Wrestling

Andrew signed up for wrestling this year. It was his first year and it turns out we might have a wrestler in the family. Actually, this kid has been a wrestler since he could walk. He has been known to take down bigger kids at parks and play-dates. So, this is a good sport for him. He really liked being on a team and learning about official take-down moves.

Here Andrew is demonstrating the "Single Leg Take-Down."
Last night, Andrew had his first take-down tournament. They warm the kids up with lots of exercises. In the picture, Andrew is doing his heel-toe-knee move across the wrestling room.
Here Andrew is getting ready for his match. He is already in his wrestling stance (which kind of reminds me of a T-Rex stance with his little arms sticking out). Andrew got at least one take down off this kid. I love watching Kindergarten sports.Andrew got a third place ribbon at this tournament. He is having a great start to wrestling. He is learning a ton. It is so much fun to find activities that kids really like to do. We are already excited for next year (and this season isn't over yet).

Family and the Coast

On this Thanksgiving day, I am most thankful for my family. I am grateful for the time we get to spend together. In case you did not know, the Oregon coast is one of our favorite places to visit together. It is beautiful and relaxing. There are great towns like Manzanita, Seaside and Astoria. Each are very important to us. While we were over at the coast, we got to spend some time enjoying Seaside.
Seaside is the home of our favorite Arcade...Funland. We stop there any chance we can get (this tradition goes way back before we had kids...back to Erik's childhood...I think Tennant's have been going there before Erik too).Dan was kind enough to get us all a place right on the shores in Seaside...and yes there was a pool! It might be November, but we cannot pass a chance to go swimming..even outdoors! On our drive back to Ridgefield, we stopped at the Custard King. Every year we pass it on our way to Manzanita and every year Glenda points it out. She would explain that she loved going to the Custard King growing up. She loved taking Erik as a child. She loved the lemon custard. They stopped selling custard, but we did get to enjoy a Tillamook ice-cream cone in memory of our grandmother.

Saying good-bye

As I was looking at quotes and ideas that Glenda loved, I found this quote from herself. "I just love to give to others-of my time, my friendship and gifts with no expectation of any return of the same. It makes my heart feel good." She believed and lived these words.
We had Glenda's funeral and the burial this past weekend. I was amazed by the amount of people who filled the chapel. Each person's life was quietly touched by Glenda.

The service was filled with beautiful music which she loved. There was an arrangement of "Oh, My Father," "Amazing Grace," "The Lord is My Shepherd," and "Hallelujah." Afterwords, there was a lunch put together by the RS sisters. It was very kind of them to put together.
The lunch was a good time to be with close friends and family.

The burial was in Warrenton, Oregon. This cemetery is the perfect spot for Glenda. It is along the Oregon coast where she grew up.
Her grave is near her parents' graves. We had a small ceremony with more music including the version of the Taps that she had emailed out to everyone the day before she died.

Saying good-bye is never easy to do.

Missing Glenda

Monday night Glenda passed away. She was a generous loving person. Her quiet touch on our lives is impossible to describe. My mind keeps flashing memories of Glenda.
From the beginning, Glenda has welcomed me into the family. When Erik and I were first married, we were headed from MN to Utah. When we got to Utah, she had us go to her friend's house for a surprise. We went and found that she had filled their basement with a pile of groceries and other things that she thought we would need as we were setting up our first home. Life was filled with those surprises from Glenda.

I love this picture of Glenda and baby Emily. Glenda is doing what she loved best. Holding one of her grandbabies. Family was so important to Glenda. Especially her grandchildren. Unfortunately we have always lived far from our Grandma Glenda. She was able to bridge that distance though. She constantly sent them postcards and packages in the mail to let the kids know she was thinking of her Minnesota grandkids. They sincerely felt her love.It has been wonderful being loved by Glenda and being part of her life. We are missing her terribly.

Trees

Leaves from the lower part of our back yard. Bagged by yours truly (49 bags to be exact).

The trees are worth it, right?I'd say yes

Bike gang

There is new bike gang in our neighborhood.They are on the streets on a daily basis. Their trips are getting longer and longer. They are on our streets because of this guy. He seems to be the cause of all the biking these days.Ryan got a new bike from Grandma Ginger and Grandpa Bill. They have helped Ry relearn how to bike and improve his confidence and skills. They have spent so much time with him. Ryan is really a lucky guy. Now they are having a great time together roaming the streets.As long as the weather continues to be amazing...this will be a frequent sight. I think I need get myself a bike and join the gang.

Art Adventure

When I was in elementary school, there was an art program that brought works of art into the classroom for kids to see. It was a parent volunteer thing. I can remember the mom..Virginia Sweeny's mom to exact that would do it each year. I can remember thinking that I wanted to do that for my kids. Fast forward a bunch of years. I am innocently going to open house. Andrew's teacher asks if I would be interested in being the "Art Adventure" parent for their class. I went to a training at the Institute of Arts. We were introduced to eight different works of art. Our focus is Artists' Inspirations. I really enjoyed talking and learning about the art. It was so fun to look for what we thought the inspired the artists.

Today, I got to go to three Kindergarten classes. I chose these two art pieces to talk about (I get to go back in about a week and discuss other artworks):A Fishing Party Off Long Island. By Junius Brutus Steams

This painting lends itself well to talking about art portraying hobbies and other interests.
Baboon and Young by Picasso
We talked about the fact that Picasso loved playing with his kids..thus the car head etc.
Also we talked about using things around the house as materials for our art (assemblage). This conversation lead straight into our class art-project.

To make this art adventure experience more hands on for the kids, we made classroom sculptures. I told the kids that I loved making new friends. I told them that I wanted help making an art project about friends. I brought in a bunch of stuff from home (Picasso style) to create a "Playground Playmate."
I just put the X structure out and can and let them roll with it. I also put out cotton balls, silk flowers, Popsicle sticks, feathers, puff balls, tubes, Styrofoam peanuts, Christmas bows, shredded paper and necklaces.
This is what Andrew's class made. Everyone had a chance to add something to the sculpture. You know what is funny..when I envisioned this project I thought the can would be on its side for a round face. I was just the gluer..not the creator though. I like it better their way.
The second class came up with this fun friend. I love the yellow pants and flower hands. This one even has bows on its shoes. They were all really engaged in the project. It was hilarious to see these minds create. I took the above picture after the project was made. The teacher was trying to get them back in their chairs. They kept wanting to add more things though. Good sign.
This was the last playground pal. The class named him Spy Guy because they gave him a telescope to spy on people. Notice the cute bow tie.

I really liked working in the Kindergarten classes. It makes me super excited to get back to school to get my early education degree. Next week is the fifth graders...Heaven Help Me!