1st field trip

Dominic had his first field trip on Thursday. He was so excited. Caitlin and I went with him. The school doesn't have a bus yet some of us parents volunteer to drive and chaperon.

We went to Autumn Acres - a little farm about 20 minutes away.

First the kids listened to a presentation on farming.

Then we went through a corn maze looking for clues.

Ms. Beth-Anne is helping Dominic with his clue.

Our group chose one of the shorter mazes so we had some time to play while we waited on the other groups. Caitlin kept finding people to jump with her. Apparently Mom wasn't as good.

Next stop was the tractor ride out to the pumpkin field.

No idea what is going on with Caitlin's hair.

It was Mr. White's birthday so we all got cup cakes.

I think the favorite of the entire field trip was this barn filled with corn and toys.

It was also the worst. The kids are still (almost a week later) suffering from the allergies that all of the dust brought on. But I think they would say it was worth it.

These kids were filthy and tired - the signs of a good time.

Random bits

This morning Caitlin came and got in bed with me. 

"Mommy, I need to eat breakfast. It's been a long time since I've eaten a breakfast."

"Yes, I guess it has been."

Dominic received his gifts from selling the smart cards. (Thank you to everyone who helped him out.) He was so excited and started playing with everything. Then he disappeared. After a few minutes I hear this anguished crying. I go into Caitlin's room to find a very distressed little boy stuck under her toddler bed. Jon made the bed and it is super heavy so once under there he couldn't lift it up to get out. When I asked him what he was doing he said he wanted to try out his flashlight and couldn't find a dark enough place.

This morning the kids and I were talking on facetime with Jon. (He is in Kansas for his grandpa's funeral.) Dominic was being goofy and pulling the ipod really close to his face. Jon made the comment that he could almost see Dominic's boogers after the close view of his nose. Next thing I know, Caitlin has pulled one out of her nose to show Jon. EEEWWW! Jon, of course, thought it was funny.

Jon and I have fought with Dominic every day to keep his room clean and do his chores. Nothing was working. So we borrowed an idea from his teacher. Ms. Beth-Anne gives the children pennies every day. If they misbehave they will lose a penny. On Friday they go to the little store she has in the classroom and spend their money. Every Friday Dominic gets into the car so excited to show me what he's purchased with his money.
So we went to the store with Dominic and picked out some things for our own store. Then we give him part of his allowance each night if his room is clean and his chores finished when he's is ready for bed. We haven't had one fight and his room has been clean for three weeks now.
He has a large bank, but didn't want to use that. So I found the cutest little car bank that he could paint and put stickers on. And so far he's chosen to save his money because he wants one of the more expensive items in the store.

Caitlin wanted to wear a certain skirt the other morning. It was chilly and not supposed to get out of the 60s. So I told her she had to wear tights with it. She chose everything herself. I thought it was the cutest look and she got compliments all day on her outfit. Guess she's going to have a better sense of style than Dominic.

Caitlin in Sabbath school.

Speaking of fashion sense. I was pulling this dress out of the closet to put in the outgrown box. Caitlin asked to wear it to church yesterday. It's a size 18 months. I couldn't believe she was actually able to get it on. And it was SO short. But she was happy and I doubt anyone noticed. From now on I'll put things in that box when she isn't looking.

My head is sideways

Today I kept forgetting that I was driving a different car than I've driven for the past two weeks plus. So I pulled into the wrong side of the carport and then forgot to help Dominic with his seat belt (it's harder in the Accord). As I was getting out of the car Dominic informed me that it must be because my head was sideways.

"What?!"

"Well today my head was sideways so I had to give Ms. Beth-Anne a penny."

(He gets or loses pennies depending on behavior at school and then spends them at the store on Friday. More on that later.)

When I questioned him more it seems that he was doing something and Beth-Anne asked him to stop because it was disruptive to the class.

"But mom, my head was sideways and I forgot to obey her so I had to give her a penny."

So now I've finally figured out what my problem has been.

My head is sideways!

Pictures

Some random photos.

Usually there are more kids in Sabbath school class and so the kids have to take turns and wait for everyone to go at least once before moving on to the next thing. But this particular week there were only two kids in the class willing to participate and Caitlin and her little friend were having so much fun.

The theme was baby Moses.

 

 

 

These photos are from yesterday. We had church at a campground at Standing Stone. This swing was close to the pavilion and the kids had so much fun swinging.

 

The kids are playing with the scraps by the table saw.

I just noticed what Caitlin is wearing. This was the day she asked to wear all green. 

So she's wearing green capri pants, green shirt and green hair clips. 

Marriage

Dominic asks tons of questions about everything. So when he started asking about marriage we explained to him that you married someone when you loved them so much that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them. Dominic has always enjoyed spending time with older kids. He has also always liked the girls. So in NC he had a girl that he really liked and told us he was going to marry. 

He was three and she was nine.

When we moved here he changed his mind and then it was K. She's just a few months older than him. It stayed that way for a year and then he started school. And he met J.

The first week of school Dominic gets into the car after school and informs me that he's marrying J. I'm not the type to tease my child about "girlfriends" or make a big deal. So I asked him what he liked about her and we talked for a while. I left it at that. But last week Ms. Beth-Anne asked me if I knew that Dominic had announced to the whole class that he was going to marry J. Since she was there when he said it she is apparently now aware of his intentions. =)

He was also bemoaning the fact that a friend told him he couldn't marry her because she's seven and he's five. So Jon assured him that sometimes men married older women. He was happy again. =)

Then on Friday evening I received an email from his teacher. Here is what she said -

So, today during Sabbath celebration at the end we say something we like about the person sitting to our right/left (I pick which side) and Dominic happened to be sitting next to J. and it was his turn and he said that he liked her because she was his friend and he was going to marry her! I didn't laugh but I did smile and before I could even say anything A. piped up and said, "But I wanted to marry her!" So then I said they were too young to think about that and A. said, "No, I'll marry M." (J's sister) haha! So I guess Dominic won his girl. I thought you would find it funny--although Dominic may already have told you.

Dominic hadn't told me. But as we were leaving the school he was complaining that he missed J. 

"Dominic, was she home sick today." Thinking that's why he was missing her.

"No, you picked me up before her mom picked her up and I could have spent more time with her if you came later to pick me up."

"Mom, can she be my sister and come home to live with us so I could be with her forever?"

"Dominic, you aren't going to live with Caitlin forever. Someday you'll grow up and leave home."

"Oh! I guess I'll just marry J. then."

So yesterday we had church at Standing Stone again and I was able to watch Dominic and J interact. It was so precious. She doesn't seem to mind her little shadow and they did everything together.

I will never tease him or embarrass him about the girls, but oh my word! It's this precious?!

Cheers

We were running late this morning and had to take Dominic to school before Caitlin and I finished with our breakfast. So when we returned we started eating again. But Caitlin eats slowly and when I was done I sat down at the computer with my milk to wait on her to finish. I hear this little voice behind me -

"Lets cheers with our milk mommy."

I have no idea where she learned that, but she wanted us to say "cheers" with our milk. Silly girl!