School Stories

I love our 10 minute ride to school in the morning.  I learn so much about her "life" and we just get to be silly together.  Camden usually eats her breakfast during this time, as well.  We usually do something like toast, fruit, go-gurt, string cheese, or her favorite of late - microwaved pancakes (syrup baked in).


A few weeks ago, Camden asked to bring her teacher an apple for snack.  Each kid brings their own snack and she "didn't want her teacher to be hungry."  Camden had finished her string cheese and said, "Can I just take one bite of the apple?"  I told her that if she was still hungry she could just eat the apple too.  "No, I still want to give it to Mrs. Gonczarow."  Hmmm...no, you can't take even one bite, silly girl!

On the way to church this past weekend, Camden was watching an old "Bubble Guppies" video about the first day of school.  When the kindergarten fish had nap time, Camden said, "We don't have nap time anymore."  Yes, we agreed, when you are in first grade, you no longer need naps.  "Yeah, all we do is work and play and work and...work and work and work."  Her comic pause was perfect.  And hilarious!

Sure do love her!

Childhood Tradition

Life has been busy, but not with a camera!  Camden is settling into her school routine and loving it.  We are enjoying our weekends together as a family, including a trip on Sunday afternoon to Lafayette for errands and lunch after church.  I requested a stop at Dog-n-Suds because I like it at least once every summer since it was a childhood staple.  I also wanted Camden to know this place.

She's not a huge root beer fan, so balked a bit at first.  However, she did manage to drink her whole serving and gobble down her corn dog.  I think we may have converted her.

 

 

New Market Open House

The night before school started, we got to go to Camden's new school, see her classroom, drop off supplies, and meet her teacher.  We were not able to find out who her teacher was for the year until that night (don't ask me why the corporation did that this year, but they did).  We are pleased to find out she has Mrs. Gonczarow.  Yeah, say that 3 times fast.  I have had to practice it, but it's pronouced exactly like it's spelled once you get it.  Gon-ZAR-row.  That 'c' is confusing in the middle, but I just think of a russian czar and it helps!

Two of her favorite friends from Kindergarten are in her class - Logan and Tayton.  I think there are right at 20 students, but will have to get a solid count later.  Each student also has a locker in the hallway for their book bag, coat, gym shoes, etc.  They don't have locks on them, so it's just a big cubbie.

My first impression of her teacher is fantastic.  She is warm and friendly and everything you picture in a 1st grade teacher.  She also was a teacher of the year in 2013 so we know she is good!

All reports from Camden were an excellent first day!  She is very happy!

First Day of School

Can't wait to hear how the day went for this First Grader!

Cold weather had us switch to leggings which show off her HUGE feet.  We got size 2 shoes!  She just moved up to 1's in the Spring, but already the store recommended the next size which left "just-shy-of-a-finger-width" of room.  At her 6-year check-up on Monday, her stats were 54 lbs and 46" still right smack at 75th percentile in both areas.  Just perfect in our book!  But those feet...

Bathtime

Tinkerbell got her first bath! 

You can tell that Camden helped her dad because there was lots of extra shampoo squirted in the tub.

Tinkers favorite part was drying off outside.  Such a good puppy!

Cowboy Camp

Camden is spending this last week before school starts at Cowboy Camp. This is an all-day VBS program put on by a church in Crawfordsville.  It started 11 years ago at their church and has grown so much that they now hold it at our 4-H fairgrounds.  It is absolutely free and about 350 kids from the area attend.

I sat in on the opening program one day and was pretty impressed.  As someone who used to do this thing for a living and trained others to do it, it takes a lot for me to give my approval.  This camp gets it!  The group is divided into 4 teams with team cheers, flags, colors, etc.  They sing fun songs and get announcements before heading out to activities throughout the day.

They post pictures on Facebook each day so I've copied some of them that show the fun.  From what I can gather, they rotate through stations in the morning, have lunch, then do group activities.

 

 

But the highlight (and one of the main purposes of the camp) is horses!  The kids get to learn to ride but also to groom and care for them.

  

 

She has LOVED this experience and we will definitely be signing up next year.  Yee-haw!

Slip-n-Slide 2

Another clearance aisle find that only takes a few minutes to set up whenever she wants to get wet.  Not quite the same as the giant birthday slide, but great for one little girl.

And thirsty dogs.

Magic Paint

A clearance find at Walmart has been a fun craft activity in the evenings this week.  No water required and not very messy - two qualities this mom and dad love!

Heart

I came home from work and saw this sidewalk chalk masterpiece.  Maya had watched Camden that morning.  Loved it!

 

When Camden showed me she thought it needed one more thing...

Perfect!

Happy Birthday, Gramma Pat!

It was Gramma Pat's birthday last week and we met her, Aunt Carole, and Uncle Ric for dinner at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate.

We wanted to get her an extra special gift this year!  I had picked up a cookbook she had talked about, but Carole knew that she would love a tablet that she could take with her to read, play games, get on the internet, etc.

After dinner, we got a few cheesecakes to share.  Of course, we told them it was Gramma's birthday and they did up the plates.  I told them it was Camden's birthday (technically the day was right smack between the two of them) because I thought the treat might be free.  Oh well...two decorate plates are more festive!

Haile Reunion + Grandma

Last weekend we went to the Haile family reunion.  It was in southern Illinois.  Only 6 of 14 siblings are still left, Papaw being the 4th youngest.  I only took one picture and it's not very good, but Kevin enjoyed spending time with several of his cousins and catching up with his Aunts and Uncles.  The last time we went was 8 years ago when we were first engaged.  We were due for this visit!

Since it was Camden's birthday, we stayed at a hotel in the area that night.  We also did that so we could stop at Grandma Beasley's (Camden's great-grandma) to catch up with her.  I didn't get a good picture of anybody, but it was so good to visit for a few hours with this wonderful woman!

Our bonus for this visit was that Aunt Linda was there as well, along with Cousin Amy's puppy that she was dog-sitting.  Camden had fun with both!

 

(mid-hug expression!)

(squirming to get away expression!)