The Bean: January 2016

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Sunset Turtle Hunt

Quinn's beloved turtle, Lily, died earlier in December. Matt had been promising her we'd try to catch a new one, and last Sunday night was the night! We headed out just before sundown with nets and a bucket.....

Daddy snagged one, and we brought it home! Quinn named it Holly. I will have to post a couple pictures of her new pet soon!

Mudpie Kitchen fun

These two have been playing outside as much as possible lately, especially over the Christmas break!! Here they are having a birthday party, complete with cake, of course. Quinn is lighting the candles before they sing.

Her post.

This is her usual post, the best vantage point from which she can see everything going on and still snooze if she gets drowsy.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Happy 2016!

May your new year be filled with sunshiney fresh air, peeps that make you smile, brave experiences and much JOY in the unending blessings of God!

Morning Chat with Oma

Q calls my mom every morning on our drive to school. She usually gives and receives a Wyoming/Texas weather report, gets a handle on what Oma will be teaching her kindergarteners that day and describes anything noteworthy that we pass on our drive to school. :) She loves this part of her day!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Thanksgiving flashback....

The kids got some bettas over the Thanksgiving break. Q got a red one named Rot ("rote"=red in German) and Beck's blue one was named Blau (blue). Blau has unforunately since met his demise, however. He jumped from his bowl onto the tile. I was vacumming up some mud on the kitchen floor and mistook the overboard fish for a dead leaf and sucked it up. As it thumped into the vacuum I realized it was the fish. I screamed for Matt, he quickly took the vacuum apart and extracted the fish, who was alive and lived for two more days, but the trauma was just too much for the little guy.....

Making orange cranberries with my good helper!!

Around Here....

We love the morning sunshine that seems to shine just a little brighter on us as we walk into school each day!

And this guy is around more now that it's cold. He's pretty much a constant snuggle-bunny, which I won't complain about. And my ripped jeans bug Beck. He's already an old soul at the age of 4 and can't understand why I'd buy jeans with tears in them.

Picking up some goodies for our Okie friends last month. This boy and I both agree that TJ's is the bee's knees.

And we all love Ms. Rachel and her haircuts!! Quinn got a November trim and Ms. Rachel worked really hard to convince her that getting her hair washed would be a good idea...and in true Quinn form, she resisted like CRAZY and then ended up loving every minute of it. :)

Q at school

In the mornings Quinn's class usually starts out with some sort of whole-body movement to get their blood pumping and warmed up for the day. Sometimes it is jump rope, sometimes it is an obstacle course on the playground and sometimes it is a run around the spacious grounds. Here's a peek of one foggy morning...Quinn is the first turquoise jacket. I love seeing the first graders running--movement is such a part of their day that they are the most coordinated, graceful group of kiddos I've ever seen! They looked like long distance runners striding across the grounds that day. :) And you know our girl digs a morning run. She's gotten fast, too! According to her she's the fastest girl in the class, with 3 boys that are faster than her. And she's working on changing that!

This was a morning visit to the kindergarten to share a snack together. It sounds so funny to hear Quinn telling me about their visit and calling them the "little kids." She was one of those little kids for several years. :)