Another year, another Halloween. Halloween was on a Friday this year. For trick-or-treaters, that's a plus. They can spend all weekend on a sugar high. For pumpkin carving, it made me figure out how to break up my process and how to preserve them while/after carving.
This year, I seemed to be slightly better organized than some previous years. I had my patterns selected a few weeks prior. Printing them out did not present too great a challenge. We did select our pumpkins only one week prior to the holiday, but that isn't an issue like trying to find a decent Christmas tree a week before Christmas.
On Tuesday, I placed my templates on the pumpkins and started punching the pattern into each one. On Wednesday morning, I finished the transfer and connected the dots to make it clear. When I cut open the tops to clean them out, I almost couldn't cut through the largest one. It had an extra dense layer almost 1/8" thick. Wednesday night, I started carving the simplest one but left the tiny cuts for another night to prevent the pumpkin from drying out. And then I tried the crusty one. In only a few cuts, I ended up breaking my new pumpkin carving knife. I had my work...ahem...cut out for me.
Thursday night, I wanted to finish most of the work and not have last-minute panics. I carved for 7 hours, 2 hours of it attributed to the crustiness of them. I broke another knife, and had to make multiple cuts...one to break the skin/crust, then the actual cutting, for each line of the pattern. Part of the Hello Kitty pumpkin broke from the aggressive cutting, and I had to make a repair. I moistened them and sealed them for Friday afternoon.
Evan got his trick-or-treating in before it started to rain, and the number of kids walking around seemed a little low compared to other years. The pumpkins turned out pretty good, and I always enjoy the compliments from the kids and their parents. Until next year....
Friday, October 31, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
Evan Starts Kindergarten
If we hadn't just put Evan through a year of preschool, the first day of kindergarten would have been more traumatic for all of us. Instead, it was still monumental but with no tears (parents or child). The past year of preschool had acclimated him to being dropped off at school, then picked up at the very end of the day, as well as wearing a uniform every day. That routine essentially added a uniform to daycare.
A few things have changed:
-He rides a bus to school (much more convenient for us!)
-He does not have after-school care - rides the bus home (better for him)
-He has different teachers for special subject (art, music, gym)
-He will not have nap time (he won't admit it, but he still needs them).
Three weeks ago, Evan had a week-long orientation of half-days at his new school. He had no problems adjusting, except that he expected/wanted to go home when we picked him up to transfer him to daycare for the afternoon.
On the first day, a caravan of us drove him to the bus stop. Despite our advanced warnings that we would not be able to ride with him to school, he became a "leg magnet" when the bus arrived (right on time) and the doors opened. He came willingly when I walked him on and strapped him in (they have 3-pt seat belts). Jenn and I then drove 20+ minutes into the city to be at the school when the bus arrived.
We had beaten the bus by 10-15 minutes. Mr. Carlson, the gym teacher, noticed us standing around (without a child) outside the school and asked if he could help. He was there to greet all of the kids coming off the buses. Besides high-fiving every child, he assigned older students to escort the new students (kindergartners went to the cafeteria, the rest assembled in the gym for the first day). Mr. Carlson, while he could be a gym teacher just like anyone else, did not resemble my elementary school teacher (Mr. Harrison - who could likely bike across the U.S. today) or middle school gym teachers in terms of physical fitness. He is a gym teacher for this generation, I suppose, your average 30 yr-old. That's just an observation of society, not an insult, and he seemed like a very friendly guy who I'd want teaching our youth to play games (fairly and for fun, not cutthroat and hyper-competitive).
When Evan stepped off the bus, he was accosted by another teacher (who's name escapes me) who was boarding every bus to sniff out the kindergartners (they were too fast unloading for her to reach Evan's bus and climb in). That teacher introduced herself as the Special Ed. teacher, and explained that she will spend some time with all students, not just ones who need additional attention.
Mr. Carlson assigned a young girl from Evan's bus as his escort. Sonia is in fifth or sixth grade by my guess, and she was so polite, she held the door for Jenn and me when we followed them into the school. Evan sits with or near Sonia every day to and from school on the bus now. He sat in the cafeteria and had a snack while the two kindergarten teachers waited for everyone to arrive.
Evan's teacher, Ms. Hincks, a 15-year veteran of pre-K and kindergarten teaching in Hartford, announced to the parents and children that she runs a "tight ship," and we think that will work out well for him and us. Still, she isn't threatening and has a good perspective that these 4-5 yr-olds are kids, not PhD candidates. And so, Evan's academic career officially begins.
A few things have changed:
-He rides a bus to school (much more convenient for us!)
-He does not have after-school care - rides the bus home (better for him)
-He has different teachers for special subject (art, music, gym)
-He will not have nap time (he won't admit it, but he still needs them).
Three weeks ago, Evan had a week-long orientation of half-days at his new school. He had no problems adjusting, except that he expected/wanted to go home when we picked him up to transfer him to daycare for the afternoon.
On the first day, a caravan of us drove him to the bus stop. Despite our advanced warnings that we would not be able to ride with him to school, he became a "leg magnet" when the bus arrived (right on time) and the doors opened. He came willingly when I walked him on and strapped him in (they have 3-pt seat belts). Jenn and I then drove 20+ minutes into the city to be at the school when the bus arrived.
We had beaten the bus by 10-15 minutes. Mr. Carlson, the gym teacher, noticed us standing around (without a child) outside the school and asked if he could help. He was there to greet all of the kids coming off the buses. Besides high-fiving every child, he assigned older students to escort the new students (kindergartners went to the cafeteria, the rest assembled in the gym for the first day). Mr. Carlson, while he could be a gym teacher just like anyone else, did not resemble my elementary school teacher (Mr. Harrison - who could likely bike across the U.S. today) or middle school gym teachers in terms of physical fitness. He is a gym teacher for this generation, I suppose, your average 30 yr-old. That's just an observation of society, not an insult, and he seemed like a very friendly guy who I'd want teaching our youth to play games (fairly and for fun, not cutthroat and hyper-competitive).
When Evan stepped off the bus, he was accosted by another teacher (who's name escapes me) who was boarding every bus to sniff out the kindergartners (they were too fast unloading for her to reach Evan's bus and climb in). That teacher introduced herself as the Special Ed. teacher, and explained that she will spend some time with all students, not just ones who need additional attention.
Mr. Carlson assigned a young girl from Evan's bus as his escort. Sonia is in fifth or sixth grade by my guess, and she was so polite, she held the door for Jenn and me when we followed them into the school. Evan sits with or near Sonia every day to and from school on the bus now. He sat in the cafeteria and had a snack while the two kindergarten teachers waited for everyone to arrive.
Evan's teacher, Ms. Hincks, a 15-year veteran of pre-K and kindergarten teaching in Hartford, announced to the parents and children that she runs a "tight ship," and we think that will work out well for him and us. Still, she isn't threatening and has a good perspective that these 4-5 yr-olds are kids, not PhD candidates. And so, Evan's academic career officially begins.
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