Pumpkins at the Dallas Arboretum

The kids had a four day weekend with conference day on Friday and Columbus Day on Monday. We didn't do much over the weekend, so on Monday I wanted to do something fun with the kids even though Daddy had to work. Someone gave me free tickets to the Arboretum, so I decided to take the kids there. It ended up not being the best experience with the traffic, heat and crowds, but I won't go into those details. 

The Arboretum was beautifully decorated -- every path was lined with pumpkins and there were collections of unique pumpkins and gourds all throughout. 

The kids were pretty much just set out on getting their pumpkins and didn't care much for all the beauty that surrounded them. Lesson learned: just go to the local pumpkin patch next year! 

After a picnic lunch, everyone was in a better mood and we set out to find the perfect pumpkin.

Karis took the longest to find the perfect pumpkin. She's very particular! You would think with 10,000 pumpkins within reach, it would have been an easy task.

Even Kyle was indecisive and had to eenie-meenie-miney-moe to decide which one to pick.

 

But in the end, everyone found the perfect one!

 

And I got a picture with all three!

On the way out, we stopped at a fountain to make a wish. Karis explained to Kyle how it worked and the girls gave him some wishing options. 

They put a lot of thought into their wish. Kyle wished for more cars, Makena wished for another dog (not happening!) and Karis wouldn't tell me her wish lest it not come true. 

I wanted one last picture of the kids even though they were all sweaty. Kyle is still trying to learn how to smile for the camera. I wanted a real smile so I asked who wanted ice cream thinking they would all smile naturally. Instead, I got this...

 

Eh well... good enough! We couldn't find ice cream at the Arboretum so we stopped to get some on the way home. When we got home, Makena asked me, "Is there a pumpkin patch closer to home?" We probably won't drive into Dallas for pumpkins anymore!

I Love Reading!

Over the summer, the girls read a lot of books. Karis can read higher level books and I am always impressed with some of the words she can read. At her beginning of the year evaluation, she tested above average. We are so proud of her!  

As for Makena, it was a little rough over the summer. She got easily frustrated and struggled to remember her sight words. We realized she had a lot to learn about hard work. Well, fast forward to a couple months into Kindergarten and things are a lot different for her. 

When Makena entered Kindergarten, she was tested at level A (the lowest level). When her teacher tested her again at seven weeks, she moved up past level 1 and 2 and was scored at level 3! The goal for Kindergarteners is to be at Level 1. 

She loves to read, especially now that she has a lot of the basic words under her belt. She is always reading to Kyle or to her imaginary classroom in her bedroom. She'll tackle harder books and not get easily frustrated. She will even let Karis help her read books and Karis loves doing that. 

We're hoping Kyle becomes a good reader just like big sisters. Until then, the only one who will listen to his reading is the dog. 

Kyle's First Buddy

It's been fun to watch Kyle develop friendships at church and at school. I still remember Makena's first friend around this age when we moved to Texas. Kyle still plays on his own a lot in a group setting, but he has some sweet friends. His best little buddy is Joey. Joey goes to the same church and preschool. They live right down the street from us, his mom is in my women's group and Joey's big brother is in Kindergarten with Makena. Our family joined their small group for the summer so the kids all love going to Joey's house Sunday evenings to play. Kyle finally has a place to go with lots of boys toys!

Kyle used to ask me almost every day if we could go play at Joey's house. I explained to him that we don't just go to people's houses but we wait to be invited. Soon after, he would ask, "Did Joey invite me today?" I would then respond, "No, not today." He leaves it at that and then asks again the next day. My sweet boy!

Teddy Bear Parade

To end their section on fairly tales, the Kindergarten class held a teddy bear parade. Makena eagerly finished her box a week before the parade. She has been so excited to do everything she saw Karis do last year. 

Makena wanted to put a pillow in her box and little tooth fairy pillow under her teddy bear's head. That sparked the idea of making her box into a bed. We wrapped the box in pink paper and put some ruffles around it. She loved it!

The first graders got to watch the parade. I asked Karis and her friends if they rather watch the parade or make a teddy bear box. They unanimously said that they would rather watch because making the box was SO much work!

 

After the parade, the Kindergarteners took pictures. After the parents left, they got to have a picnic with their teddy bears in their classroom. 

 

 

Grandparents Day and Pinwheels for Peace

Nana came to visit and be a part of Grandparents and Special Friends day at school. The girls were so excited to have Nana be a part of the day. 

As part of the PTO hospitality committee, I got to help set up and prepare for this big, special day! Nana started off in the cafeteria with a light breakfast and coffee. After a quick message from the principal, she joined the girls in their classrooms. She met the girls' teachers and friends, walked around the school and made her own pinwheel.  

The kids worked on their pinwheels in Art class in the weeks leading up to Peace Day. 

The entire school gathered outside to place their pinwheels in the peace sign. 

It was a fun morning! Thanks Nana for making it special for the girls!

First Real Dentist Visit

I took Makena and Kyle to their regular dentist check-up after school on Monday. Makena is an old pro and she did great. No cavities! The last time Kyle visited the dentist, they counted his teeth and brushed them with a regular toothbrush. He cried and cried and cried. 

This visit was his first real check-up with X-rays and teeth cleaning. I wasn't sure how he was going to do, but we talked about the hand stamp and balloon animal he would get if he did a good job. 

I loved watching him on that big Xray chair! He was so cute and so good. He did everything he was told to do, even when those uncomfortable plastic cards were being shoved in his mouth. He even had to take two additional ones since he must have moved the first time around. He got a well-deserved hand stamp after it was done. He's been getting hand stamps at preschool so he was pretty excited to get another one. 

Next was the teeth cleaning. He was nervous so I laid on the chair with him (thanks Makena for playing with my phone and taking a picture!). He again did great and let the hygienist clean his teeth. No tears! It definitely helped that he watched Makena do everything first. 

Both kiddos got a balloon animal and then we were all done. We went to pick up Karis from a friend's house and Kyle fell asleep on the way. He had a full day!

Carnival Fun!

Every year, a large catholic church in town puts on a huge carnival for one weekend in their parking lot. I took the girls two years ago but we didn't go last year. This year, the girls really wanted to go so we headed over there after Daddy got home from church.  

First stop was the petting zoo. The girls loved holding little chicks. Kyle wanted to hold one until he he felt its sharp little feet. He then wanted nothing to do with it. Makena held a bunny but the poor thing was shaking so badly. Kyle loved the miniature pony and spent most of his time petting it. 

The kids rode a lot of rides. They loved all of them and we loved watching them have so much fun. Their first ride was of course the motorcycles. 

I think she's ready for a real one!

I loved that they had plenty of rides that Kyle was tall enough to go on. 

I read on the website that they had pony rides. Makena was so excited but when we got there we found out there were no pony rides. She was sad but was probably just as happy to ride the merry-go-round. She loves horses -- even the hard plastic kind!

 

It was getting hot and we ran out of ride tickets so we went to play some games in the tent. The games were made for little ones and every player won a prize. The people working the booths were super sweet to the kids and didn't mind when Kyle stood closer than he was supposed to or when the girls didn't quite toss the beanbag in the right spot. The kids were so excited to win prizes. 

We look forward to the carnival again next year!

First Grade Assignment

Karis' first homework assignment was to bring a few "artifacts" about herself. One of the things she had to bring was something special or unique about her family. She just read the word "special" in the assignment and thought she had to bring something that was special to her. Not knowing that, I didn't understand why she kept asking me to take pictures of Fluffy for her. I thought she wanted a picture of Fluffy because Makena had a picture of her and Bunny that she was using for her assignment. 

We soon cleared up what she was supposed to bring, but I still took pictures of her and Fluffy. I then found a picture of her and Fluffy when she just turned two years old. What a difference four years has made! She has grown up into a beautiful little girl and Fluffy remains her favorite (and surpassingly in tact!). 

First Kindergarten Assignment

Makena got her first kindergarten assignment. She was so excited to work on it. She wanted to make one last year when Karis made hers. 

Her assignment was to make a small poster about herself to put in the class book. She will share her page with her class so that they can get to know her. 

We talked about what she wanted on her page. We used photos and images from the Internet. I helped her with the layout and then she glued everything on. 

She had so much fun!

And she loved her page! 

Of course, Kyle wanted to take a photo with his picture too...

Kyle's First Day of Preschool

The girls have been in school for two weeks and I definitely enjoyed my fun, low-key little buddy all to myself.  But the last couple days, I have to admit, I was a little excited for Kyle to start school. My list of "things to do when the kids go to school" was getting long and I was eager to get them done (projects around the house, stores where I want to shop alone, etc). 

I couldn't tell if Kyle was excited to go to school. Summer was a long time for a little three year old and preschool as a two year old was only a distant, fuzzy memory. He goes to school at our church so half the time I don't think he even knows if he's going to church or school!

When I was getting him ready for his First Day of School picture, he started to get sad and said he didn't want to go. In the sweetest little voice, he asked, "Mommy, are you going to stay with me?" I almost started to cry! I knew he would enjoy school but I could feel his uncertainty and nervousness. He loved the cars on his picture I made, so he cheered right up and happily let me take a picture of him...of course, with cars in hand. Perfect.

He wanted to walk to school (just like sisters), but I convinced him we best take the car.

When we arrived at school, he wanted to see Daddy first. When he saw Daddy and all the other kids arriving, there was nothing but excitement. 

He wanted to carry his own backpack (something he never did last year) and told me he'd show me where his class was. He walked right in and got busy playing at one of the tables. He had a great first day!

The next day he was the line leader and he had an even better day! His teachers are super sweet. One of his teachers taught both of our girls as well. We are excited for how much he's going to grow and learn this year. Such a big boy!