Shimmin Farm

The third and final field trip was to a farm. The farm is out in the middle of no-where between Monmouth and Roseville. The buses got lost on the way to the farm. (I heard that this also happened 2 years ago!) Turns out the bus driver printed out directions to the wrong place. He printed directions to a house that belongs to people with the same name. G1's teacher got out at that house and asked the guy there for directions. We eventually got there.

G1 told me his favorite thing was the pigs:

This duck is ugly, but kind of interesting:

This momma sheep couldn't find her baby and was crying out for it:

G1 sitting on the tractor wheel:


If I remember correctly the calf's name was Blaze (or something similar):


I had never seen a live turkey up close, they are hideous:


Feeding the chickens:
I held a bird! For those that don't know, I don't like birds. Scratch that, it isn't that I don't like birds. I'm terrified of birds!! I told G1's teacher that and she asked me if I wanted her to take a picture so I had proof that I did touch a bird.
After we left the farm we headed to Monmouth. We were going to the park to eat lunch and let the kids play. The park is right next to the cemetery. The bus drivers missed the turn into the park, so we drove through the cemetery. That was the second mishap of the day.

The third was; one of the classes lunch cooler was not to be found when we were passing out lunches. That teacher was not very happy, understandably. So, as a couple of the other chaperons were trying to find it the teachers were trying to see what there was for extra lunches (because there are always extras from what the school provides) so those that didn't have lunches could still eat. Eventually the cooler was found. It was on a seat on the bus and could not be seen from the back door. They tried to get the cooler out because the bus drivers had left to get lunch and the bus was locked. Eventually the kids did get the lunches that they were supposed to have.

After having so much go wrong I was just ready to get back to Galesburg! Thankfully the kids didn't seem to notice that anything had gone wrong all day. They had a blast!

Niabi Zoo

The second field trip in May was to Niabi Zoo. It rained a little bit while we were there, but other than that it was a really nice trip. G1 and I were paired up with a girl from his class, and the 3 of us were free to see the zoo at our own speed.

Birds by the sidewalk:

G1 being goofy:
Feeding the goat:




These are always my favorite monkeys at Niabi:




G1 loves the "Tracys" aka camels to normal people:

I thought it was funny that the monkey was trying so hard to get the tree that was outside its netting.

The elephants came out of their building shortly before we left. That made me pretty happy. I am always disappointed when I go to Niabi and they don't come out at all.

At first when we walked by the bear's exhibit we didn't see him. That was a little disappointing, but we don't see him that often when we go. Then a couple of G1's classmates walked by and saw him poke his head up from behind the log. So we were able to see him too.

Touch a truck

In May G1 had 3 field trips. I was able to go on every one of them with him. The first was to Touch-a-Truck. We had heard of it but this was the first year any of us had attended. I went with G1 and Grammy took the girls. There was a TON of kids there. I think the Gs enjoyed it, mostly.

Tornadoes

We (Matt, his parents, and I) were in St Louis for a Kuk Sool Won tournament (those pictures are evidently on the other camera) the weekend after the tornadoes went through. Seeing all the damage really made me feel lucky that we did not have to deal with any of that. I can't imagine the devastation that so many families have felt this past month or so with all the tornadoes that have destroyed so many homes and businesses all over the country.

This first picture you can see a bunch of roofs with tarps on because they were damaged.

Businesses wrecked.


A home completely flattened.

It really made me sad to see all of this.

To spank or not to spank?

It doesn't matter really.

There are so many debates in the parenting world that will never be settled.

Vaccinate or not?

TV or no TV?

Home school vs public school?

SAHM vs working outside the home mom?

What we should or shouldn't feed our children.

The list goes on and on. You know what? One side is not better than the other. Because I do things a certain way doesn't mean I am any better than you, and vice versa.

In the end don't we all, or at least most of us, just want our children to be happy and healthy? Don't we want them to become well-rounded, successful, respectful adults?

If we would all remember that we are all *mostly* working toward the same common goal, parenthood wouldn't have to be such a competition. Maybe people would be more willing to help others along the way.

I am blessed with people in my life that support and help me along this journey. They don't judge me on my parenting style (at least not so I know). They are willing to give me advice when asked or when they deem necessary. I hope these same people feel I am there to help them along as well.

Now, I say I am blessed in this way. However, I know there are far too many parents that don't have that same support. They feel like they are in this alone. Because of that so many feel unfit, they feel as though they are looked down upon by everyone. You know who suffers the most from this? The children.

Their children, and our children, need us to lift up these other parents. All children need to know that the adults in their lives are kind and loving people. But they will never know that if we don't show them with our actions. If our kids don't see us taking the time to help those that so desperately need us they don't have as good of a chance of becoming those well-rounded, respectful adults that we want them to be.

I am not naive enough to think that all parents want this for their children. There are some people that, to put it bluntly, should not be parents. We shouldn't take it out on those children. We should reach out to them and love them. They need to know that someone, somewhere, does care about them.

I know I am far from being a perfect parent, which none of us will ever be, but I strive to be the parent that my children need. That's not the same parent that your children need, or the neighbors' children need. It doesn't matter which side of all those timeless debates each of us is on, as long as we love and care for our children.

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I have about a trillion things I need to post about, hopefully I will get them done very very soon.

They grow up too fast

My baby, my last born child, will be 3 in 15 days. How this is possible is beyond me. We have been working on how to spell her name. If nothing else, I want her to have it down before starting preschool in the fall (HOLY COW!!! PRESCHOOL!!! *tear*). Check her out. She's pretty dang amazing, if I do say so myself. :)

G2 also recently learned how to spell her name. She's amazing too. (G1 and G3 have previously been posted doing the same.)