The Santa House in Tulsa and Elf arrives

As Christmas approaches, I try to take the kids early in the season to the Christmas house at Utica Square.  It's a darling playhouse in the middle of the square with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  I have enjoyed this special tradition since we moved to Tulsa a few years ago. 

I have found that going to the Santa house a few days after Thanksgiving is the best option.  There is never a line and we have plenty of time to visit with Santa and take a lot of pictures.  This year, it was bitter cold.  I mean FREEZING.  But I knew we had to go and tough it out before the days slipped away and the crowds formed.  So one day after school, we raced to the Santa House.  Anna was so cold.  We tried to be quick.  You can tell by their faces that they were ready to get in a warm car!

Anna was not interested in sitting with Santa, so she stayed off to the side next to William. Adeline visited with Santa but didn't want to sit on his lap.  William chatted with him as well and asked for a some baseball equipment.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving Feast at school and Turkey Butter

Adeline's preschool class hosted a Thanksgiving feast for lunch.  It was so cute and all the kids loved wearing their homemade headbands.  Adeline also helped me package up turkey shaped butter that our family hands out every year to friends, neighbors, and people in our community.  We attach a tag that says "We are thankful for you!" and William draws the picture that is on the card each year.  This Thanksgiving week was extremely cold and Adeline was the only kiddo in the family to brave the elements with me on delivery day!  She was proud to carry the butters and told everyone "I am thankful for you" when she handed it out. 

William's Revolutionary War State Fair Project - 2nd grade

William's 2nd grade class took a field trip to the Tulsa State Fair.  After their visit, the teachers assigned a State Fair project of their own.  Each 2nd grader had to enter an exhibit in the 2nd Grade Holland Hall State Fair.  Kids could build something, bake something, paint something, whatever they could dream up...sky was the limit!  Each project had to fit on their desk and then on the day of the fair, the lower grades came to tour the 2nd grade fair and ask the kids questions about their projects.

The paperwork detailing the fair project came home at the end of September.  William flew in the door waving a bright orange paper in my face.  "MOM!  This is so awesome and really important.  I know what I want to do!  I know exactly.  We are having a state fair and I am making a Patriotic Skirmish and scene from the Revolutionary War.  I need that log cabin we got in Dodge City over the summer and I am going to build it and paint it and make a landscape."  He was talking a million miles an hour and I was trying to follow along in the excitement even though I had no idea what he was talking about!

Once I read the paperwork and located the log cabin (THANK YOU LORD I didn't throw it away), William was ready to go.  The project was due at the end of October and that gave the kids a full month to work on it.  William started the next day and he and Dada worked every single night for 2 weeks.  William loved every second of his project and needless to say, he was SO PROUD of the finished scene.

I got to attend the fair too.  William was proudly sitting behind his project when I arrived and he was beaming ear to ear.  I walked around and looked at everything the kids made and I am not bragging when I say that William's  project and a couple others were by far the most detailed and well thought out.  There were about 3 kids who made REALLY impressive things - William's scene, Caroline's Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii and Leah's working ferris wheel out of popsicle sticks and tin cans.  You could tell these three worked the hardest and longest on their projects.  Several kids threw things together last minute - Lego projects, paintings, baked goods, and a display of shoestrings!  lol. 

Everyone won a blue ribbon for first place.  William almost cried on the way home because he couldn't stop telling me how this day was the most fantastic and fun day of his entire life at Holland Hall.  I am so glad to see him enjoying learning!

William 7.5 years Magazine Pictures

William was asked to be the featured child in our neighborhood's monthly magazine.  There's a section in the magazine where a child is interviewed and their questionnaire is published along with a picture.  The photographer for the magazine took these wonderful pictures of William.  He's pretty cute if you ask me!

Kirk of the Hills Preschool picture day - 2 year olds and 3 year olds

Pumpkintown 2014

The girls and I went to Pumpkintown during opening week. We met our friends Michelle, Jack and Harrison for a morning of fall festival fun.  It was the PERFECT time to go because school is in session and we were the only people there.  William is too old for most of the Pumpkintown playground, so I didn't feel too bad that he wasn't with us.

The girls LOVE all the play houses that are set up on the grounds.  They didn't care one bit about the bounce houses.  So they spend a long time setting up a picnic and pretending to be on a hike in the woods. 

Anna spotted the pony rides soon after we arrived and since no one was in line, we got an extra long time on the ponies!  The pony operator even told me that my girls were the nicest kids he had worked with in a long time and he thanked me for teaching them kind manners!  Proud mom moment for sure!  Anna especially loved the pony rides.  And when it was time to get off, she REALLY didn't want to leave her horse.  The nice operator distracted her by telling Anna that he'd take her to see the goats and the chickens.  Anna's eyes got huge and she instantly stopped crying and said, "Ok, lets go see the pigs too!"  HA! 

Pumpkintown has a petting zoo area where my girls just looked at the animals and got a kick out of watching them move around and make noise. 

We took a break to sit in a pumpkin patch and rode the cow train 3 times.  It was SO NICE to be there without anyone else.  We had the place to ourselves and the kids had a blast.  After a few hours, we headed home but my girls fell asleep before we even turned out of the Pumpkintown parking lot!

HAPPY FALL!