese are yet to come.  Can you imagine the excitement I feel as I write this?   

Kaelynn needed to get in on the action too.  Just in case that goose wasn't already dead- she needed to shoot it with a pretend rifle. 

One thing I remember about fall in our house was caramel apples!  My mom would buy them from Byerlys and they were so good.  We don't have Byerlys, and I think it'sfun to make our own, so we do!  The kids love to unwrap the caramels and it keeps them busy for a while.  HHHMMM!!!!!!!

Our last preschooler (sniff, sniff, sniff)

I know you are all wondering- Did I really cry when I dropped off Kaelynn at preschool this morning.  The answer is ...........NO!!!! 

She had a great first day of preschool.  I was a little worried about her crying since she cries every time I tell her she is going to Sunday School, but she didn't cry and said she had a good day :) 

All ready to go at 8:15am....

Hanging up her backpack in her cubby.

Kaelynn and her friend Ava.  Ava is moving out of state sometime soon, so we were surprised to see her there.  Kaelynn was excited to say the least. 

The proud parents and a little girl who was thinking "Enough with the pictures.  I just want to go play."

Playing in the pretend play room.  It is set up with house and store toys.  I'm sure she will spend most of her free time in there. 

Playing with playdoh.  A favorite activity!!!

She is wanting to go back tomorrow so that is a good sign.  We are very excited for this year and the things she will learn and experience.  We love you sweet pea!!!!

Cutest Ballerina Ever!

Kaelynn started ballet lessons last week and it has been so fun to watch her do something she loves.  She is the youngest in the class and has had to work hard to keep up, but she is doing very well.  It is an hour long class- for a 4-year old that's a long time.  She is learning the positions and how to point and use her arms gracefully.  She is so precious and loves it. 

Miss Joni, her instructor and owner of Messiah Dance Theater is on the far right.  Kaelynn is just to the left of her in the pale pink leotard. 

This is a video of a game they play.  They each get to take a turn being the fairy and waking up the others in the class.  When they are awakened- they are to dance around the room until the music stops.  Kaelynn loves it! 

Tonight's plans.......

Guess what we're doing tonight........

San Diego

Last Thursday thru Sunday, Andy and I had the priveledge of traveling to San Diego with 5 other staff from Bethel.  We were there to check out a church that has some great ideas- ones that we are hoping to adapt and implement at our church in the near future.  I won't go too much into that right now, but want to show you some of the fun time we had too. 

I'd never been to California, and haven't expereinced the ocean that much, so it was a ton of fun to experience.  We flew in Thursday morning and tooled around the harbor a little.  We ate shrimp with the seagulls and saw some pretty amazing aircraft carriers. 

 

The team- Andy, Ginger, Pastor Matthew, Wendy, Jodi, and Jonathon

Remember this picture???

Well, in the harbor area they have a very, very large statue replicating this pose.

Of course, since there was a married couple in our group (us), we were the ones chosen to pose in front of the statue.  I don't think we do it justice, but it was fun anyways:

I needed to have my arm down, but I felt like I was going to fall over!!!  So much for trusting my man huh???

The hotel we stayed at was in Carlsbad which is just a bit north of San Diego.  The beach was just across the street.  I don't think I could ever tire of the sounds of ocean!  The waves were beautiful and sand was so soft.  God never ceases to amaze me through His creation!  

We also got to eat an infamous In-N-Out burger.  I had never heard of the place before, but was told that you can't leave California before you have one.  In fact the book I was reading (an autobiography of Mary Beth Chapman) on the way home from San Diego mentioned them.  Weird huh?  They were good, but I think I would take a whopper over them anyday :)

This trip was a blessing and we are so thankful we were able to go.  Thanks mom for helping us with the kids so we could experience this together!  We love you!