Joy School!!

Me and three other women from my branch do a pre school program called "Joy School". Each week one mom takes two days a week to teach two lessons from the curriculum. This week is my week! Yay! It is so much fun, we are in Chapter 3: Honesty and Candor. We read some stories about how lying can affect us and others, and how it doesn't make us feel very good. We learned about words to help us express how we feel (instead of the simple sad, mad, happy). Then we made a pumpkin head and each kid got to pick between a variety of noses, eyes, and mouths to tape a face onto a real pumpkin!!

Annika ChandlerAndrewKaleb (and Annika peeking in back there!!)Then each kid got a little pumpkin head guy to color and draw in the faces. They were asked to draw in a face that showed how they felt! They all did wonderful smiling faces! Then it was snack time, and in the spirit of Halloween, we made a cup of dirt and worms and ate it!! Mmm!! Of course everybody loves gummy worms, Oreo's, and chocolate pudding though! No matter what it looks like mixed together!! After snack time, and clean up time, we started our craft project. Next week we are having a Halloween party, so I decided my craft projects were going to be decorations for the party! The kids are a little angry with my that they didnt get to take them home with them yet, but after the party - I PROMISE you can have them!!

Annika making her dainty ghost!

Chandler's Cat!Kaleb's Bat!!Andrew's Bat!It is such a great and wonderful time spent to teach these kids. All of them excel in very different areas, have such different personalities, and are just great, unique kids. I think this will prove to be a great experience for each child (and parent), both educationally and emotionally! I cant wait until Thursday to do my next lesson!

Pumpkin Time!!

The other night while Joe was out fishing with my dad, me and the kids decided to go to the pumpkin patch. Grandma Smith, Aunt Katie and her friend Nick all came with us! We had so much fun! There was a "bagoon" (part badger, part racoon) that my sister was dying for me to see - as I slowly ease my way up to the cage, the ranch owner taps the cage and a large ball of fur comes flying through the top of the cage right at me!! Needless to say I screamed and grabbed the kids. Turns out that there is no such thing as a bagoon, ha-ha-ha, jokes on me!! But, it was funny once my heart started beating normal again! Then we walked all through the GIANT pumpkin patch, over to the small pumpkin patch - let the kids pick put one pumpkin each. We also got some homemade honey sticks (basically straws melted shut with honey in them) they are super good! They have regular honey, strawberry/honey, raspberry/honey, peach/honey, etc...and man they are addicting! Me and Kaleb had several of them! mmmmm! Anyhow, I did not have my camera with me, but I took some pictures with my phone...here they are!

Kaleb and Cameron

Cameron playing in hayKaleb in the hayCameron and her little sideways glare!Kaleb was trying to be patient while I took pictures!!Cameron had a blast! She found a small green pumpkin and chewed on it the whole time!Kaleb in the sea of pumpkins