Illinois Cousins

As usual, on Thanksgiving we headed to Grandma Beasley's and the rest of Kevin's mom's family in Southern Illinois.  Austin loves catching up with the boys of the family.  Kevin's family has lots of intergenerational kids that make it hard to keep track of who is in what generation. The two boys at the opposite end of the row from Austin are actually Kevin's cousin's from his Aunt who is just a few years older than us, as well as the boy in the middle who is a "late in life"child of one of the other aunts.  Camden actually plays with kids that are in the generation below her, too.  So confusing!

Kindergarten Feast

A few of the room parents held a feast for the Kindergarten class.  Mrs. Barr requested it and that it be healthy!

 

I took charge and handled the logistics - including food & games.  I found some cute ideas on pinterest and google (yes, I'm still old school that way).

 

I made a couple of fruit turkeys with skewers of fruit for the tail feathers.  The kids (and other teachers in the school) went crazy for it!

 

We also had a cornucopia of a popcorn, goldfish, pretzels, craisins, and M&M's in a sugar cone.  This was the only "treat" of the day.

A turkey cup with carrot, celery, and cucumber stick tail feathers with ranch dip was a favorite.

Finally, I made little bite-sized turkey & cheese roll-ups in crescent rolls.

The kids had made placemats and hats earlier in the week and then arranged their desks into one big table.

They absolutely loved their feast!  They literally gobbled (ha!) up all the food.  Healthy is popular!

We cleared the table of food and the kids were able to play games on the table cloth.

The room was also decorated with paper plate pilgrims.  Camden's creations:

The day was also filled with fun Thanksgiving games and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

It was a great day and wonderful way to begin the holiday weekend!

Kindergarten Picture

We did not order an individual picture of Camden from school.  We had so many good "5 year old" ones.  I do think it's important to get a class picture every year.

Front Row:  Marley, Gabby, Maddie, Rylie, Camden, Braydon.
Back Row:  Mrs. Sharon Barr, Conner, Darryl, Max, Tyreka, Logan, Caylum

This was taken early in the fall and the class actually changed a lot.  Tyreka and Maddie have left and Luke has enrolled.  That leaves 11 students - 7 boys and 4 girls.

Camden has spent the last 2 years with lots of boys (her preschool had 15 boys and 7 girls).  I will blame that for the reason she finds bodily functions so humorous right now.

Triathalon

The Waveland PTO had their big fundraiser a few weeks ago - an educational triathalon.  It was the first time they tried this particular activity and it was very successful.  The kids were asked to get sponsors for their participation in the event. Letters were sent to a list of individuals the parents provided.  Local businesses also sponsored prizes for the kids who raised money. 

The day of the event, which included reading, writing letters to soldiers, and an obstacle course in PE, the kids were encouraged to wear camo.  It gave us an excuse to get Camden some new RealTree gear.

Last year's big fundraiser made just a few hundred dollars.  This year's made close to $7000!  Camden was top fundraiser in kindergarten and got a monetary prize.  In addition, every kid that provided a sponsor list was put in a drawing for the other prizes.  Every kid got about 4 items.  Camden also won a jump rope, a coupon for a free Frosty from Wendy's, a high-end pair of pink camo sunglasses (provided by a local optometrist), and 5 passes to Buccaneer Bay (a small waterpark at a hotel in Lafayette). 

I get asked almost daily if we can go!

THCM with Halianna

Camden and Hali had a sleepover on Friday night with Grandma.  I picked them both up on Saturday morning and we went to our favorite museum for some hands-on fun.

You can tell by the smile on her face in this one that she absolutely LOVED this place.

Camden wasn't too pleased that I made her stop and take a picture.

On our way home we stopped at an apple orchard.  Both the girls enjoyed playing with the farm dogs and sipping apple cider while I picked the variety of apples I wanted.  What a fun day!

Gymnastics!

Camden had her last gymnastics lesson last week.  She was an absolute pill during the time (hopefully because she was showing off for me), but the teacher is very patient.  She is the youngest in the class (per usual) and reports she would like to do the next 10-week session which starts in January.  

 

 

 

 

 

The End

Two weekends ago our soccer season came to an end.  It was a very cold and windy day!  Camden (and each of our kiddos) loved the participation trophy she received.  

 

She actually played really hard for the final game.  Well...until she got hit in the noggin by her teammate's mouth.  Big.red.bump.  She relaxed for a few quarters then tried again.  GaGa and Grandpa had stopped by in time to see her final quarter and she played hard for them!

* NOTE:  this in no ways changes our mind that she will NOT play soccer next season.  Too much commitment for a girl who only sorta likes it.