Thursday, August 30, 2012

Nathan’s First Day of Preschool

Nathan is a BIG fan of preschool.  He was so excited to go. 

So very smiley.

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He remembered the routine from when Owen went.  Go potty and wash your hands before you go into the classroom.

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As soon as the door opened, he yelled “It’s open mommy, let’s go to school!”

And he immediately got busy.

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Once he hit the paint station, he turned to me and said, “Leave mommy, this is big boy school.” 

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When Owen and I picked him up three hours later, he was just as happy!  Miss Nicole said he was perfect all day, followed instructions, ate snack, participated in all the activities and was phenomenal with the scissors!

If you’re looking for me on Thursday mornings, I’ll be at the spa!  Smile

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Kindergarten!!

I am having a tough time wrapping my brain around that fact that we have a kindergartener!  A school aged kid!  There were times when he was a baby, that I could never, ever imagine getting to this point! 
A big independent boy!
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He’s snuggling his kitty cat for moral support.  On a total side-note, he’s taken to calling cats “pussy”.  It’s from a poem that says “pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been….”  but he leaves out the “cat” part and this is starting to cause embarrassing moments.  Like in the pet store over the weekend where he sees the cats up for adoption and starts shouting “Mommy, I want a pussy!   Pussy!  Come see the the pussy!  I want a pussy!”  As I sprint over to stop the madness, I notice two teenage girls next to Owen, doubled over in laughter! 
Needless to say, the cat walked to school, but it came home with me. I want to avoid explaining to the teacher why Owen asked “Have you seen my pussy?” for as long as possible!
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Nathan giving a last minute hug before head out!
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About to head into the classroom.
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Nathan screaming from the top of the play structure, “TAKE A PICTURE OF ME!”
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The school is a Charter, public school.  It’s alternative. Small classes, diverse learning styles, very different than what I’m used to.  I think it’s a perfect fit for Owen.
The teachers are called educators and the students are called learners.  Owen’s educator is Colleen.  Not Mrs. McPeek or Miss Colleen.  Just Colleen.
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If I were the teacher educator, this is not how I would structure my first day of school.  But if works, it works and scores show it works!
The class gathers on the rug as we make our leave!
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Happy first day of Kindergarten, Owen! 

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Last Days of Summer

Owen starts kindergarten in a few days.  We spent yesterday, Saturday at the All School Clean Up Day at Owen’s new school.  Well Matt spent all day there.  I went back and forth with the boys.  Who were a little on the wild side.

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At school, we put up bulletin boards, cleaned kitchens and Matt helped build a sandbox. All day. But we racked up 18 out of our 80 required volunteer hours in one day. So it was worth the exhaustion!

So today we wanted to do something fun.  Happy Hallow!

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This is what Nathan was doing while Owen rode the rides.  Once again, (like at Disneyland) if it requires it a buckle, he won’t ride it.  It’s weird because he gets buckled in several times a day in the car.  These are simple lap belts and the rides go in circles.  At ground level.

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Oh well, he doesn’t mind sitting and watching and waiting, so it’s his choice.  He did like these little push/pull rides!

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I was lucky enough to finally bribe Owen to ride the roller coaster!  He liked it.  I certainly didn’t LOVE it, but he went.  I think his quote was “that wasn’t too bad”.   But I was excited and then he got to pick whatever he wanted from the snack bar.  ANYTHING.  That’s pretty exciting!  He chose a popsicle.

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Finishing the fun day with a little brotherly reading!

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We had a great day.  It was one of the first days, ever, that we went out as a family and it was completely non-stressful.  We walked around, we rode rides, we ate lunch, we saw the animals.  No one cried.  No fought.  No one got hurt.  This is rare and we treasured it.  We had a perfect last day of our summer!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tahiti Village

We headed back to Tahiti Village in Vegas, it’s a fun, cheap family vacation!  Last year we went with my family.  This year, Matt’s.  We did a lot of the same, swimming, strip, pirate show, museums, volcano, etc.  However, we didn’t tote the camera everywhere this year!

But we had tons of fun and posed for lots of pictures.

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Rob, Mindy, Brooke, Mackenzie & Katie.

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We had clearly had a great time!

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The boys loved jumping into the pool.

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Poppy!

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Luc and Coco

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Cousins and the castle.

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We raced motorcycles.

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Linda and her boys.

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And we’re back at the pool!

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Now it’s time to get ready for kindergarten!  EEEEEEKK!