Walking School Bus

Aidan's school launched a monthly walk and roll day that will be held every first Friday of the month. Although we don't live walking distance to school we decided to have Aidan participate, with the incentive that the first 100 students to walk in got a free pedometer. I located the most convenient drop off spot for Aidan to pick up the walking school bus. This turned out to be about a mile away from the school. I thought it seemed a bit far for him as a first time walk, but what the heck, everyone else is doing it, he'll be fine. Well he made it. He got his free pedometer, ha! it's those little things that make it all worth it , right?! The kids all filled out a form that was hung at the entrance. The form stated their name and how they felt about their walk. As i was looking them over, they all said they felt happy, or good. Then, I came across Aidan's, which said "I felt exhausted!" and yes, he added the exclamation point. I had to laugh, wish I'd taken a photo of it...clearly the boy needs exercise. Thank goodness little league season is about to begin.

Derby Time

This was our first year participating in the cub scouts derby car races and boy was there lots of excitement about it. Miles and Liam got to participate in the siblings race (cub scouts are really good about including the entire family in their events).
They thought this was pretty special and were also given certificates after the races. The number one lesson we took away from this event is, the weight of your car really matters. There is a 5oz. limit that your car can not exceed. But the more your car weighs the faster it goes so trying to get as close to the limit as possible is important. An important lesson for next year.

Gong Hay Fat Choi

Happy Chinese New Year.. Wishing you all good health, prosperity and much happiness this year of the dragon.
Today is the first day of the Year of the Dragon. The boys and I had fun with some dragon crafts including this one made with each of their hand prints.

Who Says The Dentist Has To Be A Scary Place?

My boys sure don't think the dentist office is a scary place. As a matter of fact, Aidan's comment to his brothers dentist visit was "Awe man, they're lucky. They got to go to the dentist and play with a GameBoy." But it's not just about the video games, they get a kick out of wearing "cool" sunglasses during the exam, they giggle with delight about the child height sinks with the fun timers that make sure they brush long enough, and of course, the giant treasure box and rolls of stickers they get to choose from when all is said and done. I've taken the boys to this pediatric dentist from the very beginning so they absolutely enjoy going. When I hear stories about parents struggling to get their kids to cooperate with dentist visits, I'm so grateful to have found the perfect dentist for us.

What's Your Last Name?

A conversation between Liam(5 yrs old) and Aidan (7 yrs old) at the dinner table last night was amusing but left me questioning

Liam : Do you know what they call me at school ( he's in preschool)? They call me Liam R-

Aidan: Yeah R- is your last name.

Liam: Yeah, Aidan what's your last name?

Aidan: My name is R- too, this whole family's last name is R-

Liam (somewhat surprised): Oh yeah, your last name is R- too.

Ummm, hello, knock, knock, anyone upstairs there. How is it that he doesn't know our family's last name is R- ? So we had a discussion about how we all had a different first and middle name but how we all had the same last name. Lets hope he gets it now.

Are You Smarter Than a Preschooler

Last night's bedtime stories included this book , Looking Closely Through The Forest. We were having fun reading it. When I got to the page about Aspen Trees being deciduous trees, Miles interrupts me saying " I know what deciduous means" I smiled, mostly to myself thinking, let see what cute idea Miles comes up with as the definition for deciduous. To my shock, he says" It means when the leaves fall off trees like in the winter, that is a deciduous tree" My jaw dropped. How on earth does Miles know this. He goes on to tell me "I learned that in preschool a long time ago."

Miles is 5 and still in preschool and clearly his mind is taking it all in like a sponge. He often amazes me with statements like these. When you think your kids are not listening, they really are.

Happy New Year

Leading up to New Years Eve has been exhausting yet fun! As a school fundraiser, I helped host a New Year's party, "Go Gaga for New Year's" Everyone had to come dressed as a pop star. It was fun to see everyone get so creative with their costumes as well as fall into character.....more and more as the night went on and the jello shots were consumed. We dance the night away with Katy Perry, a couple of Ozzy's, Cindy Lauper, Elvis Costello, Amy Winehouse and the list goes on.... Max and I rang in the New Year as LMFAO and Lady Gaga in her meat dress. Hope this is the beginning of a fun new year! Here's to hoping you enjoy your new year as well! Happy 2012