It's Beginning to look a lot like Fall

After a beautiful run of nice fall weather, the tides are turning.

There is a coolness in the air letting us know that winter is just around the corner.

On Saturday, John dug everything out of our garden.

My bumper crop of sunflowers are now down.

The last of the cucumbers and tomatoes have been picked and the plants are gone.

It was a good year for the garden.

John also put away the birdbath, birdhouses, and lawn furniture.

That is always a bittersweet time for me since it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing all of it out in anticipation of the summer.

Summer came and went as it always does.

The Seasons clock keeps ticking and as much as I am dreading it, winter will arrive whether I want it or not.

The older I get, the more I dislike winter.

It is not so much the snow, but the cold temps that bother me the most.

Each year, I say I am going to embrace the winter and get as much enjoyment out of it as I possibly can, but I am not going to kid myself with that silliness this  year.

I will just go from car to school to car to home and look forward to curling up with a warm blanket on those cold evenings.

It is coming, I cannot stop it.

I am not ready or excited.

 

I do know that when my kids see those first flurries out of our classroom window, their excited squeals will more than likely rub off on me, at least for a moment or two.

They are young, they don't know what those flurries actually mean.

They will learn as they get older just like I did!



Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

It is that time of the year again for my annual trip to Ebert's Pumpkin Patch with my Preschoolers.

This year was a special year since I had Soliana along for her first field trip.

I love how excited the parents are for this trip, for most of them it is the first time their little ones are going on a field trip.  I actually think the parents are more excited than the kids.

I am usually so pleased with how well Ebert's does a field trip.  I have been going there with Preschoolers for more years than I care to remember and each year I end up saying, "Wow, that was the best trip yet!"

However this year, I cannot say that.

I was told by an employee of Ebert's that they had overbooked for the day of our trip.

Since I had secured my spot in July, I was well ahead of the crowd.

The whole trip seemed so rushed to me.

I hope the kids didn't feel it like I did.

We started with a hayride to the patch to choose our pumpkin.

There is a banjo player who sings a song with each child's name as we ride out there.

Well, she has to sing so quickly because she had to jump off of our wagon and unto another one to sing with them.

After the pumpkin picking, we heard a story.

Again, it was done very quickly and started before we were all seated,

Definitely not the quality of other years.

The craft was a fun one this year, the kids made the square pumpkin from the story they had just heard, but again, the instructions were given before everyone even had a seat and I felt like the kids hardly had time to create their pumpkin before it was time to move out so another group could get in.

I have an evaluation to fill out and I plan on letting them know how I felt about this so they will be careful not to overbook again.

Will it keep me away from Ebert's next year?

No, it won't.

 

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

No matter what happens at the pumpkin patch, the best part of the whole trip for the kids is always the bus ride!

Just a few more shots from the Wedding

 Beautiful bride, Vikki with her sweet grand niece, Tizita.

 Tizita wanted to be a flower girl so badly.

Vikki, graciously asked Tiz to put rose petals out on the tables at the reception.

Tiz was beyond thrilled.

 Here is our little sunshine, Soli having a fun moment with Mallory.

 Vikki and Kev gave the little girls disposable cameras to use at the wedding.

They had a ball with them, but I am no so sure any of the pictures will actually turn out.

 The cousins looking really good.

 Sweet Soli.

 Soliana with her Godparents.

 Tiz with Vikki's beautiful bouquet.

 Courtney and Paul.

And, I leave you with this photo of the happy couple.

It was indeed a great family wedding.

Waldvogel's Pumpkin Patch and so much more

 Despite dodging a few raindrops, we enjoyed our afternoon at Waldvogel's Pumpkin Farm taking in all the fun activities.

Tizita really enjoyed panning for gems.

Soli and I had taken shelter from the rain at this point, but Tizita insisted on continuing her mining.  I suppose a little rain does not stop a die hard miner.  Her efforts paid off and she walked away with a bag full of semi precious stones.

 Because of the weather, the farm was not crowded and we could move from activity to activity without a wait.

John and the girls enjoyed riding the big bikes this year.

 Tiz beat John in a round of mini golf.

All strokes may or may have been counted.

 Soli had her own style on the golf course.

 The duck races are always popular.

 Tiz ran the goat food up to this waiting goat who devoured it all quickly.

Soli really enjoyed these bouncy, inflatable horses.

This small goat crawled right out of the goat fence and ate the food that had fallen out of the dispenser.

Tiz was quite worried about the little fella, but a few minutes later, he crawled right back into the fence.

The goats certainly enjoyed the food from the girls.

Here I am using the outhouse.  You would think it would be a bit more private.

We were the only people on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

We chose to just stay on the wagon because the field was so muddy.

We picked our pumpkins out from this area instead.

Lots of nice pumpkins from which to pick.

A great time was had by all of us at the pumpkin patch.

We are so glad that we didn't let the rain stop us from stopping.

We took the girls back to Oshkosh and ate dinner at Glass Nickel.

Soli went a bit crazy on us, but we survived.

When we got them home, we tag teamed and were able to get both of them asleep by 8:00.

Courtney and Paul returned  home around ten to two sleeping girls and two tired grandparents.

It was another fun, memorable weekend.

Presenting Mr.and Mrs. Kevin Kohlhoff

 On Friday night, my brother got married to Vikki.

It was the second time around for each of them, but I think they both got it right this time.

It was a perfect wedding.

Small, just for immediate family, short and sweet.

Vikki was a beautiful bride and Kev was a handsome groom.

 Here is the new blended happy family.

 My mom gained a new grandson and she could not be happier.

Nic looks pretty happy with these lovely ladies, too.

 Here is our family.

 And my attempt at a Christmas card.

After the ceremony at our church, Kev and Vikki hosted a party at Milford Hills.  It was a fun night.

I wish them many, many happy years together.

A New Member of the Family

Yes, that is a cat and it is under my bed.

Tomorrow my brother gets married.

Vikki, his soon to be wife, has a son Nic who is allergic to cats, to Kitsy could not join the family once they are married.

What were we to do?

Kitsy is an ornery old cat who does not like many people.

She does not like John or I, but she does love my mom who lives with us.

She has held many repairmen at bay in Kev's house over the years.

I think her meow is worse than her bit though and I actually think she will learn to like us.

She already likes being underneath our bed.

Our first cat, Yoda, crawled under our bed when she was dying. 

I hope history is not repeating itself, but Kitsy seems quite healthy.

At any rate, wish us well with our new family member.

Yes, In my Classroom we proudly say the Pledge

In my classroom, we begin each day with the Pledge and a Prayer.

The kids may not know all the words, yet, and they may not always use the correct hand, but they know that the flag is an important symbol of our country.

They know that brave men and women fought for our freedom.

The love their country.

They are proud little Americans.

They pray for their country.

God Bless the USA!