What We've Been Doing

What a busy & fun time we've been having. Last Tuesday I worked as a substitute teacher at Anna's school. This was my first time to ever sub. I worked as a "float" so teachers could attend a meeting. I had four classes throughout the day. Three were 3rd grade and one was 1st grade. I got to do several things- playground duty, taking a class to PE, worksheets, reading, showing a movie, etc. I enjoyed it except for feeling lost because I didn't know where everything was or how things were supposed to work. But I winged it and must not have done too bad because they called me Wednesday, Thursday & Friday to work again. But I wasn't available on those days. I didn't get to sub in Anna's class (which she really wanted), but I did get to see her twice. I saw her in the lunch room and then walked her class from PE to their room after dropping my class off at PE. She was so excited to see her mom at school. She told me that she wanted me to get a job there.

Thursday evening Kevin & Anna attended an event at her school. It is a program for adult men (dads, grandpas, uncles, etc) of elementary students. They call it Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students). They had pizza for the men and kids. Then the kids watched a movie while the men learned about the program. Kevin will go to the school one day this year to be an "extra set of eyes" and be involved at the school. I think it is a great idea and know Anna will love having her dad at school for a day!

Friday Kevin & I dropped Anna off at school and then Mason off at daycare. Then we went to the fairgrounds for the livestock show. Kevin showed cattle when he was younger and still enjoys being involved. We hung out talking to friends and watching the show until finally leaving for a late lunch. After lunch I dropped Kevin off at the fairgrounds and went to pick up Anna from school. Then we picked up Mason and headed back to the fairgrounds. The cattle show was still going so Anna & Mason got to watch their first cattle show.

Anna said that she wants to show a calf when she gets a little bigger. It didn't take too long for Mason to say "I'm done!" (I admit it is a little slow paced. Not exactly my favorite thing but sometimes we do things we don't absolutely enjoy for the ones we love.) Once Mason was done, we walked around to look at all the sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits. Mason is so afraid of pigs. Kevin had taken Mason a couple of weeks ago to a guy's house that had pigs. Kevin had told me then about how much Mason was afraid of the pigs. At the fair he wouldn't even walk by the pig pens. He would say "I cared (scared)" and want to be held. After looking at the animals we went to the petting zoo. Then we walked through some of the exhibit booths. We didn't ride any rides because we were saving that for Saturday night.

Saturday morning Kevin and his friend worked on the electricty for the shop. Ethan came over with his daddy and played with Anna. They had a great time like always. That afternoon we went to the fair. We met Anna's friend, Brianna, and her family at the fair grounds.

Anna, Brianna & Kenzie (Brianna's school friend)

Anna and Brianna rode rides for about 3 hours. We definitely got our money out of Anna's arm band!

Mason & Anna riding the train.

We had been at the fair for a while when we ran into Paige, another former DI kid. Paige and her family were about to leave but she got to ride a couple of rides with Anna & Brianna. They were so excited to see each other.

Mason loved these Jeeps!

Although the fire truck was designed for three people in a row, they all four piled into the same seat. Mason had to share a steering wheel with Anna. I don't think Mason was real excited about being crowded in by three giggling & squealing girls!

Mason rode the Merry-Go-Round with the girls. But as soon as the ride started he started crying. Kevin finally picked him up and held him during the ride. That seemed to be fine with Mason. He apparently just didn't want to sit on the horse. Kevin said when the ride ended that Mason said "That was fun!" He may be one of those people that would rather sit on the bench than the horse.

We really thought Mason would like this motorcycle ride- WRONG! When the ride started it kind-of jerked him out of normal riding position and he never recovered. He was starting to cry so they stopped the ride and got him off.

After all the riding and walking around we were all starving. So we ended our trip to the fair and went to eat at Crackies (Cracker Barrel).

Sunday after lunch Anna and I dropped Kevin & Mason off at Mimi's house and headed to Playhouse Disney. We met her friend Brianna and her mom there. The girls really enjoyed the show. They got to see Little Einsteins, Pooh, Tigger & Darby, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.

After the 1:00 show ended Anna & I ran to the mall. (We had to buy some new earrings because the 6 weeks after piercing was almost over and she was ready to wear some new ones.) Then we ran to pick up Mason & Kevin and headed back for the 4:00 Playhouse Disney show. Yes, Anna and I went twice. We had bought two tickets for the 1:00 show so Anna could go with Brianna. Then Anna won 4 tickets from the t.v. station through a coloring contest for the 4:00 show. I'm glad she won because Mason got to go. We weren't sure if he would like the show, but he loved it. (I actually think he liked it better than Anna. I decided Anna is almost too old for these kind of shows. She asked lots of questions like "Are they real?", "Is that people making that happen?", "Are they really talking?" So I think the magic is wearing off for her...which makes me a little sad.) But Anna still had a great time. We ran into our friends, Kevin and Angie and their children Ethan & Caleb. (This is the Ethan that comes to our house.) We found some empty seats where we could all sit together. So Anna got to watch the second show with Ethan.

Mason wearing Ethan's Handy Manny construction hat.

Once the show ended we hurried up and took off for church. We didn't have time to make it to our normal church so we were going to visit at Liberty Church of Christ. We pulled in the parking lot about 10 minutes after church had started. Anna needed to potty and Mason needed his diaper changed. So the plan was to go in and I would take the kids to the restroom. When I grabbed Mason his shorts were soaked! His diaper had leaked everywhere, including his car seat. By that point we were so late and it would have taken a while to get him cleaned up. So we loaded back up and went home. I told Kevin that I hope we got points for trying (although I know it doesn't work that way).

Anna was bothered all day on Sunday by a loose tooth. It was her first loose tooth on top. She worked with it all day and by Sunday night Kevin had to pull it. I now call her "snaggle tooth". Her other front, top tooth is loose too. So it won't be long until she is missing both front teeth. I told her that she won't be able to eat corn on the cob and will be singing "All I Want For Chirstmas Is My Two Front Teeth"!

Snaggle Tooth

Yesterday Anna brought home her Five Week Progress Report from school. She was satisfactory in all areas (Behavior, Literacy & Math). Her teacher also made a comment about her already knowing all letters and sounds and "LOTS" of sight words. We are so proud of Anna! She and I made a book out of magazine pictures and wrote sentences using her sight words. She loves to read the book that she made. (This was a suggestion the teacher made at Parent Info night. She showed us a book that the class had made together.)

Today is Kevin's 36th birthday. Anna & I are making him a birthday cake this afternoon. This week is turning into another busy week too. Someone asked me if I get bored being at home. NO WAY! I'm really not at home very much. Kevin said that I "keep the roads hot." I don't know how I ever had time to work...there is just so much to do...and it's a lot more fun than a job. I'm having the time of my life!