Old Family Photos

I mentioned in a previous post that I had gotten some old family photos from my grandmother's house. Well you all know how obsessed I am with pictures and I am so enjoying going through the old pictures, scanning them, and choosing which ones I want to print one day. I picture a wall in a new house covered with old family pictures! So cool. Here are a few of my favorites so far. Top to bottom: my mom as a little girl, my grandmother as a young woman, my mom's father at age 3, and him with his grandmother.

Carnival Fun!

This morning Fletcher and I went to the Children's Schoolhouse Annual Carnival in Davidson. There were carnival games, lots of prizes, pony rides, music, and dancers. And lots and lots of people. We had fun. Fletcher enjoyed the bouncers, eating pizza, and decorating his own cupcake. He was disappointed that he couldn't climb the rock wall (didn't weigh enough) and that he didn't win a cake in the cake walk. It got pretty hot so we headed home at noon with the hopes of a nap (no such luck).

Camden's Birthday Party!

We had a great time this afternoon at our friend Camden's 3rd birthday party at the Sandlot in Davidson. Fletcher had been so excited to "celebrate Camden's birthday with pizza!" It was a great time with all our school friends.

Sunday with Grandmaw

After getting a good night's sleep to recover from our big day a Tweestie, Fletcher and I and 'Grandmaw' decided to head over to the playground at WCC. What a nice play structure they have! We had never been. We enjoyed climbing the 'rock' wall, pretending to be pirates, and checking out the big red caboose. We all went to Grandma Agnes' house to pick up some old pictures that I'm going to make some copies of. I wanted some photos of my Grandma and my Mom as children. After lunch and a nap at Grandmaw's house, we headed back home to get ready for a new week! Fletcher didn't want to leave and said we should stay for 5 more days.

Tweetsie Railroad!

Fletcher and I went to Mom's this weekend and on Saturday Fletcher and I, Mom and Aaron and Chris all went to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock. Tweetsie is one of our favorite places. I have memories of going as a child, taking my brother when he was little, and I love taking my child there! This was our third visit (we went in the Spring last year to see Thomas the Tank Engine and again in the Fall). The weather was beautiful: cool in the morning and warming to about 70 after lunch time. We did it all! Fletcher rode every ride he could and loved them all: chairlift, boats, planes, the Tweetsie Twister, Mouse Mine train, race cars, carousel, Tilt-a-World, Ferris Wheel, and the Tweetsie Train. Thankfully Aaron and Chris were willing to ride with him because Mom and I don't do rides. Fletcher chose the 'coon skin hat as his souvenir: "I'm Daniel Boone!" Can't wait to go back!

Fun with My Kids

This morning we made muffins for breakfast, then all went outside to the grassy area and played a milk jug ball toss game (cut the bottom half off milk jugs, hold the other half by the handle and catch the ball!), kicked the soccer ball, and enjoyed the cool air.

Later we made our own paint with condensed milk and food coloring and painted circles and triangles that we later cut out and glued together to make ice cream cones. Seeing a pattern? We're learning about the things that animals make or have that we use. Today was cows and milk. Monday we learned about sheep and wool and cut some wool yarn and did paper weaving.

Poor Isabelle wasn't feeling well today. We hope she gets better soon.

Fall Homeschool Day at Latta Plantation

After school today Fletcher and I headed over to Latta Plantation for Fall Homeschool Day. They have homeschool days a few times a year and we always enjoy them and learn lots. Today Fletcher saw chickens, petted a rooster, made a quilt square, sat in a covered wagon, churned butter, and helped wash clothes on a washboard. But by far his favorite thing was watching the men use primitive tools to carve utensils. We returned to that demonstration time and time again. I've praised Latta before (see Lovely Latta post from June) so I don't have to tell you how much I love it there!

Soccer with Daddy

Fletcher and Ed started Smart Start Soccer on Mondays. This is a program offered by the Huntersville Parks and Rec department that teaches soccer basics to young kids with parent participation. This Monday Fletcher learned how to "Stop, Look, and Kick": stop the ball with your foot, look around for a teammate, and kick the ball. He really enjoyed himself and was excited to show Mommy what he learned and his new gear (2 soccer balls and shin guards).

Fletcher is often anxious about new situations and makes up his mind that he doesn't like something in advance so we were very pleased that this was something he was interested in and excited about! Way to go buddy! I'm going to leave soccer to Daddy but I will be attending the 2 games at the end of the season with camera in tow so look for soccer photos toward the end of October!

First Day of Preschool!

Fletcher had a great day at preschool! He walked right in, greeted his teachers, said goodbye to Mommy and started playing with play dough! When I picked him up, he was happy and excited to tell me about his day. So proud of my boy!

Where do Babies Come From?

Yes, I was asked this question last night while giving Fletcher his bath. This has never been a taboo subject at our house: we call things what they are and always answered questions and talked about things honestly and as straight-forward as possible in the most age-appropriate terms. But this was the first time that Fletcher just came out with the question " Where do babies come from?" Thankfully we had recently had a wonderful book from the library called When You Were Inside Mommy by Joanna Cole that is perfect for this age. I'd also recommend Who Has a Belly Button? by Mary Batton which describes what makes us mammals. I discovered this one when Fletcher asked over a year ago "Why do we have belly buttons?" and "Do cats have belly buttons?" I still have to paraphrase this one a little while reading, but it's good. Last night, Fletcher also wanted to know if a Mommy and Daddy could choose a boy or a girl and was excited to know that it's always a surprise!

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Thought I'd share a few of our favorite things in hopes that all of you would share, too!
Books for Mommy: mysteries by Janet Evanovich, Lawrence Block, and Dick Francis.
Books for Fletcher that we just discovered: Mr. and Mrs. Green books by Keith Baker, non-fiction about how things are made from the Start to Finish series by Robin Nelson, and A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan.
Music: Hit or Miss Band (NC bluegrass band that I discovered last fall. They will be playing live the first Saturday in October at the Orchard at Altapass in Little Switzerland, NC and I'll be there!), Firecracker by Wailin' Jennys, Go Baby Go by Baby Loves Jazz, Dan Zanes (funky, folksy, children's music), and Roger Day (fun, intelligent lyrics that even parents will find themselves singing along with. I turned Tonya and her kids on to Roger Day and now they love him, too!).
Software: Tonka Construction and Tonka Firefighter have been popular at my house for several months now.
Can't recommend any good videos. We watch the same things over and over, so I'd love some recommendations in that area!

First Day of Preschool?

Well, can you believe that we missed the first day of preschool this year? Fletcher started coughing and had a fever Tuesday night. I could have cried when I realized he was getting sick. We had so much illness last school year to last us for a while! We headed to the doctor yesterday and Fletcher has the croup.

Wikipedia defines coup (sometimes referred to as croup syndrome or laryngotracheobronchitis) as a respiratory disease which afflicts infants and young children, typically aged between 3 months and 3 years. The respiratory symptoms are caused by inflammation of the larynx and upper airway, with resultant narrowing of the airway.

Croup is characterized by a harsh 'barking' cough, inspiratory stridor (a high-pitched sound heard on inhalation), nausea/vomiting, and fever. Hoarseness is usually present. More severe cases will have respiratory distress.

The 'barking' cough (often described as a "seal like bark") of croup is diagnostic. Stridor will be provoked or worsened by agitation or crying.

Yes, that's exactly what he has. We're hoping to be doing better in a few days and back to school on Monday.

Beginner's Day

Today we visited St. Alban's for Beginner's Day for the 2007-2008 school year. Fletcher did well going in to the school and classroom, hugged Mrs. Meg, entered his classroom and greeted the teachers and his friends, found the potty, and played in various centers. He especially liked the kitchen area and the construction play mat. Hopefully, he will do as well tomorrow when Mommy and Daddy aren't there with him. We headed over to the Sandlot afterwards and played with school friends.

Labor Day by the Lake

We spent another day by the lake on Labor Day. It was warmer than the past few days, but still very pleasant. We had a picnic of sandwiches on the grass, played in the sand, swung in a swing by the lake, played "I Spy with my Little Eye" for things on the water, walked along the 'beach' and had some nice family time. Fletcher enjoyed collecting sticks and then he and Ed pretended to build a campfire and we all 'roasted marshmallows.'

Park, Pizza, and Ice Cream

Fletcher and I were inspired by our outing yesterday and headed back to the lake this morning. We went to Jetton Park and played in the sand near the water, built with sticks and rocks, played pirates, and just enjoyed the scenery and being outdoors. The weather was perfect this morning: upper 70's with a slight breeze. So glad I left my weekend job! This evening we met the Harrington's for pizza at Brooklyn South in Cornelius and then we went for a scoop of ice cream at Carolina Cones in Davidson. Great Saturday!