Practicing Patience

Need a recipe for exercising your patience? Just head out to the local cross country ski trails. Be sure that the temperature is in the single digits and that the conditions are VERY icy. Add a five year old on "real" skis for the first time (not those "baby" strap-on skis). Also add poles to the mix! In addition, stop for hot chocolate every five yards or so!

On a more serious note....Zan did great! He set a goal (the tunnel) and kept a positive attitude, despite MANY spills.

The Tree

We tagged our tree way back in October, but didn't cut it down until this past weekend. The new snow certainly set the mood.

Zan and Zoe supervised.

Following tradition, we drank eggnog and listened to James Taylor's Christmas album, while decorating the tree.

Colonial Day

Last week Zoe had Colonial Day at school. All the 4th graders dressed as colonial children and went through the day as though they were living in colonial times...no computers, pencils, lunch boxes, etc. Zoe brought her lunch to school packed in cloth napkins in a basket and was not allowed to bring her backpack. We did break the rules on the walk to school by letting her wear her modern Lands End jacket since it was below 3o degrees. Here is her class practicing a few colonial activities:

Tin Punching

Quilting (they used paper due to time)

Horn Book and Slate with Chalk

Writing with quills and ink...

...which is harder than it looks!

What would you take on the Mayflower?

Zan is growing up in so many ways: creating a bigger circle of friends through school, developing his own interests (hockey), and becoming more independent, however once in a while I get a glimpse of the little boy. When Zan was born Mimi gave him a small blue TY newborn teddy bear, which he quickly grew to love. He slept with it every night and gradually learned to use the bear to comfort himself ( he sucked/chewed on the bear's nose). I had to wash the bear A LOT and finally had to replace it several times. At some point the bears were discontinued, and I found an online source, purchasing all the bears they had as a reserve. I don't remember the details, but somewhere along the way Zan ended up with two bears, one pink, one blue. They eventually became known as Pink Bear and Blue Bear. He still sleeps with them every night and although they stay on his bed for the most part, he still seeks them out if he gets hurt or is feeling sad. They always travel with us, and they've even gone to school (hidden in his backpack of course) on difficult days.

At school last week his class was learning about the pilgrims and the Mayflower. After reading a story about the journey across the ocean, each student had to draw a picture of what they would have taken along on the voyage. Zan drew a picture of Blue Bear and Pink Bear.

Boston Children's Museum

To celebrate Zan's friend Maddy's birthday this year, we took her to the Boston Children's Museum!

Crazy bubbles!

About a year ago I wrote about Zan's determination and fear regarding the climbing net! I'm happy to report that this time he mastered the climbing net!

Zoe and Maddy playing tic-tac-toe.

Zan working the jackhammer at the construction site.

The American Girl Fashion Show

Here's Zoe at the American Girl Fashion Show, modeling Kirsten's nightshift. She is showing off a fancy seam. Last year the 5th Annual American Girl Fashion Show raised over $23,000 for women and children in crisis in our area. The projected numbers for this year look just as good. This was definitely Zoe's last year in the show, as all the American Girl outfits are size 10 (she is a size 14), which explains why she wore a big baggy nightgown! Watching her this year brought back memories of her first show when she was five (I'll look around for photos). She wore the cutest little Bitty Baby birthday outfit, complete with birthday hat, hand bag and balloons. She was so upset after her debut because the audience had reacted with, "AHHHHHH!" It took a lot to convince her that she hadn't done anything wrong, that the audience just thought she was precious.

Zoe (third from the right) with the other historical nightwear models.

American Girl dolls dressed and ready for the runway!

Extreme Halloween

As if regular Halloween costumes aren't stressful enough, this year I also had to dress a horse as clown (for the Costume Class at last weekend's horse show), and for school today Zan could only dress up for Kindergarten if it was related to the curriculum (in this case one of the stages of the life of a Monarch Butterfly). He chose "caterpillar." I looked for photos of a Monarch Caterpillar and found this:

and then created this:

Autumn Horse Show

Today was the Autumn Horse Show. At Sue's barn, Zoe has been riding Leigh, whom she LOVES, but today was a little rough...Leigh gets nervous if she is not near her horse friends Kittery, Morgan or Lauren, which happened quite a bit during the show. I'm so proud of Zoe - she stuck with it and completed all her classes despite Leigh's nervousness and her own nerves. Personally, I think watching your child ride is the MOST nerve-racking! I feel like my heart is going to explode the whole time Zoe is riding in a class.

Warming up on Leigh.

Today was a big day because Zoe began competing in a different level - Beginner Walk, Trot, Canter, not just Walk/Trot.

Waiting to participate in the Trail Class.

The trail class consisted of going over a bridge and some rails, opening and closing a mailbox (the door of the mailbox fell off when Zoe opened it!), weaving through stalks of corn, backing out of a lane, turning a circle in a "box," and retrieving a treat from a caldron. All easier said than done when on a horse on a windy day!

Zoe also competed in the costume class (sorry, no pictures). She and Leigh both dressed as clowns. There were only two entrants in the class - both clowns! They tied for first place!

The Iceman Cometh

It is a little strange to dress your five year old up in lots of protective gear, then give him a stick and send him out onto the ice for battle! He, of course, LOVED it! This past weekend was Zan's first official hockey practice. He got to skate Friday night AND Saturday morning, but it wasn't enough. Now he is counting the days until his next practice. While I worried that he was cold or that his feet would hurt, he skated nonstop with a huge smile on his face.

A lot of the kids in his group are still skating with chairs...they're so cute. They all have masking tape labels on their helmets with their names since they all look the same with all the gear on.

Opening Night

For the last eight weeks Zoe has been rehearsing with a children's community theater group. Tonight is opening night for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." This week has been production week...one week of rehearsal EVERY night until. Zoe has held up well, despite the late nights coupled with state testing at school, homework, etc. This is a silly picture of the whole cast at one of their dress rehearsal's. Zoe is all the way over on the right, 2nd row. You can barely see her.

Frost on the Pumpkin

This morning was cold and frosty. There would have been frost on our pumpkins if we had had any, so we went to the orchard today to find some pumpkins and pick the last apples of the season.

You can tell it is the end of the season...so many "drops" on the ground, and the farm stand had their wood stove going.

Kindergarten Field Trip

Zan's class went on their first field trip this week. It was their study of shapes "kick-off."

They identified shapes,

formed groups (this is the triangle group),

completed a shape walk,

and went on a shape scavenger hunt on the hay wagon.

War Games

What is it about little boys and war games?

Carter

This past weekend we drove to Poughkeepsie for my brother Duncan's 40th Surprise Birthday Party. It was a great weekend - full of family, friends and good food. The party was at an italian restaurant and Duncan was caught completely off guard. Margaret had arranged for a friend to do karaoke, which the kids LOVED. Zan did an adorable rendition of "Sweet Caroline." Somehow we managed to sleep thirteen people under Duncan and Margaret's roof! I completely blew a million photo opportunities...the only photos I managed to get of the weekend are the boys playing war games in their camouflage gear! Zan was in heaven - running around with his three older male cousins like "army guys," as he puts it. The whole "army guy" thing is a little disconcerting....I just keep telling myself that it is a phase.

Audubon Adventure

This is how Charlotte and Zan approached the trail at Audubon the other day - with gusto! I think Zan has been watching too many Jeff Corwin videos. He carried a stick which he poked into every hole and also used to pry up logs, looking for critters. We did find an orange salamander and lots of gorgeous mushrooms.

We also happened to arrive in the center just as the reptiles were being fed for the week. We saw turtles eating fruit and a baby toad. We also watched snakes eat mice.

WARNING: Graphic photos follow!