tt: acorns and leaves

The last two weeks we focused on acorns and fall leaves for school. We went outside and picked up acorns from under the oak trees by the school building. Then another day we dropped them in the water to see if they would sink or float. If they float they won't become trees, and if they sink they will (a little trivia from my nephew's Big Backyard magazine.) I found some little fall cookie cutters and Elle and her friend Keely played with them with the playdough.

we read a lot:
*That pup! by Lindsay Barrett George
Elle loves this book and will not let me turn it back into the library. We have to read it at least once everyday. It's got cute illustrations. For extra fun you can look for the acorns and the squirrel hiding somewhere in the pictures.
Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman (author of the Corduroy books)
Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell

and we ate a lot:
fall trees (pretzel sticks, peanut butter, and fall M&M's)


acorns (Nutter Butter bite, Hershey's kiss, chocolate chip "glued" together with peanut butter), which we shared at the Jr/Sr football game tailgate party

another acorn project (acorn cutout, oatmeal for the nut, chocolate chips for the cap, glue), and Elle loved eating the extra chocolate chips


other activities that we just didn't get to:
painting the acorns and hiding them in fake leaves, then raking them up
identifying all the animals that eat acorns:
squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rabbits, cattle, pigs, deer, chickadees, quail, wild turkey

trick-or-treat the dorms

I didn't want Elle to miss out of official trick-or-treating just because we live in an apartment. So I recruited the students to pass out candy Sunday night for Elle and the other faculty's kids. This was kind of a dress rehearsal for Elle's costume because it's still a work-in-progress. She had a blast though and I think the students had the most fun! Maybe if they're in disguise they won't mind me posting some of my favorite costumes.

She wouldn't knock or get too close, but she was willing to take the candy.




These were only some of the costumes, a lot of the guys had already changed for study time.

warning! baby belly nudity

Elle has been going to the baby doctor with me pretty regularly. She knows the drill now, and doesn't ever forget the part where I have to pee in a cup. The other night she found the measuring tape and insisted on measuring my belly just like the doctor. Then she spent some time talking to baby brother.

first family camp out and 30th birthday party

We survived! Elle slept in a tent...all night! We had a great time at Lake Thunderbird, even if we got to really understand what they mean by "primitive" campsite. Thanks to Daniel for camping with us and for the boy scouts doing all the tough work. The party was wonderful and we truly appreciate all those who came out to wish Chris a happy birthday.

it's not bug spray or a rash, it's a baby shower!

I've been complimented on my sneakiness in the past, and frankly I didn't think Chris had it in him. But, with a little help from 24 teenage girls he can pull it off. Tuesday the girls on our floor surprised me with a baby shower. There aren't really any pics except the diaper cake they made because I didn't know it was going to happen, which means no camera.

Chris called me Tuesday during the day to say they were going to spray for the ninja bugs in the girls' bathroom (if you want to know the full story about them I can tell you later) and Elle and I should probably avoid going in the lounge. I'm pregnant and Elle's little so I bought it.

Then at dinner that night one of our sweet girls comes into the great hall and talks to Chris in the fishbowl for a minute (he's on duty so this doesn't seem strange). Then he comes to the table and tells me she's got a woman problem and feels embarrassed and would rather talk to me. She says she doesn't want to show me here and I say let's go to the floor. Remember I'm pregnant = no brain = I've completely forgotten about the ninja bug spray. So off we go! She's telling me she's got a rash on the inside of her leg and then... Surprise!

The girls had decorated the lounge, had made onesies (some of which I still don't know what they mean because it's some inside something from Chris' class), gifts, games, and cute cupcakes. We hadn't told them his name yet so they all chose one and had a cute chocolate animal holding their name up on top of each of the cupcakes.

They put so much work into it and did such a great job! They are so sweet and clever and we feel so blessed to have them in our lives!

chris' 30th

Chris' 30th birthday was Sunday and since he was working we just had a little celebration. Look for another post about the big camping party later!

birthday cake in the great hall



and some people who may or may not live on our floor got him these



can you guess what they mean?
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socks for Socrates, Aerosmith for Aristotle, and play-dough for Plato

for aunt beth

Saturday Chris ran in the Race for the Cure in honor of Aunt Beth. A few of the students and one of the coaches also ran. Unfortunately, there was a mix up and they ended up running in the non-competitive race so he doesn't know what his time was. Elle, Mops, and I pinked out and stood out front of the school to watch for him because the race went down 10th. We'd thought we missed him, and decided to go across the street so Elle could watch the cheerleaders. Then we noticed another bunch of runners coming and before long we spotted Chris. It was incredible to see so many people supporting research to find a cure for breast cancer.


the cheerleaders we watched for a while

chris is the little guy in lime green


just a few of the people that went by OSSM

it's pumpkin time!

Pumpkin Patch 2011



Gordon the jack-o-lantern

*window crayons worked great for coloring and wiped off easily when we were done cutting!




Now if she just wouldn't be scared of it when he's glowing!

i'm cheating on jbf

Just getting the word out that the Sweet Repeats consignment sale is this weekend and I'm consigning with them instead of JBF. I love JBF, but they weren't taking bedding or shoes for the Norman sale so it wouldn't be worth it for me to consign with them this time. I volunteered and consigned for the OKC sale and had a good experience... except someone opening up the bedding set I was selling and misplacing the quilt. (Thankfully, I found it in the lost items at pick-up.) Which was really disappointing since it was a larger item that I was trying to sell. I had it taped shut with packing tape and in a big ziploc bag, but apparently someone really needed to take the quilt out of the bag to see it.

I decided to try Sweet Repeats to get rid of the last of Elle's outgrown clothing and the bedding. The sale is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Edmond Armory. I went last year and found a few things, but it is still a newer sale so they don't have as many consigners, which means smaller selection. So far it's very similar to the JBF process except they have you pin the tag on the label of the clothes. Things I like about it so far: I don't have to drive to Norman, you only have to volunteer 3 hours to shop early, I got a free reusable bag for consigning, lower consigning fee, the tags are smaller so you can use fewer sheets of paper and less ink and you can use any color card stock, no entrance fee the first day. Things I'm worried about: it's a smaller sale so this could mean my stuff actually gets looked at or they don't have enough buyers. And they don't have a bar code system so I'm curious how they keep up with tracking the items. Things I don't like: they don't take Old Navy children's clothing or Carter's brands from Walmart or Target.

I'll let you know how it goes!

tt: fire prevention week

This week for "school" we did the letter Bb and fire prevention week.

Monday the girls made fire trucks for a snack/craft and practiced their stop, drop, and roll. We also read Corduroy Goes to the Fire Station by B.G. Hennessy.
We used a graham cracker with red icing for the truck, chocolate cookies for wheels, a chex cereal piece for the window, pretzels for the ladder, and a red gumdrop for the light.


We also got lucky because the room had some fire engine puzzles.

stop, drop, and roll!



I have a great curriculum book called Sesame Street fire safety station that includes a cassette tape. (Click on the title for information about the curriculum. It says they restrict sending the kit to preschools and fire stations, but it never hurts to try and order it. There's also several for sale on amazon.com.) We listened to the stories and songs on it this week. We also played a game called "red dot, blue dot". We went around the house and put red stickers on hot things, and blue stickers on cold things. Elle also went around and looked for all the smoke detectors. The curriculum comes with a coloring book and to get a copy click here.



For letter Bb we made a bear out of a B and did some sidewalk chalk writing.

cattle rustlers

This past weekend we took a trip to the Waugh farm since it would be our last chance before the baby comes. Saturday we helped Uncle Ken move cows. He's trying to wean some calves and he had too many bulls in one area. We first stood guard as Ken moved the cows from one pasture across the road to another pasture. Then we 21st century "drove" the cattle over to the corral to be sorted. Elle and I watched from the pickup as Chris, his dad, and Ken sorted out the calves and the bull. Then they had to get the bull in the trailer and we followed him to his new pasture. It was really interesting to see that part of the farm life.