308 Shadow Oaks Fall Festival

On Friday the 16th, Shadow Oaks Elementary held their yearly Fall Festival. Katie was excited that her Mimi and PopPop would be in town to go with us (especially since PopPop took her to her first Fall Festival when I was still recovering from Connor being born). She almost ruined it by throwing a fit before we even loaded up the van. I told her that we would buy a certain amount of tickets and when those were gone then we would be done ... and she flipped. Turns out she had nothing to worry about. We bought $20 worth of tickets and toward the end she was sharing them with a buddy and we still barely finished them all.
One of our first stops was to Mrs. Hite's room. This was Katie's First Grade teacher, and she absolutely loves her!! The object of this game was simple, you flipped over one leaf and there would be a number 1, 2, or 3. Katie flipped over a three! She was so excited because she won a pencil (she has a thing for pencils, you wouldn't understand). The funniest thing though, Kaitlyn and her family were walking around with us. Kaitlyn reached over and flipped the very same leaf ... she knew it was a winner. Sneaky little thing :)

This was also Katie's weekend with Shadow, her Second Grade classes chameleon. Each student gets to take Shadow home for one weekend, and you are supposed to take Shadow along with you everywhere. I am sure Shadow had a blast, even though he ended up spending most of his time with Connor.

My favorite thing was "Make A Bracelet". At least you walked out of the room with a bracelet! Yup, that is my girl, staring off into space. *SIGH* This was Katie's favorite game from the year before.Jaclyn, Katie, and (I wanna say Brianna) Cute as can be, aren't they?! Katie and Abbey getting ready to go into the Haunted House. Katie had already been through once with Mimi so she was an old pro. Abbey had tried to go before and decided to turn back. I took both girls through the first time, and then they went through another time with another friend Shelby. I am so glad to know that our girls have a little bit of adventure! (but not too much) When we went outside to go to the Haunted House we sent PopPop off in search of Funnel Cake. After multiple trips through the Haunted House we headed back in to find him. He had finally acquired his very own funnel cake, and then he went off in search of us. He ended up outside the Cake Walk room .... ...Where he beat out four little girls dfor a six-pack of cupcakes. Poor little things. Connor did not mind that PopPop crushed the hopes of little girls for these cupcakes, they still tasted yummy to him!! And FINALLY, after two hours and $20.00 in tickets, we headed home. Katie barely even pouted! We grabbed some Chick-fil-A sandwiches and nuggets on the way out, and we hightailed it home. Another successful Festival extraction!

302 Second Grade Fieldtrip

Last week Katie's class went on their first fieldtrip of the year to the Pink Palace Museum. The trip was mainly to see the IMAX film "Under the Sea", but we were able to arrive early and spend almost two hours exploring the museum. Policy has changed, and chaperons are not allowed to take kids away in smaller groups without a background check ... not even their own kids. I do understand why the policy is in place, and it is good that they are looking out for our kiddos, but it is awfully annoying. So, each class was split in half and we walked around as a larger group. I think it worked out a lot better in the museum that way. The teacher (or assistant teacher) was able to tell the group about the exhibits and spend a little time exploring instead of feeling the need to keep moving to let the next group have a chance. The kids are always so enthralled by the museum. Katie has been several times and she still will ooh and aah about the exhibits.

Katie was wearing the most adorable new shirt ... of course you can't see it under her class t-shirt.

Luckily Mrs. Young was there to get them to group pose periodically. Now if we could just convince the kids to stop throwing gang signs (or whatever it is they think they are doing).This picture ... this picture just makes me laugh. every time!

This is the Apothecary Shoppe, which comes right before we freak the kids out with mannequins.

It is an exhibit devoted to medicine through the ages. And why would THIS scare anyone? SERIOUSLY!! I am surprised any of our kids can be coerced into a dentist after seeing this.And a fan favorite ... The Civil War medics tent ... poor guy on the table has a gangrene foot. I can't see this exhibit without hearing the scene from Gone With the Wind in my head "don't cut! DON'T CUT!!! DOOONNNN'TTTTT CCCUUUUUUTTTTTT...."On to happier times ... dinosaurs and woolly mammoths OH MY!!Ms. Young was explaining earthquakes to the kids here. She was living in Arkansas when she felt an earthquake, and she was able to describe it to the kiddos in detail.They insisted on "being scared" in this picture ...Finally we were ushered into the IMAX theatre. Once again, thanks for suggesting to a roomful of 7 year olds that the movie might make them feel dizzy. That is ALL a 7 year old needs is the merest suggestion and they are experiencing the effects.

Most of us made it through the film. Although a girl in front of us had to leave because she was feeling ill. I on the otherhand was feeling incredibly sleepy, so I managed to nod off a few times. Oops.

We had fun, the kids managed to learn a few things, and I checked Katie out of school and we headed off to Atlanta. Not a bad day at all!

279 1st of Second

Yeah, I handed her the apple ... but she is the one that decided to actually bite it.

Oh, the leggings ... baggy.

The silliness in these pictures are all Katie induced.
She was VERY excited about her first day of school!

This is Katie's "Mooooooooom, can't you stop taking pictures and leave" face

.... and you know I will have to add some more when she jumps off the bus this afternoon!