Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so grateful for our many blessings.  This year has been filled with so many wonderful adventures which would not have been possible without the love and support of all our amazing family, friends, and especially a loving Father in Heaven.  Thank You!

Preschool Week 10

MS/PS: Thanksgiving maze and coloring page

CT: D/T/W - Thanksgiving songs. Read “Mary’s First Thanksgiving” by Kathy-jo Wargin.   

S: Grapes and Goldfish Crackers

WT:  “Gourd Games” (from Pinterest). Wiggle block/dance videos

L:  Discuss the first Thanksgiving. Map skills - follow the journey of the Mayflower.

C/A:  Color/Cut Turkey worksheet (from Pinterest)

Preschool Week 9 - Where Does Food Come From?

MS/PS: Food Producers worksheet packet (from choosemyplate.gov)

CT: D/T/W - Songs - "On Top of Spaghetti", "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree", "Pat-a-Cake", and "Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?" -  Read “Corn” by Gail Gibbons

S: Popcorn, apples, peanut butter, string cheese.

WT: Exercises for a healthy body - use Wiggle Block - roll the block to see what activity we do.

L: Discuss the food groups and why we need each of them. Play "my healthy plate" - the first person to collect their total healthy foods on their plate wins!

C/A: "I am thankful for..." pumpkin pie spinner. What are you thankful for?

Trick-Or-Treat

Grandpa Steve arrived on Halloween!  We had a fun weekend together.  He brought special presents for the kids - a princess watercolor book for Meg, a reversible superman/batman cape for Logan, and a bag of chocolate Twizzlers! On Halloween night we let the kids stay dressed up when we went to Noodles&Co. for some penne rosa and mac&cheese.

On Thursday we had a pancake breakfast together and took a break from everything to just let Grandpa enjoy the kiddos.  I made wild Alaskan salmon (thank you Kristen!) with lemon and pesto and roasted veggies for dinner...which the kids did not really appreciate.  Oh, well.

On Friday, Kyle got off work early and we all went to see Wreck-It Ralph.  It was really cute.  The worst part though was when I spilled half our bag of popcorn all over the floor...I'm glad grandpa bought the big bag with free refills...that was a little embarrassing.  No visit with Grandpa would be complete without a trip to Chuck E. Cheese so that's where we went next!  The kids were so excited and are still talking about it! 

On Saturday, Steve and Kyle took my car to get the oil changed and balance/rotate the tires.  You know, manly stuff for some father/son male bonding time.  :)  That night we left the kids with friends (gosh, we have a lot of good friends we owe BIG TIME!) and Steve first took us to do a little Christmas shopping for the kids.  You'll just have to wait a few weeks to see what we got them!  Then he took us to McCormick and Schmick's for dinner.  I had lobster ravioli, Ky had steak and lobster-tail, and Steve had scallops.  We all enjoyed a little creme brulee for dessert.  It was so fun to have a night with good food and grown-up time.

Grandpa had to leave EARLY Sunday morning, so Kyle took him to the airport while the rest of us slept in a little thanks to the time-change.  The kids were very sad when they came downstairs to see Grandpa's bed was empty and he was gone.  Logan - "want gan-pa thteve!"  Meg - "I just wanted Grandma Kristie to come too!"  Yup kids, that about sums it all up.

Interview in Grand Rapids

On Oct. 30, 2012, Kyle and I dropped the kiddos off with our good friends and headed up to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for HIS FIRST RESIDENCY INTERVIEW!!  I got to come along because they had a dinner the night before where they wanted the spouses/significant others to attend.  They even paid for the hotel!  We were wined and dined at a very nice place and got to meet a few of the residents.  

On October 31, 2012, I sent my wonderful husband off ready to impress and I got to sleep in!! Actually, that had been the plan but I got hungry, so I had to go downstairs and get some cinnamon french toast.  I got to eat a quiet breakfast while it was still hot without anyone whining or throwing tantrums or asking for anything...it was heavenly!  I took my sweet time getting ready for the day since I had until noon to check-out and Ky's interview lasted until 3 pm.  I watched a few episodes of Castle (my latest addiction - I've just finished season 3) while I got ready for the day.  

I went exploring downtown Grand Rapids and I liked what I saw.  Our hotel was directly across the street from the Gerald Ford Museum and the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  There was also a children's museum and an art museum within walking distance.  I stopped in at a Starbucks for some hot caramel apple cider and walked all over the city just soaking in how clean and un-crowded it all was.  I walked across the Grand River and noticed a self-guided walking tour path which goes all over the city...but parts of it were closed for the season so I didn't get too far.

After a while it was getting colder and beginning to snow (thank you Hurricane Sandy) so I headed back toward our hotel and decided to tour the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  It was really cool.  Somewhat smaller than our Field Museum, but I liked it better that way because for $8 I could actually see everything they had and not get completely worn out looking at too much of the same thing.  

The exhibits were set up alphabetically - A for Automobiles, B for Boxes, etc.  I think the creepiest exhibit was a toss-up between the hall of dolls and zoology.  The museum was pretty empty so I was wandering around by myself through most of it and all those creepy-looking old dolls were a little much.  Then there was the Hitler doll - yes, an Adolf Hitler doll...weird.  The zoology exhibit was just room after room of stuffed animals set in scenes or hanging from the walls; on Halloween, being alone in a room with a bunch of dead animals sort of gave me the creeps.

I got done with the museum right around the time Ky got done with his interview and so we jumped in the car and headed home.  On our way to get the kids we stopped at the airport to pick up a special delivery... to be continued...

Oh, and Kyle totally ROCKED THE SOCKS OFF his interview!!  :) So proud of my man!