Curious George

Last Saturday the library had a Curious George story time complete with Curious George himself.  It was crowded and crazy, but well worth it to get a picture with this guy!

It definitely made Aria's day.  There was a story, Curious George fruit snacks, and a Curious George mask craft.  I'm glad we made the trip and that it was on a Saturday so Daddy got to experience it too!

Grasshopper

A couple weeks ago Aria and I went to Wickiup Hill for their Toddler Toadstools program.  Basically the program is designed for kids to come out and explore their new building, which has some great hands on things for kids to check out.  One of the activities on that beautiful fall morning was to go out into the field with nets and attempt to catch insects. 

After many unsuccessful attempts, Aria was beyond excited to have captured this little guy in her net!

My excitement ended when a couple of the kids said, "Look a snake!"  Of course Aria wanted to follow it, but I stayed back.  Despite the slithery creature, it was a fun morning and a great reminder to enjoy and appreciate all of God's creation!

Wisconsin Dells 2013

It seems to have become an annual tradition to spend a few days in the Wisconsin Dells with Justin's family.  This year we stayed in a super nice 4 bedroom condo at the Wilderness.  We were there the weekend after Labor Day so all of the outdoor stuff was closed, even though it was still 90 degrees out.  I have one complaint with all water parks in general, why must every slide and apparatus be so loud and spray so much water in the face??

Exhibit A

Cubby's Cove.  An entire water park area designated for younger kids.  Great idea, right?!?  What three-year-old wants to go down a slide that when she sits down there is water spraying right in her eyes?  Mine certainly didn't!  She definitely would have went down this slide all by herself, probably a zillion times, along with the other 4 in this area if they didn't have water spraying her face.  Instead, she went on laps with her tube covering her face.

This green one was a bit better because you could get past the spray at the top pretty fast and then it was a slower, curvy slide.  She still was really nervous about it, but you can see an almost smile at the bottom with Daddy.  She did eventually (with a little push from mom) go down the slide by herself and liked it.

Despite the water in the face slides, we all did have a good time in the pool and the big people enjoyed the big people slides.  :)

We ate at Buffalo Phil's one night, which was a restaurant that brought your food to you on a train.  It was super cool to Aria, but not to Aunt Teran when the train derailed and dumped water in her purse.

Buffalo Phil's also had an arcade and small amusement park ride building attached. 

We also enjoyed one of the infamous Wisconsin Dells duck boat rides where we saw this about 20 feet from our boat.

And we went mini golfing!

One of the great bonuses of being in Wisconsin is the abundance of Packers gear for sale!  We all came home with some new green and gold!

It was nice to spend a few days away with family!

Letter B Preschool

Every week for our preschool co-op we focus on a letter of the alphabet.  I forgot to mention letter A in the beginning of preschool post, but I loved Aria's choice for show and tell; the angel from her nativity set. 

This week we had a little trouble deciding what to bring with so many favorite B things.  She finally settled on a blue balloon with a black string tied to it and she wore all brown clothes.  I love seeing her thought process and excitement for preschool.

This week I got to stay and be the assistant.  Whoa are three-year-olds wiggly!  But they all did a good job listening and I was amazed at what they already know.  I learned you can do a lot with three-year-olds in two hours and it works best to keep them moving.  There are also some obvious differences between girls and boys like especially in focus and attention to detail with crafts.  The part I loved the most was interacting with the kids one on one.  Most of the time I only see these other five kiddos with their siblings or their parents.  It was fun to see their unique personalities come out in the group.  Looking forward to watching them grow and grow throughout the year!

Writing Her Name

Just getting around to posting this...

We went to a meeting at church on August 24 and Aria wrote her own name tag.  It's the best I've seen her do it yet!  That's one for the scrapbox.  :)

Recent Conversations

There is never a dull moment when conversing with a three-year-old.  I love her honest perspective of the world.  I try to write things down when she says them, but it never fails I forget a few.  Here are some I have captured recently.

Out of the blue one night at supper...

"When I get bigger I am going to fly airplanes and be the director of the airport."

Sounds like a good goal, however just the other day she told me she doesn't want to be the director anymore.

_______________________________


From some other room in the house, "Mooooo--oooom, what are you dooooo-ing?"
"I'm folding the laundry, Aria."
"Well hello folding the laundry!  How are you?"

_______________________________


"Mom, are you going to take a shower this morning?"
"Nope.  I took one last night right before I went to bed."
"Why did you do that?"
"Well, I ran on the treadmill and I was all sweaty so I wanted to be clean before I got into my bed."
"And you didn't want to get your smell on Daddy."

__________________________________


Our recent at home preschool lessons have been focused on the Creation story.  This morning I got interrupted with...

"Mom, God had plans for a whole week!"

And, reading the Jesus Storybook Bible the other day, the text said the first thing Adam and Eve saw when they were created was God's face.  I asked Aria what she thought was the first thing she saw when she was born.  She pointed to me.  I said...

"That's right! Right after you were born, the doctor put you right into my arms and I said, 'Hi Aria!  I love you."

Aria then said, "And I was like 'What in the world is this place?"


It just doesn't get much better than that.

Apple Orchard

I wrote about Aria's first official day of preschool that happened last week, but actually the week before was our kick off field trip at an apple orchard.  It was a super fun morning!  For most of her life, Aria has clung to me and we've had difficulties dropping her off in the nursery at church or leaving her with babysitters, but apparently she is growing out of it!  I was so amazed at how she followed the "teacher" at the apple orchard and participated in the field trip without much care as to where I was.  It was great to see her listening, answering questions, and obeying the teacher's instructions.

They started with a lesson about apples and what helps them grow.

Then proceeded on a tour of the orchard visiting goats and picking their very own apple.

Next was the barn to see what they do with the apples after they pick them.  I enjoyed watching the apples go through their "shower."

And finally, (no picture available) a visit to the store, an apple story time, and a special bumblebee finger puppet prize.  We had a great conversation about what she learned and what she enjoyed in the car on our way out.  I'm looking forward to more and more of these opportunities in the coming year!

Fire Pit!

The benefits of having a masonry contractor for a dad:

When you suggest a fire pit for a birthday present, thinking just a hole dug in the dirt with some stones laid in a circle will work great, instead you get an amazingly beautiful three layer capstoned ring of awesomeness!

I absolutely love fall and I've always wanted to be able to have a fire to sit around on cool evenings.  As a birthday present to me, my dad and Justin and Aria put this together in about 2 hours and I LOVE it! 

The construction:

Breaking it in with friends:

And the best reason for a fire pit...S'MORES!  Made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, of course.

Extra bonus: Friends who have an outdoor movie screen they'll share to entertain the kids!  Best way to watch Veggie Tales!

And might I just add how amazing the weather was that we needed to snuggle under blankets for the movie! 

I want to use this thing every weekend!  Thanks, Dad!  You've always been great at crafting things of great beauty!

This Happened...

Okay, so Aria has been 3 for 7 months and change but for some reason, when I wrote "Age 3" on her sign, it just seemed so old.  And when we loaded up the backpack and she put it on, she just looked so big!  It is amazing how time flies!

This year for preschool we are doing a co-op with 5 other families from our church.  The 6 moms have paired up and will take turns teaching and assisting our 3-year-olds once a week.  To be completely honest, I have been wrestling with this "what to do about preschool" for quite some time.  There are some great pros to the group we've started.  The kids all know each other from church.  The moms all know each other.  Six is a great size for a group.  We get to choose our activities and learning.  The learning will vary from teacher to teacher so the kids will be exposed to a lot.  But, I know Aria is ready for more preschool structure than just once per week.  I know Aria needs to experience learning from someone besides me.  I know Aria needs opportunities to be around other kids; to share with other kids; to learn how to interact with other kids.  Another piece I can't quite come to terms with is should she be in more of a school setting to prepare her for the kindergarten school setting that is coming in less than 2 short years.

Recently we seem to be surrounded by people who are choosing to home school their children.  I have learned that each family needs to make decisions about school that are best for their family and they are entitled to do that regardless of the opinions of others.  However, I know we will not be home schooling and I feel like an island.  While I have been able to brainstorm and bounce parenting questions off of many friends for the past 4 years, now I feel I don't have anyone to bounce on.  This all has made for the quite the conversation in my own head and with God.

I certainly have not figured it all out.  The wrestling match seems to be never ending, but there is one big piece I'm clinging to for this school year.  This is it.  The 11 month countdown has begun until Aria does attend some sort of preschool building at age 4.  This year is a precious one for Aria and I at home together.  We will do preschool lessons at home.  We will do our preschool co-op.  We will do music class, maybe try gymnastics, Little Praises, and many other learning activities.  We will have a blast together and Aria will gain exposure to many different types of things. 

And, most importantly, Aria will learn and grow through it all.  Each piece will prepare her for life as it happens at 4, 5, and beyond. 

She is only going to be 3 once, and not for much longer.  I have the wonderful opportunity, thanks to my awesome husband, to stay home and spend every day with my daughter.  We are certainly going to make the most of it!  With our preschool co-op I know Aria will feel safe and enjoy preschool.  I know I will gain many ideas from the other moms and also insight into how my child learns and interacts with a group.  So much of what we do in life depends upon our attitude.  I am choosing to stop wrestling with whether or not we made the right decision this year because we made it already and I know if my attitude is great, it will be great. 

Besides, does it get any cuter than this?

Crafts with Grandma Shirley

Way back in July, Justin's parents and grandma came over for a visit and Grandma Shirley brought a craft to do with Aria.  I have to just say it is pretty interesting to observe the interaction of such a large generation gap.  It is very obvious that Shirley just loves Aria to pieces, which makes complete sense, but it blows my mind to think that Aria is her great-granddaughter.  I can't put into words the point I am trying to make, but I'll just say that I'm thankful Aria gets to have a great grandma in her life.

Anyway, Shirley loves giving presents and money to Aria every time she sees her and this particular night was no exception.  She brought a night light project for them to do.  They strung beads on safety pins that were then tied together to serve as a little shade that went over the night light.  Aria had a great time and it was fun to watch them interact through a common interest! 

Geography

Okay just kidding.  I have one more post about vacation.  Kind of.  It is about vacation in general.  I decided I wanted to teach Aria about the geography of our world and our country so awhile back I bought a world map and a US map and hung them on the wall in our office.  One day I had an idea to put stickers on the places we've been on the US map (because we haven't been outside of North America).  So, our map filled up with Js and As on the states each of us has been to.  There are 25 states with Js on them and 11 states with As on them (plus one province with Js and A).  I've only been to a few places that Justin has not, otherwise if a state has a J, it likely has 2.  Also, I think it is pretty good that Aria has already been to 11 states at the age of 3.  When I went to Kansas City with the middle school group this summer, some of those kids had never been out of Iowa at 13 years old!  It is a very Midwest and east stickered map.  We're going to have to start planning some western trips.  Speaking of trips, when we got back from our vacation, I thought it would be fun to use a marker and draw the path of the trip we just took.  Now it has become our family vacation map.  There are 3 marker routes for our 3 family trips we've taken labeled with the year.  I decided not to draw in smaller weekend visits to places at this point.  Hopefully it will be really fun to watch it fill up as the years go on.  Plus I think it is a fun way to learn geography.