Pumpkin Express

After driving by the FM Pumpkin Patch and finding it closed, yet again, we decided to head out to the Pumpkin Express to meet up with our friends. Turned out to be a great choice, because even though it was really muddy, there was nobody there for most of our visit!

Reese was all about the "scary face" this year. Apparently, smiles are not scary enough...

Although, he would oblige me every once in a while with a smile :)


Lots of fun jumping of the big hay stack!

He liked to jump and then run to see the picture on my camera...

The only thing I don't care for at Pumpkin Express are all the creepy Halloween things they have. There are "cute" Halloween things as well, but this haunted house facade behind Reese is one of those creepy things I don't like...but he does!

See? Creepy. Not my style. But it's his!

Another big jump off the log tunnel!

My boy...

See you next year!

Texas State Fair...thanks BurbMom.Net!

Thanks to BurbMom.net and GMC, Reese and I enjoyed a free day at the Texas State Fair a few weeks ago!



We met up with lots of our buddies, rode tons of rides, had a fantastic *free* lunch at the GMC tents, & even got to check out the 2010 GMCs. I was truly impressed with the gas mileage of the new crossovers!

Fun with my boy!

We LOVED the Lego Tents!

Where is Reese anyway?


Lots of building opportunities at the Lego Tents...
We were challenged to build something that "started with an A, but not an apple" in 2 minutes...Reese built a jail for our Alpaca...

And Mommy built the Alpaca!

It was really hard to think of something that started with an "A"...

We rode lots of rides with our buddies, then the boys got their faces painted.

Reese was frustrated that he had a limited selection to choose from (Mommy would only pay for the cheapest category of face paint, Reese wanted the full-face paint that cost $20!)

So he ended up choosing the scorpion, which was scary enough to please this boy...

This was us riding the gondola...

We had never visited the State Fair before (and I've lived in the DFW area for 11 years now!) and I'm glad BurbMom provided this opportunity so I would drag myself out there. The weather held out and stopped raining for a day, the rides were fun, the crowd was not bad at all, & Reese and I had a fantastic time.

Apparently though, we missed a whole bunch of the exhibits that are a big part of the State Fair. Next time we go, I'm going to see if we can tag along with someone who has been before (Deb!, Melissa!) and they can show us the ins and outs!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Hey....It's Me!

Well hello! How long has it been now? Almost a month I think?

Oops :)

So what has Reese been up to? Let's see...the last post was about our September cruise (fun!) so in the past month, we have:

*Gone to Grammie's for a dinner with my cousins and their kiddos. Stopped by Pottsie's for breakfast on the way home & found a new favorite breakfast potato casserole.

*Visited the Ft. Worth Zoo for homeschool day. It started out as a very rainy morning, but it burned off about 2 hours into our day and the rest was nice. Luckily, Mommy is always prepared and had our Disney ponchos ready for the rain!

*Had a blast at homeschool PE each week. We've met at the park on nice days, at the rec center on rainy days...Reese is in a group of 6 & 7 year olds and they've spent the month of October playing group games. November takes us to a bounce house place for lots of fun!

*Reese visited the dentist and had his first cavity. Boo!

*Played baseball with our wonderful Coach Picquet from last Spring season. While our team may not have won many games, Reese has had a blast playing & I'm glad Coach came back again for the Fall. I'm hoping he puts together the team again in the Spring because Reese really meshes well with Coach Picquet & you can tell he likes coaching the boys! Our last game is tomorrow...if it doesn't rain!

*Saw Charlotte's Web at the Irving Arts Center. Love the prices, love the location. Their performances are always great, and this one didn't disappoint. I thought it would be fun to see the play at the IAC since we had just finished reading the book together for school.

*Traveled to Disney for a few days. Reese is *almost* tall enough for the last roller coaster in the entire park that he can't ride yet...Rockin' Roller Coaster in the Hollywood Studios park. He's got about 1/2 inch to go, and he was bummed he didn't get to ride it this time. We'll be back soon though, so maybe he'll have a mini-growth spurt between now & then and can ride!

*Visited two pumpkin patches, neither of which were the FM Pumpkin Patch. With all the rain we've had, I think there were only 2 sunny days when we could have gone, and both of those days were already full of things we had to do. So...this is the first year in about 8 years I haven't taken someone to the Pumpkin Patch!

*And, of course...SCHOOL! Reese has completed one of his readers and was very proud to put the certificate at the back of the book on the refrigerator! It is interesting to see his speed progressing, & I'm pleased his comprehension remains high.

Math is probably Mommy's least favorite subject to teach, and we tackle that first every day to make sure it gets done while we're both fresh! Lucky for me, Reese has grasped concepts like telling time, counting money, and addition fairly quickly. The only thing he struggles with is place value so we keep working through that. And lately he seems to want to read his numbers backwards ("36" is sixty-three) and that little skill is driving Mommy batty. But, again, we keep working through that and he'll figure it out, I know!

In History & Geography, we've been talking about ancient Egypt and mummies and King Tut...fascinating stuff for both of us! Did you know that King Tut's father's tomb has never been found? Reese declared that we need to travel to Egypt and find it :)

We also do a daily Bible study, handwriting practice, grammar, poetry & nursery rhymes, & other things thrown in here & there.

I am completely pleased with our Sonlight curriculum, and have started thinking about what we're going to do next year. The *only* part of our curriculum I'm not totally keen on is the Horizon Math program. It's just OK, but not something I really like...how it's laid out, how it jumps around concepts. I am hoping to attend a curriculum fair in the Spring so I can look through some other options for 2nd grade. Horizons Math, however, is one of the options Sonlight offers, so I can either choose a different program through Sonlight, or order something completely separate. We shall see!

So...in a (big) nutshell, that's what Reese has been up to! He is very excited about Halloween and trick or treating tonight. He's going to be a "Gold Scorpion Ninja". Mommy misses the days of cute clowns and piggies and pumpkins...but I know it comes with growing up!

When You Find Just The Right Souvenir

Uh, yea.

$9 later.

The perfect souvenir from Mexico!

Homeschool: It's A Family Affair

Zoe tries to pace herself during Phonics...

Seems that the beanbag chair makes a great dog bed!

The dogs usually come sleep in the room while we do our work...

school is a family affair!

Never Underestimate The Importance Of Creature Comforts

I'm just glad I made the list this time...

I Don't Even Ask Anymore...

Some days, doing school in your boxers is just what you feel like...
But I won't ask why they're pulled up to your neck!

BINGO!

I am so glad we are home together,

learning & playing...

I am lucky to spend my days playing Sight Word Bingo

and skip counting by 5s and 2s...

I'm happy that learning to read means snuggling on the bed

and digging into books of poetry, history, wonderful classic literature.

I love that getting ready for school means

brushing our teeth; pajamas welcome.

And I'm most happy that I get to spend all day, every day

with my son and my husband.

I feel so blessed...beyond words...

Please Choose Something Easier....

Reese was given the task of "writing a sentence that lists three of your favorite foods." We were working on using commas in a series, and I was hoping he chose things that were easy to sound out. Not only does he struggle with handwriting, but when you throw in sounding out big words it takes FOR.EVER.

So, what three foods does he choose?

Really? A fortune cookie and a baked potato? That's a whole lotta sounds to figure out!

I did like how he sounded out pasta ("postu").

He is such a hard worker :)

Is There A Groucho Marx In The Room?