Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | October 31, 2016

Sam certainly loves Halloween and she has lots of activities to help her enjoy it. School has been loaded with things to do for the holiday. First she had her parade, then the Trunk or Treat. I also signed her up for Pumpkin Day after school one day where the high school kids came over to decorate pumpkins and do crafts with the kids. Here is Sam’s pumpkin. She is very proud of it and made sure I took pictures of each and every side.

They had a Halloween party in her classroom, which I did not sign up for, but I did sign up to help out with Pumpkin Math in her class. The idea was to use Pumpkin carving as a fun way for the kids to learn some math lessons. For me, it was just a great way to spend some time with Sam in her classroom, which I love. The kids were broken up into groups and we had to measure the pumpkin’s circumference, count how many ribs it has, weigh the pumpkin, come up with a group design for the face, carve it, scoop out the seeds and count them in groups of 10, then weigh the pumpkin again after scooping out the inside to see the difference.

Here is Sam counting ribs. Of course, all the kids wanted to do every single task so it was difficult, but I will say, they worked well together.

Some of the kids were not too thrilled about scooping out the goop, but they did all help to some extent. Me, I was the lucky one who got to do most of it.

Icky hands up! The design they came up with was a compromise, and I think it looks great. My pumpkin carving skills are not too shabby.

Here is the chart we had to fill out for Mrs. Hall. As you can see, there was never going to be a consensus about what his (or her) name was, so I just wrote them all. Pumpkiny Fred Crazy Duckity Donut. Ok then. The kids had fun and hopefully learned something, that’s what’s important!

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pamelamyers | October 30, 2016

Penny was feeling super snuggly for some reason and I guess Sam and I looked like a good place to take a nap. You can imagine how happy this made Samantha!

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pamelamyers | October 30, 2016

Mark and Samantha have really been into doing the electronics projects recently. I am glad, because it’s more educational than just sitting around playing with her toys or watching TV, and she does really enjoy it. Better she learn something while having fun than not, right? Anyway, Mark was looking for some interesting projects for them to do that were above and beyond what they had been doing with the bredboard. He likes showing her how to make things light, etc. but he thought she would start to lose interest if they didn’t ramp it up. He wanted to find things she could actually “have” when they were done experimenting.

There is a computer store near us called MicroCenter that it turns out has a really nice DIY section full of electronics supplies and other things. Mark found a ton of stuff on their website so we took at trip to the actual store to find the things he needed. Sam wasn’t too sure about going until Mark told her they were going to the “Mad Scientist” store. Then she wall all for it! (One of the brand names of some of the gadgets is Mad Scientist and Mark thought Sam would like that).

One of the first projects they tried was a little alien figure whose eyes would glow. Sam was very excited about getting started, as you can see!

This particular project involved some soldering. Mark wouldn’t let Sam do the actual soldering, but she did watch and learned how it was done.

Success! The little alien’s eyes light up! Very brightly, I might add. In person, it’s almost blinding!

Mark let Sam pick out some things herself and of course she went right for the multitude of colored LED bulbs. They only had a few boring ones and Sam found lots of colors and two different sizes. Can you tell she likes these projects?

She really is learning a lot about voltage and how things work. When parts come off she can even usually put things back together all on her own. I don’t even know how to do that!

Sam likes to draw schematics of what they do. Here is one showing the multiple LEDs, complete with the bulbs, resisters, and the battery pack.

One of Sam’s last projects was making an illustrated manual about how she and Mark made the alien. Too cute!

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pamelamyers | October 29, 2016

My girl is such a good sport. First this summer on the Promendade in Sea Isle, now in our front yard with the pumpkins. She is always happy to recreate my memories. At age 1 and at age 7. Still the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!

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pamelamyers | October 28, 2016

Today was Sam’s Halloween Parade at school, and also her Trunk or Treat! What a crazy busy day! The school certainly jammed everything in all at once. I have to confess, it is almost better that way. At least for me. Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays, and I’d rather get it all done than have it stretched out! The only good part is seeing Sam in her costume, which is always fun. That kid looks cute no matter what.

Here they come, Mrs. Hall’s class!

It was a bit harder to get her photo this year than last year. Sam was much more interested in scurrying along with her friends and having fun than stopping to look at us for very long.

She did look like she was having fun, and that’s all that matters.

Later that night we went to Trunk or Treat. It was chilly, but not freezing, thankfully. We arrived a little early to avoid the line, so we had time for a few pictures.

Sam was tired so we weren’t sure how the night would go. Sam hung in there long enough to visit every trunk and get whatever candy and other treats she could get!

The trunks were really imaginative and she had a blast.

We let Sam play the games for a little while but then started to get her moving home. We never told her there were some crafts inside the school – she has enough crafts at home to do, and she was exhausted!

Of course, not so exhausted that she didn’t take time to look at her loot. Oh boy, it’s not even Halloween yet and already, so much candy! We let her munch a piece or two before bed, but that was it. Sugar rush + Bedtime = Bad Night for Mommy…It was a good beginning to the holiday weekend. Sam can’t wait for Halloween!

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