Always Come Prepared

Katie has learned the lesson to always be prepared wherever she may be going. When we go anywhere, she seems to pack a bag of toys and random supplies. Then she will always be entertained.

When I had to wait for Aunt Jennifer to buy a new iPhone, my Barbies came in handy!

A Little Scientist

Ever since Katie began her first grade science lessons, she has been so interested in turning everything into a science lesson. She decided to get out her water beads and track their growth over time.

When I put the water beads in the water, I sketched a picture on my white board and labeled it "Little." 

 I tried to make it look the same size as the beads were.

When I checked on them next time, they looked puffy. 

I added to my notes. They went from "Little" to "Mediumish" to "Puffy." 

By the end of the night, my water beads were full size, and I had a record of their growth!

Balance

Katie had gotten a small pumpkin at the grocery store, and she was so excited to discover she could balance it on her head!

Who knew a pumpkin could be so fun?

Lucky Day

At the end of the school book fair, bookmark contest winners were announced, and Katie was so happy to hear her name being announced for the first grade winner. She was able to go to the library and choose a book, a bracelet, and a pencil as rewards. She felt very lucky!

Out of all of the books I got to choose from, I chose the book on the Gettysburg Address. When I saw Abraham Lincoln on the cover, I knew I had to have it!

Beautiful Autumn

Katie loves to track the changes that come with each change of season. Autumn is especially exciting for her as the leaves change color and start to fall off the trees. One day, she was in the car with my mom when she spotted a beautiful tree full of reds and yellows and oranges. She told my mom that the tree was so beautiful that she wanted to hug it. Of course we had to take her back to hug the tree.

Taking Care of Sadie

One morning, Katie was helping to take care of Sadie. She was probably correct in guessing that Sadie missed Jennifer, so Katie was trying to cheer her up. She found the iPod and opened an app to entertain Sadie.

I think Sadie needs her own iPod!

A Diary

At Katie's school book fair, she was so excited to find a diary with a lock on it. She had never had a diary before, and ever since she got it, she has been a busy writer!

I like to do some writing before I go to bed. 

When I'm busy writing, my toes are busy moving. 

I love my diary!

A Bookmark Contest

This fall, Katie decided to enter the school's bookmark contest again that went along with the Scholastic Book Fair. The theme was "The Wild Wild West." Right away Katie knew that she wanted to draw a cactus.

When I was at work one day, she drew a flowering cactus and some tumbleweeds. Then when I got home, she told me she wanted to add "Stick with Books" to her picture. I helped her with the spelling, and she finished by adding a book to the cactus. I thought it looked great!

I was pretty excited with how my bookmark turned out!

Happiness Through Drawing

Katie just loves to create pictures, and she always makes happy pictures. It's fun to watch her!

 I love to draw flowers!

I add lots of bright colors!

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

When we had a beautiful fall weekend day, Jennifer and I decided to take Katie to the pumpkin patch.  As we neared the farm, we saw the back-up of traffic. Last year, we had to give up on the pumpkin patch and get pumpkins at the grocery store because of the crowds. This year, however, we didn't give up. We ended up parking down the street in an empty lot about a half mile away from the farm. As we walked there, we decided we would be getting small pumpkins this year since we'd have to carry them back to the car.

Not surprisingly, the pumpkin patch was packed inside, but we still made the most of it. We took part in all of the activities except the hayride. Katie was a little sad about it, but the lines were so long that we decided to walk to the pumpkin patch. In the end, it was a day filled with memories!

The first thing I did was to get on the hay pyramid. 

 I don't like to go all the way to the top. For me, this is perfect.

 I checked out the tunnels in the pyramid, but I chose not to crawl through them.

 Next, we went to the hay bale maze. I decided to attempt it by myself.

I was almost there! 

 Phew! I made it!

Next up were the animals. 

 I loved the baby pigs. They were so cute!

 Then I found some calves.

They were softer than I thought they would be. 

 I thought the donkey was pretty nice.

 It was calm too!

 The goats were looking for food. I tried to get it to smell my hand.

I was happy when I could finally pet it.

Say cheese!

I took a small break from the goats and went to pet the bunny.

After, Aunt Jennifer bought me some goat food, so I could feed my favorite goat!

Before we went to find pumpkins, we had to go to the photo area. Look how tall I'm getting!

Aunt Jennifer helped me up on the tractor, but it made me a little nervous.

My mom and I sat by the corn stalks.

Then I was ready for a picture by myself!

Since we didn't want to wait in the hayride line, we walked to the pumpkin patch and found lots of great pumpkins.

My mom wanted me to stand by this cornstalk for a picture, but there was a bee flying around it, so this is the best smile I could muster.

I thought I would never get done with this picture.

We found so many good pumpkins. We gathered all of the contenders together.

Pumpkins went on and on!

I found a little one that would be easy to carry!

I really wanted a white one this year, and I was so happy to spot one.

It was heavier than the other one, but I really wanted it.

I thought these were going to be our three pumpkins, but we decided to trade one of the small ones for a medium orange pumpkin.

The last thing to do was to wash the pumpkins with the dirty water. At least it got the mud off!

New Shades

When Katie got home from her birthday party and looked through her goodie bag, she found a new pair of glasses that she just loved.

What do you think?

Life-Based Play

Whenever Katie has a doctor or a dentist appointment, you can almost always guarantee that Katie's dolls will be having the same kind of appointment soon after.

I transformed my dining room table into an exam table. I even cut some paper to put on top just like the paper on the doctor's table!

Celebrating with a Friend

Katie was invited to a birthday party, and as always, she was so excited to attend. It was her first birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

I was happy to celebrate my friend turning seven! 

After a few games, I got to meet my friend's dad. I even shook his hand! 

I liked playing the games with my friends, and not just by myself. 

It's always more fun as a team. 

We were pretty good together! 

Near the end of the party, I got to watch my friend in the ticket blaster. It was a fun birthday!