Weirdo

The question is. ... who is weirder? Tyler for getting under the cart or me for seemingly talking to myself the whole way out of the grocery store. People were giving me some seriously crazy looks!

Ty ... my Thanksgiving Turkey!

This morning, we took a treat into preschool ... a "Blessings" snack mix that Tyler helped make yesterday. As you can see he was a pilgrim this morning, but at feast he transformed into an Indian.

In fact, I just got finished watching/helping with the feast - the last one of preschool. Ty, or should I say "Chief Shooting Turkey" (not very PC, but admittedly to the point) is growing up so quickly ... hope he lets me come spy on him next year in Kindergarten!

If you give a mouse ...

The kids took Jenn and I to a production at FSU on Sunday.  We had a great time watching "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie."  It is so fun seeing them laugh ... frankly it was pretty funny.  Afterwards they got a picture with the main character and with his reflection.  A fun afternoon!

Diorama ... DONE!

Okay, I admit I may have enjoyed working on this diorama as much as Abby!  I'm glad we had to turn it in this morning, because we were becoming a bit obsessed.  I kept thinking of nature we should add ... and Abby went slightly overboard on her notes for her oral presentation portion (are index cards excessive for second grade?  That was all Abby!)  We made the people out of clay and we used just about every kind of plant in our yard to show the summer vs. winter scenes.  Did you know Cherokee homes were called "asi" ... or wattle and daub houses?  Did you also know that it takes forever to craft a waddle and daub house out of clay and pine needles?  Also Abby was quite a stickler about the Indians' apparel.  The breechcloths had to being redone because they were "not right."  And for the record that was Abby saying that not me!  Who am I kidding - the whole thing was fun to do!  And it was great to be the able to teach Abby more about research and presentations.  Check back with me in a few years and see if her projects are just fun to work on.  For the time being, it is manageable, and we are so proud of how Abby is doing in school!

Jenn ... the Fairy Godmother!

Auntie Jenn watched the kids the other night so Dennis, Mom, Diane Boragno and I could go to dinner and the game (Jenn is awesome!). Throughout the game, we loved the updates she sent to us and posted to Facebook. Nanny - since you don't Facebook, I thought I'd post them here too. Bet you get a chuckle just like we did!
This picture is when Tyler totally fell asleep while Abby was reading aloud to Jenn. I think the busy day, coupled with all of the Auntie Jenn fun (they made cookies, painted Abby's FSU dress and more) did him in.
Speaking of the FSU dress. Didn't it turn out cute? Jenn and I got a few dresses at Coton Colors' tent sale last month ... for 99 cents (NO JOKE!) each. Jenn, our resident artist, made this one look just as professional as those we see in the store!

And here are a few posts from Jenn:
"... hangin with my BFFs Abby and Tyler tonight. Tyler is humming the Sanford and Son song while Abby is reading a potential Sunshine State book to me out loud. Cookies baking in the oven."

"Tyler (5) just took a bite of his cookie and said: "this is the moment I've been waiting for." lol. Love this kid."

"Watching the beginning of the FSU game last night... Tyler (5): Look! There's Chief Osceola! Abby (7): There's Renegade! Yea Renegade!! Tyler: Abby, don't just cheer for Renegade, you have to cheer for Osceola, too. Abby: Well, if Osceola didn't have Renegade to ride in on, he would be nothing!"

Abby told me today that she would like to have Jenn as a mother. No offense taken! I know she loves me, but who WOULDN'T want Jenn as a mom too!

Diorama 101

I posted these pictures on Sunday night (sent them to the blog from my phone) with the intention of coming back and writing an explanation later. But, you faithful blog followers got here first! :) Yes, you're right Mom, these are the makings of Abby's diorama for her Native American project.

Each fall, the second grade classes do this, and they have to prepare an accompanying information paragraph AND oral presentation! Knowing that Abby and I would gladly spend hours on the artsy part of this project, I had her do her research and knock out her paragraph last week. Then, we got busy with the clay, on what turned out to be the most gorgeous fall day! We played the part of the hunters and gatherers she studied, and found some "nature" to top her waddle and daub houses. Abby learned that the Cherokee had different houses for the winter and summer, so one will have a thatched roof and one will have an awning!

I was most impressed with the corn that Abby made ALL by herself. And, she collected lots of other interesting tidbits to complete her diorama. We'll post the finished product later this week. Oh - I had to take a wide shot of my "office" for the day. I figured it was so nice out, I would just do all of my work from the patio table. We have been eating lunch out there nearly every weekend, and this is the time of year that the kids play outside all day long. Why can't Florida weather ALWAYS be this nice?!?

We Voted!

And I do mean all of us ... Abby and Tyler too!  They have a great kids voting program That makes the little ones feel like they are part of the action as well!  While Abby had her choices ready for governor and senator ... she also knew what she wanted to choose should Florida adopt an official state cookie.  We'll see if peanut butter wins when the ballots are all counted.  I hope she doesn't mind that I shared her vote with you!