First Field Trip to the Orchard

Samantha's Class

Her buddy Ellie

It has been less than a month since I have begun the privilege of staying home with Samantha. Last week I was able to attend her field trip with her class to the apple orchard. We had the BEST time! Sami was really looking forward to riding the bus! However, she quickly changed her mind once we started hitting bumps! She also thought it was really weird to not be wearing seat belts!!

We went to Mowry's Apple Orchard in Crown Point, In. It was small and family owned which was wonderful. It wasn't commercialized like other orchards we've been too which I really appreciated!

We started the morning learning about how bees help the apples to grow. The children also saw how honey is made and had the chance to try some fresh honey!

From there we went into the barn where the children learned what type of apples are grown at this orchard. They also learned how to tell if apples are ripe, and ready for picking. They learned the proper technique for picking...did you know you twist??? I've always pulled! Oops!! They also learned they do not spray their apples, so all they had to do was dust them off by rubbing them on their pants and they could enjoy apples right in the field!!! Sami thought this was great and ate two apples before we got back to the bus!!!
There were many other surprises for us on the trip...Johnny Appleseed made an appearance! We also were able to sample cider and some other yummy treats made from apples.

There is no where else I would have rather been!!!!

It's Like a Cows Opinion...It's MOOO!!!!

Friday night Sami and I spent the night at Nana's (aka my mom) house. We had big plans to ride a bus with her work and go to Brookfield Zoo. It had been raining all day, but we were going to tough it out. Well...at about 6:00 am my mom and I decided it most likely wouldn't be that fun of a day at the zoo.

We went to breakfast at Schoop's where Sami had her very first chocolate chip pancakes. We wanted to have a fun day, so we were talking about going to St. Joseph, MI to visit their children's museum. However, we looked across the street at the gas station and saw that gas was $4.59/gl so we quickly decided against that.

We decided to go to the Fair Oaks Dairy Adventure. We hadn't been since Sami was a toddler, so we thought she would enjoy it.

She had a blast!!! They have added a lot more since the last time we were there. She had a blast in the string cheese maze, driving tractors, and riding a train. Matt had fun looking around at the changes because he did a big chunk of the electrical work. We saw a calf being born which was...um...interesting!

All in all the day turned out to be super fun!

Sami and Nana in the String Cheese maze!

A Trip to CVS

I've been trying to get better at this whole shopping with coupons business. A few of the girls have gotten really good at shopping at CVS, and many times CVS "pays" them to shop there. I decided to try it out yesterday, and I was pretty successful!
I bought:
3 Revlon Nail Polish for $3.99/each
So I paid $11.97 OOP BUT I got $9 Extra Care Bucks back

So I did another transaction and I got...
Aussie Shampoo $2.49
Aussie Conditioner $2.49
Colgate toothpaste BOGO free $1.59 (with one being free)
Right Guard deodarant $2.99
Aquafreash $1.99
Loreal Face Wash cloths $5.99

My total was $17.54 (before tax)
So I used my $9 ECB
And the following coupons:
Aussie $2 off 2
75 cents off Colgate
Right Guard $1
Aquafresh 50 cents off

So out of pocket I paid $4.29 (before tax!!!)

BUT I also got $9.99 in ECB to use on my next transaction!!!! So...hopefully I work this right next time I can always pay less than $5.00 out of pocket!!!

First Day of Preschool

Sami was a little apprehensive about going to school. They had an open house last week, and she was a bit overwhelmed because all four classes were there plus all of their parents...

We talked about it throughout the week...how much fun it would be...what she would learn...and (of course) we read books about going to school.

This morning I let her help me pick out her snack to take and get her bag all ready. We took a ton of "first day" pictures even though the weather wasn't exactly cooperating!

Right after we took the pictures she wanted to get in the car and leave! It was WAY too early, but I figured she was excited, so why make her wait...so we drove around for a bit. She was singing a song that she had made up about going to preschool. I decided to stop so we could pray together before her first day. I got teary eyed as I prayed just realizing how big she is! I have always wanted to be the type of mom who embrasses the milestones and is happy about them. I am really happy that we decided to go ahead and send her to preschool this year.








She marched right into the school like she owned it! She found her cubby right away, and went right into the room! I was so shocked!!! She was so grown up and mature about it! She just started chatting away with the teachers and kids. I can't wait to fill up the fridge with her papers and artwork!!