Halloween

This year's Halloween caused us to look back over the years, starting with our costume selection.  Every year since Brenna was old enough to pick her own costume, she has picked her fascination at the time, making it easy to remember what she was "in to" at each age based on her halloween costume.  She was three years old the first year she picked her costume and it was Minnie Mouse because Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was her favorite.  The next year it was Pinkalicious and she could practically recite the book word for word.  Then she moved on to Strawberry Shortcake.  The next year she fell into the world of My Little Pony and wanted to be Twilight Sparkle.  And of course, last year she (and every other little girl) carried on the Frozen obsession as Elsa.  So, this year I just knew we were headed for a Barbie Halloween, but then she surprised me.  A large, inflatable, rainbow pair of butterfly wings caught her attention and she decided to be a Rainbow Butterfly.  She said it made perfect sense since she had a butterfly birthday party this year.  Her reasoning was that she wanted to keep up the tradition.  Last year was had a Frozen birthday and then dressed up as Elsa for Halloween  The year before she had a My Little Pony birthday and dressed up as Twilight Sparkle for Halloween.  And so it was settled, butterflies are the theme for 2015.

We got a late start to our usual Fall traditions.  Normally we would have visited the Brigden Fair, but we were away in Puerto Rico that week.  Then, Halloween was here before we knew it.   In an attempt to continue another fall tradition, we made a last minute trip to Korny Korners for pumpkin picking.  The kids were out of school the Thursday and Friday prior to Halloween due to a Christian teacher conference.  Brenna and her friend Sofi were on a mission to find the perfect pumpkin.  The good thing about living in a country that celebrates Thanksgiving before Halloween is that if you procrastinate (as I do) and buy your pumpkins the day before Halloween you can get what felt like 100 pounds of pumpkin for $9.  We walked away with two big ones for carving and four medium, and four mini pumpkins for painting.

Puerto Rico Family Vacation

Earlier this month, we met up with Jacob's family in Puerto Rico for a special family get together.  We spent the majority of our time at a beautiful hacienda that's nestled into the foot hills of the El Yunque Rainforest.  The hacienda is actually a part of a working horse farm and had some amazing views and cozy outdoors area.  Here's a few pictures from around the property and our family get together.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Well, we reached a milestone this year!  For the first time ever, we started the same school two years in a row!  We've had a ping-pong experience with education for a number a reasons.  We started Preschool at Rosenberg Baptist Pre-K program, then moved to Frost Elementary for Kindergarten.  Next we were redistricted to the new Adolphus Elementary when it opened for its first year, and finally we were relocated to Canada where we began Sarnia Christian School.  Brenna has never missed a beat through all the transitions and we've made some fantastic friends along the way.  However, it was nice to send her off to school this year without that nagging feeling of worry over all the "what ifs" that come along with a new school.  Instead, she strolled right in passing out hello's to every teach and kid along the way and fell right into her element.  She was excited to get back and see all her friends and kick off a new school year!  Third Grade, here she comes!

The Run Down

Here's the run down for Spring and Summer.  The weather has been amazing!  We spent the majority of time outside with trips to the beach, sports, nature hikes, bike rides, and backyard playtime!

Sarnia Girls Soccer 2015 Season

We are a family that loves sports.  I believe it teaches younger kids about team work and perseverance and helps keep older kids of out trouble by giving them something to focus their time and energy on.  Brenna has most definitely embraced that love of athleticism since her list of sports activities continues to grow.  Even still her first and favorite sport still holds true.  She loves soccer!

At the end of the summer we closed out another soccer season.  Since Brenna enjoyed her all-girls basketball through the winter, we decided to switch from our previous co-ed soccer league to Sarnia Girls Soccer, the largest girls soccer league in Southern Ontario.  We had eight teams in our age division and each team was named for a participating country in this years FIFA Women's World Cup.  We ended up on the home team of Canada, which all the girls were really excited about.  The girls gave it their all for 14 straight weeks of games and one weekend soccer festival.  Brenna's skills continued to grow and she proved to be one fierce defender.  She scored one hard-earned goal through the season, but assisted on several.  She really shined on defense and was voted best defensive player during the soccer festival.

We had a great coach this year that really helped the girls with technique and also made it fun.  They had pre-game chants, face paint, half-time misters, and end-of-game high-fives.

We're so proud of the effort she puts in.  She's really starting to understand that practice and hard work pay off and I hope she can relate that lesson to all aspects of life.  Here's some highlights from the year!

Pre-game chant "We're Red, We're White, We're Dynamite!  Go Canada!"

Brenna's 8th Birthday Slumber Party

This birthday we spent a little time looking back.  Recently Brenna has enjoyed looking through her baby pictures and videos and we've enjoyed telling her the stories of her early years that she's doesn't always remember.  It's amazing what this little girl can do.  In these first eight years she's moved twice, relocated to another country, attended four different schools, studied three different languages, and logged more flight time than any other kid her age I know.  And through it all she still radiates pure joy!  People, places, and things; she find excitement and adventure in it all.  God knew her path and He blessed her with this amazing personality that has driven her through all these life changes.  I try to teach her so much stuff, but its nothing compared to what she's teaching me.  The greatest lesson so far being that there's happiness everywhere.  You just have to find it, and if you look hard enough, you will.  She's beautiful, smart, active, and fearless.  It's a scary combination.  She does everything with determination, especially her sports.  She's a terrible loser, especially stubborn, and likes to be right.  All around, she keeps us on our toes and in the middle of some "The lesson to be learned is...." situation, either for her or us.  We love her beyond measure and pray for her constantly.

This year for her birthday, Brenna decided to keep things small.  Rather than a large party with all her school and neighborhood friends, she decided to have a slumber party with just a few of her favorite girl friends. I thought it was a great idea!  A small group at home meant they could enjoy the day longer and have more fun activities verses a quick party with tons of kids at another location.  After she decided on the slumber party went started to discuss the theme.  Each year Brenna picks her party theme based on her current likings.  She said she wanted something fun, colorful, and girly, which quickly materialized into a butterfly theme.

She had a long list of activities that she wanted to do; scavenger hunt, piñata, slip-n-slide, hot tub, painting, fort building, movies with popcorn, mani/pedi.  I did my best to accommodate all her requests, but even I had to draw the line at a candy themed game of hide and seek.  I was afraid it would attract too many bugs!

Brenna carefully selected a cute butterfly background for her invitation.  She and I worked together to decorate the house for the party.  I found some fun headbands, pajamas, and crafts that went perfectly with our butterfly theme.  She also picked out a cute butterfly outfit for her party dress.

Mom and Me Day - Rock Glen Falls

After we had such a great time exploring the caves and beaches at the Baths in Tortola, I decided Brenna might enjoy another adventure for our third annual Mom and Me Day.  We packed a backpack for the day and drove over to Arkona, which is only about 30 minutes from our house, to Rock Glen Conservation Area.  This was one more place on my hit list of locations that I wanted to make sure we visited during our stay in Ontario.  We checked in with the park's attendant and started our day at the Arkona Lions Museum.  The area is known for its fossils and the park encourages visitors to search for them in the waters around the falls and near the river.  The museum houses a collection of fossils that have been recovered from the area and explains the different types of fossils you may find in the park.  You're only allowed to take one fossil per person from the park, but the park attendant said since it was Brenna's first visit and nearly her birthday that she could take three!

Virgin Islands Vacation Surprise

I'll start by saying we are not very spontaneous.  Especially when it comes to travel.  I love to travel, but I also love to plan travel.  Because we have a special trip planned for later in the fall, we decided to stay close to home this summer.  So, I had absolutely no upcoming travel plans other than maybe a quick weekend trip over to Niagara Falls for late in the summer.  That's why I was stunned one Sunday morning in church when Jacob turned to me in between songs and whispers "Let's get away somewhere for a cruise vacation, but it has to be the last week in June."  I sat beside him through the service certain that I must have misunderstood.  My brain only caught "getaway", "cruise", and "June".  After church, he confirmed what I thought I had heard and told me to go see what I could find!  And then the search was on!

Now, the one time I booked a cruise on short notice was only because I had already combed through all the options, done all the research, and had everything lined out. All I was waiting for was the go ahead from Jacob that his schedule would allow him to go.  This was very different!  Jacob's schedule provided a very definitive time frame to start my search, but still there was lots to consider and only a short time to do it in.  How many days to cruise, where to go, where to leave from, and which ship to take.  I called my travel agent bright and early Monday morning and we got to work.  By Wednesday, we were booked in a beautiful suite on the brand new Norwegian Getaway departing from Miami to the Virgin Islands in T-minus 15 days!  I spent the next day arranging flights, a pre-cruise hotel, transfers, and a cat sitter.  The rest of the week I researched ports, shore excursions, dining options, and entertainment schedules for the ship.  The following Monday, we wrapped up the last day of school and then Brenna and I spent the next three days packing and shopping for last minute supplies.  It was a very exciting two weeks with the anticipation and preparation.  And just like that, it was here!

Jacob worked Friday morning until mid-day.  When he got home we packed up and headed for Detroit to catch a late afternoon flight to Miami.  The flight was uneventful and we got into Miami late that night.  We caught a taxi straight to our hotel and got settled in for the night.

The next morning as the sun came up, we caught our first glimpse of the Norwegian Getaway from our balcony.  After a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we went back to the room to pack up and head to the port. 

Good Morning Miami!  First view of the Getaway!

Pioneer Field Trips - Wrapping up the School Year

Our final month of school was jammed packed, which made the time fly by.  Our school is beginning a $1.2M renovation this summer.  Due to that, the board made the decision to drop the final three days of school, to allow the teachers more time to pack up their classrooms ahead of the demolition.  Because of that, there were no free play days and we pushed hard on our studies all the way until the end.

Our final social studies unit was on pioneers.  This unit took up most of our final month.  We had a special project to make a very creative log cabin along with an instructional flow diagram describing the process.  Our teacher also organized two field trips as part of the study.  The first field trip was to the Sarnia Quilter's Guild Quilt Show which was hosted at one of the local churches.  The group had prepared a special presentation for our class.  It started with reading a wonderful story about a quilt maker who helped a king learn to be generous.

Chatham-Kent District Track and Field Meet

On the big day, we woke up to a perfect 65 degree day with clear sunny skies.  We were up bright and early, since the meet was roughly a 2.5 hour drive to Windsor and Brenna's first event kicked off at 9 AM.  Sarnia Christian, along with 6 other area Christian schools came together for the annual Chatham-Kent District Track and Field Meet.  Brenna qualified to compete in 5 events.  She participated in the 100 meter, 200 meter, standing long jump, running long jump, and the girls relay team.  Due to safety concerns, no age groups were allowed to complete in the high jump this year.  Brenna was a bit disappointed over that.

She worked hard and practiced hard, but Jacob and I knew this would be a different level of competition that Brenna was not accustomed to.  My little competitor likes to win!  We coached her for weeks leading into the meet, that just being able to go was a reward, and as long as she tried her best, that's all that mattered.  She understood this clearly.  But what her head knows and what her heart feels can be two very different things.  I was worried that she'd get discouraged if she didn't earn a ribbon.  Only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places are recognized.

She was tested immediately on her first event, the 100 meter.  She gave a valiant effort and came in a close 4th.  She handled it well!  She walked off the track sucking wind and told me, "Those girls are fast!"  We moved on to 200 meters, where she again came in 4th.  Silently, I was thankful that she was at least competitive and not the last kid to cross the finish line.  I was holding out hope that she could come away with at least one placement ribbon.

We moved on the standing long jump.  This is a strong event for Brenna and I hoped this would be our time.  Unfortunately, she get off to rough start.  Her first jump was great..........except, she was pushing so hard for distance that she fell back instead of forward.  She got a bit upset, but she shook it off and prepared for her second jump.  Her second jump was fantastic!  So, going into her third jump she felt pretty confident.  Again, her third and finally jump was great, except she fell back again trying to stretch out the jump.  She came back to me almost in tears, but we talked it out that she had one good jump and sometimes that all you need.  Turns out, we were right.  She managed a 2nd place ribbon on her one good jump!

Next, it was on to the running long jump.  She jumped well, and walked away with another 4th place. All this took up the entire morning and we finally got a break in our events around noon.  We grabbed some lunch and watched some of the older kids compete while we waited for our final event.

Brenna ran the first leg of our girls relay team.  Our biggest concern was that someone would drop the baton.  Despite practicing for weeks, we always seemed to have issues with the hand-off.  Either the girls had to really slow down for the hand off, or they dropped the baton.  Brenna devised a plan that she would run as fast as possible to get a head start and then slap the baton into Lucy's hand!  She followed through and with the help of the Lucy, Miriam, and Emma our girls came in 3rd (very nearly 2nd)!  I was glad that she got to celebrate that victory as a team!

It was a long day, but so much fun!  I was proud of all the hard work that our athletes put in.  Thanks to their efforts, Sarnia Christian School placed 3rd overall and came home with a new Track and Field banner to add to the gym!

First thing that morning.  They said "We got this!"   

SCS Track and Field Day

As spring rolled around, Brenna began to get excited about Track and Field.  Last year was our first experience with the sport.  Brenna loved it and proved to have some natural talent for some of the events.  This year, she eagerly signed up for the Track and Field team and we began practices twice a week after school in preparation for Track and Field Day.

When Sarnia Christian School Track and Field Day finally came, it did not come with perfect weather.  It rained through most of the morning, putting a real damper on the outdoor events.  Jacob took the day off this year so he could be there.  I volunteered in the kitchen, so I was able to see nearly all the events.  Lucky for Brenna's group, they began their morning with High Jump in the gym and managed to miss most of the heavy rain.  As the day progressed, they moved through high jump, 100 meter race, 200 meter race, standing long jump, running long jump, and shot put.

Turns out, Brenna did very well for her age group.  She made a clean sweep and came home with six 1st place ribbons!  This was much more than we had anticipated!  I had spent the week praying that she would just be able to place well enough in one event to progress to the district meet later that month.

Here's some video highlights from the day.

Henry Ford Museum

While my Mom and Dad where here in May we decided to visit the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.  We had heard from both Canadians and Americans that it was great day trip.  Jacob was in Arizona on a work trip, so it was just me, Brenna, Mom and Dad.  Originally I thought it would be a short excursion and then maybe we would do some shopping after, because how long could you really spend in a car museum.  But, based on the suggestions of friends we planned for the whole day and I'm glad that we did.  

We visited both the Henry Ford Museum as well as Greenfield Village.  The Henry Ford Museum building itself covers 8 acres with 40 foot ceilings.  It documents the genius of ordinary american people by recognizing and preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives.  We saw the cot that George Washington sleep on during the war, the chair that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in, the Presidential Limousine that JFK was assassinated in, and the Goldenrod which is the fastest car in the world.  We sat in the bus that Rosa Parks rode when she refused to give up her seat to a white gentlemen in Montgomery, Alabama.  I enjoyed reading the life timeline of George Washington and its very honest documentation of his character (not as heroic and upstanding as you may think) and his rise to power as our first president.  I also enjoyed reading life timeline of Abraham Lincoln (whose character was documented just as we've idolized him to be as Honest Ab) and the struggles he faced during the civil war with views from both the north and south sides.  Of course, along with the historical aspects of our country, there were lots of planes, trains, and cars.  

Brenna loved moving from exhibit to exhibit and even though some of this was out of her current scope of interest, the museum did an excellent job of having  kid-friendly stations that kept her entertained.  There was a paper air plane making station with a runway set up to see exactly how far you could fly your plane.  There was a hug toy train exhibit complete with streaming video from a tiny camera attached to the top of the locomotive, so you could see yourself on the big TV screen as the train made the curve coming out of the tunnel.  Finally, there was a mini-garage where Brenna learned to change a tire and replace an oil filter.  

After we finished up at Henry Ford we moved on to Greenfield Village, which is an 80 acre outdoor replication of America's colonial times.  Some building were authentic and had been removed from the previous location and resettled at Greenfield Village.  Building like Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, Thomas Edison’s laboratory where he invented the light bulb, the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, and the bicycle shop that belonged to the Wright Brothers were just some.  We got to ride in a Ford Model-T to tour some of the grounds.  Afterward, Brenna and Mawmaw enjoyed the amazing kids playground, while Pawpaw and I toured Edison's lab.  The lab had all original equipment and materials.  After the building had been relocated to Greenfield Village, Henry Ford invited Edison to recreate his original experiment to create the lightbulb.  At the time, Edison was in his 80's so Ford had a chair provided for him at the experiment table so that he could sit rather than stand.  After the experiment was complete, Ford had the chair nailed to the floor.  Edison was the last person to sit in it and its never been moved.

Next, we made our way through the railroad junction and roundhouse, the craftworks where we watched them blow glass, and the farm lands where we saw horses plowing the fields.  Finally, after more than 6 hours, we headed home and still had not seen all there was to see.  They also offered a factory tour where you could visit the Ford assembly plant and watch the new F-150s being built, but that would have to be saved for another day.

So, it was a great visit and I'm glad we got to experience it.  I highly recommend making the time for it if you're ever in the Detroit Area.

Brenna exploring the halls, playing house, and the human hot dog!

Grand Friend's Day

Each year our school celebrates Christian Education Week with a full list of special activities for each day of the week.  There are fun competitions, dress-up days, and special lunch treats.  The week ends with Grand Friend's Day.  This year Brenna was very excited because Mawmaw and Pawpaw were able to come for the event.  Grandparents are invited into the classroom to visit and tour the school.  Brenna was able to show them all her art work and creations displaced throughout the school.  The grandparents usually come bearing gifts of candy and chocolate for the kids, so Brenna was delighted to see a bag full of M&Ms, Crunches, and Ring Pops.  Next everyone moved to the gym for an hour and a half presentation from each grade level.  Maw maw and Pawpaw won the award for longest distance traveled and were thanked by the principle for bringing the warm weather up with them.  Brenna's class gave a comedy performance and told grandparent related jokes.  She also sang in the Junior Choir.  After the presentation, lunch was served by the kids.  It's a wonderful event and we were thankful that Mawmaw and Pawpaw were able to share it with us this year.

Queen Esther for Bible Character Day

Spring School Pictures

Pet Smart and the London Children's Museum

Our school curriculum is project based learning, meaning a large portion of our daily routine is hands-on group participation.  This allows for open discussion, the development of team building strategies, and real world applications.  I would venture to say our kids spend more time out of the classroom than in it.  It's been a very hard contrast to our previous school experiences that did incorporate these initiatives in small doses, but the day-to-day learning was more individually focused in a classroom learning environment.  At first I was a bit concerned about how this method would impact Brenna and more specifically if it would cause her to lag behind in skills when this assignment is over and we return to the US.  But as time goes on, all those concerns have fallen away.  The kids are so much more engaged with the subject matter and because of that they seem to retain the information much easier.  It's been a very enlightening experience and I won't ever look at education the way same again.

That leads me to this post.  Earlier in the year while covering our Animals Unit of the curriculum, we took a field trip to Greenview Aviaries.  You can check it our here Class Field Trip to Greenview Aviaries.  Keeping with the same idea of hands-on learning, we took two more field trips a couple of weeks ago to supplement our curriculum unit.

The first trip was to Petsmart.  The kids had been pushing our teacher, Mrs. R, for a class pet.  But they couldn't come to an agreement on what to get.  So, Mrs. R decided to use this as an opportunity to incorporate some more fun into the curriculum.  First, she stretched their descriptive writing skills with an assignment to write what pet you'd like to have and why it's the best choice.  Next she tied it into their math and research skills by provided a trip to Petsmart.  The kids broke into groups based on which pet they wanted.  Then they had to research all the needs of the pet and calculate its total cost, including both one time purchases like habitats and monthly costs like food.  There were groups for guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, birds, turtles, rabbits, and lizards.

The plans are to have a fundraiser and then use the money that they make to determine which pet the class can afford based on their findings.  Brenna is certain that a hamster is best choice.  It was a quick and easy field trip that had a big impact on the kids and they had a great time!