Round, Orange, and Rhymes with Bumpkins...

Can you guess what this week has been all about? That's right folks...PUMPKINS! And in "Bubba Gump" style, here's what our week looked like: PUMPKIN books, PUMPKIN crafts, PUMPKIN experiments, PUMPKIN pulp, PUMPKIN "snot," PUMPKIN muffins, PUMPKIN seeds, PUMPKIN patch, PUMPKIN Mickey, and PUMPKIN carving!

Whew! Busy week!! On Thursday, my Redbirds and their parents did lots of experiments measuring and observing pumpkins. They weighed and measured their pumpkins then counted the seeds. The kids surprised me at how grossed out they were by the pulp, or as one child described it, the "pumpkin snot" Ewww. Kindergarteners. Go figure. Then the kids got to sample pumpkin muffins and pumpkin seeds I had prepared earlier. Lots of fun. We also made some paper bag pumpkins by stuffing a lunch bag with newsprint, tying a the top with a swirly green pipe cleaner, and painting it orange. VERY messy, but very cute. Friday, we took a field trip to the pumpkin patch, and each child got to pick out a small pumpkin to take home. It was a really neat pumpkin patch. They had a wide variety of pumpkins. There were kinds of pumpkins I had never seen before. There were short wide green pumpkins and lumpy pumpkins that looked like they had worts. Today, Stephen and I carved one of the leftover pumpkins from my class. (and by Stephen and I, I really mean me, and Stephen watched, haha) I made it into a C for Craver. Or it could be a C for Crystal because I was the one who carved it, hehe! You might think this is the end of all my pumpkin adventures this week, but fear not! Today at K-Mart, I found the perfect pumpkin for me. It is one of those plastic pumpkins with a light bulb--completely free of "pumpkin snot" and already carved--right up my ally! And to top it off, can you guess whose face is carved in the front?? Mickey, of course! :) And so the Disney obsession continues! Stephen's been working more this week because NOBTS is on fall break this week. I'm jealous of the time off! But it will be Thanksgiving break before long!

P.S. In the picture of Stephen and me, ignore that ugly piece of hair in my face. I had to set the timer, and it took us like 300 times to get an ok shot. This was the best we could get! :)

Free Food and New Shoes

We haven't really done anything terribly interesting here lately, but I realized today that it has been quite a while since I posted, so super interesting post or not, here goes! School has been pretty busy. We had Open House Parent Night at school Tuesday night. It was fun showing parents everything they're child's been up to since the beginning of school. Connie, my fabulous assistant, has been out since Thursday and won't be back until Tuesday. She and her husband are on a short vacation. It has not been the same at school without her! My room-mom is subbing for her, and she's been a big help. However, knowing that Connie is out has thrown off the kids' routines, which is never a good thing! I'll be happy to see Tuesday come!

Friday night, Stephen and I were given tickets to attend a silent auction seafood dinner fundraiser at our church. The benefits went to Mrs. Priscilla's (one of Stephen's bosses) husband's minstry, Global Maritime Ministries, which ministers to men of the shipyards and ports of New Orleans. We ate a very yummy seafood dinner and bid on a couple of items. We were hoping to win the bid for tickets to the New Orleans Aquarium, Zoo, and Insectarium (didn't really want that one, but it was included. Bugs. Ew. Gross.) But as things go with silent auctions, the bids got really high, and we opted out. Oh well. Dinner was good, anyway. I'd like to go see the aquarium and the zoo at some point. According to the locals, they are both good.

The majority of the day today was devoted to going on a scavenger hunt for new shoes. Both Stephen and I had shoes with holes in them at this point. Very sad! So we headed to one of the malls here in search of shoes. We had already looked for shoes two weekends ago at Lakeside Mall in Metairie, where I work, but it's a very upscale mall and had mostly department stores. No Rack Room Shoes or Famous Footwear. Both of those stores have never done me wrong when it comes to shoes. So today we headed to Kenner, one city over from Metairie, to Esplanade Mall, and were very successful. It's amazing how gross and worn out shoes get over the years. Stephen and I both were very overdue. I needed some more "fake sperrys," those tan "boat" shoes that I love to wear with jeans or khakis at work. Super comfortable! Stephen needed some more tennis shoes. His were beginning to look like a Jim Henson puppet on Sesame Street because they looked like that had a mouth where the sole of the shoe had come loose! Needless to say, we were both very glad to have a new pair of shoes when the day was finished. We closed out the day by eating dinner at Copeland's next to the mall. They have very delicious "authentic" New Orleans cuisine. Very flavorful. Not spicy, just zesty! Anywho, this post is not the most interesting, clever, or funny, but it does give you a picture of some of the things we've been up to. :)