Kindergarten

Here's our handsome little man in kindergarten.  

Hudson
5 Years Old

I love picking up this cute face on my Wednesdays!  Here he is with his teacher:).

We now have weekly homework.  Hudson has "packets" to do.  We work on them on our days off, Monday and Tuesdays.  There is quite a bit of work and high expectations but luckily I've taught this so I know what to do.  Daddy, not so much.  He was a bit confused on the homework already but says he can handle the math:).

Here are some examples of his first packet of homework.  I wanted to compare the difference from the beginning of kindergarten to the end.

My favorite is his "be" sentence. 

Favorite sentence ever!

I love this kid's heart!

His we sentence isn't bad either!  We do like football:).  

This is how we have to get Hudson's homework done.  He works hard and sis has a "project" as well!

Hudson's "How to cook a turkey"...

Apparently I'm the boss but in all fairness dad is the king of the house.  Hmm, almost convincing.  

We had his first conference this fall.  He is doing well in all areas but has a few things to work on!  His stamina/perseverance (especially when it comes to letter writing and coloring!),  upper vs. lower case letters, and simple sentences.  

He can read all his sight words and basic books.  He doesn't LOVE to read but he can do it:).  He did read the color copper the other day.  I was impressed!  

Here's an example of his numbers below:

We have loved his weekly homework.  I love the time with him and we really work on what MRs. Termath has asked us to work on.  For his Bb drawings, we looked up "How to draw___" a bat and a bow and arrow.  He loves learning how to draw them.  He is starting to almost like drawing!

Overall he is doing really well!  Not a huge surprise since I know what he needs to know, being a former kindergarten teacher.  Writing is still a struggle.  The other day he started a homework packet, but we had to ask his teacher for another one because he didn't do his best job.  He was in tears the whole way.  I'm trying not to be too strict but he has to try!  He often comes home with scribbling on his papers.  Coloring is not his favorite activity!  Fine motor is still a struggle but we are working on it:).   He can count to 109, knows simple addition, and all his shapes/patterns.  

The best part is he loves school!  I love that he's with my friend and that she's fostering his love for learning.  Often times I hear "Teacher says..." lol.  It's nice that I can email her when there are friend troubles at school.  Recently a girl was telling Hudson to sit by her and play with her at recess.  Being the obedient/respectful boy he is, he did.  She told him he could play for 5 minutes at recess but then had to come back immediately next to her side.  So I explained that he doesn't need to be with her all the time and he can politely say "No thank you" and play with someone else.  So Mrs. Termath addressed this issue with both kids.  It seems to be better now!  

He loves learning and tells me promptly when there is something in his backpack that I need to look at!  "Teacher says..." you need to read this tonight!  Love it!  He seems to be listening pretty well but I know how silly he can get. 

Thankful for my Hud's first year at Summit and that it's going well.  Can't wait to see what he looks like at the end of kindergarten!  

Happy Belated Halloween

Better late than never, right?:).

This year Hudson wanted to be Batman again, until the last minute he wanted to be a ninja, or something from Ninjago, but I told him he was sticking with Batman!

Hudson was Batman and Hannah was Batgirl!

Brother even shared his "weapons" with her:).

Hannah was headed to our local high school with her preschool for some trick-or-treating and Hudson's school did an all school fall festival.  I'm not quite sure how it works, but the kids all meet in the gym and have a few snacks and then run laps.  They got to wear their costumes as they ran.  Hudson wanted to run 10 laps but only ran 6 because he ran out of time:).   Sweet boy!

I tweaked my bat girl outfit from last year.  I added a tutu and a cute cat mask.  Yes cat/bat, whatever:).   My mother saved the day with the mask and skirt.  I love that woman!!!!   Ironically two of my colleagues were super heroes too so we got a pic together:).

After work, we headed to Gigi & Gpas for a little trick or treat!

Hudson couldn't wait for his mask and weapons!

We continued with our tradition of heading up to my parents church for their chili feed and church games.  It was a perfect night and we were all home at 7:30!  

Blessed to have had a fun day at work, the kids had fun in their costumes, and we spent time with family.  My heart was full:).  

A Fall of Pumpkin Patch Visits!

Fall gorgeous again this year!  The weather was warm, the sun was out, we had a fabulous time!

We started off our October with our annual field trip to Hidden Acres throughout Hannah's preschool.

Here she is learning about the bees and apples:).

After we learned about how the bees help the apples grow, we picked our apples, shined them, and ate them!  Yum!  It was a big hit with Hannah and she carried it the rest of the field trip.

Then we headed throughout he hay bale maze.

Few, we made it!  Then it PUMPKIN time!

The three amigos:).

We were late getting to the pumpkin patch...a speeding ticket on the way plus we were just late, so we ended with the hay ride this year!

After we were back home, we got one group pic:).

3 Cute Little Pumpkins!

This year, I opted to take off a day from work and go on Hudson's field trip to the pumpkin patch as well!  It was a different place thankfully:).  Here he is in class, getting ready to go!

We went to Carver Farms with the kids.  The fun part is, Hudson's teacher Mrs. Termath and I did this field trip together when I taught kindergarten with her.  It was fun to spend time with her and go on a field trip:).  We started off in the pumpkin patch!
The directions were to get a pumpkin the size of their head.  Hudson's exact words were "Well I have a HUGE head so I need a HUGE pumpkin!"  LOL funny kid!


Hannah wasn't too happy about it.  Here is our little pumpkin with her little pumpkin:).

Aww, she's happy now:).

Nana even joined us!

After we picked a pumpkin the size of our head, a mini pumpkin, and 2 gourds, we were off to the corn maze!  The kindergarteners had to look for corn on the corn stalks!

Hudson and his friend both found one...and immediately turned them into swords.  Such boys:).

This was Hudson's first bus ride!  He was VERY excited:).

Hannah was a happy girl with her little pumpkin the whole way home!

After a few tears of course:).

The last few years, we've thrown a Haak Harvest Party but this year I thought it would be fun to meet up at Bigelow Gulch for the day.  Only one of our friends were able to make it this year but it was so nice to have quality time with our friends and their kids.

We met at Walter's Fruit Ranch.   Ironically I went to Whitworth with the owners son but never connected it was his folks who owned it!

The whole crew!

Walter's had so many fun things to do!  There was a free tractor ride to take you to the apples if you wanted to pick them, kids rides and activities, lots of fruit and  pumpkins and food!  We split up and each kid chose the activity they wanted to do!

Miss Hannah chose her new found love...

A pony ride!  She is riding Tinker Bell.  It was meant to be:).  She was so excited to wait for the pony ride and LOVED every minute of it!  

Hudson chose this....

This kid surprises me more and more every day.  

Then the kids went in the pea pit area with a maze and slide.  This slide was steep and I only went down it once.  That was enough:).  Losing money and my cell phone, luckily T saved the day and dug them out!

See how Hudson is thrown out of the slide?  Yeah, that was me, with Hannah on my lap.  I bet the picture was priceless!

The pea pit!
The girls loved this pit!

It was a fun day filled with friends and kids, my favorite!  We ended the day at Wendy's down the hill since the food at Walter's wasn't as kid friendly:).

It's been a fun fall at the pumpkin patch!  I love this time of year!