Sydney Fuller

Halloween 2010

The big day is finally here! No more, “How many more days until trick or treating?” The girls were all really excited about dressing up this year. Time for the big costume reveal….Introducing Cowgirl Jessie!

We started off our day early at our annual trip to the Denver Zoo for Boo at the Zoo. It is always a really crowded event but the kids don’t seem to mind.

This year we invited our friends the Sandovals along for their first trip to Boo at the Zoo. The girls always love having some friends along to share their experiences. And the parents love it because the friends factor keeps everyone occupied and less whiney. Here’s the whole gang dressed up and ready to go get some candy.

Sydney was really into the candy factor of the zoo this year. The others kids would take their time, enjoy the animals, and stop off for some playtime. Sydney would get angry for everyone to hurry up as she needed more candy. Which was funny to me because she really doesn’t eat too much candy. I think she was much more into the game of acquiring as much as she could.

After the zoo we went home to work on our pumpkins. Reagan requested King Boo from Mario of course. It was a little bit more difficult as I had to “skin” part of the pumpkin to get the whole effect. Wasn’t so bad. I think he turned out pretty cute. Sydney did her FIRST ever Jack-O-Lantern completely by herself this year. I think she did a pretty awesome job.

Trick or Treat, smell my feet……Here we come!

Nations Day

Every year the kids’ school has a big celebration at the end of October for Nations Day. Each class picks a different country to study during the month of October. This year Sydney studied Italy. To give you an idea of how big of a deal Nations Day is at our school lets just say the celebration lasts 2 weeks.

Every afternoon for the last two weeks Sydney would have a party for the last 2 hours of school. In the party they would make different Italian crafts….aprons, t-shirts with the italian flag, mosaics, paintings, etc…

And enjoy different Italian snacks such as italian ice, biscotti, garlic bread, pizzelles, cannoli, Italian sodas, pizza rolls, and even make your own pizza day. I got to volunteer in the classroom for make your own pizza day which was a hoot.

Along with the crafts and snacks they would learn all about the Italian culture and language. It is truly a fun time for the kids.

To show off what they have learned the kids put on a big show for Nations Day. Here are some pictures of Sydney’s performance. The skit started with a stand-off between the boys and girls.

They then partnered up to perform the Mambo. Sydney was partnered with Brandon.

And more singing and dancing to finish out the show.

Of course we have video as well…

After the big show our class had a field trip to the local Italian restaurant, Johnny Carinos. First off, the manager gave the kids a tour of the kitchen. We learned how restaurants wash all those dishes.

Here they are in the big food cooler.

And we learned how they prep the food.

Finally, we were served an Italian feast. The kids had their own table so needless to say things may have gotten a little crazy at times, but over all they were really good.

Time to head back to school for the Nations Day parade. The final event for the celebration is the big school parade. The kids walk around the halls and outside so that all can see their costumes.

Its been a fun few weeks for the kids but now its time to get back to the books.

Report Card Time

Its that time of year again! Time to see how the kids are doing in school. Its hard to tell how the kids are doing from home because we get all the whining about homework. And whining about how hard math is. Or whining about how they want to go play not study. In previous years Sydney’s report cards comprised of plus marks, check marks, and minus signs. But, this year in second grade Sydney will get actual letter grades. This seems to be a big deal for some reason. So here it is. Sydney’s first ever “big girl” report card. How’d she do????

Best of all, both Daddy and Nana promised her some cash for every “A” she received. Sydney made them write down the dollar amount per “A” she was to receive before actually showing them her report card. Needless to say she now has quite an allowance saved up for Disney. Very Tricky!!

We’re all very proud of you, Sydney! Great work!

Reading Group

I had to go facilitate a reading group for these kids the last 2 weeks.

Second Grade Field Trip to Miller Farms

Today Sydney’s class had their first field trip of the year and Mom got to come along as a chaperone. We were heading to Miller Farms. This would be a new place for us. We had heard of it many times but never actually made our way over. The big attraction of this farm is that they take you out to several of their fields and you get to pick as much as you can carry of the various vegetables. Here is our gang, minus one who was sick, on the tractor heading out to the picking fields.

The first stop gave us two crops to pick. The right side would be popping corn and to the left we had indian corn. The indian corn was a hard find so you had to really search. But between the two of us Sydney and I managed to get 6 or 7 colorful ears. We have yet to pop the popcorn as it needs to dry out more. But, from what we hear it is delicious.

Stop Two, Pumpkins.

Remember, its pick as many as you want. Unfortunately, there had been a freeze just a few nights before so most of the pumpkins were rotted. But, everyone did manage to find at least one good pumpkin to take home.

For those that couldn’t find one, Sydney would run around helping them find the perfect pumpkin. She would do anything for her friends.

Stop Three, Sweet Corn.

I have to admit I got a little “Children of the Corn” freaked out in these fields. The stalks were so high and you were crammed in. But Sydney said this was her favorite stop. She felt special in that she could easily pick the ears while most kids had to get help from an adult. It was a bit hard to yank off, but she had no troubles.

Can you spot me?

Stop Four, Potatoes.

The farm had helped you in this field a bit by plowing the field a bit to loosen the dirt. So you just had to dig a tiny bit before unearthing potatoes.

Stop Five, Carrots.

Our driver would come through and loosen the soil around the carrots with a shovel to make picking easier. Although, Sydney thought it better to dig down to the root with her fingers. Meanwhile, scraping the skin away from her fingers. Yet she still managed to get quite a bagful.

We also found several deformed carrots. Some were twisted around each other while others had extra carrots growing out of their sides. The kids were all really excited about finding one of these and it soon became a contest to see who could find the strangest carrot.

Stop six, Beets.

We don’t like beets but Sydney still wanted to pick a few. They were really hard to pluck so of course it became a challenge she couldn’t pass up. She has since tried to pawn them off to several neighbors with no takers. I don’t blame them.

There would have been more stops. Tomatoes and Onions but the freeze spoiled the vegetables. Either way, I think we left with a great bounty. I made stew later in the week which turned out great. Still trying to think of ways to eat our remaining pounds of carrots and potatoes. But, so far they have been delicious. Thanks, Syd!

After the work was done it was time to play. The kids all tackled this hay stack mountain first. It was pretty cool. We’ve seen hay mazes before but never a mountain.

Then there was this thing???

And a maze complete with its own chickens to chase.

We had a great time at the farm. It was fun seeing the kids get a chance to go wild together outside of school. They are all such a great group of kids and all get along amazingly well. They are truly great friends. It does a Mom good to see. Can’t wait to go back next year earlier in the season with the whole family.

Leadville

Another weekend in the mountains. Lots of driving involved. I am not sure what she is praying for.

Hat Day

Dad let her borrow one of his work hats for Hat Day at school.

Back Home at the Cabin

Another weekend at the cabin. We are all starting to feel at home here. At first it always felt like someone else’s home. But as we spend more time here, fix up things, bring in furniture, and just clean it feels like ours.

This weekend we rented a U-Haul and brought up some furniture we had bought in previous weeks. Its not everything yet. We had to place it all in the basement for the time being as the house gets painted. But it felt good to be getting things together.

We walked through Frisco on the way back from buying bedroom furniture and spotted this cute little shop with handmade furniture. It was also packed with stuffed creatures. Such as an amazingly huge Moose. Which freaked Mommy out. But, we managed to grab this cute little guy. Meet the new greeter for the Fuller Cabin.

Another huge accomplishment this weekend…the girls finished their “boats.” They had spent the last few weekends creating these boats, one for each girl. And finally were able to clear enough twigs and gather enough decor (otherwise known as litter) to complete their new play area. I think they did a great job! Too bad they will probably under a few feet of snow by the time we get back.

Pumpkin Time

On the way home from school today we spotted a cute little pumpkin field and immediately got the itch to go pumpkin picking. We had been so busy up at the cabin for the last few weekends that we never made it the big pumpkin patch this year. But, luckily this place worked out just fine. Since it was so random I only had my iphone for pictures so they turned out a bit orange but you get the idea. Here the girls are with their pick of the day.

Sydney picked out this cool pumpkin covered in warts. I loved it. Very cool.

Leadville

I kind of like it here.

Litter Patrol

We spent another long weekend at the new cabin. The parents had a long To-do list inside and the kids were beginning to get bored in their room. Can’t blame them as it presently consists of just a mattress on the floor. So we decided to send the girls out on a litter patrol. You’d be amazed at how they found. Beer bottles and cigarettes were everywhere. They also found some dog toys, starbucks cups (not mine I swear) hats, etc…

Along with the litter they also encountered some cool nature items as well. We found some HUGE mushrooms, wild flowers and even spotted a fox. Another great weekend.

Slot Car Racing

This weekend the girls were invited to their buddy Alejandro’s 6th birthday party. He was having a party at the local slot car raceway. This would be a new adventure for the girls being that they are “girls.” But hey they were excited to give it a try.

It was hilarious. Give 10 kids a remote and tell them to “slowly” begin accelerating the car around the track. And take the curves a bit “slower” then the straightaways. Yeah right. What you instead get is 10 kids constantly crashing their cars around the curves. And parents trying to get the cars back on track WHILE their kids still have their fingers on the accelerator. I’m sure the employees were getting a kick out of watching us.

Sydney was pretty quite while she drove. She kept her eyes on her car at all times and was quick to tell the nearest parent when her car was off track. I think she had a great time.

Thanks to the birthday boy for the fun party. We’ll see on the track again soon!