Kinder Mass

Wyatt's class led Mass this morning. Wyatt was selected to be one of the greeters.

What a grown up young man!

Father started Mass by that the Kinders had planned are were leading Mass this morning. Then he moved right into "Lord have Mercy." John leaned over to me to ask "Is he praying that Mass goes well because the Kinders are in charge?"

Jack's First Communion

Jack made his First Communion this past weekend. You can take a look through his pictures here at http://owenlandparkproductions.shutterfly.com/3602

Thank you to everyone who supported Jack in thought, prayer and love.

I have put together a photo book and ordered a copy for Jack. Hopefully you will be able to follow the link here and take a look at his book. I included the text for his invitations, the petitions he read and some of the songs the kids sang. I hope you enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

School pictures 2013

So Joe Cool of him.

I didn't think this shirt looked THAT big on him when I put it on him in the morning.

Living and learning

The 2nd graders are learing about using daily planners to help them remember/accomplish homework. Each day they are responsible for noting that night's homework. Each night a parent has to sign the planner to indicate that homework has been completed. Lately Jack has been forgetting to write down his homework. I will not sign my name on those days. Instead I write a note to the teacher saying "Jack did not write down his assignment." Jack does not like this at all: he wants me to sign my name. I will not sign my name to an assignment that is not complete but I will let the teacher know that I have seen his planner page.

One night this week I wrote this note in pencil. A few days later I saw that he had erased my statement and then signed my name for me. Now, I only share this with you because one time when I was in 2nd grade or so, I signed my mother's name to something. It was a TERRIBLE forgery and I was caught. I was also in big trouble with my teacher and my Mama.

I shared this story with Jack and told him that it wasn't honest of my to sign my mom's name and it wasn't honest of him to erase my comments and sign my name. I told him that I would now make all my comments in pen so they could not be erased and that the next time it happened there would be consequences.

Friends.

These guys are really sweet with Stephen. Jack is sharing his tablet time. (He can have an hour a day.)

Success Maker

The boys stay after school twice a week to participate in a program called Success Maker. This computer program is focused on math and reading skills and while it is self paced it continues to challenge the kids as they work each day. I snuck in and snapped a pic of Wy when I dropped off their snacks one afternoon.

Spring Concert 2013

A lot has been happening over the past few weeks. We just got together for the kids' Spring Concert. The Kinders sang a cute little song called 5 Little Kites. They waved their arms around as the tails of the kites. As they counted each kite they had to go from crouching for the first one to standing on their tippy toes for number 5.

At the end of the song their teacher was tricking the kids by calling numbers in random order so the kids were going from crouching to tippy toes to being somewhere in the middle. Wyatt wasn't falling for that business. They all thought it was pretty funny to be tricked though.

The 2nd graders sang a song called Peanut Butter, Jelly. They all wore their sunglasses and made 'Joe Cool' poses every time they sang the word "jelly". I don't know how he managed it, but Jackie Paper stole the number by being the coolest of the cool at center stage.

And here they are singing She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain "TOOT TOOT!"



A great hair day.

And isn't that why you read my blog anyway?

Best moments of my days

Buddies

These two have a good time. Here they are sitting on the sidelines of their first soccer game of the season and neither one can pay attention to the coach or the game because they are too busy having fun entertaining each other.

A Ninja party

JTO asked for a Ninja party to celebrate turning 8. We decided to set up an obstacle course (Training to become a Shadow Ninja) to keep control of the chaos a group of 7 & 8 year old boys can create...

To become a Shadow Ninja you must pass the Ninjago to prove your aim is true. (We made paper stars for the boys to decorate. Then John made Ninjago out of construction paper and toilet paper rolls.) The boys had to throw their ninja stars at the Ninjago and knock them down.

You must find your balance before you begin your journey. (John made this balance beam.)

You must cross the Canyon of Doom.

You must climb the Mountain of Despair (go up the slide). Then cross over the Forest of Fire (crawl from swing to swing without touching the ground). Then crawl through the Cavern of Darkness.

 And finally you must cross to the Rickety Bridge to the Dark Side where...

You must battle the Ninja of Death.

Only then can you discover your true Ninja name. (I found a thing on line that 'translated' each letter of your name into part of a Ninja name. The boys had lots of fun making their new names.)

Then it was time for some fun 'sushi' dessert. (Another fabulous/fun online find.)

Happy Birthday to my Ninja Zukamimearimoto.

To find your true Ninja name go here http://www.ninjaname.net/

Easter

A family holiday tradition - no one goes downstairs until everyone is awake and we have our family picture taken!

Somehow they know which basket belongs to which boy - even without name tags.

 

The Easter Bunny brought dominoes! The boys really liked this game so I see plenty of domino nights in our future!

Stephen gets to dive into his basket after coming home from his grandpa's house. Stephen agrees that chocolate is a goooood thing!

Easter Eggs

Gammie found a fun way to dye eggs using cool whip and food coloring.

Which was more fun, coloring the eggs or tasting the cool whip?

Birthday surprises

A few of this newly minted 8 year old birthday present highlights for you:

As you can see, his face hit the floor when he opened his own personal tablet.

And he loves the putting system his Papa sent from Chicago. I picked up a few putters and golf balls from the thrift store and the boys are practicing their putting strokes.

And this is a favorite made with love by his Aunt Melanie. He wears it to bed EVERY night.

To wii or not to wii

Jack and Wy (mostly Jack) love to play games on the wii. I try to limit their play time but it seems they play often enough that Stephen has gotten the idea that playing the wii is cool. He has found this little black lego thing and he carries it around using it as his own personal wii remote. He will walk up to the tv and shake his little remote the way the boys do while playing a game - it doesn't matter if there is a wii game going or not. It makes him feel like one of the big boys.

Getting ready for First Communion.

Jack and his classmates will be making their First Communion next weekend. They have been asked to create a banner that shows what comes to mind when they think of receiving Communion.

Ear infections no more?

Stephen had to get tubes in his ears a few weeks ago. Here he is at home recovering.

He seemed to find a lot of comfort in hanging out with Jack.

We had a follow up appointment last Friday and Stephen had developed another ear infection. Since he had the tubes though it was quite easy (though disgusting) to determine that an infection was present. He has been on ear drops and a nasal spray for the last week and that seems to have cleared things up. Poor baby fought and fought about the ear drops for the first few days but has decided they tickle but don't hurt. He now lays down and offers up his ear. We drop in the drops and he rubs them in. What a good boy!

Library Basket

Schools are changing over to what is called the Common Core method of teaching. If you want to check out what Wikipedia has to say about it, you can follow the link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Core
Wit Common Core in mind, the teachers are still pushing for kids to get in their reading time but they are emphasizing that half of the time spent reading needs to be on non fiction material. There isn't a reading list per se - it is my understanding that common core encourages the kids to be self driven in what they are reading.

Since the boys and I are on alternating schedules I asked them what they were interested in reading and told them I would head off to the library and pick up som books. Jack wants to read about people who protect our planet and Wyatt asked for books on Nature. So after a few errands this morning I stopped in at the Library and enlisted the help of the fella in the youth section. He set me in the right direction and I came away with three books for each boy.

Jack gets to read about the army, what happens to our trash after it leaves our house and NATO.
Wyatt gets to read about the homes that animals make, the ocean and

I was quite worried about misplacing library books at the house so when I got home I dug around until I found this great basket and it is now our Library Basket.

Photo bombed

So we were photo bombed when I visited for cold lunch today.

Hair cuts & lollipops

Stephen got an official hair cut this week. He was not having it until he was introduced to

Magic Mr. Lollipop.

It is amazing how quickly tears can dry up when a lollipop is involved.

Black boots

Family boot day. John called me the Blackboots of the family.

I have recently added in bed-making to the daily routine. Wyatt is quite proud of himself when he gets his bed put together. I had to have a talk with Jack to tell him he could not bribe or coerce his little brother into making both beds.

 Jack has asked for a Ninja birthday party. We have all been getting into the plans and preparations of things. Here is Wyatt carrying the plethora of pool noodles that were turned into swords and obstacle course items.

And here are Jack and Dad making ninja out of toilet paper rolls and construction paper. (I love Pinterest. It makes me feel like the super-coolest of moms.) These will be for target practice with the paper stars that John made.

I have been in evening rehearsals for the past two weeks which means I get home after the boys are asleep. This Friday Wyatt was still up when I got home. I told him I would come check on him after I changed into my pajamas. Shortly after I stepped into my room I saw a little something flash by my door and initially thought it was the cat - then I saw this... That poor baby just misses me.

 And lastly, we are quickly coming upon Jack's First Communion. Here we are at the post office today dropping his invitations in the mail. He was quite proud of himself for handling the mail.