Green Bluff Farm Field Trip

There is a group of farms up in Spokane that makes up Green Bluff farms. Emma went with her Kindergarten class to the Hidden Acres Farm on a field trip! I was able to go with them and help out, and it was a great time! The kids got to go explore and see the animals, go on a hayride, pick their own apples and pumpkins, learn about farm life, listen to Priscilla the giant pumpkin, and eat homeade apple spice donuts and apple cider. Emma loved it!

Getting lost in the corn maze!

We got to see "exotic" farm animals, like a farm dog! They also had sheep, pigs, chickens, roosters, and a few other things. The dog jumped into the pig's pen and the two were playing together. Emma's good buddy Brooklyn (closest to the adult, her mom Miranda) is in this picture with her, and they love getting together for playdates!

In the little old farm house.

Going on a hayride - Emma and Trinity, the two were paired up as buddies for the day!

Did you know there's a particular way you need to pick an apple? There are two ways to do it, actually, which I thought was kind of interesting and never knew! "Are you smarter than a kindergartner?"

This girl is the apple of my eye!

Out in the apple orchard.

Mrs. C teaching the class about the apples and how we get them. He he! The rest of the kindergartners ate their apples, but not Em. She said she wanted to wash it first, so she took it home to eat after she washed it. I guess I've created a monster...or a germaphobe! (:

Emma and her cute little friend Guiliana. There are some really nice girls and boys in Emma's class, and she's made lots of friends (when I come to pick her up, Emma and her friends always say goodbye and gve each other hugs).

Mrs. Camponella's Kindergarten class!

Picking her pumpkin out in the pumpkin patch! She was very selective, and found the perfect one!

Priscilla the giant, talking pumpkin.

Emma had a great time doing everything, but probably the most exciting part for her was riding the bus! (:

Best job chart ever!

Dave's had a monopoly on the computer as of late, since he's been doing SO much homework! But I have been working on some posts, and now I'm trying to catch up! So here we go!

I was so excited for school to start, to get back on a structured schedule after moving. We've been trying to teach our kids responsibilty, and that each member of the family needs to do their part and pitch in. I thought it would be a good time to introduce chore charts for the kids. I found this in Family Fun (Oh, how I love that magazine/website...I give thanks to them for most of my creativity!), and adapted it to make it work for our kids. The link to that, if you're interested in making them is http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-a-job-chart-1022607/. I found and printed off black and white clip art of things the kids needed to do on a weekly or daily basis - homework/work book, practicing piano, making bed, getting ready, household responsibilities, etc. because they can't read very well yet. Then I had Emma help to color the pictures, and we laminated everything. We have the things they need to do every day (pick up toys, one chore we rotate out every week, getting ready), and the things they need to do once a week (like working out in the yard or helping to make a meal). Once they do their responsibility for that particular thing, they get to move the straw over from the "Do it" side to the "Done!" side. At the end of the day, the kids get a nickle or dime if they finish everything on their chart. I gave them clean baby food jars, we decorated them, and they became their little banks to collect their money in. We also keep tithing envelopes next to their change jars, so they can learn about and start to pay tithing. They have been so motivated and love doing this! Now instead of them begging for things at the store, we just tell them that they can use their own money or save up some of their money to get that sucker or the little toys they want. And I think they feel a sense of accomplishment because they can actually see what they've done in a day. Just wanted to share, incase anybody else is looking for a great job chart...

Spokane Interstate Fair - Emma's gone viral!

Shortly before we left Utah, and we were talking about moving, Emma asked "Well, what are we going to do about the Fair? We can't go to the Fair!" I assured her they have a fair in Washington, and that we'd go to it. We go to the fair every year, since the State Fair was the first date Dave and I went on, for sentimental reasons. And it's just "karats of fun" (which is the slogan for the Spokane Interstate Fair)! We love the fair, so we went a few weekends ago. It was just about as large as the Utah State Fair, the state fair up here is in Seattle, I believe. We did the usual...checked out the animals, looked at the exhibits, saw some shows, the usual.

Ziggy - yahhhh Ziggys! Ziggy's is a hardware store up here, and the kids loved their mascot. He handed out candy and was pretty funny! This pic was taken right after Emma was dancing with Ziggy, she's in the stripey shirt.

Lucy's first trip to the fair!

Happy times!

Cal liked all of the classic tractors and trucks the best!

They had a kids tractor pull that Emma decided she wanted to do. We were kind of surprised, but she's really broken out of her shell in the last few months.

The tractor pull was a bike pedaled one, they added weight to a cart attached to the trike. They let 3 to 8 year olds do it.

Here she goes! Emma pedaled 50 lbs., and made it about 12 feet out. She said it was fun!

Emma got her ribbon and a piece of candy for participating. She had a good time.

We watched mutton busting (an event that happens at rodeos similar to bull riding, where kids hold onto sheep as long as they can) earlier when we first got to the fair. We asked her if she wanted to do that but she told us "no way". So we didn't bring it back up again. Later on, we walked by the stadium where we watched the mutton busting. Emma said, "I want to do that!" Really? We asked her and made sure she really wanted to do it. She said she wanted to. So they were starting their last mutton busting show of the night right then and Emma was the last of 36 to sign up, we barely made it. Dave and Emma went down to get fitted for a vest and helmet and I took the younger kids and went to watch her from the stands. Here she is waiting to get her helmet on and secure.

Putting her helmet on and getting a little nervous.

Daddy making sure Emma was ready to go. While they were waiting, Dave was "coaching" Emma and trying to help her. She did get a little nervous, but still wanted to do it. She didn't chicken out, which was good. Some kids did, other kids got bribed with candy or Barbies to do it.

After watching 35 other little ones do this, it was Emma's turn! They put her on the sheep, opened the gate, and that sheep went! It was a fast sheep she was on! She stayed on the length of the stadium, for more than 6 seconds, which was the qualifying time to be a finalist! Cal said "Emma made it!" He was quite impressed! I was, too! Many of the kids fell off right after the gate opened, or made it about half way and fell off, crying. Emma got off and was just fine, though her wrist hurt a little bit. The people who were helping the kids out were really nice. And then as Emma was coming back, all of these little kids standing outside of the gate were giving her hi-fives. It was cute! She thought it was pretty cool. "Aunt Amy and Uncle Kolby would be proud!" (one of her favorite sayings lately...he he!) We went to a rodeo earlier this summer that my sister and her husband were in. I guess she's our little cowgirl. We even went and got her some cowgirl boots this week! She earned them! (:

The family wanted to see the video, so we went to post it on Facebook, but it wouldn't upload. So Dave put it on Youtube. Emma's now online! He he! I tried to put the link in for Emma's Youtube video, but it wasn't working for Blogger. So just copy and paste this address into your browser if you'd like to see it!

It's kind of fun! Last time I checked, there were fourty views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0KSKmBqA1s

Good job, little cowgirl! It was a memorable night for everyone, and mostly for Emma!

Labor Day Weekend!

The end of the summer is coming....NOOOO! It's been so nice and warm here every day, we've loved it! I'm one of those girls that could live in summer forever. Labor Day weekend was a blast! The fun started out on Friday, getting a package from Grandma Di! The kids were so excited! Inside, school supplies for Emma, an outfit, and Littlest Pet Shops toy, gummy candy for the kids to share, and then a toy for Lucy and Cal. It was a blast! On everything, Grandma Di put a little sticky note with a fun message. Emma wanted to keep the sticky notes, and we had fun reading them all. Thanks, Mom!

Grandma also sent some outfits she made, well Lucy's anyways. She finished the other two kids outfits before we left, but didn't quite finish Lucy's. She's been on a mission to use up all of her scrap materials. She's so great at taking something like a scrap, or something old, and making it into something beautiful! So here they all are in their cute outfits. They look like little island cuties! My dad got the material for Cal's outfit when he went to Samoa.

My girls, so sweet!!

Grandma also sent a package of little gummy candies with hotdogs, hamburgers, pizza, fries, colas. On that sticky note, she wrote that they can have a gummy picnic. They were so happy and had so much fun doing that!

Later that night, Morgan and Kyle came over for a cousins sleepover (well, they're second cousins, but still call each other cousins. One day, Emma was saying, "So they're your cousins like Tayla is my cousin, but I'm still their cousin, too? Why are they so much younger than you, Mom?" I had to explain everything to her. I think she's got it now!). We grilled hot dogs and ate chili dogs, cheese & peas salad, fruit salad, and chips. Then we played like crazy, read some books, watched a short movie, ate snacks, and the kids actually went to bed at a decent time!

Kyle and Cal playing ball in the toy room. Cal idolized Kyle! And Kyle is so good with Cal!

Emma and Morgan playing with little princesses. They look like they're concentrating very hard here!

Having fun playing!! I thought it was kinda funny that the girls jammie style matched, and the boys matched as well.

They all do so well playing together, we never have squabbles or fights. They just start making up games, like this one below together. It's way cute!

Saturday, we woke up and made blueberry muffins and orange juilius, then we got all ready, rode bikes outside, and then went to the park to play for a while. After that, it was the BYU vs. Ole Miss football game at Dave & Suz's home. We had a yummy lunch and snack foods before the game. Dave was so excited for football to start. He's always following BYU football on KSL or Cougar Tracks. My Uncle Dave gets kind of into the games and yells a lot, which I've always known. It's always kind of made me giggle. I asked Morgan what she and her mom do when footballs on. "My mom and I usually stay upstairs while my Dad and Kyle yell," she responded. My Dave doesn't quite yell like that, but he still gets into it. So the Dave's enjoy watching the games together. The moms and kids watched some of the game, but we went for a walk around the block for a while, and just talked and played outside. Dave and Suz have been so good to us! We went over and had FHE with them one night, and went downtown last weekend to Rocky Rococo Pizza, and they're always calling to check up on us, and we get together quite a bit.

Saturday night, some friends in our ward who live a few houses away from us, Peperli and Derrick, invited us to go with them and another couple to Pig Out in the Park. It's a huge event at Riverfront Park they do each year, where food vendors from all over come and you basically do what the title says, pig out! They also have bands playing, the only band name I recognized was Marcy Playground. I think there were lots of local bands from the Northwest. Emma and I got Chinese food, it was yummy!

Lucy got baby food...which she's loving. Except for the meats. She gags on those sometimes. But can you blame her? Have you ever smelled that stuff?

Daddy got southern barbeque. On the little BBQ trailor, there was a sign that said "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." We thought that sounded familiar, and I immediately knew who said it! President Hinckley, of course. We had to support that booth after that. Also, there was a bee that kept coming around as we were eating on the bell tower steps. Dave kept trying to shoo it with his hat. It made me giggle, as it reminded me of the Toys 'R' Us experience a few years ago. He he! Some of you will know what I'm talking about. Luckily, he kept his shirt on this time.

Cal wanted pizza, so he gobbled that up. He loves pizza, but enjoyed playing with the extra pair of chopsticks I got even better!
Dave gets along really well with Aaron and Derrick. They are cool guys. Aaron is going to Gonzaga to get his Masters in Religious Studies, and Derrick is going to Spokane Community College for Radiology. The kids loved being by the bell tower, the color of lights on it were changing that night, it looked cool. They all wanted to get up on this ledge, so they all took turns getting up there.

Hello down there!

The kids were all so cute playing together. The park was so crowded though! And it was hard to get everywhere with our little stroller caravan!

We topped off the night by getting dessert. We tried homeade huckleberry (those berries grow in abundance here) ice-cream and chocolate dipped turtle cheesecake. Yum! It was a fun and tasty night!

Monday, actual Labor Day, we slept in, and then we went to the annual ward picnic for lunch. It was fun talking to some people and getting to know some more ward members!

Wheee....crash! The kids playing at the park during the picnic!

We topped off the weekend at a Peperli and Derrick's, the same friends who invited us to Pig Out in the park, at a BBQ. They made some tasty brisket, and we all brought things to share. Two other families were there, and they also invited the Elders that serve in our area, so that was fun to talk to them. The kids all had so much fun, they have a fun backyard with a swingset, slides, and a playhouse! And the other families are so great. We appreciate their friendship to us and making us feel so welcome here! It was a great weekend!