Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

November 18, I volunteered for to help Hannah's class do a Stone Soup activity where all the little kids brought vegetables, chopped them up, and shared them in the evening along with the folktale of Stone Soup where strangers come together with little, but sharing they all have enough to eat. My job was to help all the kids take a turn cutting and I was particularly charged with making sure that there were no tears about sharing tools and no severed fingers. I executed both jobs with aplomb.  Here is Hannah cutting her vegetables. I started the vegetables and then gave the kids safety knives so they could keep working. Hannah wasn't sure what it would be like to have her mom in her class, but all the kids liked me and so she decided she might as well too. At the end, she thanked me for coming. The day after the Stone Soup activity, I went to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the National Council of Teachers of English conference. It was 18 degrees in Minneapolis. I di...

I work 20 hours a week at a research center on campus. But now that I don't have classes I also am able to do some other things.  Occasionally I make it out to lectures. I am in the back of the room sitting by the interim department chair listening to a lecture about bilingual mathematical literacy strategies. This was in early October.  I am the president of the Curriculum and Teaching Graduate Student Organization. Part of my work is to find ways for the doctoral students to meet and socialize. Here are some of us at a local seafood restaurant when the CTGSO had our fall dinner. Because I research in the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities I know many of the Special Education doctoral students. I don't usually get invited to their official gatherings, but I do get invited when they socialize on their own. One of the students had a between Halloween and Thanksgiving party and I went. It's dark, but my face is on the top right. I am...

This Halloween was warmer than the last and made for great trick-or-treating. Hannah also had a party at church, a pumpkin carving party, and a parade at preschool. For these events she wore minion garb and a skeleton costume. When we got home we sorted our candy and watched Halloween cartoons. She was really excited about Halloween this year and we read a lot of books and did some decorating. Honestly, we aren't party animals around here. This is festive for us.

Hannah was born during the Halloween season. At first I was really excited about this, but I have come to see how difficult it is to celebrate a birthday around a major holiday. In previous years, I have tried to throw parties, but there are always too many festivities and with the Kansas City Royals in the World Series there were even more evening and weekend events than usual competing for attention. But I was able to take cupcakes to her preschool class, which was very fun. We made them the night before and I taught a class and then took them to school. I actually shared snack time with the kids and took a few photos of Hannah. Then I left until preschool was finished. That night we went to a restaurant of her choosing, which served Mexican food. She likes it because she gets a balloon there. When we got back home we ate her cake and let her open her presents. Hannah gave me strict instructions to make her cake a surprise, so I made it at 11 pm after she had gone to ...

Last Saturday I took Hannah to another pumpkin patch. This pumpkin patch was busier and more commercial--less farmlike than the one she went to with their class.  After sifting through a plethora of pie pumpkins, heirlooms, and jack-o-lanterns, she picked a winner.  I had never been to a pumpkin patch before and I always wanted to go. So it actually was fun to get to two this year.  Afterward, we went to a park and carved the pumpkin. After we carved the pumpkin Hannah decided that she wanted a donut, so we made one more stop. Later that night, we lit up our handiwork.

Last week Hannah and I went to KU so I could run some errands. Along the way, we stopped at the lake in the middle of campus to take a rest and a picture. Her dog Bingo is in the picture above.  He goes everywhere with her. Even to church. But I don't let her take him to preschool. A few days later I went with Hannah to school. Her class took a field trip to a local farm and pumpkin patch. While there they fed roosters. The kids also played in a maze that had a watch tower. And then there was the corn bath. There were also a few other activities, including selecting a pumpkin. Hannah and I painted the pumpkin she picked and put it outside our door. I really like the autumnal season. This one promises to be good.

I had a meeting last week with a professor and so I asked my friend from Iran who is in my graduate program if she would sit with Hannah while I did so. She agreed. While I was gone, she drew a flower (pictured below) and then asked Hannah to imitate it on the iPad.  Here is Hannah's version. My friend was very impressed with her rendition. I agree that it is credible.  My sister's mother-in-law made this dress, but my sister has only boys and so she lent it to Hannah. When Hannah outgrows it, I will give it back to my sister. In the meantime, Hannah says that this is her favorite dress.  A back view. And we are off to church.