Thurs. Nov. 21, 2013 - Riley is Star of the Week

 Claudia, here is your future ophthalamology intern!

 At the Appleton Farmer's Market (which has moved indoors) the girls got to decorate cookies

 with Mrs. Claus!

 Then we sang some songs and listened to a story about snow

 Both girls really liked meeting Mrs. Claus and told her to say hi to Santa

 Riley was "Star of the Week" in her preschool class; among the privileges: sitting in the Star of the Week chair instead of on the floor

 Then she shared a self portrait and "All about Riley" with her classmates

The star of the week brings snacks all week long so Riley got to choose and assemble her favorite foods

 Since we had a few days off last week for parent-teacher conferences, we had time to do an art project and painted butterflies and gave them eyes and antennae to create an extra-special snack

Our friend Irene from CA stopped in for a night and had no idea she would be skewering grapes and icing eyes onto them

 To make caterpillars and butterflies for the next day's snack

 Micaela helped her catch up on email before she had to leave for work

Pilgrim hats and cornucopias

One of the things I really appreciate about Appleton is the Farmer's Market. We don't have the variety I enjoyed at the CA markets but the farmers are very passionate and knowledgeable about their products. I've gotten to know some of my favorite vendors and I love talking to them. They always help me choose their best produce and give me great cooking tips. I always buy fresh chicken eggs from Nami Moon Farms and Maria recently convinced me to try baking with duck eggs. She was right, I made the most amazing cake with her duck eggs. The market has moved inside because of the weather and of course there aren't as many vendors or produce during the winter months but we still have a great time. Last Saturday the girls got to decorate cookies with Mrs. Claus. What a treat!

This week Riley was "Star of the Week" in her preschool class. During this week she always gets to be first in line, she sits in a special chair, holds the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance and is in charge of the calendar and weather reports. Its a huge responsibility and honor and she absolutely loved it! On Monday she made a self portrait and told her classmates all about herself and her family. Wednesday she brought in a special toy for show and tell and closed the week by bringing in her favorite book to be read to the class. Riley is extremely shy and at first she really struggled with all the attention (I volunteered to help in class on Monday and watched her quietly talk about herself with as little detail as possible). Her teacher said as the week went on she grew more confident and reveled in the attention. I think she's going to be disappointed to go back to school this week and not get to sit in her special chair. 

Star of the Week is also responsible for snacks all week long. I really like that we can bring healthier, fresh snacks but it certainly makes for a busy week. Each night I was skewering grapes or peeling 21 clementines. Riley chose all the snacks herself (she liked picking all her favorites) and it was a lot of fun making creative snacks.

We also had a visitor from CA this week. Our good friend Irene was in Milwaukee for work so she came and spent a night with us so we could catch up. Riley remembers her very well (among other things, Irene stayed with Riley one of the nights we were in the hospital when Micaela was born and she still talks about that fun night). Micaela of course doesn't remember Irene but loved her immediately, as all kids do, so it was a great, but too short, visit. We really miss our CA friends and are so happy when we can spend some time with them.