Fall Kinder Happenings

 Adley is absolutely loving kindergarten this year! She enjoys her classmates and teacher and never complains about going to school. Adley doesn't want to talk much about her day when we pick her up from school, but she often tells us kindergarten stories at random other times throughout the day. Adley's teacher does a great job of sending us photos of their classroom activities. We love getting a peek at Adley's kindergarten days!

First Visit to the School Library

Zero the Hero brought lollipops on Day 20

See You at the Pole school-wide event

Dressed for Patriot's Day

First Visit with Chapel Families

Playground Time!

Enjoying the New EC Greenspace

Adley sometimes sees her cousin Ben on the playground

Five Senses Popcorn Party

Centertime Lego Creations

Firetruck Visit

Riding in the Fire Truck!

Voting in the School-wide Pumpkin Contest

Watching the Kinder Garden grow... little by little each day

Taking Home a Harvest from the Kinder Garden

Fall Art: Warm Color Texture Leaves

Sept Misc

 Some miscellaneous events from September:

Kids' Building Workshops

Adley has continued to show interest in these monthly workshops, so she and I have been heading out to both Home Depot and Lowe's once each month. In fact, it's become such a routine, that I've been forgetting to take photos at some monthly events. Adley loves the Home Depot projects since she gets to paint her creation, and she looks forward to the Lowe's workshop since she gets a snack at the end! We only captured photos of the Home Depot project this month. Adley enjoyed making this pencil holder and now puts it to good use, storing her markers and colored pencils, at home.

Virtual Bible Study

Every 3-4 weeks, I meet with these lovely ladies online for an evening Bible study discussion. These ladies are dear friends that were part of my Bible study group for a number of years back in Montana. We are all spread across the country now (Michigan, South Dakota, Montana, Texas), but we've still been making it a priority to study a Christian book together and chat regularly. We certainly have some history together! I always look forward to my time catching up with these ladies and growing in our faith. 

This month, we threw a virtual wedding shower for our friend Becky who was getting married at the end of September. We all mailed gifts and decorations to Becky and had some celebratory cookies delivered to her. In addition to watching Becky open her gifts, we played some silly games-- writing a mad libs story, doing a scavenger hunt, playing a "How Well Do You Know the Bride?" game, and designing our own doll-sized wedding dresses out of toilet paper. Ha! What a fun evening of laughs!

Gellyball

Jaden and Cody were invited to a unique birthday party this month for their friend Walter. Walter's family paid for these boys to experience Gellyball-- a low-impact paintball-like activity. The company had the boys playing various battle games, and they absolutely loved it!

It was a beautiful weather day, so the group also enjoyed some outdoor playtime after Gellyball. These boys have some pretty great friends!

Grandma's Birthday

Jason's mom celebrated her birthday this month on a day that Cody and Jaden's soccer team played Ryan's team. How fun that she got to watch three of her grandsons play on the same day! It was a great excuse for us all to get together midweek. Jon and Chelsea's family came to watch the game as well, and we all (minus Chelsea and Selah) ate together at Chick-Fil-A after the game.

Salem Events

Jaden's 5th grade class led the first class-chapel of the school year. His teacher, Mrs. Degenhardt, wrote a great script on standing firm in the armor of God. The whole class did a wonderful job sharing God's love with the rest of the school.

Jaden had a very extensive narrator part and appeared two different times during the service. He had such a clear, easy-to-understand speaking voice. We were proud of him!

After the chapel, students who participated in the Summer Reading Program were recognized. Adley won two awards for doing the World Series challenge and the Teacher's Choice challenge. Unfortunately, I was sitting too far back to get a photo of these groups. Jaden and Cody were recognized as Gold Medal readers (reading at least 15 minutes for every day of the summer). My sister-in-law Sarah captured a photo of these readers.

Tweens Bowling

Cody and Jaden absolutely love being a part of our church's Tweens (5th & 6th grade) group. They mainly meet on Sunday mornings but also have various social and/or service events throughout the year. One Sunday afternoon after church, the group met for pizza and bowling. As you can tell, they have a very large, active group!

Jaden's Baritone

In 5th grade, students at our school have the option of choosing an elective-- handbells, band, or choir. Our boys went two different directions this year. Cody is playing handbells and really seems to enjoy it. Jaden chose to play band and has really taken a liking to his baritone. He faithfully practices 5-6 times a week and has made so much progress. Here are some videos he recorded for his grandparents after only a few weeks of playing.

Staff Social

At the end of the month, one of our pastors held a social gathering for the church & school staff. We enjoyed time to visit with other staff members and eat some yummy food. There were also fun activities for the kids-- pumpkin decorating and face painting. What a fun night! Cody also got his face painted (as Snoopy), but I missed getting a photo of him before the paint rubbed off. We all thought the face-paint artist was quite talented!

JV Soccer

 What a joy it was to watch these boys play soccer this fall! Cody and Jaden loved being on a JV team with their classmates. In fact, their school's co-ed team was almost entirely made up of 5th graders-- all but two players were in the boys' grade. The team was a talented bunch and played so hard at every game. We were especially proud to watch these two and see them grow this season.

CODY

Cody had such a passion for soccer this season. He loved playing and would get so excited about the games. Cody was a regular goalie throughout the season and made many great saves. He learned a lot about when to leave the goalie box to approach the ball and developed quite the powerful drop-kick. On the field, he played nearly every position, so he had to be very versatile. He probably played attacker most often and scored several goals during the season. Cody showed great, confident ball control and regularly looked to pass to his teammates.

The funniest part of the season is that Cody was given a jersey with the #3 ironed on backwards. He really embraced this and proudly called himself "number E!" Jason also loved shouting out "Go, E!" to support Cody from the sidelines. Several of the parents told us they appreciated this as well. It helped them identify "CodEE" apart from Jaden on the field. :)

 

Cody and Jaden got to play soccer against their cousin Ryan for the first time this season. It felt weird seeing them on opposing teams after the past many years of playing soccer together. The boys faced Ryan's team twice during the regular season and lost the first game but won the second.

Here are some of Cody's other action shots-- throw-ins,

goal kicks,

scoring goals!,

and being an attentive goalie. :)

JADEN

Jaden was a very dependable player for his team this year. He worked hard and willingly played any position. He played goalie for half of most games. This was a big change for him, as last year Jaden was allowing his broken finger to heal and didn't play goalie at all. He was a heads-up goalie and made many great saves during the season.

When out of the goalie box, Jaden played midfielder most often but was a tough competitor in any position. He was able to control the ball well, kick hard, and pass the ball accurately. Jaden scored a few goals this season too!

Jaden was often called upon to do throw-ins and goal kicks. He could launch the ball so far on throw-ins and did a great job of keeping his feet on the ground.

Goalie Jaden in action...

We loved our team of Salem coaches this year. Coach Boldt, Coach J (the goalie coach), and Coach G were so encouraging to the players, helped them hone their skills, and continued to inspire a love for the sport. Most of all, these coaches pointed the kids to Jesus by beginning each game in prayer and modeling good sportsmanship. We couldn't ask for a better trio!

This amazing group of kids ended their season with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties. Not a bad record when you're a team of mostly 5th graders. All of their hard work came to a head at the end-of-the-season tournament. These kids played three tough games in one day, in super hot temperatures, and won every single one! They were so very proud to walk away with the 1st place trophy for this tournament.

 What a great season! Goooo Saints!