Outdoor Ed With Kaylin

In mid June, Kaylin's class went to Outdoor Education camp at Camp Hamilton. We were scheduled to spend 2 nights and 3 days at Camp exploring the great outdoors. Then we found out that Haley's Renaissance faire was taking place while we were at camp. This was a huge event that Haley and the middle schoolers had been planning for months, so we set it up so that we could come home after 2 days.

Much was accomplished and explored during our short stay at camp. Kaylin rode in a Kayak for the first time.

 Kaylin and Bridget getting ready to Kayak. 

It had been raining for days before we arrived. But we were lucky and avoided the rain. The sun even peaked out a few times.

 Three years ago, I stayed with Haley during her Camp Hamilton time, and there were two things that I despised. The BIFFY's (Bathroom, In, Forest, For, You) and when they decide to teach you about animal skins and the different animals around here. The BIFFY's are basically a wood box with a hole in it and a toilet seat for you to sit on. They stink! Like, really, really stink! I'm talking gagging to the point of almost throwing up, stink! We would get excited to see Honey Buckets and never passed up an opportunity to use one.

 This is the skin of a small black bear. They also showed us dear skin, fox, beaver, and coyote. The fur would shed on us, and the hooves and noses were still on the animal. This is just not my thing at all, so I just sat far away and let the group have at it.

 Our cabin started with 2 adults and 12 kids. The first day one girl left to be with her bestie, and 2 sisters left because they wanted to go home. Kaylin was happy to have her good friend Bridget in the cabin with her.

We sat eight to a table with one adult and seven kids.

 One cabin group was assigned to be "stewards" and help get the meals ready. Here is Caleb demonstrating his steward duties.

 Meatless Lasagna, cold veggies, garlic bread, and milk for dinner. 

Lucas is smiling, but by the looks of his plate, he didn't enjoy the food very much. 

 At free time, most the boys played flyers up, while the girls waded in the water with their boots. Kaylin got water in her boot, so she and Bridget sat on the benches and did some good ol' fashioned hand games.

Cousins. :)

 Our daytime explorer group. We went on hikes and learned about the trees and bushes in the area.

 This climbing wall was over 40 feet. Kaylin wasn't scared though. She wanted to go for the top!

 Until, I had everyone give her a pull to "help her out" and it freaked her out so she wanted to get down.
I felt so bad! She did make it 1/3 of the way, though and that is quite an accomplishment. Sorry, Kaylin!

(Yes, I did apologize to her, and the group. Bad, Mama!)

My favorite part about outdoor ed is getting to have one on one time with her and watching her interact with her friends. 

Thanks for letting me come and share this special experience with you, Kaylin! And, a special thank you to Grandma for helping out with your sisters while we were gone! 

Back to School 2010 Edition

 Okay, so it has been a looooooooong time since I blogged! I have been having a hard time uploading pics to blogger. Every time I attempt, it closes down my Internet Explorer! Ugh! So every few days, I sit down and try again, only to have it happen again!
Anyway, I was able to upload some today, and I'm hoping to be able to get some posts in soon.

This year was a huge milestone for the C6 family! All of our girls are in school. As in the same school, every day! This is super exciting for them, but sad for the Mommy. I can't help but miss my buddies. Especially my baby, Pay, our youngest. We home schooled her last year, so she was with me most of the time. She was so ready for Kindergarten, though.

 The week before school, her classroom had a "get to know each other" gathering. The kids all played, explored the classroom, and met many of their new friends. Pay is so happy to have her best bud Dev in class with her! She also knew many of the other kiddos because they have siblings her sisters ages. Needless to say, she was very comfortable with her new class.

 Here they are on the big day.

 Pay and Dev are locker buddies!

She sure does love Madi (Dev's little sis)!

 At her table with some friends. =)

Em with her class.  She got a haircut the day before, and ended up not liking it because she felt it was to short. Poor thing was devastated! She was able to pull herself (and her hair) together and continue on with her first day of 2nd grade.

 Kaylin was happy to find out that she and one of her besties (since pre-school) were back in class together! She is in 4th grade, and at our multi-age classrooms they will be together for next three years! We are all so happy that she was assigned to Haley's old class, and so there is much familiarity with the classroom and teachers. Although, one of the teachers is new as a full time teacher, she was a sub for them many times in the past, so she knows the kids well.

Haley is in 7th grade this year! That means that we have a middle schooler?!?!  (For those of you who don't know, Dao and I met in the 7th grade and started dating in 8th! We love to tease her and her friends that they might meet their future husbands this year. Actually, I love to tease about that. Dao doesn't think it's very funny. In fact, he gets a little upset when I do it. haha!)

Haley is doing great in Middle School so far, adjusting to her new schedule. She decided to be a TA for her elective and is working in her old class where Kaylin is now. She is also taking Language, Algebra, Applied Science, Social Studies, PE, and is once again in the Jazz Band playing Piano.

Third Year Party

At our school, we have Kindergarten, Primary centers (which are for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students), Intermediate (for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders) and Middle School (7th & 8th grade). At the end of the Third year, a party is thrown at a local pool to celebrate completion of the Primary years.

At the party the kids start off with a "mixer" where the kids have to answer certain questions on a piece of paper by finding kids who have the same birthday as you, or have blue eyes, etc... They are not allowed to ask the same student twice, they can not ask someone they know, and they can not ask adults. The party and mixer are designed for the kids to get to know each other in the hopes of them starting new friendships in their new classes for Intermediate.

Ummm...ya. I have four kids, and the only way I can go to the pool with them all, is to have them (not the oldest anymore) where life jackets. They have had lessons, but I guess I am a little uncomfortable with them just floating around with out their safety vests. Well, Kaylin was one of the only kids who wore a life jacket at the party, and it was a bit of a wake up call for me. I need to let go and let her swim and float on her own, especially when she can touch the ground!

Cousin Luc is like a fish in the water. He had just gotten in and I asked him to turn for a picture. He was about to do the peace signs, but I took the pic too soon, and it looks like he is doing quotations! haha!

This is such an exciting right of passage for these youngsters! Just one of the many things that I love about our school!

Art Walk

Our school is very artsy. Every year the classes work hard on projects to present at the annual "Art Walk", where families come to an "open house" style event. The classrooms are all set up with art and projects that students are proud of. Music is played by the band, and our PTA type board hands out free Italian sodas.

Last year a silent art auction was started during the event and was very successful. When they asked for volunteers to donate for this year, our oldest immediately thought of her Grandma and Goo-Goo's (aunties) who are all very crafty.

Goo-Goo B, designs her own Jewelry and donated a lovely set with freshwater pearls and garnets!

Grandma hand knitted this cute scarf and hat set, along with another hat, and an infant hat and booties set!

Our girls were so proud to walk around the auction and announce that they're family members made items that they were bidding on!

The classrooms make it a full event and even fancy up the hallways with welcoming displays. This is the entrance to our oldest daughters classroom.

The kids in her class were challenged to create a project based on the work of Alexander Calder. She did "Broadway Productions" and created a theatre with a stage and people sitting to watch the show. While walking around the class, the kids were all so proud of what they created, as they should be. It was very cool!

They also were learning about Lewis and Clark and created a map to document their trip.

Kaylin and Em are in the same class, as it is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. This is the entrance to their classroom.

Every year they have a big project, this year it was called "The Expert Project". Kaylin made a list of things she was good at, and narrowed it down to things that she is good and passionate about. She chose (all on her own) "How to make a friend". She got her bestie, Isa and her sister, Haley to help. They made cute signs and took pictures of the steps. I gave her some patterned scrapbook paper and printed her pictures and she did the rest. She did an amazing job!

Em didn't make a list. She just announced that she was going to do "How To Braid Hair". I then asked her if she knew how to braid hair. She said that she did and then showed me buy getting to strands of her little sisters hair and twisting it. Ummm....not exactly braiding, but she was so dead set on it, that I couldn't make her change her project. Instead, we got out one of those big Barbie Heads with the long hair and I showed her how. She picked it up so quickly! After that, she just kept practicing (often using her little sister), and she wrote down the steps that it takes so that she could teach her class. Her Daddy drew the pictures of the hair, and she colored them and glued them to her poster board. I again, pulled out some scrapbooking supplies and let her pick the embellishments she wanted to use. It turned out great!

Cousin Luc, did his project on Chess! He had spent a good part of the year in Chess Club (the one that his cousin Sheree from G6 brought to our school) and really enjoyed it.

I forgot to mention that the kids also had to do a 3-5 min. presentation demonstrating how they are experts.  Kids made cookies, smoothies, gak, did presentations on chess, baseball, friendship bracelets, etc...

It was so fun to watch these!

The kids had some of their artwork in the hallway. They used construction paper and tissue paper to make these "3D" type pictures. (Kaylin helped her teacher get ready for the art walk, and  he was all out of juice, so he rewarded her with a soda! Wow! She was a happy girl!)

I love that the hand in Em's pic had rings on and nails painted. Ha! She is such a Diva!

Thank you Goo-Goo B and Grandma for your kind and generous donations!

Thank you to Goo-Goo Linh, Goo-Goo B, Goo-Goo Xuan, Dan, Auntie Robin, Auntie Andria and Uncle Van, and Grandma Ruppert for coming and supporting our girls!

We love you!

A Baby Shower

Kaylin and Emma's beloved teacher is having a baby.

The kids and parents threw her an amazing shower. With lots of game and treats. Okay, the shower was more for the kids enjoyment, but I think everyone had a good time.

One of the games was for the kids to guess what type of candy was in the diaper. I can not even tell you how disgusting this looked. It's been awhile since I have had to deal with poopy diapers, and I do not miss it one bit!

Another game was set up for the kids to see and smell, (no touching or tasting) and guess what is inside. The kids were not upset at all when they were told they couldn't eat it.

                 This was the easiest game. A classic. Guess how many jelly beans are inside the bottle.

The set up was pot luck style with lots of kid friendly foods. It was like they got two lunches that day!

The kids grabbed a plate and took a seat with their buddies.

Check out all the presents! Their are 53 kids in the class (it is a multi-age classroom with 2 teachers). Have you noticed all of the pink? Yep, she's having a girl!

The kids all gathered around while she opened presents. My fave was a book that was put together from the kids. They each wrote down what they thought she should know and remember while raising her little one. Like "always give them healthy food, not hamburgers". It was so cute!

One of the parents made this adorable teddy bear cake along with lots of cupcakes. I love the bright pink, purple, and yellow together!

The kids made her promise to bring in her sweet baby next year (she is due in July). We can't wait to meet her!

One Week In...

We did it! We survived the first week of Spring Soccer! Our schedule is busy. We have soccer every day except Saturday (until May 1st when Pay starts!).

 For the first time in two years, Kaylin is playing soccer again! She quit for awhile after an unhappy rainy and cold, Fall season and has since been our gymnast taking lessons at Cascade Elite.

 Well, she decided to give it another try. She is on a team with her BFF, Isa, and she is very comfortable with Coach David (Isa's dad), so we are hoping that this will be a better experience for her. We met the team at a practice and tailgate BBQ and the girls all welcomed Kaylin right from the start. She is actually playing up this year (She is #4. Notice a size difference?) and the other girls on the team have been playing soccer for quite some time, but she is not discouraged and looks forward to her practices and games.

 Haley team has been the Blue Angels since forever, but this year they were told they would be White because there are too many blue teams?? Anyway, the girls don't seem to mind the team color change, but as the person who does laundry in our house, I would prefer dark blue or black. She has games twice a week without any practices, so I have to be diligent about getting it washed in time for her to wear it. The fields are wet and muddy from the spring rain, so I may have to invest in some bleach soon.

 Emma's team has switched from pink to red. They are now the Ruby, Red, Tigers! This is the same color as her Daddy's indoor soccer team, so Emma was super excited for the switch.

She didn't score, but she came so close a bunch of times. She wants to score, so I hope it happens for her.

 She also loves to play keeper. She gets this from her Daddy. Hopefully she won't get a concussion like him, too!

 The field that they play on (most of the time) has a grass hill that is perfect for rolling down. Kaylin, Pay, Isa, Dev and a few of their friends did this over and over again.

  The grass was wet and a little muddy, but that didn't stop them. Haley and Madi chose to watch from the top. ☺

We ended our week with Daddies outdoor game. It was so beautiful out on Sunday. The perfect day for the family to spend outdoors at the game and the nearby park.

May 1st we add Pay's soccer schedule into the mix. Wish me luck with all this juggling!

Thank you to Sheree and David of the G6 and my Mom (Grandma), for helping me get the girls to and from soccer on time! Dao works late on most days, so I couldn't do it without you!