We celebrated Grants birthday at school with cupcakes and melon balls to balance the artificial sugar. All his friends colored a page for him and the teacher made a happy birthday book for him as a keepsake. I'm really pleased with his school and everything he is learning. On Saturday, his official birthday we took some of his friends bowling and his grandma's. Grant got a fish for his birthday and put together his tank.
Party favors. Yoyo, maze, light up ball (bowling ball) and bowling pin (water bottle)
Twenty years ago I met the best friends of my life while living in Florida. We were all transplanted there from different parts of the country: Ohio, California and West Virginia. Since then we have all migrated back to our homes but still manage to plan a trip yearly to reunite. This years trip was special as we invited husbands and boyfriends and children to join in on the fun. It was farm weekend in West Virginia on the Smith's farm of over 200 acres. The colors of the season are beautiful and the pictures don't do the fall leaves justice. They are brilliant yellows, bright corals, vibrant reds and shades of oranges and greens. If you ever get a chance to go East in the fall you should.
4 states in 5 days. We met Dave in Virginia while he was on a business trip. While he worked on Thursday Grant and I went to National Aire and Space Museum where the shuttle Discovery now rests. Thursday night we took the Metro to D.C. too visit the monuments. The capital building was beautifully lit with twinkle lights from a distance but we didn't have time to tour everything. We were on a tight schedule and had homework due. Friday morning we drove to West Virginia passing through Maryland.
11pm after D.C. catching up on homework, blah....
There was so much to do for Grant I knew I didn't need to bring any toys to occupy him. We woke to the sound of roosters and when Grant saw from the 2nd story window the cows coming in from the pasture to be fed he raced like lighting down the stairs, yelled at Tim "we gotta go feed the cows!" He fed the chickens in the morning while the others fed the black Angus cows and gave the donkeys mints. Grant went hunting for farm fresh eggs in the barn. He dug for worms and handled them like a champ so he could fish in the creek. Drove a tractor and a mule, went off roading, hung in the tree house, met friends, roasted marshmallows and hot dogs, and played in the rain for hours. The adults went off roading at night, shooting, tried to hunt but it was raining, and relaxed and laughed in the outdoors. This is the good life away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle. What a wonderful time!
Feeding the chickens and taking a ride on a John Deer
Breakfast, fresh fruit, homemade cobblers and apple pumpkin bread. Bagels, coffee, all the fixin's
He caught 5 fish, one after another and then we released them in a pond up on the hill
Grant handling his bucket of worms like a champ that he dug up for fishing
They look sad in the rain but only because we wanted a picture
Grant played with Olivia, Anna, Josiah and Jackson
AR15 target shooting
Some of the group. Left to right. Christina, Lisa, Tim, me, Grant, Michele, TK, and Dave.
Testing out the deer seat high above the trees
Enjoying our foil dinners
hunting for eggs with Christina
Working on the farm and so happy
Those of you who know Grant know he's obsessed with tractors. Heaven!
Bug catching and crawdad fishing
So delicious. Salmon, chicken and pork with veggies and every seasoning to make a foil packet on the BBQ
So one morning I was looking out the kitchen window when a pack of white cows strolled onto the farm. Apparently the neighbors cows got loose and Tim had to heard them away.
I am so excited about the preschool we chose after touring several. Relinquishing control over Grant and placing trust in someone to nurture and teach our child was made EASY with this school because of the people that are involved. He loves getting ready for preschool and he can't wait to get out of the car and see his friends and go to school. However, he forgets for a moment that mommy is leaving and the tears flow but only for a moment. When I pick him up he's happy and says "preschool is cool".
The first day I picked Grant up from school the teacher gave me a class picture. At that moment the kids were coming in from the playground and one little boy crying hysterically vomitted his lunch all over the carpet. For days Grant looked at his class picture and pointed out the boy who got sick. We talked about asking if he felt better next time we saw him. The next time I picked Grant up from school the same little boy who had gotten sick was playing with Grant. Grant said he was funny so I told the teacher that he made a friend. We discussed the vomitting incident and to my surprise the little boy had thrown up that day too. So in my head I thought does Grant think this kid is funny or does he think the site of vomit is funny. I swear Grant gets sarcasm already with his parents being Dave and I.
Grant for the most part is very reserved until he is comfortable with his environment. I picked him up one day and the teacher told me she didn't know he had it in him. And of course I know he does because he's a wild jumping wiggling never sit still kind of kid at home. Story time everyone was suppose to sit down and the teacher told me Grant kept getting up and would try to make eye contact with another kid and coerce them to come play. Another instance Grant apparently didn't want to be bothered with school work and wanted to play with the toys instead. So she told him he could play after he traced his name and letters. She said he came over and did it as fast as he could and then ran off to play. She didn't expect him to already know how to do it so we got a laugh out of it. Parent teacher conference is coming next month, I'm worried we may have the class clown child. He tells me, "I'm funny mom". Gonna have to keep an eye on this one.
My first day of preschool!
Waiting for all his classmates to get their picture taken
Grant loves all construction and work vehicles, especially cranes. He says he wants to build skyscrapers. Engineering degree possibly.
The school practices the fruit of the spirit listed on the left. If your little star with your name on it ends up on the cart of fruit it means you are not practicing either patience or kindness or something. I think its a great way to teach some wonderful values.
Telling the class who he is. Kind hearted boy who loves cruise ships and his fireman boots. when I showed him this picture he said "I'm happy".
This week the class is working on the letter "B" so we brought nutritious snacks to share with the class starting with "B" for butterfly
