We broke out the gator this afternoon to move the leaf mulch pile. We need to make more room for our swing set so those silly leaf mulch piles had to go!
In this second picture he was explaining to her how to navigate a tight area, then he quietly slipped his hand on the wheel and helped her. It was sweet.
We invited a few school friends for an impromptu playdate after preschool today.
Back when Lex was having trouble on the bus and wanted me to pick him up after school every day we ended up agreeing on a once a week schedule. I even wrote standing note that I’d pick him up every Tuesday for the rest of the school year. After a few weeks of this I figured we should go out and do fun things on Tuesday afternoons since we were all in the car anyway. The past few weeks we’ve been going to the science museum. It’s very quiet on Tuesday afternoons, which I love! The kids run around and play and I don’t have to keep as close tabs on them as I do when the place is packed.
This week I realized that they have started slowing down when we are there. Instead of running from one “active” exhibit to the next like crazy people, they’ve started slowing down and paying closer attention to the exhibits. They have started looking at the more natural stuff (dinosaurs, birds nests, ants, etc.) instead of just playing with the more active things. I think this is in part because we’ve been going more regularly, but also because it is quieter there. My kids, like everyone else’s I’m sure, get all revved up when the energy levels are high and they just bounce around. When it’s quiet they are able to focus more. I love it. Last week we watched the ants being fed, they both helped, and Lex even asked a few questions. This week we sat down and did some building and played with tangrams (I love those things!) and, of course, hit the water park!
The pictures are all funny looking because I was playing with camera settings… Someday I will take a photography course. Some day!
That's now how we use this exhibit!
Serious Lex
Holy turtle pile. I took a lot of pictures of these guys! :)
We had fun with the tangrams. It's neat to watch the kids figuring them out.
Lex followed the directions to build a truck with these blocks.
Then he modified it to his liking.
This is another shot I'll have to dig up a before-and-after for. I know I have many photos through the years in this pose.
Eve enjoying the first popsicle of the season. We bought molds last week so I suspect there will be many more.
Lex loved them too. Yogurt, berries, sugar. What's not to love?!
We always have enough to share.
They turned the water on this week. It was chilly today, but we had to check it out!
Chilly air, chilly water... happy kids!
I think it might be!
Our third try at movie night was a big success! Pick-your-own dinner, picnic on the floor, Mary Poppins (nothing scary there!), cuddles only the couch, success!
Part way through the movie I started thinking about making popcorn, but then Lex picked up a big bowl of sugar snap peas I had put out with the picnic and brought it back to the couch. We all cuddled and the kids ate the whole bowl of peas. I quietly tucked the popcorn idea away for another day.
Lex’s second birthday…
Building the swingset
First swing, sideways
He's so little!
Through the years…
This afternoon…
Don't let the smile fool ya, he was crying in the end (and I was trying hard not to!)
I think he tried to stage a "sit in" at the very last moment :)
Goodbye.
Goodbye swing set. You were loved very much and served us well. You will be missed.
It’s hard to see the baby things moving on. What happened to my babies? Suddenly they’ve been replaced with big kids! All my favorite baby stores and websites are no longer relevant, our baby products are slowing leaving the house… sigh. Let’s hope that new swing set gets here soon!!
We did the March of Dimes “March for Babies” walk this morning! It was fun! I had gathered a small team and we raised about $700. Thanks all who donated! We had trouble keeping the team together for the walk since we all had kids and walked at different paces, but it was a fun morning anyway. Lex and Eve walked the entire three miles, with the assistance of water and snacks along the way.
Powering up before the big walk
Stop along the way to check out these interesting objects.
Watching the clowns after the walk. The kids laughed hard at these silly people.
Yesterday I decided we could try movie night again. I thought it would be fun and I had a few ideas on how to make it smoother than the first time. Lex came home from school, we had snack and played outside… all was good until it was time to come in. MAJOR meltdown! Lex ended up kicking, screaming, blah! The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes, if that, but he lost movie night. I was bummed because I really wanted to do it, but they both had pretty bad manners all afternoon and then the fight… so that was that.
After Lex got calmed down and in the tub he asked if we could have movie night tonight instead. I told him that if he can keep it together and remember to use good manners all day, perhaps we could try again for Saturday night. That was an agreeable idea to him and then he decided that he needs a reminder. All on his own he decided to write himself a reminder on a Post-It note that he could keep in his pocket. I loved the idea! All his. After bath he asked for Post-It notes. I tried to talk him into a bigger piece of paper, but he insisted the smaller size was preferable, especially in a bright color. While I made dinner he made himself a reminder and tucked it into this pants for the morning.
Look at those tired eyes! That was the real problem.
Once or twice today Alan and I have had to give him gentle reminders, such as “Lex, what’s in your pocket?” but other than that he has had a very good day. Especially considering he walked 3+ miles this morning!
I hope we all make it through the day because I’m looking forward to a picnic on the living room floor and Mary Poppins tonight!
Smart Lex
As part of “Screen Turn Off Week” this week, Lex’s school is doing a reading challenge. For each block of time spent reading (15m for the lower grades, 30m for the upper grades) the kids earn an “otter” (their mascot). The class with the most otters by the end of the week earns a special treat. The kid in each individual class with the most otters will also get recognition. Lex has been pretty uninterested in this challenge, but I’ve been writing down the time he reads and he submits it at school each morning. He was telling Alan about it tonight and Alan asked how many otters his class has. 52 so far (tomorrow is the last day). Then Alan asked how many otters Lex personally has. Lex did some counting in his head and came up with 24. 24! That’s almost half the total for the class! I made sure to tell him that he may be receiving some sort of recognition tomorrow. I’ll try to get the final count from him tomorrow and let you know :)
The best part is that he totally doesn’t care about this challenge. His reading habits haven’t changed and he reads because he likes to read. Special prize or not, he likes to read. I love it!
Update – 5/7/11 – Lex came home with a little wooden picture frame to color, his prize for reading the most this week. He also came home with a free book. He said that all seven kids who brought in reading slips this week got a free book. All seven kids! Out of nineteen. Sad.
Funny Lex
At dinner tonight I noticed the variety of fruits and veggies on Lex’s plate and said, “What a beautiful, colorful plate you have Lex. Are you going to eat any of it?” Without hesitation he said, “Sure, I’ll eat the plate!” and leaned over and started chomping playfully on his plate! Laughter ensued! I really wanted a picture because he looked so funny, but he protested. When Alan suggested they pose together Lex thought that was funny enough to warrant a photo. I agree!
Yummy!
Lex’s school is celebrating “Screen Turn Off Week” this week. They kicked off the celebration on Friday night with a fun event at school called Brain-o-mania! Lex came home with a paper “brain” hat and they have been talking all week about fun things to do that stimulate the brain. At the Brain-o-mania event they had all sorts of activities set up throughout the school. Arts and crafts, balls and games in the gym, robotics, puzzles and games, challenges, and even real brains! Local college students apparently bring over human and sheep brains every year and the kids can touch them! Lex was talking about that all week and super excited, but when we finally made it to that room at the end of the evening they were out of rubber gloves and Lex seemed to have lost interest anyway. He took a quick glance at the brains then moved on to a build-a-brain 3D puzzle. It was a really fun night and my only complaint, if you can even call it that, is that there was so much to do and not nearly enough time. I felt like I was rushing the kids through the whole place trying to see it all. In the last room we made it to I was talking to a teacher who said that they do basically the same things every year so the kids start to know what to expect and are able to plan their time accordingly. I guess it’s just us kindergarten parents who are still feeling harried :) It was fun though and I’m glad Lex was excited to go. He really loved the robotics stuff and both kids spent a lot of time in the arts and crafts room.
The kids, and a classmate, watching the robotics demonstration. Alan and Lex probably would have spent the entire time here if I'd let them.
Eve in the arts and crafts room.
Hard at work making sculptures out of recycled stuff.
Our last stop of the evening. They drew flags to add to a banner to be delivered to a Ugandan school that the town has a relationship with.
This week they are earning prizes for amount of time spent reading (Lex is leading his class so far!) and doing lots of other fun activities. Last Saturday I saw a URL in a magazine for a neat looking website (nutrition related) and I asked the kids if they wanted to play with it for a bit. Eve jumped at the idea, but Lex said, “Remember Mom, it’s screen turn off week. I’ll just play with my toys instead.” So we left the screen off. :)