Thanksgiving Playdate

 Adley's November playdate was at her friend Selah's home. Selah's mom planned some great events for our gathering. She started out with a cute read-aloud story called The Thanksgiving Blessing. Can you tell our playgroup bunch has multiplied since last month? We now have 10 kiddos!

Then, the kids made a turkey craft using their handprints. They thought it was hilarious to use a picture of their own face for the turkey's head!

So cute!!

Next up was snacktime. Adley and I had volunteered to bring the snack for the day. She helped me assemble these fun turkey treats at home. It was a fairly healthy snack with the popcorn and goldfish.

For our final activities, Gentri divided the kids into two groups. One group did turkey bowling...

...while the other group did turkey balloon racing. Then the groups swapped places. The kids loved these creative events!

We love our monthly gatherings with these great kiddos and their mommas!

Green Anacondas

 Last fall was a busy soccer season for our family. We had already signed Jaden and Cody up for a community soccer team before they received the invitation to join their school's JV team, so our family jumped right in to TWO simultaneous soccer teams. Thankfully, the seasons didn't overlap for too long.

Jaden and Cody were pleased to play with their cousin Ryan, and they were blessed to have Uncle Matt, Grandpa, and Jason all serving as co-coaches for their team again too. The other players on their team, the Green Anacondas, were fairly young. Some were completely new to the sport. Jaden, Cody, and Ryan were all wonderful leaders and key players for the team. The Green Anacondas had a strong season, scored tons of goals, and ended up losing only one game.

Jason, Matt, Grandpa
Finn, Ryan, Jaden, Cody, Ezra
Nolan, Jason, Mason, Brighton
not pictured: Rylan

JADEN

Jaden was a strong, confident player this season. He typically played midfield and was helpful both on defense, fending off aggressive opponents, and on offense, keeping the ball on the correct side of the field. He usually scored a couple goals each game and was often called upon to play full games when our team was down a few players. Jaden was typically the player to throw the ball in on the sidelines. He gave his all in every game and was worn out by the end!

CODY

I didn't get any goalie photos of Cody this season, but in most games, he played goalie for half the game. He was great at positioning himself in the right spot and was quick to block goals. Even though Cody was needed as goalie, he was also missed on the field. There were definitely a lot more shots on goal when Cody was in the goalie box! As a midfielder or forward, Cody was fast and aggressive. He would often score 2-4 goals, even after playing goalie for half the game! Some opposing teams called Cody our secret weapon. After he played goalie the first half, Cody was full of energy and came out ready to strike in the second half. He came on strong when the opposing team was worn out!

GOAL!!!

GOAL!!!

The Green Anacondas ended the season with trophies and donuts after the last game. Jason, Uncle Matt, and Grandpa took turns talking about each player.

We were thankful for the humble, servant-hearted leadership and the amazing sports knowledge these three men were able to provide for the boys. What a dynamic coaching team!

Great season, Green Anacondas!

Around the World: Part VI

 The next country that Adley and I learned about this fall was...

Italy

Since Italy is famous for its pasta, we started out with two pasta-related projects. First, we dyed penne pasta a variety of colors.

Then Adley strung the noodles into a colorful necklace.

Our next pasta experiment was looking at the strength of spaghetti noodles. We tried stacking the spaghetti on its end and predicted how many books it would hold.

Then, we made a sort of pasta bridge. All together, the noodles were quite strong!

Another day, Adley learned that Italy is home to the famous Mt. Vesuvius. She drew a picture of the volcano on a plastic baggie...

...and then we made our own volcanic eruption. We did this experiment several times and were rewarded with a couple of great loud pops!

This video captures what we did to create the "eruption." The explosion on this particular trial was a little weak, but Adley still enjoyed seeing the bag swell up.

We also talked about the city of Venice and how it is connected by many canals. Adley created this Venetian gondola, complete with a gondolier.

Next, Adley made a model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We both were pleased with how cute this project turned out to be!

After reading the children's book Pizza in Pienza, Adley played with her felt pizza. This hands-on activity is something I created for Jaden and Cody many years ago to give them something to do on road trips.

My cousin shared this idea with me and sent me the link for the Pizza Factory cards too. Adley loved when I would "order" a pizza by selecting the Pizza Factory card complete with the toppings I wanted.

We added some bonus toppings too. What a fun way to create pizza!

Another thing Italy is famous for is its art! Adley and I talked about Michelangelo and his well-known Sistene Chapel painting. She loved trying out her own "ceiling" artwork.

Michelangelo was also a prominent sculptor, so we tried our hand at sculpting. The idea was to use Ivory soap, a material supposedly easy to carve. Adley, however, was REALLY turned off by the strong smell, so Mommy had to complete this project solo. Haha!

Our edible Italian treat was going out for gelato one day after school. Jaden and Cody don't always love trying out foods from other countries, but they were thrilled about joining in on this adventure. Yum!

Making the Italian flag was one of the last projects we did, but it was a cinch!

Finally, since Italy loves their soccer, Adley completed a soccer skills checklist outside. The checklist included skills like wall kick, trap the ball, red light green light, weaving around cones, and goal shots.

Adley was so proud to check off each skill as she completed it. She asked to do the entire checklist three or four times through!

Our public library had some great Italian books for us to read. We were especially excited to find two more Bella and Harry books, both set in Italy. Other than those two cute books, Adley's favorite was Olivia Goes to Venice.

MEXICO

The next country we "traveled" to was Mexico. I thought this taco-building game was so cute. I printed off the spinner and cut the taco fillings out of felt. Adley and I took turns spinning the spinner as we raced to see who could first fill their taco with all of the required ingredients. She loved it!

Next, we made maracas using Easter eggs, plastic spoons, and rice as filling.

Adley even tried to decorate the masking tape on her maracas. Most of all, she loved the fun sound they made!

The next day, we dipped into the Mayan culture a bit. Adley decorated this Mayan mask with an impressive amount of careful attention. She even cut it out herself!

Then, using homemade moon sand, we built an Aztec pyramid.

Crushing the pyramid was just as much fun as building it!

Another day, Adley cut fringes on tissue paper squares...

...and attached the squares to a homemade pinata.

What a colorful pinata!

Adley loved trying to whack the pinata down. It wasn't easy, as the pinata swung all over the place!

When the pinata finally burst open, Adley was thrilled to pick up candy! If she really looked closely, she would've realized that the candy was simply her own Halloween candy from her bucket in the pantry. What can I say-- I'm a frugal mommy! Ha! 

Back inside, Adley made a Mexican flag by coloring the coat of arms and using watercolors for the rest.

When our tissue paper was out for the pinata-making, I was inspired to create a papel picado, a traditional Mexican craft. My designs were nowhere near the intricate patterns on authentic papel picados, but it still made a festive, colorful decoration in our house! I also pulled out the Mexican sombrero that my family purchased in Juarez many years ago.

Many traditional Mexican foods are things we regularly eat, so we decided to try some new-to-us foods. I bought these tamales from a local grocery store. No one in our family was a big fan.

These homemade apple empanadas were a big hit, though!

After Adley tried on the sombrero, we figured she needed some additional Mexican attire. So, she colored a Mexican serape for herself.

Pretty stinkin' adorable, I'd say!

I found a cute little instructional video for Adley to learn the Mexican Hat Dance. She did a great job with this!

The last craft activity we did was a simplified version of Mexican tin art. Since cutting real metal obviously isn't appropriate for a 4-year-old, Adley decorated aluminum foil instead. I love the way her design turned out!

We found lots of great literature set in Mexico. Many of these books taught us new Spanish words too. Both of us definitely learn the most about each country through great books like these!

And that's a wrap for our fall "travels" around the world!