Pumpkin Art

It's that time of year!  We love carving pumpkins and making spooky jack o' lanterns each October.  Luckily, my kids will still wear Halloween shirts, too, which delights me.  This year, the children drew sketches of what they wanted their finished pumpkins to look like, and this artistic endeavor took them several hours.  Mark and I sat in the family room reading (entire chapters of books!) while L&L diligently drew their designs on paper.  Yes, we're in a sweet spot, and we love it!  When it was time to carve, Daddy handled the knives, the kids scooped out the pulp, and Mommy roasted pumpkin seeds:   

In addition to carving jack o' lanterns, we created special themed pumpkins which coordinate with our costumes.  There may be a Star Wars vibe around here this year, and the kids transformed plain orange pumpkins into Yoda and Darth Vader with a little paint and some neat accessories:

We got such a kick out of these creations, and the kids happily posed with their pumpkin art, since we just happened to have a Darth Vader mask and Yoda ears on hand:

What fun pumpkin art this year with our little Star Wars characters!

More Field Trip Fun

This week was Luke's turn to go on his first field trip of the school year.  The 3rd graders went to Kersey Valley yesterday, and these kiddos were SO excited to start their school week with a day of fall fun.   I supervised a group of 5 boys and 1 girl for the corn maze adventure, and we literally ran through the entire 3+ mile maze.  These boys have exactly one speed, and it is "on"!  The kids found all 6 checkpoints and we made it out without anyone getting left behind, which I considered a huge success!

Next, the children went gem mining, and each student was given a bag of fossils and gem stones to sluice.  This was one of their favorite parts of the day, and a perfect activity for 8 year-olds!

The kids were also able to bounce on the giant jumping pillows.  Yes, all 125 third graders jumped in groups of (controlled) chaos!  There was so much joy here, and to listen to the giggles, squeals and shrieks of delight was priceless. 

We rode a hayride to the pumpkin patch, where Luke and Aiden found each other and chose their pumpkins together.  Love these best friends!

I am so lucky to be able to chaperone these field trips and to be an active part of my children's school experiences.  It's a great way to observe the dynamics of the class, get to know the teachers, and create memories.  My sweet Luke still has me completely smitten, and I love this little boy to pieces.

 One of the best parts of field trip days is that children get to ride home early with their parents, and we always try to make that time special.  Luke and I went on a date to get frozen yogurt at Feeny's yesterday afternoon and I loved our 1:1 time.  

It's going to be an exciting week ahead with class parties, Halloween activities, and trick or treating, and it's one of our favorite times of the year!  

Fall on the Farm

Leah's kindergarten class had a field trip on Friday, and we went to Whitaker Farms for a day of fall fun.  The students packed so much into their day at the farm, including a hayride, play time, feeding animals in the barn, and planting seedlings in the greenhouse.  Each child picked a small pumpkin in the pumpkin patch, and this was one of Leah's favorite parts.  She was so proud of her long-stemmed pumpkin!

Our little pumpkin has certainly grown this year.  She's a big kid, and I loved watching her interact with all of her friends from class.  One little boy in particular was pretty attached to Leah, and had his arm around her on the hayride and in line:

The kids "milked the cow", and then had a chance to feed the live animals in the barn.  There were horses, pigs, rabbits, and even a donkey! 

The farm had a cute little train ride set up for the kids, and they rode around the field, waving to all the parents, which was adorable:

It was a full day for these sweet kindergarteners, and a wonderful fall field trip for everyone!