Ben Goes To Chicago!

Beth graduated from PA school in Chicago, so Ben got to go with his family to Chicago for her graduation. I could have gone and brought the girls, but nothing about bringing the girls on a flight across the country to sleep in a hotel and sit through a graduation sounded at all appealing to me. So Ben just went.

From what I hear, they had a fantastic time, and I'm glad. Ben deserved a break. Plus, I'm going to Seattle by myself in a couple of months, so he will get his payback.

 We read and loved "The Devil In the White City" and Ben insisted on visiting The Museum of Science and Technology- the only building still standing from the 1893 World's Fair. I have to admit, I am jealous he got to go. The history nerd in me really wanted to see it.

Field Day

Today was Audra's field day. They always do such an awesome job. She has a new PE teacher this year (a result of teachers eagerly fleeing our district), but he did a great job. It was all incredibly organized and so much fun. It was HOT, but unfortunately the new PE teacher couldn't do anything about that.

Here's Audra's new teacher:

 For one game they had a relay where they had to get dressed funny:

 I'm pretty sure the tug-of-war was the favorite of all the kids. They all tried so incredibly hard- it was funny.

 Another relay/obstacle course:

 The water balloon toss proved that Audra is scared of water balloons:

 Audra's partner was last year's boyfriend, Isaac. This year Isaac got mad at Audra because "she loves Lukas more than him," but Audra diplomatically answered, "I do love Lukas, but I love you, too."

Ben stayed home with the other girls which was nice. It's a good thing Ben had today off- it really helped everybody out!

Field Trip

Today we went on a field trip for pre-school. We went to one of my favorite parks. I lucked out because Ben had the day off so I could just take Claire which was really nice.

There's actually 6 kids in the pre-school, but only four could go.

Of course, last week (the first week of pre-school) is the very week that Camille decided to go from two naps to one. How did I get so lucky? Once again, I don't get a break. But at least Camille and I can run errands while Claire is in school.

Shoes, Glorious Shoes

While I was at field day with Audra, Ben decided to try a pair of shoes on Camille. Pleased that they fit, he then went to take them off. Camille threw a fit. She LOVES these shoes, and insisted on wearing them the rest of the day.

Camille may not be able to talk, but she can definitely communicate.

My First Day Teaching Pre-School

The way the pre-school works out, we each only need to teach something like 14 days. But in return, we get an entire year of pre-school covered. Yes, it is a little chaotic, and it can be hard on the kids to go to different houses, but we are now on week 2 and so far, so good.

This week happens to be my week to teach.

It was a bit more work than I anticipated, but I came up (thanks to the internet) with some pretty cool things to do.

Our letter of the week is "A" so today we did alligators. We read, "There's An Alligator Under My Bed," went on an alligator hunt, made craft alligators, and sang alligator songs. We actually ran out of time and I have to save some of my activities for Wednesday. The kids were engaged the entire time- I did a fine job, if I do say so myself. It's kind-of funny- I used to HATE working with young kids (hence why I was a high school, not an elementary school teacher), but now that I have my own little munchkins I actually find it to be pretty fun. It is work- and I was sweating by the end- but it really was fun. I'm glad we decided to do this little co-op.

Here's the alligator craft we did. Notice it's an "A" turned on it's side:)

Then for one activity each child drew a picture of any animal they wanted. Then we read a couple lines of "their" story about their being a ___________ (whatever animal they drew) under their bed. Claire drew an alligator, and I think she did a pretty great job:

One day down, only 13 more for me to go!

Touch A Truck

Ben took the girls to "Touch A Truck." Apparently the lines for the firetruck were ridiculously long, but they still talk about the milk truck and a couple of other trucks they got to climb into. Ben might have had a little more fun than the girls!

Claire Martt

Today was only Claire's second day of pre-school and look what she did:

 The blue box is part of an ant she drew, but outside of that she clearly spelled her name- and did a pretty great job! She has never done that before! Yes, I get excited over the little things, but it's so sweet when your kid does something like write their name for the first time. She said she looked at how her name was printed and copied it on the paper. I LOVE it!

And, just for fun, the other day she was in the dress-up bin and came up hopping in this:

Now that her tantrums are beginning to calm down, I sure am enjoying this little girl more and more!