I Like It!

I was in Chess Club in elementary school. I never saw a game there that was quite as fun as this one.

Zombie Jamboree 2008 version

Before playing this video I suggest that you stop the music playing on the music player that's at the top right of this blog. (Just click on the play/pause symbol)

WARNING!! This video may cause you to hum/sing this silly song all day.

Fall Fun!

Last weekend, after a week off of school, we spent a lot of time with the cousins. My sister was in town with her two children. We went shopping and out for lunch on Saturday. Sunday we went to the Children's Museum (Free 3rd Sunday), went out for lunch, baked a cake, made dinner, then had a birthdays/anniversary party for my parents. During the free time the kids played and played and played. The weather was beautiful and the kids took advantage of it by spending most of Sunday afternoon playing outside.

My kids get along great with their cousins. Maya and my niece, Greta are great friends. Despite the 3 year age difference they have a lot of similar interests. My sister told me that her son David talks about Elias all the time. Again there is a 3 year age difference but I saw Elias and David having a great time together all weekend. It's nice for Elias to have someone that looks up to him. Hannah just tries to play with everyone, she'll dig in the sandbox, play legos, barbies, house, dress-up, cars, anything that she can to participate in what everyone else is doing. My other nephew, Nicholas, has started learning how to play with the other kids. He is still more content to play alone or with a parent, but he is coming around.

Last week I found out about a new charter school that just opened this fall. It's an all girl school for grades 5-8. I am seriously considering this for Maya for next year. She isn't too excited at the thought of leaving her elementary school a year early but I am thrilled at the thought of an all female environment for learning. I'll tour the school next week.

We are deep into the fall schedule of extra curricular activities. Maya started swim lessons again last week, after a 5 month hiatus due to scheduling conflicts. She told me after the class that it felt great to be back in the water again. Both Maya and Elias have scouts as well. I continue to lead Maya's scout troop. Hannah cheerfully comes along to all the meetings and lessons.

Myla and Cyrus

My sister is having a baby in December. On her new baby blog she is having a contest to help them think of a baby name. One of the suggested names was Myla. We met a 6 year old girl named Myla this summer on our camping trip. Her 3 year old brother was named Cyrus. Myla and Cyrus. Say those names together now, Myla Cyrus. Remind you of anyone? If you have a pre-teen girl living in your house you probably thought of Miley Cyrus also known as Hannah Montana. Three years ago one had ever heard of Miley Cyrus. Too bad for Myla and Cyrus that they just happen to be young during the reign of Miley Cyrus.

Back to School and Fall Fun

I never did a first day of school blog. School started at the beginning of the month so I am very late in getting these pictures posted. Maya is in 4th grade this year, Elias is in 1st grade and Hannah is still going to day care every day.

The first few weeks of school have gone well. Maya applied for and got the position of bus leader. This means that she is a role model to the other kids on the bus. She has some authority to tell other kids to follow bus rules and can report unacceptable behavior to the school. She is also starting music lessons this year. She chose to try the flute. Hopefully I'll find one this weekend (Craigslist has a bunch listed). She is in her 4th year of Girl Scouts this year and will be getting practice in leadership, critical thinking and planning skills (including budgeting). She is also playing soccer. In her free time she has been playing nicely with her siblings.

Elias is excited for school and I am told he is taking on some more responsibilities in class, especially by helping the Kindergartners find their way around. He started Cub Scouts last week. I pick up a uniform shirt yesterday, I still need to sew on the patches - why don't they make iron-on patches like girl scouts do? We are learning all about boy scouts together, the promise, the law, the motto and other terminology, like den and pack. He is playing soccer as well and having a great time. I have noticed a lot of improvement in his self confidence as well as his skills on the field.

Hannah just hangs out, she goes to all the Girl Scout meetings, all the Boy Scout meetings and all the soccer practices and games. Lately she has been playing with Polly Pockets and Legos a lot, doing a lot of imaginative play. She is a collector of little toys and has them all arranged in bins in her room. She is growing fast. All of her pants that fit nicely in the spring are all too short now. Her feet have grown another shoe size as well. She has been going on neighborhood excursions (to the high school track and to the parks) with day care a couple of days a week and has been going on farther field trips (zoo, giant playground) on Fridays. The day care provider is loving the nice weather we have had this month and likes having only 4 preschoolers on Fridays.

I am leading Maya's Girl Scout troop again - 4th year for me too - and doing all the running around for practices and meetings for the other kids. Work is starting to get busy again - a lot of allergy related asthma lately.

So fall has been fun so far. More trips and events are already planned for next month and should be fun as well.

Acceptance Speech

Tonight Maya asked if she could stay up and watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC in Denver. I agreed to let her stay up. We watched the opening video together (very nice and informative). Then 5 minutes into his speech Maya looked like this...

Fun And Exhausting Day

We visited the state fair today. The day started out a little dreary and we got caught in a few sprinkles. By the end of the day we were all hot and tired. The sun came out in full force around lunch. We visited the horse and cattle barns, Hannah and Elias tried milking a cow. All three kids got to pet a calf, cows and horses. One horse, Snickers, really loved the attention we, rather I, gave him, he seemed to like looking at the children as well. We left the horse barn and I reminded Maya that now that she is a Junior Girl Scout we could arrange to do a horse badge sometime. She wasn't quite as enthusiastic about it as I was. We stopped for ice cream and shakes before leaving the animal barns. We never made it into the pig barn but we did get to see some piglets and lambs in the Miracle Of Birth center, We didn't witness any animals giving birth ( I think it would have freaked out the kids anyway) but we saw a number of baby animals that were anywhere from a few hours to a few days old.

We ate a lot of food, went on rides (including the Giant Slide) and did a lot of walking. We came home exhausted. Then it was right back out the door for back-to-school night. We met the new teachers, visited the old teachers, and dropped off all the school supplies. The real first day of school is next week. Maya will be in 4th grade. She has a new teacher this year. She got a kick out of walking around and figuring out who would be in her class that she knows. Elias will be in 1st grade. He is in the same classroom as last year but his primary teacher has changed. He has a male teacher this year, something I am very glad about. There were a number of children (mostly girls) who shouted their hellos to Elias in the hall. He just beamed. All the teachers seemed to be happy to have the school full of kids again. Almost all the teachers asked how long it would be before Hannah would be going to the school. It feel so wonderful having a school where you feel like you fit in and my kids are comfortable there.

Camping

This past week we enjoyed our fist camping trip as a family. Though I grew up going camping, I have never ventured out on a true camping trip in the years since Maya was born, until now. We had great weather and everyone got to try at least one new thing.

Our first day was packed full of adventure. We rented a pontoon boat and tootled around Lake Itasca. This was Hannah and Elias' first boat ride and Maya's first time driving a boat. All three also got to see loons for the first time. We came upon a loon family. It looked as if the parents were teaching the baby to dive. We even saw one loon with a fish in its bill. Later we headed out to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The kids and dog loved being in the water. We even walked down the middle of The Mississippi River for about a quarter mile. The water was anywhere from 6inches to 2.5 feet deep. One point the water was too deep for the dog, she started jumping from side to side of the river then eventually realized that she knew how to swim. By the time we made it back to the car we were all wet so we decided to go to the swimming beach.

That evening we built a fire to cook hot dogs and s'mores. Everyone slept well that night. The rest of our trip involved exploring the park and a visit to the headwaters again. I learned quite a bit about the history of Itasca State Park (the kids weren't too interested). We all got used to eating outside and sleeping in a tent. Hannah practiced looking for cars in the street every time she headed to the bathroom.

Maya helped with a lot of the initial planning of the trip including meal planning, packing lists and budget planning. In addition she helped a lot with the cooking, cleaning up and keeping track of her siblings. The two of us spent the evenings out in the dark listening to the sounds of the night and star gazing while Elias and Hannah slept. For all her hard work she earned her first Junior Girl Scout badge.

We all had fun on our trip. Each child will willingly tell you their favorite parts of the trip. We returned home tired, dirty but happy. I'm looking forward to our next camping trip.