Writing Therapy

I meant to include this entry earlier but the picture got lost in my clutter, so here it is now, better late than never! In late September, my sweet little Kate was so sick with a nasty virus that kept her out of school for four days. Having just discovered the joy of school, and not wanting to miss a minute of it, she was pretty blue. During those days, whenever she could muster some energy, I found her writing and drawing pictures. She wrote a Halloween story, colored pictures for his sister, and wrote to her teacher. As the school week drew to a close, Kate was very sad because she might have to miss the Fall Festival that Friday night. She wrote a letter to her teacher expressing her sadness and had Gracie deliver it. It’s a simple little thought but a powerful one because she used writing to acknowledge some uncomfortable feelings. She drew a picture of herself and Mrs. Leubner, telling me that her teacher was wearing green because that’s what she wore on the first day of school. I love how she writes her teacher’s name at the end. Not having enough space for the second syllable, she adds it on the next line. The “b” in Leubner is reversed so it looks like her name is Mrs. Loodner. :)

Kate, I hope you continue to discover the beauty of writing as both a means to connect with others and a way to help yourself through hard times. I love you.

I may miss the fall festivool (festival).  I miss you.

I love you.  Love Kate   to miss Loodner (Mrs. Leubner)

First Field Trip

Gracie and Kate had a field trip to Tolmachoff Farm in early November.  They learned about corn and went through a corn maze, harvested produce, had a picnic-style lunch and most importantly, had the thrill of riding their very first school bus!  I was able to attend as a chaperone and wasn't too wiped at the end of the day, maybe because I only had to keep track of my two little chicks.  Mrs. Leubner's class wore black in order to keep all the little ones identifiable, hence all the black shirts.  Fun times!

The Cheetah and the Flapper

The girls picked out their Halloween costumes this year, and for no significant reason, other than the fact that they are 6, Kate wanted to be a cheetah and Gracie a flapper.  They did look quite darling in these fun costumes.  Kate, with her missing front teeth, rocked the cheetah look.  And Gracie, with her short hair and sass, was the perfect flapper.  A lot of the pictures I have of Gracie are blurred because she couldn't stop dancing and shaking!

Finding Fall

One of the drawbacks of living in Phoenix is the absence of fall.  The girls will never really have the authentic experience of observing leaves change colors and existing amongst pumpkin/produce farms.  Luckily we live close enough to Prescott which gives them a glimpse of the fall experience for a day.  We really enjoy our yearly trip to Freeman Farms where Gracie and Kate get to navigate their way through a corn maze, visit a petting zoo, ride on a tractor, pick a pumpkin and just be with the season.  This year, after the trip to the farm, we drove to the center of Prescott and let the girls play with the leaves.  We were also fortunate to run into a hula hoop jam which seemed like a true gift on this day.  The girls completely enjoyed shaking their hips to the drum beat.  And of course we ended the day with a meal at the Prescott Brewing Company...yum!

Oh, my two front teeth!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!  Oh wait, are you allowed to sing that in October?  Katie Bug lost her two front teeth at 2 AM in early October.  How did it happen at two in the morning, you ask?  Well, Miss Kate fell out of bed, hit her chin we presume, and almost knocked those wiggly little suckers right out .  We heard the thud and then saw the blood...sorry for the visual!  Kate wasn't upset about the fall though because her two front teeth we're hanging on by a thread and able to pop right out with one little tug.  It was an exciting event!  She loved her new look and we loved her beautiful toothless smile! And although she wasn't able to sing the "All I want for Christmas" song because her teeth grew in before then, she did resemble some our favorite Halloween characters with her missing teeth and her lovely new fangs!

The Buttefly Exhibit

Every fall and spring we make a trip to the Desert Bottanical Garden to visit the butterflies.  In the fall we see the monarchs and in the spring there are a variety of species to observe.  It's always such a pleasant day hanging out with butterflies in the lovely seasonal weather. 

This year we went with my friend Kara, her sweet little girl Hana and some of their good friends who also enjoy visiting the butterflies.  The girls got to make butterfly crafts outside the exhibit and play together on the garden paths.  It was truly a beautiful day and I look forward to the spring when we can go again!

Slide Rock Apple Fest

Ah, the trip to the Apple Fest.  Blue skies, sweet crisp apples, leisurely strolls among local craft booths.  NOT!  This has to be one of the most comical, bizarre day trips I've ever experienced and I think Mom would agree.  I was hoping to take the girls to an apple orchard in the fall to pick apples but since we were a little too late in the season, I was happy to hear about this apple festival in Oak Creek Canyon.  I had visions of eating homemade baked apple goods and hanging out in the sunshine, but apparently something went terribly wrong in the world and damaged the apple crop, THUS leaving the festival with no apple pies, no apple strudel...no APPLES at all!  And to top it all off, the sunshine that greeted us early in the day turned into a sky full of thunderstorms!

But wait, it gets better.  We took a trolley to the festival in Oak Creek Canyon and left our car in Sedona.  My sweet little Gracie managed to sneak her blue purse on board the trolley after I told her to leave it at home.  Why would I deny a 6 year old her favorite purse, you ask?  Well because the purse was filled with her coin collection, mainly the quarters and pennies and must have weighed ten pounds!  We noticed the purse sitting next to Gracie on the trolley but it was too late, we couldn't turn the trolley around!  We began to laugh with thoughts of how ridiculous it was going to be lugging this money bag around the festival.   Mom is a problem solver though and  quickly had us buying necklaces with the quarters and paying for a train ride in pennies and quarters.  Hmm, I wonder if the people behind us in line were just a bit annoyed.  Oops!  We eventually donated the rest to the 4H club after Katie milked a goat.

We never found any apples but we did visit the old apple sorting shed which was creepy interesting.  Actually we took shelter in there after the rain started.  It would have been really cool if there were apples inside instead of just the apple memories of yesteryear.  Have I mentioned that I thought there would be apples at the festival?

After standing in the shed for some time, we decided to brave the rain and head toward the trolley stop.  The rain eased up and as the trolley approached, we were greeted with yet another bizarre happening on this day.  I got my first bee sting.  And guess what...I have a bee allergy.  I almost died.  Well maybe it wasn't that dramatic but I almost blacked out and saw only white for a while.  What a day!  I think I'll be a little better at planning our apple field trip next year.