What I'm Loving Wednesday

And this, my friends, is my first installment of What I'm Loving Wednesday!  
I've decided to jump on the WILW bandwagon in attempts to keep up this blogging every day thing I have going on right now (two days in a row, people!).


I'm loving Winter Break!  There is just something about the fact that I can get up when I want, do what I want when I want, eat what I want when I went...I could go on!


I'm loving that I ordered our baby's nursery furniture this morning! It's a smallish room, so we have to be creative with the furniture.  Here's the crib and dresser:

I'm loving that we are celebrating Christmas with my in-laws, especially our cutie nephews Jack and Will, tomorrow.

I'm loving that Kurt is attempting to make me into a fashionista.  He got me these boots for Christmas:

So, I naturally had to go buy some maternity skinny jeans.  Now, people who know me well, know that I'm not a skinny jean type of girl.  But, I did it!  I pulled it off with a long sweater! Here's to going out on a limb for fashion!

I'm loving that I attempted to make my co-worker's buffalo chicken dip recipe to take over to our friends house to watch the Military Bowl.  Go Terps!


Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Week 20 Bump Date!

How Far Along: 20 weeks (though Baby B is measuring 21 weeks) as of Christmas Day...halfway there!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: In some magical way, I lost 5 pounds at my appointment on Monday.  That brings me to a loss of 2 pounds overall.  I hear now is the time when the pounds start packing on.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and a couple maternity shirts.  Mostly my regular shirts though. 

Gender: It's a BOY!  

Movement: Lots in the past week.  No real kicks, but lots of general movement.

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well lately.  I wake up three or four times a night to go to the bathroom, but that's expected.

What I miss: Nothing really this week

Cravings: Nothing much

Symptoms: Warning:  This is gross!  But, post-nasal drip, especially in the morning.  My doctor said there really isn't much you can do for it, but it's a normal symptom of pregnancy.

Best Moment this week: Seeing our little guy moving like crazy on the ultrasound monitor and hearing from the tech that he is growing and developing right as he should.  Kurt got very emotional when the tech told us the baby was a boy.  He never said that he wanted a boy, but I think deep down he really did.  

I've taken one thing off my to-do list today!  Before we knew if Baby B was a boy or girl, I found two nursery sets I really liked at Pottery Barn kids.  Today, I went to the store, and the boy bedding was on sale.  It was meant to be!  Kurt and I love the sailboat theme as a tribute to Kurt growing up by the water.  

Tonight, we went to Buy Buy Baby and found a cute mobile on clearance.  It's not an exact match, but I think it will be really cute to go with the theme.  

I think that's going to be about the extent of the sailboats in the room.  I don't want it to be a sailboat overload! We'll see though!  I'm going to order the crib and dresser/changing table tomorrow.  Things are starting to move along!

Week 17 Bump-date!

(Again, please excuse the pic!  I somehow always remember to do this after yoga, when I'm looking my finest...obvi!)

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At my appointment last week, I had gained 5 pounds.  Since I lost 2 pounds last time, I like to say that it's an overall gain of 3 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants at this point.  I still have one pair of my own pants (a size larger than I normally wear) that I can still do with a belly band. 

Gender: We'll find out on December 27th!  Happy late Christmas to us!

Movement: Maybe a little teeny bit of movement, but I really don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for.

Sleep: I've been sleeping really well recently.  I still wake up on my back and panic, but I wear that once I shouldn't be on my back, my body will let me know.

What I miss: Nothing really....maybe having the energy to stay up late.

Cravings: Ice cream!  I bought Reese's Pieces at the store, so I made sundaes with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, melted peanut butter and Reese's Pieces...delish!

Symptoms: Some headaches, but that's about it.  

Best Moment this week: Having my doctor tell me that I have a textbook pregnancy...and making the appointment to find out if our little one is a healthy baby boy or healthy baby girl!

I must add, though, that I had an annoying moment this week.  I was talking to a coworker about finding out the baby's sex and I told her that I really want a girl.  I'm not going to lie, we have a lot of boys in our family, and the last eight babies born to teachers at our school have been boys!  After I told her that, her reply was, "All I hoped was that I had a healthy baby."  No duh!  I was upset by what she said because, of course, I want a healthy baby.  That's a given. That's all I pray for.  I don't pray for a girl!  I just a healthy baby who is developing as he/she should.  Oh well, I'll just chalk it up to something someone should not say to a pregnant lady!

Thanksgiving Recap...A little late

Again...an unintentional blog break.  Not sure why, but I just haven't really felt like being on the computer much after I get home from work.


So, over a week later, I've decided to recap our Thanksgiving.  Kurt's family, including grandparents, and my family all came to our house for Thanksgiving.  There were fifteen of us, and all-in-all things went pretty well!  Here are some pics from our day:

Our little family

(Christmas card pic!)

Kristen and Jack

Mr. Will (aka Wilbur/Willy-bean)

The other B-shaws

My dad fell asleep, so my sis and Jack posed with him!

Jack loved Penny, my sister's dog, because he was her size!

Achieved!

Back in June of 2009, I began what became a year-long journey of reflection on my teaching and teaching practices.  The National Board process is one of the most difficult things I have taken on in my teaching career, and probably in my life, quite honestly!  I've never really been a reflective person; I can quickly tell you what I'm not doing well, but have trouble identifying those areas where I am successful.  I think that's the nature of many of people.  So, this process, which requires you to do a lot of reflection, was definitely out of my comfort zone.


I worked on my portfolio from mid-June until three days before my 30th birthday at the end of March, when I sent it away to Texas with a feeling of relief.  Kurt and I then headed to Mexico for my birthday celebration, and to celebrate that I finished that sucker!  When we came home, I knew I had to begin studying for the assessment portion, but I waited.  And waited.  And waited. Finally in mid-May, I decided I needed to start studying, as the assessment date in early June was sneaking up on me.  That date came and went, and I decided that since I wouldn't know any more about it until November, I wasn't going to worry about it.  I had done my best, and that was the best I could do.


So fast forward to Tuesday of this past week.  I got an e-mail from NBPTS that scores would be released on Friday.  I honestly hadn't done much thinking about that day until I got that e-mail, and then it was all I could think of!  Friday mid-morning was when the scores would be released!  


Friday morning came.  I kept trying to log-on to see if scores were available, because let's be real, what really is mid-morning?  My students came into the classroom at 8:45 and at about 9:00, I saw that scores had been posted.  I logged on and it didn't go through a couple of times.  Then I saw it...


"CONGRATULATIONS!  YOU ARE A NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER!"


And then I jumped up and down and ran into my teammate's room yelling, "I passed, I passed!"  Negative me had seriously convinced myself that I was not going to "achieve" as they say.  


I cannot tell you how relieved and excited I am!  I kept saying to myself that I wasn't going to cry when I saw that I hadn't achieved, but I almost cried when I saw that I had achieved.   I didn't believe it!  I'm so happy that all of the my hard work, long hours, revisions after revisions, paid off! Woo!

Week 14

Well, here I am...14 weeks with (as my nephew Jack likes to say) my "Bun in the Oven."  Well, I was officially 14 weeks this past Saturday, but we were consumed with the nephews.  I caught a glance of myself in the mirror on Saturday and was like, "Woah...where'd that tummy come from?!"  I can no longer suck it in.  It's there, and I'm okay with it!  It means that Baby B-shaw is growing!  Please excuse the outfit...I had yoga earlier!

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Loss of 2 pounds, but that was at my last appointment on October 29th.  I have a feeling that there will be a gain when I go back to the doctor at the end of November.  How fair is it that I have to go to the doctor right after Thanksgiving and Christmas?!

Maternity Clothes: I've worn maternity pants a few times, just because they are more comfy than a lot of my regular pants.  I have a Bella Band and wear that, too!

Gender: Wish we knew!  I think our appointment will be the week after Christmas.

Movement: Not yet, but I have a feeling it will start in the next few weeks.

Sleep: I've been having some back/sciatic nerve pain, so that has been annoying my during the night.  I'm trying to sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs, by apparently I toss and turn all night, so I tend to lose the pillow.

What I miss: I had a good salad that had blue cheese on it, but I took it mostly off.  Also, we had our annual End of Parent-Teacher Conferences Wine and Cheese Party on Friday night at my co-worker's house.  It would have been fun to partake in the vino, but oh well!

Cravings: Nothing in particular!  I love sweets and cold dairy products (frozen yogurt, yogurt, ice cream, etc).

Symptoms: Sciatic nerve and lower back pain

Best Moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat with the doppler I bought (heard it a few times this week) and having Jack, our nephew, ask me, "Aunt Kate...how is your bun in the oven?"  Hilarious!

"Uncle Kurty....it's 8, 1, 4. Time to wake up!"

Yes, that's how we were awoken yesterday morning!  A cute little voice whispering into our sleeping ears, "Uncle Kurty, it's 8, 1, 4.  Time to wake up!"


Kurt and I had a little nephew time this weekend.  Our nephews, Jack (3 1/2) and Will (1 1/2) came to stay with us while their parents attended a wedding.  We always have a great time when they come to stay with us, but I must say, I'm exhausted!  We were so busy yesterday, that I don't think Jack and Will had even a moment to realize that their parents weren't there.  


They came to our house on Friday night.  Keith and Molly stayed at our house Friday night, too, but Jack must have thought they left while he was sleeping because when he woke up on Saturday morning, he came right into our room.  He's in pre-school and he's been learning his numbers, so that's why he looked at the clock to tell us the time.  Except, that we never set that clock back an hour last week and we have that clock set 15 minutes fast (don't ask...Kurt's always had his alarm clock set 15 minutes fast!), so it was really only 7:00 AM.  So, Jack climbed into our bed and we put on Blue's Clues for him for a little while.  Then Keith got up and brought Will in.  Macey was so jealous that these two little guys were in our bed that she jumped right up along with them.  Let me just say that Macey has NEVER been in our bed before!  We've tried and she would fight us to stay on the floor!   I guess jealousy got the best of her!  She has another thing coming in May!


I made cinnamon muffins for breakfast and Molly headed out to get her hair cut and highlighted by Kurt and Keith's cousin.  In the mean time, we got a call that my MIL was on her way over (not with an invitation, mind you!).  Once she arrived, Kurt, his mom, Jack, Will, and I headed out to start our day.  We first went to a construction site nearby to watch the dump trucks, rock crushers, and other big trucks (Jack could name them all!) do their work.  That kept their attention for a good 30 minutes!  Pretty good for these boys!  


Next, we headed to a nearby church for their Christmas bazaar.  We walked around, bought some baked goods, did some kids crafts, Jack talked to Santa (which was a shock as last year he screamed when he went to see Santa!), and Kurt bought the boys some toys (which are staying at our house!) from a little flea market.  At that point, my MIL headed home (yeah, she drove 45 minutes to our house, spent an hour, and drive 45 minutes home) and we headed to good old Mickey D's for lunch.  Kurt was so proud that we fed all four of us for $10!


After lunch, we went to our mall for an event for the new Disney movie, Tangled.  They had all kinds of things for the kids to do and free train rides around the mall.  By the time we finished all of that, it was time to head home for nap time.  For all of us!  I was beat by that time!


The boys woke up around 3:30, and we let them play with their new toys that Uncle Kurty bought them for a little while.  Then, we headed to a local playground to wear them out a little.  We then headed home and got cleaned up.  We then went to Fuddrucker's for dinner.  Again, Kurt was proud that we all ate dinner for $20!  We made the boys a deal that if they took a bath when we got home (6:30) they could stay up and watch a movie.  So, that's what we did!   We ended up watching Alvin and the Chipmunks:  The Squeakel, which was cute! Jack and Will both had some popcorn for a snack (and let me just state...Will only has 3 teeth, but he eats like a champ!  They boy can chow down!).  We put Will down to sleep at about 7:45 and then Jack stayed up for about 30 minutes longer.  I think I fell asleep on the couch about 5 minutes after Jack went to bed!  


This morning, Will woke up at about 6:00 AM, so I went and got him and brought him to our bed, where he fell back to sleep.  Jack then came in at about 7:30 and hopped into our bed to watch some more Blues Clues.  We ended up going to a diner for breakfast (and Kurt was made that breakfast was our most expensive meal!) and then headed home to play.  Keith and Molly arrived back at about 11:00 and they headed out about an hour later.  Apparently both boys were asleep within 15 minutes of being on the road!


It was a very busy, very tiring, but very memorable weekend for us!  We love those little boys like they are our own!  It made me realize that we really are ready for this parenting thing.  Kurt and I made a really good team this weekend!  I can't wait to see Kurt as a dad; he's going to be great! The best part was Jack saying, "Kurty and Kate....I love you guys!"  So cute!

Yup, I'm...

It's true!  Due in May and we couldn't be happier!

Day 22: Favorite city

Day 22:  Favorite city


This one is a toughie for me.  I have a few cities that I really love.  Some of my top cities are:

New York City

I took my first trip to New York City on my 13th birthday.  My mom, sister, and I went on a bus trip sponsored by the school where my mom taught to see The Secret Garden.  It's only a 3 1/2 hour bus ride, 2 hour train ride, or 45 minute flight away!  I've been back to NYC many times since then, but Christmas is my favorite time to visit the city.

Chicago

I've been to Chicago several times, as well.  It's such a fun city, with great shopping and food!  My family has taken a vacation there, Kurt and I have visited there, and I went with some of my college friends for our friend Laura's wedding shower at her aunt's house in the suburbs of Chicago.  I have a couple cousins who live in Chicago, too.

Key West

I've visited Key West three times.  The first time was a Spring Break trip in college.  It was literally two weeks before my 21st birthday, so that kinda stunk!  The second time was a trip with my high school friends.  The third time was a trip with some college friends.  We always have a great (usually drunken) time!

Las Vegas

I've only been to Vegas once, but Kurt has been several times for work and pleasure.  My high school friends and I went to Vegas about a year and a half ago for the Britney Spears concert.  We had a blast!  My parents actually just booked a trip there for January.  It was my dad's retirement present from us all!

San Diego

I've only been to San Diego once, but fell in love!  Kurt's dad's naval ship was commissioned in Coronado one year ago last weekend.  I took two days off of school, and we hit the west cost.  We had such a great time!

Day 21: A picture of you

Day 21:  A picture of you

While looking through my I-photo, I realized that it's become evident that I've gotten more into photography lately.  There are like three pictures of me from the last five months!  Not that I'm complaining, because I usually hate how I look in pictures!

Here's a picture from summer of '09.  Our little family...

Day 20: Nicknames

Day 20 is all about nicknames.  People always think Kate is a nickname, but it's not.  I'm just plain Kate, not Kathleen or Katherine.  I do have a couple nicknames, which are:

- Katie (my cousins on my dad's side all still call me Katie, which I haven't gone by since approximately 1986)

- Kater Dater (my parents have called me this forever, and Kurt has started using it, too!)

- Kay-Kay (another nickname my dad has for me)

- Kato (my college roommates call me this)

- Babe (If he's not calling me Kater, Kurt calls me Babe)

Kurt's nicknames are:

- Kurty (his parents, siblings, and nephews call him this..."Uncle Kurty")

- Yurtis or Yurt for short (his dad and I call him this)

- Kurty Yurty (my nickname for him)

- Babe (If it's not Kurty Yurty, it's Babe!)

What are your nicknames?

Day 19: Something you miss...

I had a hard time coming up with some ideas for this topic off the top of my head, but once I started thinking, I realized there are kind of a lot of things I miss.


I miss...


- Christmas as a kid.  There was nothing more exciting than putting out cookies and milk for Santa and being so excited to come downstairs in the morning to see that he had really been there!


- my mom's home-cooked dinners.  Back when I was living at home, I don't think I appreciated her good cooking!


- my Grandma Dot.  She passed away five years ago this December.  I have a lot of good memories of times with my Grandma.  I've been doing a lot of praying to her lately.


- being part of a sports team.  I played field hockey in high school and our team was such a close group of girls.  We had so much fun together!


And now I'm tearing up!  I guess it's always fun to remember the good times, but I really love living in the present!


Hop on over to Katie's blog to check out more!

Day 18: Something I regret...

I don't really have a lot of regret about things I've done in my past.  I guess that's a pretty good sign!  There is one thing that I always wish I would have done, though, and that is...

Studied abroad in college

At my college, very few people studied abroad.  They had a study abroad program, but not a lot of people took advantage of it.  As an education major, I had a neat opportunity presented to me where I could do half of my student teaching in Maryland and the other half in Costa Rica.  You didn't need to speak Spanish (though back then, my Spanish was pretty good) and it didn't really cost much more than tuition cost for a regular semester.  It seemed like a pretty cool opportunity, but I didn't want to leave my boyfriend (Kurt) for three months, get homesick, and didn't want to miss out on anything at college. 


Looking back on it I wish I would have sucked it up and went.  I'll never have the opportunity to live in another country for three months again.  I probably would have become fluent in Spanish.  I would have seen a beautiful country.  


Now that Kurt's sister is a freshman in college, I've talked to her a few times about how I wish I had studied abroad.  Hopefully she will take my advice and just do it.  She sounds excited about the possibility!

Day 17: I'm looking forward to...

It's day 17 of Katie's 30 day blog challenge, and I've still not gotten any better at keeping up with this daily!  Oh well!  What can you do?  I've had a lot going on in my real life.  

So, here I go...

I'm looking forward to...

- Getting my hair highlighted tomorrow!  I'm desperately in need!

- Having November 2nd off of school for Election Day.

- A bus trip with my mom, and a friend and her mom.

- Babysitting our nephews overnight in a few weeks.

- Thanksgiving (15 people at our house for dinner!).

- Christmas and Winter Break

- 2011!

Day 12: What I Believe...

I believe...

...that I stink at this blogging every day thing.

...that everything happens for a reason.

...in the power of a close family.

...in friends who are like family.

...in eating dessert for dinner.

...in marriage.

...that I make a difference in the lives of my students.

...in having a good attitude.

....that a simple thank you goes a long way.

...in giving presents.

...in receiving presents :)!

Hop on over to Katie's blog and join in!

30 Day Blog Challenge- Day 5

Day 5: Siblings


I'm the oldest of my parents' three children, and I think most would say I'm the typical oldest child.  My sister, Amy, who is 17 months younger than me, is probably the typical middle child, and Brian, my brother who is 25 (and single, ladies!), is the typical youngest.  My parents have a blonde, a brunette, and a red head, and quite honestly, we really don't look that much alike.  My sister and I probably look the most different, and my brother and I probably look the most alike.  I think Brian looks a little like Amy, too, so he probably connects all three of us!

Amy and her "daughter" Penny

Growing up with a sister so close in age was great when I was younger.  We were best friends as little ones.  We always had a buddy to play with, and we had a lot of the same interests.  We're only one year apart in school, so we had several friends in common, too.  As we got older, probably around middle school and early high school, we began to grow apart.  Our interests changed, our friends changed, we changed.  I remember my parents used to say that they prayed that we would become close again when we got older, because it made them so upset to see how much we disliked each other during those years.  I'm happy to report that even though we don't talk everyday or see each other all the time, my sister and I have become much closer again.  I'm proud of who my sister has become.  She is very smart and independent.  She's always been the type to follow her passions, which was evident when she enrolled in  grad school to become a librarian, leaving her full-time job behind to pursue her dream.  Amy's not scared to veer from the norm.  When she shaved her head during her freshman year of college, as part of a dare, she was quite fine walking around bald, or with super short hair.  I was mortified!  Amy is a fantastic writer and a wonderful mama to her beagle, Penny!

Terrible picture quality, but I'm still having photo uploading issues!

My little bro, Brian, is the jokester of my family.  Like I said, he's the typical youngest and typical only boy. Brian can get my parents (and all of us) laughing like none other!  He is also very creative and a fantastic writer (not sure how I didn't get this trait!).  My dad used to call him, "The Video Game King" when he was younger.  Brian knows almost every movie there is, and I remember when he was probably nine or so, he would stay up late (with my mom!) to watch Letterman.  And he'd still get up for school!  Brian has lived with us twice recently, while he finished college and right when he started his job, before he got his apartment.  I feel like I've grown closer to Brian during these times, even though he is a very private and quiet person.  

All three of us live in the same area (within 10 minutes of each other, actually!), so it's convenient for my parents to be able to come down and visit all of us at once.  Even though I might not say it enough, I truly love my brother and sister and the people they have become!

30 Day Blog Challenge- Day 4

Day 4- Your parents

What can I say?  I have the greatest parents!  


My mom and dad, Janet and Dave, are seriously the nicest, most selfless people you will ever meet.  They are both so giving and caring, and will do anything for us kids, and most other people.  I'm getting emotional as I type this, because I know that when I was younger, I took for granted what great parents I have.  I was kind of bratty during my early teenage years, and I often regret the things I said to my parents.  I hope that I've made up for those bratty years, by being such a great daughter later in my life!!


My parents have been married for 34 years.  They are such good role models for Kurt and me, as a young married couple.  I have never seen my parents fight, though I remember them having "disagreements" when we were younger.  They truly enjoy each other and spending time together.  This has been more evident to me in the past few months, since my dad has been retired, than ever before.  As empty-nesters, they are always on the go, whether it's going to a nearby Amish country for the day, hitting up the slots in West Virginia, visiting family out of town, going out to dinner with their friends, or something as simple as going to my dad's favorite, Rita's, for some italian ice dessert!  They do a lot of things together and seem to always have fun doing it!


Amy, Brian, and I are so lucky to have such wonderful parents and I know that Kurt really loves and respects them as his in-laws, too.  


Love you, Mom and Dad!!


(I'm having photo-uploading issues today, so I'll repost this later with some pics!)

30 Day Challenge- Day 3

30 Day Blog Challenge!

After a brief, unintentional blog hiatus, I've decided to link up with Katie for the 30 Day Blog Challenge.  I just haven't really had anything that I've really wanted to blog about recently, so hopefully this will give me a good focus for the next 30 days.  Since I missed day 1 yesterday, I'll make up for it today by doing the first two days.


Day 1:  Introduction, Recent Picture, 15 Facts

I'm Kate.  I'm a 30 year old wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, daughter-in-law, granddaughter.  I spend my days with fifteen 5 and 6 year olds, as their kindergarten teacher.  I spend my nights as the wife to Kurt and the momma to the Macey pup, our goldendoodle.  

My Facts:

1.) I have webbed toes.  Ashton Kucher does, too.  My mom's mom had it, and my dad's dad did as well, so I guess I got it from them.  I fear that I will pass this trait onto my children one day.

2.) As a result of #1, it took me many, many years to gain the courage to get my first pedicure.  Now, I'm not sure what took me so long to do it!

3.) My favorite part of being a teacher?  June, July, and August.

4.) I also like being a teacher when my kids talk about how much they like school and the fun things we do.

5.) I'm just plain Kate.  Not Kathleen or Katherine.  And I like it that way.

6.) I have a huge fear of snakes and sharks.  

7.) I love my two nephews, Jack and Will, like they are my own!

8.) My cousins and I created a band when we were younger.  We were "The Crazy Cousins" and we almost got time in a recording studio...almost.  At least that's what our uncle told us.

9.) I'm still close to friends from the different stages of my life, including high school, college, and work. 

10.) We have season tickets to the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Capitals.

11.) My favorite color used to be yellow.  Now, I think it's purple.

12.) I hate cooking.  I can bake and and make appetizers like it's my job, though.

13.)  I have a younger brother and and sister.

14.) I'm very close to my cousins on both sides of my family.

15.) I could be fine with living in our house for the rest of my life...if we added on a master bedroom!

Day 2:  Meaning behind your blog name

Nothing too fancy.  I like alliteration.  When I was thinking about starting a blog, my friend Jenni sent me a bunch of name ideas.  Bradshaw Buzz was one of them, and I liked it.

I love fall!

I love the smells, tastes, and views that fall brings!  Of course, my beloved summer will always be my number one season, but fall is a close runner-up.  I have a lot of fall decorations that I put out last week and I'm looking forward to picking up a few more at a fall craft festival that I'm going to next weekend.  

This evening, I lit a candle of my favorite fall scent, Pumpkin Brulee, and made a batch of Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip muffins.  Our house smells delectable! 

This week at school, we are doing an apple theme.  Monday is apple taste-testing of red, yellow, and green apples.  Tuesday is a taste-test of apple products, including apple sauce, apple chips, apple jelly, and apple cider.  And then on Friday, we are making apple sauce.  In a couple of weeks, we take our first field trip to a pumpkin patch.  How fun is fall in kindergarten!  I can't wait!