Pumpkin Patch Part 2

We had the chance to go on another pumpkin patch outing as a family with the Little Miss' Kindergarten class. This field trip was extra special for our girl because her daddy got to drive the school bus. Mr. Wagner's years of driving semi-trucks and hauling hay to pay his way through college, along with his experience driving the bus for youth groups (including numerous trips to Mexico with high schoolers on missions trips), is coming in handy. Though he still had to spend hours (over 20 hrs actually!) getting his official school bus driver endorsement, Mr. Wagner made the commitment just so he could drive for our girl's field trips. Yep, he's a super daddy!

Proud girl on the bus with her daddy

Found the perfect small pumpkin

The Little Miss doesn't like this pic because her mommy's hair is "too messy". Oh well.

The Little Miss and her bestsie school friend, Elle. They have known each other since they were babes

The Little Miss with her class and awesome K teacher

Pumpkin Patch Part 1

It is almost the end of October and Yours Truly is still far behind in the blog world (and in many other areas of life). I am still adjusting to working in the office four days/week along with keeping busy with other Fall activities and commitments. Just plain busy (who isn't, right?).

We did manage to take advantage of one of the beautiful Indian Summer days we had around here at the beginning of October to sneak in our first pumpkin patch outing of the season at one our favorite local farms. Our good friends, the Curtis family, had the wise idea to go during the Beaver game, when the farm would be mostly empty. We couldn't have timed it better because the Little Miss and her friend Allison got to "drive" the tractor with their dads out to the patch and back. Love this annual Fall tradition! Oh, and to top it off...the Beavers won (even though they were missing one super cute cheerleader who was with us at the pumpkin patch). 6-0 and counting!



Father/Daughter Tradition

Her first pumpkin of the season



Great family and friends!

 The Little Miss and her favorite OS cheerleader



SIX Already?!

A couple of weeks have passed and I am just now posting about the day. My latency may in part be due to the fact that Yours Truly is still in denial; did our Little Miss REALLY just turn SIX? I can't believe it has been 6 years since our girl entered into this world (and enter she sure did!). As in years past we had a party to celebrate with close friends and family. This year was extra special because our Little Miss was able to help and seems to be a party planner in the making (a girl after my own heart)!

The Little Miss chose the theme "PJs and Pancakes" because she loves her matching American Girl pajamas and was excited to recruit her two favorite pancake chefs (her daddy and Papa). We'd originally planned a brunch time party but moved the event later in the day, having breakfast-for-dinner to avoid conflicting with her first soccer game.

The kids had fun having a pancake toss (what kiddo doesn't get excited when given permission to have a food fight?), balancing pancakes on their heads (with a bit of persuasion the adults joined in too!), pillow case racing, and marching in a "pan"cake walk. Anna Marie, a very talented elementary school teacher, read "If You Give a Pig A Pancake" (the kids love listening to her and I am sure thankful that she's always so willing to help...from dressing up as Fancy Nancy a couple years ago to teaching the kids the hula last year!)

We decorated with all shades of purple (the Little Miss' favorite color) and teddy bears to go along with the bedtime PJ theme. Our girl even designed her own cake, complete with a teddy bear wearing PJ's and holding her favorite blankie and pillow!

Thanks to all who celebrated with us (and for those that celebrated with us from a far)!

Back To School Transition

We officially survived the first two weeks of our back to school transition. I hope the rest of you with kiddos at school did as well? Who knew that it could be so tiring (for both parents and kiddos!). The Little Miss absolutely LOVES Kindergarten and has an awesome teacher. She has even done great with the transition to all day school. It's been harder on her mom for sure! I am now going in the office 4 days/week (vs. 2 days), working while our girl is in class. I am able to drop off and pick up the Little Miss and get to help out in her class on the day I don't work which is a lot of fun. I have to say though that I sure miss having slow mornings at home with the Little Miss and I still in our PJ's!

The toughest part of this transition has been getting out the door in the mornings. You see, the Little Miss and I are very similar in that neither of us moves very fast in the morning. We both get out of bed fine but then move in slow motion for the first hour. We make it to school in time but everyday has required constant questioning and reminding:

• "Are you STILL not dressed even though you started 15 minutes ago? When we say get dressed, we mean now!"
• "Did you brush your teeth? Yes, you have to do that every morning."
• "Did you make your bed yet? You know the rule, no playing with toys until you are done with everything."
• "I'm sorry your clothes feel itchy. It's funny that was never a problem until you started school. No, you cannot change again."
• "You have to go potty again? We have to GO!!!"

As a Project Manager I get paid to tell people what to do, assign tasks and send reminders (i.e., nag) but I do not enjoy starting off my morning that way, resulting in stress-filled interactions with my daughter. I only have one kiddo to worry about and have to give HUGE kudos to you moms who have large families to get out the door in time!

Praise the Lord for a terrific hubby who helps out and for the Little Miss' new "morning routine chart" that outlines her daily responsibilities. We have only used it a day but it was so freeing for her to see exactly what needed to be done and for me to not have to nag (as much). Here's to surviving the first two weeks...and the next 13 years of school!

First Day of Kindergarten

The Little Miss had a "meet and greet" with her teacher last week and then her first day of Kindergarten on Friday. She LOVED it. From the time we walked into class, she did great. Her mommy had a harder time letting go and had to hug her and leave quickly before the tears started flowing. Praise the Lord for a terrific teacher and school. Now if only we could slow down the years!

San Juan Islands Bike Trip 2012

Yours Truly is behind in posting about our summer activities and will eventually catch up but for now, I wanted to make sure to share about our most recent adventure. We had the chance to join a group from our church for a bike trip to the San Juan Islands in Washington. The trip could not have been better: great weather, fun company, and beautiful views!

Our family enjoys biking and got our share with the 20+ mile a day bike rides (with a lot of hills!). Mr. Wagner pulled the Little Miss in her "Weehoo" (recumbent tag-a-long style bike), adding about 70 extra pounds to his load. The Little Miss did pedal most of the time (at her own pace). One thing is for certain, she has a Super Dad with strong legs! I loved biking with my family and am convinced that this is a great hobby to participate in together (I can already picture Mr. Wagner and I riding a tandem bike during our retirement years!).

 We really enjoyed the group that joined us for the trip. Our Pastor is an avid mountain biker and has been biking in the San Juans several times. With the exception of the one time that a few of us got temporarily off track (a.k.a., "lost"), he did a great job leading the group. His 5th grade son (Josh) did an amazing job keeping up, even leading the group most of the time. Of course, it helped that Josh is competitive and was determined to keep up with Mr. Wagner.

We are already looking forward to doing this trip again, hopefully next summer the Lord willing!

Family Camp 2012

We continued a favorite tradition this past weekend on our annual "Family Camping Trip" with my brother and sis-in-law. My dad and step mom (Papa and Mimie) were also able to join in the tradition again this year so it was extra special. We headed to the McKenzie River area and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors together. Having grown up camping numerous weekends during the year and in every season, Yours Truly always loves camping and sure hopes we'll carry on this tradition with our girl and her future family.