Merry Christmas from the Cassidy's

Merry Christmas
2010

Patrick, Patsi, Zane & Berkley

Cassidy

Santa 2010

Our Santa picture went much better this year with the kids. If you remember, last year Berkley was SCREAMING! This year she was all about sitting in Santa's lap & telling him she wanted a baby doll & puppy UNTIL we actually got up to Santa. After Santa told her, "Its' okay, bubba will hold you hand," this is what we got:

ADORABLE!

Zane asked Santa for an airplane & a puppy while Berkley asked for a baby doll & a puppy.

Zane's Kindergarten Picture

Kindergarten is going so much better for Zayner. He has made friends & really likes the kids in his class. Patrick & I have been very impressed with Ponder ISD so far. There are only 13 kids in Zane's class! He has began reading, sounding out words that he sees when we are driving or when watching us on the computer or doing work, his coloring is awesome, and his counting & number skills have improved drastically. He is wonderful at listening to a story or selection & being able to answer questions about what you have read to him. We are very impressed with how much he has learned so far & just how smart he is!

Did I forget to mention how handsome he is?

Kindergarten 2010
Ponder ISD

Family Photos 2010

Family Photos 2010
taken by Marisa Swarbrick

Halloween 2010

We celebrated Halloween at the Ponder Community Trunk-or-Treat this year & then headed to a Justin neighborhood with some friends. The community Trunk-or-Treat is put on by the local churches in which the kids have fun activities out of the back of cars/trucks & get goodies!

Zane the Transformer & Berkley the butterfly.

Our beautiful butterfly

Getting some goodies

Zane with his cousin, KadenBerkley with Jack

Zane & a friend getting some goodies from a Justin neighborhood.

Pumpkin Patch - Kindergarten Field Trip

On October 22nd, I joined Zane's class for a field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was nice to spend the day with Zane, meet his friends, & observe the interactions between himself & his classmates. This particular pumpkin patch had various stations & activities for the kids: hayride, slide, bounce house, chicken house, feeding/petting area, maze, barrel/train ride, face painting, fish pond, etc.

Zane & his best friend, Wyatt, on the hayride

Zane's Kindergarten class with their teacher, Mrs. Brandon Barrel/Train Ride
Sandbox funPetting/Feeding area Slide Face painting Maze
Even after all the fun, let's just say: God bless elementary teachers!

Outdoor Fun

One of the many things we love about the new house is our driveway. The kids have a very large area to play with their ride-on toys, balls, & other outdoor toys. And a wonderful thing about Fall in Texas is the weather is wonderful! High 70s to low 80s in October. The kids have been enjoying some much needed time outside in the evenings.

The kids love our driveway - Zane will push Berkley in her car to the top of the driveway & send her racing down on her own.

Kindergarten Update

Zane's Kindergarten experience has been very unexpected. He has not reacted the way any of us expected him to. There has not been any of the "boy behaviors" that we were seeing at Mother's Day Out. No hitting or kicking, no peeing on the playground, no wrestling, no back talking, etc. Instead, he cried the first 6 weeks. He has told us he likes his teacher, but he misses his mom, dad & sister when he's at school. Needless to say, I bawled the first 6 weeks too. He is doing much better now. I still have to walk him in everyday & leave him blowing me kisses as he disappears down the long hallway. His teacher assures me he is doing great with his school work and that he is extremely helpful to the other kids.

Some Zaneism regarding Kindergarten & starting school:

Zane: "Not all moms make their kids go to school."

Me: "What kids do you know that don't go to school?"
Zane: "Those big kids like Kaleb."

(Kaleb is my nephew that graduated high school last May.)

Me: "Maybe you need to call Kaleb because Kaleb lives at his school this year. He goes to college."

Kaleb: "You mean I have to go to college too?!?!"

The first few weeks as we were coming up to turn into the school parking lot Zane would say,

"Keep going mom, don't turn, go, go, go, ......... awwww!"


Zane: "Not all moms make their kids go to school."
Me: "What kids do you know that don't go to school?"
Zane: "The ones in jail."

Me: "Zane, what was your favorite part of the day?"
Zane: "I'll tell you what part I don't like, that nap part!"

Me: "Man Zane, you are learning so much at school. We are so proud of you!"
Zane: "I don't learn anything at school. I just figure stuff out."

Me: "Who said that?"
Zane: "The little brown boy who speaks Spanish that's in my class."

Ponder Elementary's Fall Festival

Ponder Elementary's big fundraiser is the annual Fall Festival. What a blast! The kids had so much fun! There are so many activities & so many goodies to eat!

Berkley the butterfly (without her wings)

Zane doing the ball toss Finding a goodie in the treasure chest Fishing for candy Can't wait until next year's festival!