Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

We went Trick or Treating tonight and is was fantastic! We had a really great time and the kids we so well behaved it was unbelievable! No one cried, whined or fell down. It was a total success! We really missed Brendan and this was the first Halloween that he has missed since Aidan's first Halloween. I was able to manage on my own and we only lost Emmy twice - but she didn't care that she was lost. I just sent Aidan ahead and he found her - chatting it up with a friend from school. She was in heaven in her costume and loved that I straightened her hair. Aoife was a fabulous Snow White and so cute with her dress and little read headband! Aidan was happy that he was the only Tron guy out there. Last year he was Ironman - with half of the neighborhood! Here is a picture of them from last Halloween - they've gotten so big over the past year!
We took this yesterday - I was trying to get one where everyone was looking at the camera - at least they're all smiling even if Emmy's eyes are closed!This is what you get when you wait to take a picture before they leave to go Trick or Treating!In the neighbors' yard:Aidan and Emmy setting off - Aoife stuck to my side the whole time.Aoife had it down - she got double the candy because she was so cute!The haul!!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Aoife's School

On Wednesday I got to spend the entire morning in Aoife's class helping out and enjoying their fall festival. It wasn't much of a festival but the parents were all invited in for an hour and the kids got more sweets than they could even imagine!
It was really fun seeing her in school and she was really excited to share it with me. She knows that I've been to Aidan and Emmy's classrooms and she was happy to get in on the Mommy time too! I think they were short one teacher in the classroom and asked if I could be there the whole morning. It was fun - but I was exhausted afterwards. It takes a special person to be a preschool teacher!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

G&T

Aidan is in the gifted and talented program at his school. I really dislike the name of this program - it sounds all snooty and elitist - so I prefer to call it G&T. Makes me think of my most favorite adult beverage!
Anyway - the G&T program went on a field trip today to our local Ft. Campbell museum. They've been studying flight so going to look at a bunch of airplanes and helicopters was perfect. I really wanted to chaperone but they weren't going to be back in time for me to pick Emmy up so Aoife and I crashed the fieldtrip and showed up for a half and hour while they were running around outside. The kids got to actually go inside of some of the aircraft and Aoife and I joined them in a Chinook. It was pretty cool!!
If you're wondering - there are a lot of kids wearing camouflage in the pictures because it is spirit day and that's what they were supposed to wear. It's not that Army kids just dig wearing camo.
Aoife crashing the party:Aidan getting smarter:The 11th Chinook produced:Aidan getting in the Chinook:Inside the Chinook:He was BEYOND excited to be able to actually go IN the aircraft!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Notes from Aoife's Teacher

Aoife is in preschool on Fort Campbell three mornings a week. Since I'm working most of the days that she's in school I don't get to volunteer in the classroom as much as I would like. The school has set up a message board type program so the teachers can privately post notes on the children and we can respond. I thought I would share a few of Aoife's notes!

September 7, 2011

Aoife and peers were at the table doing a pom pom activity. Aoife looked on the cup and pulled out a pink pom pom and said, "pink." I said, "You're right that is pink." She pulled out a purple pom pom and said, "Purple." I said, "Right." She placed both poms in between the tweezer legs at the same time. After a few minutes she decided to dump out the pom poms and said, "I dump it out." As she dumped it, she picked up a yellow pom pom and said, "Yellow." I said, "That is yellow." She put the pom poms back in one cup and grabbed another cup. She put the pom poms back in one cup and grabbed another cup. She then proceeded to pour the pom poms from the cup to cup. She participated in this activity for twenty five minutes.

September 16, 2011

Aoife sat at the table with peers drawing with a purple crayon. She drew for a while then decided she was finished drawing and took her paper to her cubby. I asked, "Aoife do you have my crayon?" She shook her head no and came to the table. She looked for the crayon under the table and found it. She handed it to me and I said, "Thank you Aoife, for finding my crayons."

September 26, 2011

Aoife, her peers, and I were outside on the playground. We were doing a hula hoop activity. I said “Come on friends let’s jump!” Aoife and peers came over and we laid the hoops on the ground and hopped in them. Aoife jumped in six hoops with both feet. She went through the hoops then went to the end of the line and waited for her turn to jump again. She continued this activity several times before it was time to clean up the hoops. Aoife helped clean up the hoops and put them in one pile.

September 30, 2011

During circle time a caregiver asked Aoife, "Do you have a brother or a sister Aoife?" Aoife replied, "I have a sister."

October 12, 2011

Aoife was at the table counting lids with peers. She took a large plastic container and opened the lid. She put her doll inside the container and closed it. She tried to open it again but couldn't. She looked at me and said, "Help please." I opened it for her. She took her doll out and tried to put it inside a smaller container. The doll was too big for the container so she took her doll and walked away from the table.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Honeysuckle Hill Farm

Last weekend when Laurie was here we went with our FRG to Honeysuckle Hill Farm. It's one of those places that uses the fall to make a little extra money by putting out fun things for the kids and making corn mazes in their fields. I was a little hesitant because I thought it was a little expensive but the kids had a great time and the weather and the company was great!
Emmy thought this calf was great - until she saw the flies!Feeding the adorable baby goats:Aoife and I share a love of chickens:Aoife spent about 20 minutes choosing her pumpkin from the field of IDENTICAL pumpkins:Jumping!!Tire swing - the hardest part was keeping Aoife out of its path!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mr. and Miss Ironman


Emmy and Aidan both like to dress up. We got a size 3 Ironman costume by accident last year but it fits Emmy and she loves playing with Aidan!!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Cheekwood in the Fall

My sister, Laurie, came to visit us this weekend. It was so nice to see her and have an extra pair of hands around the house! She came in on the redeye on Friday morning and since we were already in Nashville we went over to Cheekwood to see what was going on there. We went last May for Mother's Day and hadn't been back since. I wasn't hoping for much since I figured the spring and summer flowers were gone but it was gorgeous and I had a way better time this visit than last. It wasn't hot and we didn't need the stroller - having another adult around didn't hurt either!! The model trains were running and they are fantastic. There is also a display of scarecrows around the gardens which are all really unique! If you are in the Nashville area I would strongly recommend visiting before we get a frost - it was beautiful!!Laurie with the kids:
Watching the model trains:
Edgar Allen Crow scarecrow:Kid scarecrows:Aoife in the Japanese Garden:
There were tons of butterflies around!
See all the beautiful color?!
Enjoying the Japanese Garden: