Goodbye Summer...Hello Second Graders!

This week marked the official end of summer vacation and the beginning of my sixth school year of teaching. It's hard to believe that I have been teaching that long! I was dreading the end of the summer because it has been such a blessing to be able to spend the summer with our precious little girl. We have had great fun playing, swimming, and laughing all summer and I hated for it all to come to an end. I feel very lucky to have had such quality time with Addy and loved watching her grow and learn before my very eyes. It is truly amazing to think about how much she has changed and grown in just a few short months.

The teachers started school on Monday and the students' first day was Wednesday. Adalyn had her first official day at Patty's on Monday. Addy settled right into the routine and hit the ground running. It was not as easy for me as I missed her greatly throughout the day and wondered what she was playing with or what kind of trouble she was getting herself into at Patty's.

Meeting my new second graders for the first time is always a little bit nerve-racking and exciting. It is always fun seeing their reactions to their brand new classroom. Each year I ask my new students to guess my age. This year many of the students' guesses were in the upper thirties and forties. Their guesses are always good for a few laughs. My students are all a lot of fun and so well behaved. I can tell that this year is going to be another great year.

This past weekend marked the beginning to our favorite time of year.....festival season. Derek and love to attend the various community festivals. Autumn is my favorite season because of the gorgeous weather, pumpkins, apples, and festivals. This weekend we got a good taste of the upcoming fall weather and we took full advantage of it by going to the state fair and the sweet corn festival. Adalyn loved the state fair. She enjoys people watching and the state fair is a prime location to "people watch." She also got to see many animals and had the chance to pet a horse, which she really enjoyed. We didn't know how many animal sounds she knew until we went to the fair. She knows and can make the sounds of a duck, horse, cow, pig, dog, and cat. At the fair M & M's was giving away free ice cream sandwiches. Since they were free I decided to let Addy have her shot at one. So, I unwrapped the entire thing and gave it to her in her stroller. In a few short minutes she managed to eat the whole thing with only an ice cream mustache and a bit of ice cream on her shirt and stoller (and hair) left as evidence.


On Sunday we headed to Derek's favorite festival....the sweet corn festival. I think it's his favorite because the main food is such a bargain (3 ears for $1.00)..yes he is a bit of a cheapskate! Addy ate her own ear of corn and had a great time. We also managed to get quite a bit of work done around the house and I accomplished some school work as well.



Checking out one of the gardens at the state fair.


"Seriously Mom, I can eat the WHOLE thing?"

Cheesin' with a ribbon chip in her mouth.

(Our friend Kim just got engaged last week. We are very excited about her upcoming wedding. We saw this "chapel on wheels" on display at the state fair and want her to consider this as her ceremony venue. I don't think she'll consider it:)


Overall we had a great first week back to school and the sitter and a very fun and productive weekend. Although I am sorry that summer had to go so quickly, I also look forward to my new class of second graders and all of the fun things that we will be able to do with Adalyn this fall. It's time to start thinking about a Halloween costume....stay tuned for further details:)