Getting Messy!

After we had painted our pumpkins and ghosts, the table was awfully messy. The best way to clean paint off of a table...shaving cream! It's a pretty fun way to clean (and practice writing letters) as well.

Fall Adventures

Fall is my favorite time to explore nature with the kids because so much is going on outside. Before the leaves started falling outside, we made our leaves blow around and fall inside.

We also walked the big kids to school and on our way home discovered many different colors on trees and plants. As the wind blew gently, we tried to count how many leaves it blew down...there were so many with each breeze!

We also have been playing "board games" that come with our curriculum each month. Although the concepts are mostly matching and counting, the turn-taking aspect of playing is what we are focusing on. They do pretty well!

One of the most special characteristics of this group though, is by far how they encourage each other! I love it when I hear a friend say to another, "What a great job!", "I love what you made!", or "I am so proud of you!"

Farm Week

We are learning all about farms and farm animals this week, so of course we have to do the Chicken Dance!

Who doesn't love BIRTHDAYS?!?!

Taking Preston to Speech

Every Wednesday and Friday we get to take a quick field trip to ISU for Preston to attend a speech class. Originally, I planned for Rachel or Brooke to stay home with the kids, but they liked it so much the first time, that I let them keep coming with. While Preston is with the therapist, the kids and I hang out in a playroom where we can listen to Preston's session on headphones and watch him on the computer, or they can play.

It is funny when they are busy playing and then run over to put the headphones on for a minute...you know, just checking in on Preston! They all love to see what fun games he gets to play at speech.
They also are great about waiting with one hand on the wall while I talk to Preston's therapist. Such great kiddos! Everyone who sees them is impressed!

Nolan is starting to eat some "real food" now, which is also very entertaining for all of the kids. They can not believe that he gets to spit out his food when he doesn't like it. I must say, I never have enjoyed this phase where babies take a mouth full of baby food and then blow "raspberries" with it. Yuck! It does get a good laugh though!

When life gives you rain...

JUMP IN THE PUDDLES!

and find a baby beetle on a basketball and say it a bunch of times really fast...a baby beetle on a basketball, a baby beetle on a basketball, a baby beetle on a basketball...

Graphing Us!

After the kids cut out the pictures of themselves, which they thought were so cool,  we had to look in the mirror to be sure we had accurate data to graph our characteristics! We talked about the concepts of more than, less than and the same.

Preston still laughs and says "noooo!" every time I say that Joanna has red hair. He completely thinks I am joking because her hair doesn't look red to him!