Whew…caught up

The blog is finally up to date.  There’s even a same-day post.  I probably have a few typos, but Wesley will find and fix them soon enough.

Here’s what I’ve added:

Homecoming

Football Season

Halloween

Mary Pope Osborne

James turns 5

Birthday Party

Swimming Lessons

Fall Fun

Thanksgiving

Our boy

Advent

Snow!

Let it Snow…

I love the snow.  James shares my love.  It rarely snows this early in December where we live.  After naptime, I took the kids outside as Wesley studied for finals.  It started to sleet and Naomi still isn’t a big fan of the snow or cold.  James threw snowballs and rolled balls of snow. 

 

Mimi wanted to be held, so we compromised, and I pulled her in the wagon as we walked through our neighborhood.

After a while, we dropped Naomi off at home, so James and I could make a mini-snowman.  James is confident that he will be able to make a big snowman all by himself when he goes to Grandma and Babu’s house.

Advent Activities 2010

We are doing family activities each night in December. I have visions of a beautiful homemade Advent calendar, but first I need to learn to sew. James really wanted a paper chain again, so that is what we did. I think it also helps the kids visualize how many days until Christmas.

This year’s list includes: Open and read 3 Christmas stories, make a Christmas craft, watch the Polar Express and have hot cocoa, see Santa, set up the Christmas Tree, make salt dough ornaments, take out the kids’ nativity set, work on Nativity activity sheets, go to the movie theater, shop for Angel tree and wrap gifts, open family gift, have cookies and milk, drive around and look at Christmas lights, go ice skating, make gingerbread houses, deliver goodies to the neighbors, make gifts for family, pack for our trip & have hot cocoa, wrap gifts, attend family Christmas party, read Christmas stories and recite Luke 2

James and Naomi are very excited and take turns removing a link.

Celebrating Thanksgiving

The kids learned about and celebrated Thanksgiving at school this year. James' class and the other 4 year old classes put on a program. James’ artwork was featured on the cover, and we are so proud of his intentionally three-legged turkey. What a boy!

He was a super cute Pilgrim and knew all the words and motions to the songs. He looked a little nervous before they started.

After the program, the parents had a Thanksgiving lunch with the kids. His art projects were displayed at the lunch.

Naomi’s class had a luncheon the next day. She was not a fan of her costume, so we settled for a picture with her paci the next day.

What a boy…

This is what I found one day inside the kids closet.

Army men, police officers, and firefighters ready for battle. Just a glimpse into the mind of James.

Farewell to Fall

After James’ last swimming lesson, the kids enjoyed all the beautiful leaves on campus. We made piles and they ran down a hill and jumped in the leaves. It was a beautiful fall day. I’m glad I had my camera to capture the joy on James and Naomi’s faces.

Swimming Lessons

We signed James up for swimming lessons this fall. He wasn’t super comfortable in the water this past summer (unless he had his floaty on), and we thought someone else working with him would help.

James had fun, at least when he didn’t flip off his kickboard. He probably liked hanging on the edge and talking to the other kids more than the actual swimming.

James received a certificate after his last lesson. It said: “Congratulations James on completing the Jellies level of Wake Waterbugs. Great job this fall, James! Keep working on putting your head underwater and blowing bubbles. Your kicking is wonderful. I know that soon you will be a strong and great swimmer.”

We hope his teacher is right. Because he still isn’t interested in going underwater and would have much rather played soccer this fall than taken swimming lessons.

Lego Star Wars Party

James requested a Lego Star Wars party this year. Not a Lego party, not a Star Wars party, but Lego Star Wars. We don’t really know much about Star Wars, other than light sabers and Darth Vadar, but that is what he wanted. I looked at tons of blogs for ideas, and the party was lots of fun.

The kids colored in the beginning, until everyone arrived. James and his friend from school were very into the coloring, which I didn’t expect.

The kids had snacks, then built and raced Lego cars down a ramp.

They then played Bingo and had cupcakes.

James was exhausted by cupcake time. He woke up incredibly early the morning of the party and never completely recovered.

Jedi training was the last activity. All the kids loved this. They had to keep balloons in the air with their light sabers. Wesley did a great job on the pool noodle light sabers.

Their goodie bags included Star Wars notebooks, Lego bricks, Skittles, and Lego figure crayons.

James had a great time celebrating with friends. And Wesley enjoyed playing with Legos once the kids were in bed.

Five

James turned five. Five seems so old. He celebrated in school with donuts (Krispy Kreme, of course), opened presents at home, and went to Bounce U after a dinner at McDonalds. It was a dream come true for James. We finished the night with a Jello “cake”. Happy Birthday, James! We love you.

A Fun Surprise at the Mall

The weekend before James’ birthday party, we took a trip to the nearest Lego store. We wandered into a bookstore after we got to the mall and saw that Mary Pope Osborne was going to be in the store later that day. James and Wesley recently started reading The Magic Tree House books together at night, so we were excited that James would be able to meet the author.

James looked tiny compared to most of the kids in the bookstore, but he listened to all of her stories and explanations about starting the series. She had the kids vote on the title of the next book in the series.

Once James reached the front of the line, she complimented him on listening so well. She also had him sit on her lap because he was so small compared to the other kids that were there.

Although James isn’t reading quite yet, I think that meeting Mary Pope Osborne and listening to her speak gave him a greater understanding of how books are created. He is also excited to read all of the “Jack and Annie” books.