First Colorado Snow!!!

 Snow angels, snow ice cream, piles to jump in and the foundation for our seasonal igloo.  Yep...all within an hour.  And how many times did I put Edie's mittens back on?  I think at least 8.  Until she decided she would toughen up and pick up snowballs with her hands. 

Halloween

 A pre-trick or treat meal with lots of friends.  Chili, cornbread, chips, salsa, veggies and dip.  Yes, they are mostly eating chips and salsa but we tried.

So..there is a ninja (Elijah), a red cat (Lucy), Thor (Isaac) a zebra and 4 princesses.  By the way...the red cat was a last minute decision.  She was satisfied with a witch dress, tiara and a wand from our dress up box.  But the two days before halloween she was inspired.  She had her face painted at a halloween event and LOVED the cat face.  And because her new favorite color has been declared red, there was no changing her mind.  Even though we had all black clothes and fuzzy black fleece for the ears and tail.  NOPE, we must be a red cat.  SO the day before, Rodney was sent on an errand to find red pants and hopefully a tail and ears pack that I could work with.  The devil package was too far off so at 9pm when all were in bed, I dug through the fabric Rodney and I collaborated on a tail, ears, and a collar.  She seemed thrilled.  Funny thing was that with all the comotion with dinner, we forgot to paint her face again.  Oh well...she never noticed.

Edie thought she was going to roam around in the 50 degree weather with only a sleeveless princess dress.  After lots of arguing we settled on a scrap of pink fleece wrapped around her shoulders and secured with a hair tie. 

The kids were THRILLED and stormed the neighborhood including up the steps to the top floor apartment who didn't realize that the interior lights glowing through the glass sliding doors was a beacon in the darkness.  So they were completely unprepaired for 8 children banging on their door.  But they promised to go get candy and be ready on our way back.  They did not dissapoint.  :)

Reading, Writing and Field Trips

There is so much going on over here that I have moments of pure awe!  I know, I know...what did I expect from kindergarten but the learning of letters, basic reading and talking about shapes.  But then I see the projects that come home and the transfer of knowledge when she finds words she can read in our books at bedtime and I hear her tell me something is a "sphere" or "cone" shape and I realize...holy cow...she's learning something!!!!

Tinkerbell

They are working through the letters by making little books with pictures of the things that start with that letter.  They come home partially colored and the focus letter circled or highlighted on each page.  I can hear the conversation in the classroom.  Find the "L" and circle it.  Find the letter that sounds like "L" and circle it.

The colored words are the ones they are learning.

Lucy is such a little student, just like I was and am.  She LOVES all these projects.  She happily follows directions and completes all the handouts.  Although I'm noticing that most are only barely started when they come home.  I don't know if this is because there isn't enough time, she is slow OR probably more accurately, she's busy chit-chatting during the activity.  Let's just say I will not be surprised if during the parent/teacher meeting I hear about how much Lucy talks.  She came from good stock on that one!

The other super cool thing that is happening is her writing.  They are using the curriculum "Handwriting Without Tears" which her preschool used and I referenced in my professional development classes.  And just as I was teaching preschool teachers about letting kids sound out words and write what they hear without correcting their spelling, I am finding her experimental writing on these worksheets.  Its so great to feel completely in sync with the school on things like this.  I know she is learning HOW to spell and not just learning how to MEMORIZE.

Fish

Can you read it?  Flowers

By the way...it is perfectly normal that there are no vowels.  The consonant sounds are the first to be heard and then she will start to hear the vowel sounds too.  Isn't that so cool!

You know what it feels like to me?  It's like when she learned to crawl or walk or learned to pump on the swing.  Reading and writing are HUGE independence skills.  I'm feeling this intense awareness of this little step on a long journey to her being a capable adult.  Its crazy!!  And she is thrilled! She LOVES school and loves showing us everything she is learning and able to do.

And then, Edie pops out with this one today.  We've been writing her name A LOT over the past few months and she has been spotting her "E" on everything but I didn't think her writing skills were there.  Until today.  She asks to do some drawing and then says, "Look Mama, my "E"!  Holy cow!!!  It IS an "E".

Yeah...I'm in awe of my kids today.  We all need to feel that someone finds us amazing sometimes.  Because it balances all those moments yesterday when I was ready to put them on the sidewalk with a "for sale" sign.  Oops.  Did I write that?  Well, there isn't a parent around who hasn't had that dark thought at some point.  Again, I'm grateful for the awe moments so I'm not on the evening news today.  :)

Last week Edie and I joined Lucy's class on their first field trip to a wooded area near the Roaring Fork River.  The mission was to use all their senses to notice Fall.

 As if the universe wanted us to feel at home, it was the one rainy day that week.  That's Lucy in the purple coat.

 We checked out thorns and bark and learned that they were Hawthorn bushes and Cottonwood trees.

 The naturalist also talked about the river and what was happening in the woods at this time of year.  Then she had a really cool game for the kids.

 She pulled out a huge bag of paint chips and had the kids take a chip and then roam around and find an item that matched the color on the chip.  After they added it to the pile, they grabbed another chip and found another item.  I have to say, this was so fun and the kids were really engaged.  I hadn't even realized the multitude of colors until I looked at this huge pile. 

It was at that point that the rain really started coming down and the temperature dropped.  We were all very cold so back to the bus we all went.  You have to love a good field trip!

Illinois visit and Potato Days

 Edie and I headed to Illinois to help Grandma and Grandpa with the house.  After several days of tasks we all needed a break.  So we headed to the farm.  Aunt Steph and Uncle Jon's farm.  We were excited to see the cows, the dogs, the tractors but mostly to see Erin and her horses.

 

 This is actually not Erin's horse.  I thought I got pictures but I missed the bareback ride on Mercedes.  But this is Tuna, a very old horse at the stable where Erin keeps her other horse, J.J.  We were so excited to see Erin ride as we only get to watch the horse shows online.

Back at the farm, we headed out in the RTV to check out the cows.  Grandma took us on this ride.

The farm has two dogs, Maggie and Zoe and Grandma's dog Casey all followed Edie around.  The dogs created quite a stir later.

Yes, I am saying "Moo!"

First we got out to have a staring contest with the cows.  The whole herd, may 60 head, just watched us.  They are angus and herford cows.  I discovered that Angus cattle are more aggressive and we discovered that the three dogs together act like a pack.  SO...a couple cows in particular were suspicious of the dogs and the dogs got cocky like they could take on the cows.  Suddenly, everyone was on the move and cows were chasing dogs, dogs were barking at cows and Aunt Steph and Grandma were yelling at the dogs.  I scooped up Edie and moved to the RTV where we had to hold the dogs so the cows would calm down.

As soon as we got in, the cows came up all gentle like nothing happened.  I guess this little vehicle often brings food and treats so they were hopeful.  We got super close to them then. 

Uncle Jon let Edie drive the tractor.  Yes, really drive it.  Notice the amount of turn on the wheel and the tractor barely moves.  I felt better after noticing that.

We headed to an orchard for some pumpkin picking, apple cider slushies and caramel apples.  YUMMY!

 

 Erin and I make a great fool and the straight man.

Once back at home, we celebrated the potato growing history of this new little town of ours.  While I'm still getting the exact details but for a significant period of time in the late 1880's and early 1900's Carbondale was a potato growing town.  It then became focused on ranching and mining.  But this year, we walked in the 102nd annual potato day parade.  This above picture was taken when Edie and her friend and neighbor, Natasha were walking around the rodeo.  Edie had decided to take off with her cousin Elijah moments before and her Dad and I went frantically searching for her not knowing where she was.  When Uncle Tim found her, she was following cousin Elijah as he was telling her all the rules around rodeos.  "Don't step in horse poop, don't touch the horses and DON'T MAKE THE HORSE NERVOUS!!"

The theme this year was "Potato Sack is the New Black".  Folks were encouraged to dress in burlap.  And the kids' school group did just that.  We had lots of fun fashioning these outfits for the parade.  Lots of fun!

Nap at the rodeo

Bits of Personality

Me:  OUCH!  Edie, don't hit!
Edie:  Me not hit, Mama.  Me poked you.
Me:  (thinking)  smart a#$

I'm starting to get worried about the teen years. 

Shoo Fly

Me:  I don't know why there are so many flies in our house, Edie

Edie:  They have work to do inside.  They'll go outside in a minute.

First Day of School

I have been on a roller coaster today.  Bouncing over hills of elation and panic all day.  I'm exhausted.  Probably not as exhausted as Lucy will be after her first day of school.  This day is so different than I had pictured even 6 months ago when we were still in Seattle.  I expected her to be in a big city school system, only half days and with me dropping her off and picking her up.  I expected her to be with lifelong friends in a school I extensively researched.

Instead, we are in a tiny town but in a big school.  One I know very little about except for what I can read online.  Everyone in the class will be new to her.  She got on the bus today.  THE BUS!!!  Like I used to ride.  She jumped on with her cousin Elijah and off they went.  And the whole day I've been nervous wondering if someone at school would call if she never made it from the bus to the classroom.


Edie, Aunt Karen and I are about to go pick Lucy up from the bus stop.  I miss her so much!!!  And yet, the ease of the day, the little extra breathing room, the list of things that suddenly seem possible to accomplish creates such calm and excitement.  I am hoping all went well today.  But for me, I need to settle down if I'm going to be productive at all!!

After running to the bus so we didn't miss it, they both just jumped on and then the shock set in.  :)

Just added..

We got to the bus stop on time.  Elijah jumped out with some other kids.  The door closed and I went running after looking for Lucy.  I jumped on and called her name.  She peeked over the seat she was sitting in with another little girl.  I think my heart stopped for a few seconds there. 

They really missed each other today. 

I asked her how she got from the bus to the classroom.  She said she walked around with Elijah for a while and then another teacher took her to her classroom.  Yeah...looks like I will be going tomorrow to help her make that transition.  But, she is acting very confident this afternoon.  No big deal, Mama.  We have a folder full of art projects and an empty lunch bag.  Good first day.

Dad and Daughter Hike

My Dad and I got to take a long hike today in the woods.  Like old times except I was old enough to keep up with him.  We did the East Creek Trail in Redstone, Colorado. The trail guide calls it one of the most difficult hikes in the area and its seldom used.  Well...we finished the hike and also declare this description to be true.  Actually, we didn't do the whole 16 mile round trip.  We probably did about 7 miles total.  I think it climbed up probably 85% of the time.  The grade just changed from steep to "holy cow this is really steep!!"

It was a beautiful trail in that there were lots of different types of areas along the way.  We crossed the creek several times and roamed through meadows filled with wildflowers.  That orange butterfly had lots of friends flitting about.  We took my brother's dog, Kesh and he was a great trail companion. 

It was a wonderful way to spend the day.  Just Dad and daughter, no kids or grandkids.  We chatted a bit but mostly just enjoyed the view, enjoyed the exertion and then just wished ourselves to the end.  Did I mention how steep it was?  Seriously folks...