CrazySox

We went to the Painted Pony Farm in Santa Paula. I’d been wanting to go for a few years now, but somehow I’ve never made it there. Today was the “spring” tour, we saw baby chicks, lambs, sheep, bunnies… all those farm animals.  And we got to try out ice cream made from goats milk. It wasn’t as hot as I thought it was going to be and the everyone behaved.

being gentle with the chick

When we went to the pumpkin patch in October Avery wouldn’t pick up the chicks at all. She didn’t like the “claws” they have. This time she went right up to the tub of chicks and picked one up.

sharing

petting the baby goat

milking the goat

Enjoying goats milk ice cream.

We plan on going back in the fall for apple picking.

All in green.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. The day everyone claims to be Irish and wears green.

Avery took the, “wear green today” statement very seriously! She was ready for the day!! Avery was off to school to show off her green-ness. At school they ate lots of green snacks; jello, celery, mint ice cream, and even green milk to drink! We brought edamame to share- she wouldn’t even try them!! Stinker!

a girl all in green

Sawyer and I went to play date at the park while Avery was in school. Avery wore this shirt when she was almost 2. I think Sawyer will be wearing it next year too! We decorated this green plastic hat with shamrock foamy stickers & green jewels. We ate green stuff too, Sawyer’s favorite was the Lucy Charms cereal (minus the marshmallows).

Green hat

Happy to be in green!!

March 17th would have been Bruce & Allison’s 36th wedding anniversary. We all got together for dinner. It was nice, but sad at the same time.

great grandma, grandma & the kids.

I Love Green

Avery has been inspired by green. She wore all green to school today and even tasted a few green snacks.

She dictated these two poems to me and even decorated them with a few stickers.

"Green"

Avery and I went to see the African Orphans Kids Choir at Church of the Nations in downtown Oxnard. It was fabulous. I am so glad we went. We were fortunate enough to be in the third row.

This was a group of 10 orphans from Uganda. They sang & danced for about an hour. They sang some Christian songs and some native songs from Uganda. Avery really liked it. Her favorite part was when they danced. She wanted to go on stage with them, and I had to tell her NO. Her 2nd favorite part was when they sang and played their own instruments. They had a huge xylophone, a few hand drums, pan flutes and some kind of small stringed instrument.

best seat in the house

There was a chair facing backwards, in the front of us below the stage that was very inviting to Avery. She went and sat in it for a while backwards, then decided to turn it around. She had the best seat in the house for a while.

These kids are on a 10 month “tour.” So far they’ve been on the road for almost 7 months.

watching the dancers

The kids came down below the stage for a few dances. She was mesmoried when they came down to dance. Their outfits were really colorful and they had feather type things on the behinds so they when they danced they shook. They all had big smiles on their faces they whole time. You can tell they really enjoyed what they were doing.

game from lakeshore

I love to wander around Lakeshore while Avery does the craft on Saturdays. I find some great ideas and then make them my own. I found this game the others day. It’s a large plastic mat you can lay on the ground and the kids jump from letter to letter to make words. I thought it was a great idea, but it was $30!! How can I make this myself for Avery to use?

my version of the game

I took a picture of it on my phone and made it myself when I got home. I used chalk behind our driveway. Avery loved the new game. A little like hopscotch with the jumping, and she got to make words.

The first time we played (a few weeks ago) I wrote the words she made down next to the chart. They were simple words; cat, mug, hop, cab, hip, pat…

Then we played it yesterday after watching a Leap Frog video about “complex words.”  This time around she began to put four letter words together; cute, mine, pine, hope. They all have the silent “e” at the end. She is really starting to get the hang of this reading thing. It’s fun to watch her figure it all out.

Complex Words DVD (Leap Frog)

I went and registered Avery for Kindergarten. She is very excited to go to the “big kids school.” She doesn’t get why she can’t go right now. Avery thought she was going to see her classroom when we went in to do the paperwork, but we were in a portable.

We collected all the paperwork needed for registration- original birth certificate, shot record, proof that we indeed live in Ventura.

Now she needs to go in for a physical, shots and a trip to the dentist. Not looking forward to that trip to the doctor!!!

Avery is playing Spring Soccer. Spring Soccer is a lot more mellow than Fall Soccer. The team is called “The Roses,” that was Avery’s suggestion- weird kid! The coach had no practices scheduled, but another dad on the team felt that practice is important, so he scheduled a practice. I feel that practice is a part of being on a team and playing a sport, so I am happy that he decided to take it upon himself to hold a practice when the coach didn’t. The games are all on Sunday afternoons. She is lucky enough to be on the same team as three of her friends.

Dan and I were a little apprehensive when the season started. Last season she just followed the heard and really had not much of a clue what was going on on the field. But she did great in the first two games that she’s had so far. She actually went after the ball and kicked it in the right direction! I swear that last season she didn’t even touch the ball on the field- not even exaggerating.

Here’s to a fabulous season with The Roses!!

Sunday Night

Sawyer is sick. He has a cold- runny nose, fever & nasty cough. He’s been sleeping ok, not wonderful, but still sleeping all night and a few shorter naps during the day (usually he has just one long one).

He’s ever been really been “sick.” He’s had a few colds, but very minor- no ear infections, no flu, not even any antibiotics as of yet.

This weekend he didn’t leave home- Dan and I tag teamed going out with Avery- 2 birthday parties, choir practice, a soccer game & church. He didn’t even get out of his pajamas.

Monday Morning

Decided to call the doctor and make an appointment this morning. Sawyer woke up about 30 minutes till 2 when we gave him Tylenol- he kept pulling on his ear, so I thought he had an ear infection. Still that yucky sounding cough. Poor baby, every time he coughs you can tell it hurts him. Thankfully he slept the rest of the night with no more wake-ups.

We did get to see the doctor in a timely manner- in the past we’ve been waiting up to 2 hours to see the doctor! He has a double ear infection, but his lungs are clear- no bronchitis.

He’ll start his very first round of antibiotics ever after his nap today. Hope he loves the taste…

We got the letter in the mail today from the school district. Avery was chosen, by lottery, to attend the TWI (two way immersion) program at Montalvo school. We are so excited. This opportunity is going to be awesome for our little girl. She’ll be fluent in Spanish & English in no time.

The first two years (Kinder & 1st grade) is 90% Spanish and 10% English. By 5th grade the class will be 50/50.

It’s getting more real. Our baby is going to Kindergarten!!

I’ve been able to take Sawyer with me to the latest class I’ve been teaching for the city. It’s called “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and it’s for kids ages 18 months to 3 years. He’s just 18 months, and not interested in crafts at all. But I’ve been taking with me and he’s been ok. He kind of walks around the room and basically only joins us for snack. He does like the glue (very drippy & messy), the crayons he likes to much on and he likes to use the markers to draw on anything but paper. There are 5 kids in the class, all under 21 months- makes for one long hour!!

Today I decided to start off with the easels. Wasn’t sure how it would go over since the kids are pretty young.

Three kids hated it and two kids loved it- Sawyer was one of them!!

smock

Sawyer loved wearing the smock. He was really mad when I took it off of him to wash his hands. He kept going to wear the smocks were hanging up and “asking” me to get one down for him. I did it back on him, but he kept tripping on it since it was so long!

masterpiece

He loved the black paint. Avery kept wanting to trade him for another color and he refused! He did pretty well dipping the brush and getting it onto the paper, until he dropped the paintbrush on the ground. He still didn’t want to stop.

washing hands

After he was done painting (with some help from me), he went to wash his hands. There’s a step up for the kids to wash their hands, but Sawyer still can’t reach the water. He stretches his little arms, but can’t quite reach the water. It’s hilarious.