Hearing & Eye Screening

Keree had a good day at pre-school. The summary said that they cooked mini-apple pies, read another book about apples and learned a new apple song. When we got home, the homeschool coordinator was scheduled to come out. They had to finish up a few more tests, so today Keree got her hearing and eye sight tested. She passed with flying colors. Since the test went so quickly, they read a few books together before our Coordinator had to leave. We spent the rest of the day going through boxes and setting up for our yard sale that starts tomorrow.

Bike Riding

Spooky Picture

Keree was so excited for school this morning because she was going to draw a spooky picture to hang on our front door. So after dropping Keree off at school, I ran some errands, specifically in search of some black ribbon (which I was unsuccessful in finding). When I came to pick Keree up, the summary said that they cut up apple slices and looked at them under the microscope, celebrated Nicole's 5th birthday, read a book on babies and learned a new song. Keree was so excited when she came out of her classroom because she had drawn a spooky picture. On her picture, she drew a jack-o-lantern and a spooky spider attacking the television. When we got home, we spent the rest of the day/afternoon outside dragging stuff out of the garage for the yard sale we are trying to throw together at the last minute. Then this evening, we had cheerleading practice. I about died when we walked up there and Keree goes "Look the Coach is finally back." She didn't mean it that way, she honestly was excited the Coach was there, it just came out a little misworded. Now the Coach, she was a little snooty at first, she goes "well I heard that you guys learned some new cheers while I was gone." Well it turned out, they had actually learned about 7 new cheers. The Coach spent the evening teaching the girls a new half time dance. It was rough on all the girls because it is so much more complicated then the one they learned before. We all agreed they will learn it, it's just going to take alot of practice. After practice was finished, we grabbed some dinner, headed home and shortly there after, went to bed.

Muffin Tin Monday

None of us wanted to get out of bed this morning. The swing in weather and allergies are really messing with us. My head feels like it's going to blow up from sinus pressure and poor Keree just keeps going "I've got a headache, fix it Mommy." So we slowly dragged ourselves out the door and I dropped her off at school. When I walked in with her, the child who had hit her with the toy, was pitching a fit, throwing stuff, hitting, biting and the Main Teacher was trying to get him under control but he was too far gone. Keree hid behind me and a few of the other Mom's held their kids until he was removed from the class to calm down. I thought about leaving with her but then I thought why should she be the one to miss class. So, I told her that she should try and avoid him at all costs. And if that he started in on a tantrum that she was to find the Assistant Teacher and stay by her. I firmly told her again, do not be around him if he's throwing one of these fits. While Keree was in class, I ran to the craft store for one thing. I ended up walking through the store and I'm glad I did. They had a ton of stuff in the Clearance aisle marked down to 25 cents. I ended up getting complete matching stationary sets, sets of wooden stamps, sets of clear stamps, scrapbook albums, complete wilton cookie cutters sets, decorative file folders and journals. My Christmas shopping for all our Aunts, Great-Aunts, Girl Cousins, Bro's Girlfriend & Grandmas is done!! I came out with 4 of the Huge Shopping bags brimming to the rim and only spent $22. So that only leaves a handful of Boy Cousins and Uncles to buy for. So when I picked Keree up, the summary said that they played outside, read the book "The New Baby" and discussed what it's like to have a new baby. Again, why is having a baby being discussed in class, my opinion again is it should be a subject to be talked about at home. Keree also drew a picture, it was of her Grandma standing by Mickey Mouse, the angry looking guy is the Wildcat mascot we saw, there was a Flying Shoe and a house. When we got home, Keree got to play outside for awhile because the wind had finally died down and the sun was shining bright. She had so much fun riding her bike up and down the sidewalk. Finally, it was past 1230p, so we headed inside and I started work on her Muffin Tin. This week was no theme, so it was a cross between Fall and favorite foods. In the top compartment is some ranch dip, then the compartments on each side of the dip was imitation crab meat, next up was some carrots. Then it was the most favorite item I made, Pumpkins, I used circus peanuts and rolled them around and I decided to use broken pieces of pretzels for the stems. Next up was a Spider, it looked cute at first but feel apart in transition to take pictures of it. It was sitting on a triangle tortilla chip web, it had cheese matchstick legs, topped with a cheddar cheese potato chip and finally his eyes were pieces of bread. And to finish off this lunch, Kitty Cat heads cut out of harvest thin bread. Keree ate a majority of her lunch but just didn't seem to have the energy to finish it. We ended up reviewing Lesson 47 since we had such a big break and then decided to start a new Lesson tomorrow. When she went to take her nap, I ended up spending the majority of the time rubbing her legs because they hurt. Also even though she was tired, she was fighting tooth and nail not to fall asleep. Finally she did, when she woke up, she said she didn't feel too hot. She didn't want to get out of bed, so she spent the majority of the evening sitting in bed, coloring and drinking liquids. We did leave for a short time because I didn't feel like cooking, so we picked up a pizza.

A Cold, Rainy Sunday

It's amazing that it was in the high 90's yesterday and today it's just down right cold and wet. Even though Keree was up before 6a, she decided it was too cold to get up and instead curled up next to me, we watched the news and then PBS together. Once we finally started our day, it was close to 11am. We spent what was left of the morning and some of the early afternoon, packing away most of our summer clothes and hanging up our winter clothes. Keree decided while I did that, she needed to organize her toys. Around 1p, we headed back downstairs. We had planned on doing school and Keree laying down for a nap but honestly, we got sidetracked. I spent the rest of the day working on business stuff, while Keree spent her time playing nearby. We only ventured out for a short time to take pictures and then headed right back in. All the while Keree's exclaiming "it's super, super cold and windy." As for our evening, we called my Aunt and wished her a Happy Birthday. My brother also called and we talked to him for quite awhile. It looks like he's going to make a quick trip home in October because he really wants to see Keree cheer. Otherwise, Keree headed to bed by 8a because she was super tired and I've been trying to finish up some work before heading to bed.

Away Cheerleading

When we got up and got going this morning, we decided to hit a few yard sales before the game. Our first stop was a church rummage sale. They had no clothing that would fit Keree but I did find a gallon ziplock bag of lace (25 cents), 20 different cookie cutters for (1.00) and 16 children books (4.00 worth). As we were leaving the Rummage sale, we saw a sign for a subdivision yard sale. I was surprised at how many houses were participating but there prices were astronomical. I did happen upon one house, who's prices wasn't bad. I got Keree a brand new TCP sleeper and two winter outfits for $3. Which was more than I usually spend but they were boutique and super cute. So after we were finished, we hurried home and Keree changed quickly into her uniform because we had to drive almost 45 minutes North for their game today. The game today fell right during naptime, so we were trying our best to keep her awake during the drive there. Well about 8 minutes before pulling into the park, she fell asleep and she didn't want to wake up. Of course, when she did wake up, she was in a bad mood. After a short time with the other girls, she started to pep up but you could tell she was just tired. Since the Coach wasn't there and it was an away game, the dynamic of the group was a little different. They tried their best and the parents who were coaching was trying their best. It just amazed me the Parents who weren't helping and haven't every helped were so critical of how the girls were handled. I mean seriously, the parents who were helping was coaching better than the current Coach who sits there and texts the entire time, letting the girls run amok. And not trying to be critical but the League has specific rules regarding what you are allowed to do in your Cheer Uniform. One of the big rules is no colored juice or hot chocolate to be consumed while wearing your Uniform. I understand the rule, I mean how freakin hard is it to get that out of normal clothes, well the Mom who brought treats today brought Kool-Aid Red Fruit Punch. I about died that she would ignore the rule. And of course, being the mean Mom, I am, I didn't let Keree drink her drink. I told her that once she was out of her Uniform, then she would have it. Luckily, she sort of understood and she knows when I say no, there's no point in arguing because I just won't let you have it then at all. So after the game was finished, we decided to head to the Local festival being held. Now, up until this year we have always participated and it's one of our biggest money makers of the year. Well, this year the Management of the festival thought they needed to shake thing up. I was upset to say the least, plus I had so many customers telling me how excited they were going to be seeing me there. That's when I would have to apologize and explain why they wouldn't let us be there this year. I have to say, she really did shake things up this year, the whole feeling of the festival was just down right weird. Usually there is droves of crowds and this year there was hardly anyone wandering around. I think alot of people were upset also that this year she kicked out the local/metro folks and got big business as sponsors. Now, Keree did get to do a few fun things, since they always have free craft stations. Her school, had a booth and she got to make a paper plate crown. And I have to say, we were quite a sight with her in the backpack on my back, with her decorated paper plate on her head.

Hornworm & Cheering

This morning, Keree was 100% for sure she didn't want to go to school. Luckily, we had the Tobacco Hornworm in her bug box and she really, really wanted to share her find. So off to school we went. When I took Keree in, I told the Main Teacher that I knew what happened yesterday. She didn't want to talk in the classroom but instead of going into another room, she wanted to talk in the hallway (where other parents were coming, going and totally hearing our conversation). The Main Teacher was not surprised at all when I said who threw a helicopter like a baseball at my daughter's head. Her excuse was "he's just a little on the wild side." Umm, well if you know he's a little on the wild side and was not surprised at all that he was the one who did it, then why isn't he being watched more closely. After that was discussed, we then asked her about the new project they are doing at school. Which on the paper they sent home asked each child to bring in a picture of their family and they were going to discuss the differences. So I asked her what exactly they were going to be discussing. The first thing out of her mouth was "well we have Korean families this year in class, so I didn't think you were going to have an issue with it." Yeah, what does having other Asian families in class have to do with it? Their children are not adopted, they look like their family and they have a Mom & Dad. So I nicely go, well I was just wondering because I know there has been some confusing things being said to Keree. You told Keree that all babies come from their Mommy tummies and she knows she didn't come from mine, so how am I her Mommy? I nicely tell her that she should consider how she phrases something so Children are not hurt and confused. My Mom also adds in, "we know your excited because this is your 1st child but sometimes you have to think." So what does the Main Teacher say back to us, nothing, she blankly stared at us because she just doesn't get it. I knew whatever else I said to the Main Teacher it was going to be a mute point, after 2 yrs of Keree being in class, she just doesn't get it. I still don't know exactly what this project was going to be about and I'm still trying to decide if we will just opt out, so it doesn't hurt Keree. So, I said good-bye to Keree, she was excited and showing everyone in class her hornworm. When I came to pick Keree up, the Assistant Teacher (who I love) said that they had looked up the Hornworm on the computer and Keree wanted to show me the beautiful moth it becomes. After we got home, we had a quick lunch and then went to start Lesson 48 but Keree was falling asleep and just couldn't concentrate. So we decided to try finishing it later on. My Mom ended up taking a nap with Keree and I got to work on one of my newest projects. I finally figured how to make these recycled headbands and I'm super excited because I love the possibilities of it. This evening, was cheer practice. The Coach called one of the other Mom's and said that her car was still broken down so either practice was going to be canceled or would she be in charge. We all have a feeling that the Coach will be quiting before the season ends. So, since all of us Mom's were in charge, we practiced for about 45 min before we called it quits. After practice, we sat around and talked, while the girls played. It was nice to talk to the other Mom's about everything that had happened this week and I'm thankful that my thoughts were not totally out there like I was beginning to think. We grabbed a quick dinner before we headed home. Once we got home, we all headed straight to bed because we were all so exhausted.

BUMP

I had such a hard time getting up this morning and even though Keree was bouncing on my head, wide awake at 4am, I still didn't want to budge. I honestly thought about keeping her home from school since today was our first official teaching session with the Homeschool Coordinator but I finally decided there was no way I could keep up with her energy. In retrospect of what occurred today at pre-school, maybe I should have followed some weird gut feeling I had and kept her home. When I picked Keree up from pre-school, the summary said that they prepared apple chips and put them in the dehydrator to eat tomorrow, read another book on apples and painted with sliced apples. When Keree came out the door, she was hot, sweaty and looked like she was about to bust into tears. It just wasn't normal Keree. She ran to my Mom and begged to be picked up. Saying supposedly that her foot hurt. As we were walking out, I kept asking her what was wrong because I knew something was up. I know several other Mom's heard me basically begging Keree to tell me what was wrong but her saying it was nothing. As I was putting her in her car seat, I suddenly looked at her face, that when I noticed that it was swelling over her eye, then it made me exam her closer and she had a bump on her forehead. I asked Keree how did she get a bump on her head, she burst into tears and then she wouldn't say. I asked her a few more times and she said that she got hit in the head with a toy. Needless to say I was steaming mad, I stormed back into the school and the Main Teacher just happened to be opening the door, so I go "How did Keree get the bump on her forehead?" She looked at me dumbfounded and I repeated again "How did Keree get the bump on her forehead?" Then she had a look of panic and tells me she doesn't know. She then asked the other Teacher and she didn't know either. The School Secretary had heard me and asked the other Teacher and she didn't know either. Then they tired to blame it on Keree saying, well I guess she fell somehow. Yeah, let's blame it on the kid. They could tell I was pissed but I was trying to stay cool, so I say "well all I know is that she's says she got hit in the head with a toy, she won't tell me who did it, but she has a bump on her head and it's swelling." The Main Teacher still stood there dumbfounded but the School Secretary offered a ice pack, so as soon as she heard the Secretary offer, she jumped into action and got an ice pack for me. The Main Teacher told me to keep asking Keree what happened so they could handle it. My thought to a point was it's too late, there was 3 teachers in the classroom and no one saw anything. When I came out, I put the ice pack on Keree's forehead and I'm so thankful that it's only slightly swelled as of tonight and actually almost not noticeable. I'm mad at myself that I didn't grab my camera as soon as I noticed it and documented it better. Instead all my pictures came after the swelling had pretty much went down. While I had been inside trying to get to the bottom of it, my Mom was talking with Keree. It seems sometime between them coming in from outside and being released to us (which couldn't have been very long because Keree was still hot and sweaty) a boy in class hit her in the head with a toy. It seems that this same boy had had an accident today (shortly before her getting hit) and the Main Teacher per Keree was furious and said "How dare you". I have seen this same child in action, I've watched him now on two occasions get very violent and hit the Main Teacher and just go crazy (once on our field trip). So I'm not sure if Keree was scared of the Main Teacher and her "How dare you" threat to him, so that's why she didn't say anything. Or if this child is being mean to her and the other children and that's why she didn't want to say anything. Trying to decide now what I'm going to do tomorrow because Keree really isn't thrilled with the thought of going to school tomorrow. So after all that drama, we then had our meeting with the Homeschool Coordinator, I was excited because I thought we would be getting down to business. As much as I really like the Coordinator, she has no sense of time. She was suppose to be there by 11a, then between 11a-1115a and she actually didn't show up until almost 1150a. Instead, it was more testing for Keree and I even got to take a test. Of course, I was super proud because Keree scored in the 93% of all 4.6 yr olds. She only missed 4 things, she didn't know what her jaw was called. She also wouldn't say chest and that's totally my fault. Because of course I am a women and I don't want her running around telling everyone I have tata's, I just say it's part of my body. So of course when they asked her what her chest was, she said part of my body. The other two things she missed was identifying pictures, she called a nail, a screw (also my fault because the way our walls are made we only use screws) and she called a tractor, an atv. Seriously, I even asked the coordinator what it was suppose to be because it looked like a jeep or dunebuggy...it looked nothing like a tractor. So after all the testing, it was time for the Coordinator to go, they are having a group get together tomorrow but I told her we wouldn't be able to make it. Otherwise she will be back next week. At this point, Keree was exhausted. I got her to eat a little bit of lunch, she played and then wanted to take nap. Since I was in the middle of handling business, my Mom laid Keree down. Of course, Keree somehow got her way and my Mom turned on cartoons for her to watch, which is a big no, no because she won't sleep. So when I went in to check on her, knowing that she was past exhaustion, she was still wide awake watching cartoons. Of course, I was the bad guy when I flipped the cartoons off. Then a short time later began the meltdown. I knew it was from the exhaustion, so I picked her up and started rocking her. Of course that's always met with resistance but she suddenly grabbed her pink cover, calmed down and within a few minutes fell fast asleep. I waited awhile before I put her down to make sure she was really asleep. She slept almost 2 hrs and when she woke up, she was still grumpy. So she stayed in the bedroom, had a snack and watched NatGeo. When she was ready to come out she did. This evening, we spent outside. Since it's suppose to rain tomorrow, we got the mowing, weeding, etc done. Keree had a fun time playing on the trampoline, while we worked. I also found a frog and so we spent some time examining him. Keree wanted to take him to school tomorrow but I told her the Teacher's wouldn't like that. Instead we found a new Tobacco Hornworm on our tomato plants and so he is getting to go with her to school tomorrow. After we were done with our chores, we spent some time just relaxing. Keree had fun playing with her stuffed Kitty Cat. The most hilarious thing she did was she started running and was holding Kitty Cat by one arm. She kept saying "you can't catch me, you can't catch me." So finally my Mom asks her, who can't catch you. Of course, Keree looks at us with a Duh look and says Kitty Cat is chasing me, he's the one who can't catch me. All we could do was sit back, laugh and enjoy her imagination. I tried to get a good picture of the chase but she was just to fast and I couldn't get the picture in focus, but I still had to post it because it was just too cute. After a quick shower, Keree ended up heading to bed early (before 9a). I on the other hand can't sleep and I'm tormenting myself over school tomorrow, the cheerleading mess and general life stress.

Tet Trung Thu & Lesson 47

Keree was so excited when she woke up this morning and then she got even more excited when she realized that today was Tet Trung Thu or better known as the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. She picked out her pho bowl and chopstick applique shirt I made her for school today. She wanted to wear her Asian dirndle skirt my Mom had made her but since it rained last night but wasn't rainy today, so I knew they would be going outside to play. I cringed at the thought of it getting destroyed. So she opted for a pair of jean capri's. Her only other statement she kept making was "I'm getting to eat Moon cakes today." I felt awful because I didn't order any this year because it cost so much. So I was hoping that just by helping me cook our special dinner would be enough. After I dropped her off at school, I ran by Wallymart in hopes of them having a few of the Asian ingredients I was missing in hopes of saving myself a trip to the Asian grocery store. Luckily, they did have everything I needed (which was amazing). When I picked Keree up from school, the summary said that they taste tested Red, Green & Yellow apples and then picked which one they liked the best, learned a new song about apples and read another book on apples. As we were walking out of school, Keree was excitedly talking about the Moon Festival and then in the middle of the parking lot she stops and goes "and then we will drive to Cincinnati and eat Mooncakes." My heart just broke into a million pieces for her, she thought since my Brother has always been home during Tet Trung Thu, that we would see him today and eat Mooncakes together. I explained to her that Uncle had to work and that we could not drive to Cincinnati but I did promise her we would have a Mooncake. So we went to the local Asian Market, I knew they wouldn't have Mooncakes, it's a Korean market and she just doesn't carry those types of things. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'm close to the only Non-Asian who goes in there, so she and her Family remember me by name. As soon as we went in, Keree made a bee-line to the Steamed Bun's in the freezer. So I let her pick out her favorite BBQ Pork Buns. Then we headed down the snack aisle, Keree picked some Rice candy, my Mom found some Coconut flavored Rice crackers (oh my they are so good!!) and I found a little pack of Chocolate crayons with stickers as a treat for Keree. Of course still no mooncakes or anything even close. So while Keree and my Mom discussed snacks, I went back looking through fridge/freezer section. And there I found a Dessert, it looked like two pancakes but it was filled with Sweet Bean pasted. I was so excited, it wasn't exactly as elegant as a Mooncake is (even though it had a flower stamped on top) but it was close enough. When I showed Keree, she exclaimed "it's a Mooncake." When we got home, we started right into cooking. We fixed a loose version of Fried spring rolls and some crab ragoon (for my Mom). I had a few other more traditional dishes on my Menu but I realized after fixing the spring rolls and crab ragoon, it was going to be more than enough. Keree had so much fun cutting up the crab, assembling the spring rolls, wetting the edges and then rolling the rolls. After they were all done, I then set about to pan fry them all. We enjoyed the first batch at lunch time. After Keree was finished eating, we went to lay down and cover our Lesson. This lesson also didn't introduce a new sound but did introduce another tricky word. For some reason she seemed to struggle on some even easy words, I'm really going to chalk it up to her being extremely exhausted. When she got up, we cooked the rest of our spring rolls and crab ragoon. About half way through cooking, I got a call from Keree's cheerleading coach saying that they had moved practice to the next town over. Ugh! Since I knew we had over a 1/2 hr drive, I quickly finished cooking, changed my shirt, grabbed everything and we headed to practice. We were probably about 5 min. away when the Coach called, said the practice was canceled because her car wouldn't start. I wasn't happy about it but at least she had called unlike other times. So I turned the car around and we started heading home. About 10 minutes from home, another Cheer Mom called me and she was making sure I knew practice was moved. Of course, I was like did you get the call or message that practice was canceled? She was furious but what happened next was interesting because she was there at the park and the rest of the girls were showing up. WTH! Seems that the Coach had only called 3 of the 8 girls to tell them practice was canceled. So I turned the car around and headed back out there. We got there of course 20 minutes after 6p but at least we were there. Keree got to practice and even learned a few new cheers, the squad was being led by one of the Girls (she's only 10 but amazing). Keree had wanted to share a snack with the squad to celebrate the Moon Festival. So I let her take some of the Coconut Rice crackers to share with them. What can I say, we live in the midwest and they are kids. I had one Father, who told his little girl she couldn't have any (he's already done a few racist things in front of us), three girls who refused, one who tried and didn't like it (at least she tried!), two who liked them and of course my daughter who loves them. But what mattered was Keree was happy, she felt so good sharing her snack with them even if the majority of them didn't try it. By the time we left Cheer practice, the moon was out and shining. What was also cool is we got to see the planet Jupiter rising also. Wish I would have gotten a picture of it. When we got home, we took a few pictures, hurriedly ate, started to talk about the stories of the Moon festival but we were side tracked when Keree remembered her Mooncake. So after a few pictures, Keree dove in, she ate about half of her mooncake before she decided she was full. We had planned on going outside with our lighted lanterns, saying a few prayers and thinking about our family but by this time it was after 930p. I gave Keree the choice on if she wanted to stay up or go to bed. She was so exhausted that she actually choose bed. Since tomorrow night isn't packed, I'm hoping we can go outside then with out lanterns and tell more traditional stories about the moon.

Tuesday

With these constant swings in weather, we all wake up feeling miserable. Keree woke up begging not to go to school. But of course being the mean Mom I am, she got dressed, forced her to eat something and then we headed off to school. Of course, once we got there, she totally forgot she didn't want to go. Now the funny thing was, as we were walking in, one of the girls in her class Father stops me, super excited saying he met my husband last night in the subdivision. I started out right laughing and I told him, "nope it's not me, I live in the country surrounded by corn fields." Honestly, I didn't want to get into I'm a single Mom. He then goes, I swear it was you, he said his daughter's name was Keree and she's Asian. I just told him, nope it's not me. It honestly had me a little perplexed too because there's only 4 Asian students in the whole school and Keree is the only one without a Asian sounding first name, so it's not like she could be mixed up with another Asian student. While Keree was in school, I headed home and worked. I had an order to get in the mail and write a few emails. When I came to pick Keree up, the summary said that they wrote and drew in their journals, learned a new song about an apple seed and read a book on apples. After we picked Keree up, we ended up running a few errands before heading home. Keree ended up missing her nap and because of that we didn't do our lesson either. Our evening was spent working on work, Keree drew pictures and was grouchy because she missed her nap. Since she missed her nap, she ended up going to bed early and that's where I'm headed after I take a look at my shopping list for last minute stuff for tomorrow. Keree is so excited for Tet Trung Thu, which is tomorrow.

Apple Picking, Muffin Tin Monday & Lesson 46

This morning, we had a late start to our morning since we weren't suppose to be at school till 915a. We ended up making good time and got there around 9a, so we just chilled in the car and I messed around with the camera (trying to figure out which battery had more power since I forgot to charge them last night). Since almost all the other Mom's and Kids were inside before 915a, I finally caved and we headed inside. When we got inside, of course it was complete and utter chaos, which is the norm for field trip day there. Because the bus wasn't scheduled to come till 930a, the teacher finally suggested that they all sit down on the carpet and sing songs. I was surprised at how many new songs that they sung. When it was finally time to go, we had a buddy (since there wasn't enough parents/teacher for safe ratio). I was so glad that our buddy was Nic because she is such a well behaved, sweet child plus Keree and her were in class together last year. I will start off by saying that today just happened to be one of those unseasonably hot fall days. I'm talking 98 degrees with 96% humidity, it was miserable. Of course we were riding a school bus, with no a/c and most of the windows wouldn't go down, the bus was at capacity and everyone was sitting 3 or more to a seat. The drive out to the Orchard is 35 minutes, we happened to be sitting on the wheel well, so we felt every bump magnified. I was so thankful when we arrived! All the kids sat on the bales of hay to hear the presentation given by the owner. She explained to them the proper way to pick apples and then sent us on our way. So we climbed onto the wagon and headed out to the Orchard. I guess I should have remembered how bumpy it is out there because I almost fell off the wagon when the wagon hit a huge mud hole on the dirt track out there. Once they dropped us off, the kids had to sit down again and they explained to them the types of apples and that they were only allowed to pick from two rows of apples. Seriously, two rows and almost all the apples were way up high that were left to be picked and the ones left on the bottom were rotten. So I spent alot of time lifting and helping pick the apples for Keree and Nic. When there bags were full, we got back on the wagon and headed back for a snack. By then all the kids were sweating, miserable and just wanted lots and lots to drink. Instead all they offered them was a bathroom cup size of apple cider. I blame part of it on the school because they should of had water with them because they knew how hot it was going to be. All the kids downed their juice and was asking for more drink and all us parents could do was apologize because we didn't have anything to give them. After drinks and snacks were consumed, we then went on the tour of the farm. Our first stop was to see the pigs, named Biscuit and Gravy. The Farmer fed them and we got to watch them root around and find the apples in the mud. Our next stop was to see and feed the cows. Each child was given some leaves off a corn stalk to feed them. Most of the kids just dropped the leaves but Keree has no fear and she happily had the cow grab the leaf from her hand. Honestly, that is all she has talked about since we got home. I think if I told her we were getting a cow, she would be beyond thrilled at the chance. After the pigs and cows were fed, the kids had a chance at feeding the goats and chickens. Keree was one of the first to get her goat feed and the baby goat ate it right out of her hand in no time. I asked her what it felt like and she said wet. The next stop was to feed the chickens, of course all they could do then was to throw the chicken scratch into the cage. It wasn't as exciting as the cow and goat. Then the kids were released into the play yard. After getting a picture of Keree as an apple, she made a bee-line to the corn table. She spent almost her entire time there filling up a bucket with corn. I actually think the majority of the kids spent their time either in the corn or soybean tables. I finally was able to pull Keree away and I showed her the horse tire swings. She swung a very short time but then was on the go again. She checked out the other play areas before going to play on the tractors. I'll just say that the whole play area is built on a hill and that hill slopes directly onto a road. There is no fence or anything around it because there reasoning is, they don't get too much traffic. Well because it's harvest time, there was tons of large grain trucks. So Keree decided to ride the tractor. She rode around the track and of course had a hard time going up the hill, so I helped her. Well then she decided she could do it herself, I warned her that she was going to go really fast because of the slope. Next thing I know, off Keree goes, full speed ahead. I was running after her, another Mom was trying to stop her and finally Keree slams full force into the corn table. Thank God! If she would have been just a few more inches over, she would have flown all the way down the hill, into the road and into the path of a grain truck. Keree of course has no fear and she wasn't hurt. Instead she was laughing like the crazy nut she is. The other Mom's all commented to me, that she must keep me on my toes because she doesn't seem to have any fear. I also can't even count how many other kids I saw do almost the exact same thing as Keree and how many other Mom's I saw running after those kids. We then got back on the bus and headed back to school. Since I needed gas in the car, we also ran into the gas station and got ourselves a drink because we were still so hot. We then headed home, we grabbed a light lunch because we were so hot and then Keree was so ready for a nap. After Keree woke up from her nap, she was starving. She begged for bratwursts and I was happy to oblige. Since we've missed Muffin Tin Monday the past two weeks, there was no way I was going to miss it today. Keree told me that I had to use her new cookie cutter she had gotten in her Happy Meal over the weekend. It was of a strawberry, which didn't exactly fit the theme of shapes but then I thought "hey a strawberry is a shape." So I decided to make her dinner a sort of Shapes of a Princess/Girl themed tin. So to start, we used the Strawberry to cut some Harvest thin bread. The next compartment is of course her dinner drink, Organic Chocolate drink. Then we have some apple shaped flowers, followed by some ketchup to dip her bread in. The next compartment is cut up bratwurst, followed by some Colby Jack Princess crowns. Since I ran out of space, I used my Frog muffin tin and filled it with some Harvest thin bread stars. She was thrilled with her dinner and actually ate every last bite, which I was amazed because it was alot of food. We ended our evening watching the start of the new season of Dancing with the Stars. Keree was so excited because the first couple who danced, danced to the music of her half-time routine. Since Keree was tired, we headed to bed early and decided to cover Lesson 46. I was lucky that it didn't introduce any new sounds, so it was a review of everything we had learned. I was so happy that Keree didn't struggle since we haven't really done any school in a few weeks. Keree wanted to do another lesson but I finally convinced her that it was too late and she needed to go to bed.