MarketJumpRopeValentine's Day

It felt like a big blur of a day...one thing ran right into the next so I'm calling yesterday's adventure, "MarketJumpRopeValentine's Day".

Market Day was a success with many vendors selling out of their product. Jamie painted wood hearts that Bill cut with the scroll saw, and turned them into magnets. There were lots of creative wares for sale!

Jump Rope for Heart was an event of somewhat organized chaos. Put 300+ 2nd and 3rd graders in a large room, give them jump ropes and turn them loose...really??? I'm actually surprised that there weren't more accidents involving kids (or adults) getting hit with ropes. They jumped rope for an hour, well, they were in the gym for an hour...some gave up on the jump rope thing fairly quickly. Though I do think that Jamie was actually getting the hang of it toward the end. They were rewarded with stickers, a ribbon and a popsicle for their effort. Jamie raised $181 for the American Heart Association!

The blank stares of the kids sitting down eating their popsicles say it all...they were so exhausted! But, nothing that a little Valentine's sugar couldn't remedy, so they boarded buses and headed back to school to exchange valentine's cards and treats.

(Austin was feelin' the LOVE!!!)

Valentine for teacher

February 11 has been looming on my calendar...seems that everything happens tomorrow. It starts at 8:05am with Market Day for Jamie. I have my P.E.O. meeting at 9:30 and then it will be time to meet Jamie at ASC for Jump Rope for Heart at 1:00. After jumping rope, it's back to school to exchange valentines. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about everything! Guess I better get to bed!

This is what I came up with for the valentine gift for Mrs. Price. I used a Frappacino bottle, filled it with M & M's and decorated...very easy, but cute!

Valentine's Day Treats

I finished Jamie's valentines today. According to the teacher, they are not having a party but will exchange valentines. Valentine's Day is on Sunday and since there is no school on Friday, it seems like EVERYTHING is happening on Thursday! Jamie's class is having their Market Day Thursday morning and then the entire school is heading over to Adams State College to participate in "Jump Rope for Heart" in the afternoon. So, don't know exactly when the exchanging of valentines will take place, but it will be sometime on Thursday.

I made these cute matchbook valentines which hold a treat in the pocket inside. Jamie addressed them all and made sure that he got one too! I still need to come up with something for the teacher...

Science Saturdays at ASC

Science Saturdays is a FREE program offered to the community through the Adams State College Science department for kids 12 and younger. They started the program last fall but I always heard about it after the fact. I was looking at the ASC website for something last week and saw the announcement that they were continuing the program this semester. Jamie was reluctant (as he is with anything "new"), but his friend & classmate, Nicole, was there and they had a great time! Today's presentation was about technology and science. One of the cool things they had to play with was PicoCricket, a little computer that can easily be programmed (by kids!) to spin objects or turn on lights, etc, using motors and sensors. It can be used with Legos to build all kinds of cool things! (Note to self: birthday gift idea for Jamie) There were several other stations set up, each with a cool experiment to try...it reminded me of my college Physics lab only way more fun!

Nicole actually did one of the PicoCricket demonstrations, proving that even a 7-year-old can program the computer!

Playing with a pendulum

Jenga blocks

Everyone had fun with the balance board & fulcrum!

The Skyrail Rollercoaster was a huge hit!! Through trial and error, they built a pretty extensive marble run! (Note to self: another great gift idea!)

This was such a great activity and the kids might have even learned something today. Sssshhhh! Don't tell them that, though, they were just having fun!

Next weeks presentation will be about the science of color and everyone will tie-dye a t-shirt!

Snow Play Day

Two big storms over the past two weeks have left the San Luis Valley looking like a winter wonderland! So, we decided to bundle up and head to the hills for some winter fun!

Jamie had fun sledding and tasting the snow!

Bill was having a hard time staying on track and kept finding all of the rocks!

Here's Jamie plowing through some fresh powder...and below is his face (hair & eyebrows) covered in powder!

All smiles for Jamie!

It seemed like the hill got steeper each time we had to climb back up carrying our sleds. The people sledding next to us had 4-wheelers that they were using to haul sleds & kids back up to the top of the hill...no fair!

Julie WIPED OUT on the final run!
We had so much fun playing in the snow today!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Jamie's class (with two other classes) took a field trip to Canon City to visit Diana's Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze. I agreed to be a parent sponsor but, since there were more parents than expected, space on the school bus was limited. Mrs. Price guaranteed that "there will be puking", so I was quite happy to drive my own car. Lynn, Tiffany & Tracy rode with me to the pumpkin patch and then we switched it up and Lynn & Tiffany and our three kiddos made the trip home.

I was impressed with the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze...it's something that I'd like to visit again next year as a family. We split into small groups of 3-4 kids with an adult and started in the corn maze. I don't know how long we were in there but, we were lost! It felt like we were just going around in circles. We never did find the "out" but finally made our way back to the spot we entered...we were so happy to be out of the maze that we didn't care! I would've loved to have gone back in and tried again but we didn't have time.

After the corn maze, we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. Each kid was told that they could get as big a pumpkin as they could carry...then the kids found the wagons...so much for that idea! Jamie wandered around a bit before deciding on the perfect pumpkin. It was too big for him...yeah, I caved and carried it for him!

We sat around the campfire and ate our packed lunches. Then the kids got to make s'mores!

One of the highlights for the kids was the corn bin, filled with corn kernels. They had fun digging, piling and jumping into the corn bin. Jamie did a cannonball into the corn.

Finally, there was a hayride around the pumpkin patch and corn maze. There were a lot of different activities to keep everyone busy for most of the day. Mr. Felton kept the brains stimulated by providing fun pumpkin facts throughout the day.

See more photos from this fun day HERE.

Good Bye Aunt Bernice

aunt Bernice with Jamie in September 2002

aunt Bernice (far left) & Gram (in red) in November 2006

I've known for quite a while that my great aunt Bernice is not doing well. I heard from my cousin on Monday that she was not doing well and was not surprised to receive the call, today, that she had passed. Aunt Bernice is my grandmother's sister and she lived in Arkansas so I didn't see her very often. I last saw my aunt in November 2006 when she came to NM for my grandmother's 90th birthday party.

When I think of aunt Bernice, I remember a bunch of us sitting around my grandmother's kitchen table listening to family stories. And aunt Bernice could TELL a story! It didn't matter that we'd heard the same story a hundred times, she still would have us laughing so hard that we were crying!! At one of these family story telling events, my cousin had the wherewithal to set up a video camera and let it roll. I would love to watch that video right now and remember my aunts laughter and joyful perspective of life.

Aunt Bernice died today, at the age of 88, from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. I'm sad that she's gone, although I know that her last years were not very pleasant and that she is now in a much better place. Rest in Peace my dear aunt Bernice...travel well.