Yankee Doodle McKenna

As I was getting ready this morning, McKenna started singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy". I didn't even know she knew the words to this song!! =) She is always surprising me with what she remembers and picks up on, without us trying to teach her. I guess it's a good reminder that little eyes and ears are always watching and listening (at least when they want to =) ). Anyway, I thought I would share a video of McKenna singing her song...she cracks me up!! =)




***Also, there is another new post after this one, be sure to scroll down to see it =) ***

Pumpkin Patch

We, like many of our friends, visited a pumpkin patch recently (I'm ashamed to admit that it was over a week ago, and I'm just now posting about it) =) We had a play date at a local farm called "Strawberry Acres" (apparently they do more than pumpkins =) ) with our new friends (thanks to Annie), Jacklyn, Aidan, and Jana =). It was a pretty chilly day, but we had lots of fun visiting, pumpkin picking, Turbo Tube riding, and animal petting =) We're looking forward to going again sometime, maybe daddy will get to be in on the fun next time =) Enjoy the pics...

Like father, like son...

Okay, we're sitting at the dinner table tonight, and Caleb says, "How about a little Revolutionary War Trivia". He was actually talking about something he wanted for his birthday, but I thought he wanted to play some Revoluationary War trivia as our discussion over dinner =) So, I start trying to think of anything I could possibly remember (Aaron wasn't home for dinner tonight or we would've been all covered on the subject)!!
Well, Caleb decides to go first..."Here's one for ya" (exact quote), "who commanded the British forces during the Revolutionary War?" Whoa, wait a second, how old are you?? Am I talking to Aaron or Caleb??? So, I stop and think for a second, and gave my correct answer (do you know?? General Cornwallis). I then asked my question, which he got right. Caleb's turn: "Here's one for ya..." (again) "...Who hung the lanterns at the Old North Church?" Now, I really had to stop and think about this one. I guessed Dawes (a name I remembered from reading The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere). He told me that he thought it was Robert Newman (read: "your wrong mom!!") So, I came in to our handy dandy computer encyclopedia and looked it up =). He was right, of course. But there was another man as well, for all of you who just have to know this little piece of trivia. According to Wikipedia, it was Robert Newman who carried one lantern and Captain John Pulling carried the other to signal "two if by sea."
We continued our little trivia game and eventually moved on to the Civil War (I shouldn't have to think this hard over dinner =) ). The best part of all this is not that Caleb is a little Revolutionary War buff like his daddy, or that he even cares about this at his young age, but that he actually stumped daddy on his last question!!! I was relaying all of this to Aaron over the phone tonight, and when I asked him that question about who hung the lanterns, he wasn't sure either! There isn't much that can stump this man, especially when it comes to history, but Caleb did, and we were both proud of him for it! =) We love you Caleb and are very proud of your inquisitive little mind. Always keep learning!!

New Bikes

We recently took Caleb and McKenna to the playground to help Caleb learn to ride his bike without training wheels. It was then that we realized how big he has become and that his bike was too small for him =) So, we passed that one on to McKenna (poor little girl, riding a blue and green Hot Wheels bike =) ), and got Caleb a new big boy bike (so, they both have "new" bikes, right? =) ). They got to practice in our driveway the other day...it was soooo gorgeous out. I love FALL!! =)

Soccer

Caleb has really been enjoying playing soccer this Fall. He has been trying really hard and is improving with every game and practice. We are so proud to see him doing his best and really trying to do the things we tell him to help him improve. He has done an especially good job being goalie (when he gets the chance) and he really enjoys it! =) We thought you all would like to see some pictures of him in his little uniform at some of his games.

In action!!

Making a save!! =)

And, McKenna enjoying some sunflower seeds during the game =)

"Everything"

Our youth group at church performed this skit a few weeks ago, and it absolutely blew me away. There is really no particular reason that it spoke to my heart, except that I was reminded how AMAZING God's love is for us!! Maybe I just needed to be "blown away" by His love again. I think...no, I'm sure I take it for granted way too often. This video is just an amazing depiction of how no matter who you are, no matter where you are in your life, or where you have been, God is ALWAYS pulling for you to come to HIM! His love NEVER fails and is the ONLY absolutely UNCONDITIONAL love we will ever find.
Sometimes I feel like I am supposed to share when something has been impressed upon my heart, but I don't always do it. I usually regret it later. Well, I didn't want to regret not sharing this skit with you all since it touched my heart so deeply when I saw it. Anyway, I just found this version of it on GodTube and wanted to share it with everyone. I hope it touches you as much as it did me. Love to you all =)

First Day of School, Part 2

Well, Caleb is home now. The time actually seemed to go pretty quickly. I have already learned one thing as a new Kindergarten mom: if your child is a walker, you're supposed to send the teacher a note, so she knows he's not getting on the bus! Thankfully, McKenna and I were there early enough to learn of this before Caleb was delivered home to an empty, locked house! =) I wondered how they knew what he was supposed to do, now I know =) So, I have already put the note to his teacher in his backpack for tomorrow =)

Here are some of Caleb's thoughts on his day:

1. He helped the teacher with the weather and calendar ( I think all of the students got to help with this for today...eventually it becomes a special privilege)
2. He got to say the Pledge of Allegiance (glad they still do this)
   
3. He had his first assembly in the gym with all of the kids in his school
4. He wasn't scared or nervous at all (even when there were big kids in the cafeteria while he waited for school to start in the morning)
   
5. His teacher is really nice (Mrs. Rice is her name)
   
6. When the teacher asked the class if they were ready to go home or if they wanted to stay at school, he said that he wanted to go home, but that he really liked school a lot

I think he had a really great first day! We spent about 20 minutes when he first got home just going over every detail of his day (that was a whole 2.5 hours of his day that I wasn't a part of)!! Some of the other things he told me were that they didn't have recess at all (don't know if they never have it, or just not today). They did go outside to write their names with chalk on some curvy line (??). He thinks he gets to have music tomorrow. He made one little friend today, a little girl named Avery. He said that the teacher called out 2 names at a time, and they were supposed to introduce themselves to each other. His overall synopsis was that it was hard, but fun!! =) I'll keep everyone posted with new Kindergarten adventures as they arise!! =)