Christmas Eve in Tampa

Halloween Party

The weekend before Halloween, Tom and I asked Cole if he wants to have a Halloween party with his friends. Cole was so excited! So we invited his friends to come over. This was the first time Tom and I have ever had to deal with so many kids at once. I'm sure Tom shares the same sentiment as I do when I say I appreciate teachers WAY more now than I used to... dealing with so many more kids five days a week, X number of weeks out of the year! Good grief! Don't get me wrong... I love kids... just not used to dealing with more than one at a time. Being a teacher requires a whole set of different skills!!

The kids started trickling in at around 2:30 p.m... then it was a madhouse! I had 2 activities planned for the kids... but of course only one happened. The first one was a spider made out of double chocolate muffins (for the body), with chocolate frosting, m&m's (for eyes) and chocolate-flavored twizzlers (for legs). The second activity was supposed to be owl faces on sticks but Tom and I could tell that the kids just wanted to run around and play. Who the heck wanted to stay indoors and make owl faces on sticks?! So the kids went out to the backyard to play... and I ended up making the owl faces myself. (lol) I had fun though!

Here are some snapshots of the kids playing...

The Corn Maze

I went to a corn maze with the rest of Den 13. First, Matthew, Elias, the other Cole and I went into a very small peapod maze. In fact, it was so small you could jump through the maze easily. There were also some tires about up to a five year old's height. We lifted them up, but then one of the moms told us to stop. Then we were given directions for the corn maze. I didn't quite hear what she said. So I asked Daddy what the directions were. He said that the directions were to hole punch the numbers on a sheet of paper as we went through the corn maze. So then we went into the first set of the corn maze. The first place we got to was 11, so we hole punched 11. Then we found a five year old boy who was lost. He couldn't find his mom. Then he went with us some of the way.

My First Day At Horizons Class

Today is my first day at Horizons class. The other kids (the kids who have been to Horizons) went to Horizons without permission from the teacher. Good thing Carly knew where to go. (Carly is another person who started with me.) When we got to Horizons, the teacher, Mrs. Quick, told me to get a pencil and notebook paper. Somebody showed me where it was... he wasn't somebody I knew... he's from a different class. Then the teacher gave me a sheet of paper that the Horizons kids (the ones who have already been there) have already started. Then the teacher read a story called Crow and The Pitcher. It was difficult but not very. Once I finished answering the questions about the story written on the notebook paper, I was just about to start answering the questions that were on the whiteboard, we were told to go back to regular class.

It was really fun going to Horizons. I can't wait to go back to Horizons tomorrow!!! I'll tell you more about Horizons this week.

Bye for now!

After the game...

... Coach Mark invited all of the kids and parents to go to the park pavillion, where munchies and drinks were waiting to be devoured. It's great to see the kids enjoy talking about their victory over the blue team and... just simply enjoy each other's company.

After the snacks were all gone, Coach Mark handed out the trophies to the kids. Mark is so good about making each kid feel special by saying nice things about each kid's strengths and accomplishments. Thanks, Mark!

Here are some photos taken at the pavillion.

Note to Parents: You can view the photos in larger format by clicking on each picture. However these photos are formatted for web viewing purposes only and I do not recommend these for printing. If you want copies (for printing purposes) of photos specific to your family, send me an email at angela@adonovanphoto.com with the file name(s) of the photos you want.

Go Rockets!

Rockets WON AGAIN!

The Rockets won 4-0 against the blue team today! The kids and parents had a great time... we all had a great time! I don't think the Rockets ever lost a game this season. Cole said that there was one game where the team tied with the other. This was probably one of the games I missed because of the art shows I participated in. In any event, we LOVE soccer! Here are some shots from today's game. Enjoy!

My Soccer Game

Today's soccer game was excellent!!! I think Patrick scored 2 goals, Hannah scored 1, and Mikey scored 1.

At my soccer game we were given our SECOND trophies this season! I wonder why we got two trophies this time.

After the game, Coach Mark complimented everybody fairly as he handed out the trophies.

While we were having snacks (yummy donuts, donut holes and milk and orange juice for drinks), some kids talked about soccer and some talked about other things like toys, trophies and other stuff like that.

I can't wait to play soccer again. :)

Visit at the Pumpkin Patch

It's not a great idea to wait until a few days before Halloween to find a pumpkin, now is it?  We went to this pumpkin patch that everyone seemed to rave about having a LOT of pumpkins and other fun activities for the family.  When we got to the pumpkin patch, we found that we weren't the only ones with last minute plans in finding our pumpkins... and when we actually got to the pumpkin patch area, we only found one or two miniature pumpkins left.

Tom, Cole and I were very disappointed... so we kept looking until we found this small pumpkin patch in Roswell and we were so tickled that there were so many pumpkins compared to the huge pumpkin patch we just came from with only one or two mini pumpkins left.

So in the end, we went home with the perfect pumpkins that were meant to be found by us.

After the Easter Egg Hunt...

Cole and I went to the beach across from Ghirardelli Square, with Bob, Rosie, Billy and Sammy. Cole got wet and sandy for the second time that day... but had a great time with the cousins.

Of course when kids go to the beach, they HAVE to build sandcastles...

Easter Sunday Morning at Ocean Beach

Lily, Cole and I went to Ocean Beach to enjoy the ocean breeze and to take some pictures. The water was freezing but that didn't matter to the kids... they went in up to their thighs anyway. In the beginning, I told them not to get their clothes wet... but the hem of their pants got a "little" wet. So I folded the hem up... that didn't seem to work either.

Trip to San Francisco Zoo

I asked Cole what he wanted to do for his 7th birthday and he said he wanted to visit the San Francisco Zoo.  We were so happy Jessalee, Charlie and Lily could join us on Cole's special day.  Here are some photos from our little trip to the zoo.

Jessalee, Charlie, and Lily-- Thank you so much for joining us and making Cole's birthday a memorable one.