About Me
My name is Tami and I live in central Illinois with my husband, Larry and three children, Caleb (8), Camden (7) and Emma (4). I hope you'll enjoy reading about my life as a wife/mother and about our family's adventures. What I’m Reading
First Day of Kindergarten
Today was Caleb’s first day of Kindergarten. He has been getting so excited about starting school and counting down the days for the last week.
When we got to school this morning, we lined up with his class and went to the gym for the morning assembly.
Then we went to his class. Caleb got to put his supplies in his cubby, look around his classroom and meet his teacher. The kindergarten classes only had to stay for one hour, so the morning was pretty short.
After we left school, we took him to Coffee Hound for a special treat.
It was a great first day of school and I am looking forward to what this year holds for him.
Tags: 
Kindergarten, 
first day of school
Mother’s Tea 2009
Last week, I got to attend the boys Mother’s Tea events at preschool.
During the tea, the kids sing a couple of songs and then we get to have cake and punch…the boys favorite part. The boys each took in a picture of me for their show and tell in April. They then “wrote” a story about me (the teacher asks them questions).
I also got some sweet gifts from my boys. Camden made a cut tote bag with his handprints and Caleb made vanilla bath salts.
Caleb’s picture and story:
My mom’s name is Tami. She is 40 years old. Her favorite food is probably “pasgetti”, like mine! We like to play Lego’s…like in Chicago. Lego’s are fun. I have three of them. At the park mom likes to slide with me. At home she scrubs the floors. I love my mom because she plays Lego’s with me. Caleb, age 5
Camden’s picture and story:
My mommy’s name is Tami. I call her mommy and daddy calls her Tami. She is younger than daddy…but I don’t know the number. She stays home with me. At home she cleans the potty in the bathroom. She is really good at cooking bread and chicken noodle soup. Her favorite food is cereal…the regular kind. Mommy likes to go to her favorite restaurant…Buffalo Wild Wings…and McDonald’s. She likes to wear her cowboy shirt and blue pants. She plays hopscotch with me and we play duck duck goose. I love my mommy because she gets toys for me and she hugs me! Camden, age 4
This is my favorite event during the school year. I love reading the stories and what great things they come up with to say. It is a little sad to think that this was my last Mother’s Tea with Caleb…since he will be entering kindergarten this fall.
Tags: 
Mother’s Tea, 
preschool
Daddy’s Night 2009
Last week, Caleb and Camden got to take their daddy to Daddy’s Night at preschool. The dads get to experience a day in the life of a preschooler. They made a picture frame (a picture was taken that night with their daddy), sang a song for daddy, had story time and of course, snack time.
For show and tell in February, the boys brought in a picture of their daddy and then wrote a story about their daddy. The teacher’s prompt the kids with questions. These are put up on the hallway for all the dads to see. It is hilarious to see what all of the kids say about their dads.
Caleb’s picture and story:
My dad’s name is Larry. I don’t know how old he is…probably about 21. He has probably blue or something eyes and black hair. He makes money at work so we can go to the shoe store and buy food. I like to play Gooey Goo, monsters and dinosaurs with my dad. He takes me to get Indian food and Pot Belly’s. We watch Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. I like to put together my Star Wars legos with him. He likes basghetti and so do I…with yummy meatballs. I love my dad because he tickles me!! He makes me laugh a lot!! Caleb, age 5
Camden’s picture and story:
My dad’s name is Larry. I call him dad…mom calls him Larry. He is 62 years old. He has black hair and brown eyes. He works at…I don’t know the name. He just works there. He eats…everything! At home he plays Hi-Ho Cherrio with me and Candyland. I love my dad because he makes silly faces. Camden, age 3
Tags: 
Daddy’s Night, preschool
Eyestone Schoolhouse
For the Caleb and Camden’s first preschool field trip this year, they went to the Eyestone Schoolhouse. It is a one room schoolhouse from the early 1900′s in our town.
The kids had a great time learning how school was a century ago. They learned about the different bells the teacher used, to bring the kids in from recess and to start school, and how the school was heated by a wood burning stove. The kids also got to write on the blackboards.
When we first arrived, the kids all got pick a seat to sit in and see how the school children learned.
The weather was rainy the day of Camden’s field trip, so the teacher read a Little House on the Prairie book. Camden was leaning on her lap for the entire story time.
The weather had cleared up for Caleb’s class and they got to enjoy a birthday party outside.
This was an especially fun field trip for me. I remember taking this same field trip when I was in grade school and it was a favorite of mine.
Tags: preschool, 
field trip, 
Eyestone School, 
one room schoolhouse
First Day of School
Tags: preschool, first day of school
Zoo Scavenger Hunt
For the last day of the summer session of preschool, the boys had a field trip. Since it was also Emma’s birthday, my husband took the day off of work and we all went together. The field trip was to the Miller Park Zoo to go on a scavenger hunt. The boys had been studying different countries this summer, so we were finding animals from different countries. Every team was given a different list of animals to find.
The animals we had to locate were:
- Panamanian Golden Frog (Panama)
- Pallas Cat (Central Asia – Iran to Mongolia)
- New Guinea Singing Dog (New Guinea)
- Burrowing Owl (Canada through South America)
The kids had a great time trying to locate each of the animals on our list. It was a beautiful day and we had perfect weather for our adventure.
Tags: preschool, field trip, 
Miller Park Zoo, 
scavenger hunt
Weekend Edition – Art Festival
This weekend was the Sugar Creek Arts Festival in our town that we love to attend every year. We always see some interesting art, watch the entertainment and have some good food. This year there were 170 artists booths to check out in the sweltering heat.
I bought a really cute hand painted dress for Emma for next summer that can also be worn as a top the next year. I also bought this great necklace from an artist, Weener Ware. She makes jewelry made out of recycled bottle caps.
This is similar to what I bought, except mine is a dragonfly. The artist puts mini-pictures in the bottle cap, accents with gems and glitter and pours on liquid resin.
Last week, the boys came home from preschool with t-shirts they made this summer. They had a class picture taken with all of the kids in their shirts. They were so excited to show their daddy when he came home for lunch. Whenever they have a surprise, they always make daddy close his eyes and make a huge production of showing off whatever it is they have made.
Tags: 
Sugar Creek Arts Festival, 
Weener Ware, 
bottle cap jewelry, preschool
Alpaca’s and Gardening
This week Caleb and Camden had their first field trip for the summer session of preschool. They went to the Alpaca Farm outside of town. This was one of the best field trips we have gone on. It is right up there with the Ropp Dairy Farm.
The alpaca’s really liked the children and we were even able to pet one named Josephina.
The week before our field trip, one of the alpaca’s had a baby. She was 17 pounds when she was born and is gaining about 1 pound a day. She was so cute.
On Tuesday, we went out to my dad’s so that the boys could help plant the garden. This is something they help with every year. They even have their own gardening tools that we bring along. They planted tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers. They each have a special tomato plant that they are in charge of. When we go out to visit, they will get to water it and help pick the tomatoes when they are ripe. They are so excited about helping again this year.
Tags: field trip, 
alpaca farm, 
gardening, preschool
End of School Program and Field Trip
This past Monday was Caleb’s end of year program for preschool. Even though he is 5, he will be going back to preschool for one more year, instead of entering kindergarten, in the 5 pre-k class. He is pretty excited, especially since a friend from this past year will be in class with him. We will have two kids in preschool this next year, Camden will be in the 3′s class in the fall.
The end of year program/graduation is such a big production at our school. Caleb is such a ham on stage and had a great time singing the songs with his friends.
Caleb singing with his friends
Also this week was the final field trip. It is always out of town and most of the parents go along. We went to Monticello Railway Museum this year. We got to tour the museum, which was a train that you walked through and the volunteers explained what the different cars were used for. The boys especially liked the postal car. There is an arm that would swing out of the car and pick up mail from towns that the train did not stop at.
Caleb and Ben on the train
Then we got to take a train ride into town, have lunch at the park and a train ride back to the museum. The kids and parents had a great time on our last field trip of the school year.
Caleb riding the train
Caleb at the park
Caleb had such a great experience this year and learned so much. I can hardly wait to see how much he progresses this next year in anticipation of starting kindergarten.
Tags: 
Monticello Railway Museum, preschool, field trip
Preschool Project – All About Caleb
In Caleb’s preschool class a different child is highlighted every two weeks so that the teachers and other children in the class get to know the child better.
The “All About Me” bag was sent home with Caleb last Wednesday. It included instructions and a sheet of construction paper to decorate.
I did the majority of the work and Caleb helped by putting on the stickers and telling me some of his favorite things that I wrote on the project.
The completed project will be on the class bulletin board for two weeks. He also took in two small toys to talk to his class about.
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