Little Bouncer

Grayson refuses to let anyone sit in Brian's lap (he doesn't even do it).  The big boys are acting a bit dramatic here, but Grayson will continue to try to pull them out of Brian's lap until they get up.

Scary Skeleton

Grayson is ready for Halloween!  He's going to love it!

Reading

I'm so proud of this kiddo!  He picked out this chapter book yesterday that's been sitting on his bookshelf and decided to read it.  He's already through over 60 pages.  He even chose to read instead of participating in Rylan's soccer practice!

Fairy Tale Week

Rylan's class did a unit on fairy tales this week at school.  Ms. Melissa decided on Monday it would be fun for the kids to dress up as characters from fairy tales on Friday.

I threw out a few ideas to Rylan and he liked the idea of being a knight.  We don't have a knight costume and I decided to make one (even though now is the time of year it's pretty easy to find anything with Halloween only a month away).

I think it turned out pretty good.  I used a bucket spray painted silver for the helmet.  I added some feathers to the top and a slotted mask made from cardstock to the front.  I got some felt from Joanns for the chest plate.  I used cardboard for the shield and hot glued a milk jug handle to the back.  Rylan was really happy with his costume and that's all that really matters :)

Fly Ball

WHAT?!?!?!

Carter caught his first fly ball in a baseball game this afternoon!  Actually, he caught the first fly ball for his team this season!  Carter was playing short stop and there was a high pop fly to him that he caught.  Yay!  Crazy enough - Fisher caught a fly ball for the last out of the game.  Those catches earned both boys a game ball!

This guy is one of Carter's biggest fans :)

1st Grade School Work

Here is some of the school work Carter has brought home recently ...

Math:

Reading Comprehension:

Spelling:

This is the list of words Carter was given at the beginning of the week.

The spelling tests have three additional words that are similar to the ones the kids have studied all week.

Tooth Fairy's 2nd Visit

Carter lost his second tooth on Monday night.  I randomly took a picture earlier in the day of the permanent tooth coming in behind it.  So on the bottom, the right middle permanent tooth is in - it's the really wide, crocked one.  The bottom, middle tooth on the left is the loose one.  And that's the permanent one coming in way behind it - YIKES!  I'm working on an orthodontist update post :)

The tooth that Carter lost on Monday had been really loose for awhile.  On Monday night Brian told Carter if he pulled it out then, he'd give him $1.  Well, that's all the motivation Carter needed!

Carter put the tooth in his special pillow for the Tooth Fairy, along with some questions.  He asked her what her name is (Daisy), how old she is (17), how much money she has (a lot), and how tall she is (3 inches).

Along with the answers, the Tooth Fairy left him $1.  The Tooth Fairy LOVES having a pillow outside of Carter's room instead of having to go in his room!

Argh, Matey!

We made our annual stop at Krispy Kreme on Saturday for Talk Like a Pirate Day!  If you dress up, you get a free dozen donuts.  I'm still enjoying them tonight :)

Grayson Faces

The many emotions of afternoon snack time ...

Carter's Game Ball

Carter got a game ball at his game on Tuesday night.  Carter's been holding his own this season and knows exactly where to be and what to be doing all the time.  But execution has been a little off this season.  Pretty much we just need to practice at home but we've been struggling to find the time.  Plus it's hard with Grayson around because I don't want him hit with a ball.

Anyway, Carter has been doing great but he finally had a game when he got several outs.  He had one really good inning playing first where he fielded some balls and got outs at first.

Carter with Jack Henry ...

Jack Henry, Carter, Rylan, Christopher, and Jacob ...

I took a video of one of Carter's hits from the night ...

I'm super proud of Carter and how well he understands the game.  He's always knows where the play is and is backing everyone up.  He tries so hard.  He told me yesterday though that he gets really nervous before each game.  But he loves it!

Mini Milers - Week 2

I wasn't impressed by the running games this week (Simon Says, Red Light Green Light).  The two women working with our group (5-6 year olds) and the younger group (3-4 year olds) kept trying to find ideas on their phones for something to do.  It's like the forgot to plan the activities.  But the boys still said they had fun.  And it was a lot cooler this Sunday than the previous one.

After the few games, it was time for the race.

This week the 5-6 year olds had to do their normal race length of one lap around the track (about 1/4 mile).  I told my boys to run in the inside of the track to keep it shorter :)  Carter started off really fast (though not sprinting) and I thought he'd run out of energy midway through.  But he did not and won the race for this age group.  He finished in 1 minute, 45 seconds.

Rylan also did awesome hanging with the middle of the pack.  He finished in 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

2nd Lost Tooth

Carter finally lost another baby tooth tonight!  I have pictures to post tomorrow and lots of information about our recent visits to the dentist and orthodontist!!!

And since I'm writing about teeth, Grayson is up to 7 now!

Happy Boy

Zoo Visit

I took Grayson to the zoo on Friday along with Missy and her kids that didn't have school.  This was Grayson's first visit just for him when he wasn't in the infant carseat and sleeping.  And he really liked it!  There was absolutely no fussing during the two hours we were there!

One of the first things we did was visit the new turtle exhibit.  You can go in this enclosure with about a dozen turtles and pet them.  Grayson wasn't too sure about it ...

He did stare down the flamingos for awhile ...

Grayson loved the reptile house, especially the fish tanks he could stand at and see all the fish.  He also loved the mats in the playground area.  He crawled back and forth all over the place and giggled the whole time.  I couldn't get a clear picture because he wouldn't stay still!

These two are really starting to enjoy these sorts of playdates!!!

Franklin Classic

The Franklin Classic is run every year on Labor Day.  This year we decided to have Carter run the 5K with Brian (who received a free entry through work).  We also signed Rylan up the 1K fun run.

Grayson and I just hung out and watched this year :)

As my last several posts indicate, we've been very busy with sports this past couple of weeks.  I think it all finally caught up with Carter on Monday because he struggled in the race.  Brian said Carter wanted water pretty early but the first water stop wasn't until the 2 mile point.  Also the start was extremely disorganized.  There was no instruction for walkers to line up at the rear and Carter was weaving in and out of people for the first few hundred yards (there were even people with wagons pulling kids in front of him!).  Brian said he thinks all of that mentally messed Carter up and he was done.  I'm still super proud of our boy for finishing another 5K though!  And his time still wasn't horrible - 37:23.  Carter's age group was 9 and under and he finished 27th out of 44.  He was the fastest 6 year old though!!!

Rylan's race was after the 5K.  He decided he wanted Brian to run with him as well so I really got to take it easy.  It was supposed to be a 1K but somehow they only set the course up to run around 1 block instead of 2.  The race ended up being at most 1/2 K.  Rylan still loved it.  He found his best buddy from school (Mason) when lining up and ran with him too.  Rylan finished the race in under 4 minutes.  And he ran the whole time (which is awesome for him).  I didn't know the course was short so I wasn't prepared to take a picture and only got Rylan's back (he's in the gray sleeveless shirt in the middle of this photo).

Afterwards we headed to Dunkin Donuts to make up for all the calories the boys had burned off :)

Carter's Progress Report

Carter got his first progress report of the year today.  It's hard to believe he's already midway through the first quarter!

He's doing great so far!  Mrs. Hess didn't mark that he needs improvement on anything!  Go, Carter :)

What the boys said ...

I wish I wrote down more things that the boys say, but here are a couple of funny things from today ...

On the way to school today, the song "Creep" by Radiohead was on the radio.  One line is "I wish I was special."  Rylan then says to me in a very sweet and inquisitive voice, "Everyone is special, right Mom?"

Brian and Carter were talking about school and Brian was explaining how many years of school Carter still has before he will be done.  Brian said that college is usually 4 years but he went for 6 years (because he got his Master's).  Carter followed up though with, "Is that because you're not smart?"

Game Ball

The first game ball for our boys this season goes to ... RYLAN!

Coach Mike (the other assistant) announcing that Rylan was tonight's recipient ...

So happy!!!

The boys played back to back tonight (Rylan at 6 pm and Carter at 7 pm).  Rylan had a GREAT game.  His hitting slump has ended.  He had 2 great hits tonight with one reaching the outfield.  He played 1st base during the second inning and got 4 outs on his own when balls were hit to him, he fielded them, and touched first.

Carter played well too.  He had good hits and fielded the ball well but didn't do anything that stood out.  He played 1st base the last inning and got one out when he fielded a ball and tagged the runner.  He also had a great stretch when another player threw the ball to him and almost got the out.

Both boys are loving baseball again this season.  Soccer games start up this weekend and we hope they still enjoy those games just as much!

Mini Milers

The boys started the Mini Milers running program yesterday afternoon.

Rylan's best friend in his class is Mason.  Mason's parents own Fleet Feet (a running store), which runs the Mini Milers program.  Mason's mom sent home a flyer in the kids' folders this week telling us about the program.  I knew Rylan would love to do something with Mason outside of school so I signed the boys up for this 6 week program.

Yesterday was so hot again (90s, humid, and sunny) so running on a black track was a little rough.  The organizers took this into account and gave the kids tons of water breaks and had them run less than normal.

The kids were split into four age groups.  Carter and Rylan were together in the second group.  Rylan's friend Mason was also in their group as was a little girl that has been in Carter's class the last two years (Laney).

Mason & Rylan

Laney, Carter, & Rylan

The boys' group started off with some stretching and talking a little bit about running.  Then they did a simple game of running from one point to another if they could answer "yes" to a question (such as, "Do you have a dog?").  Next was some more instruction on running (they learned about the 4 S's - shoes, sleep, stretch, and sip).  The last activity was the race.  The boys' group did about 100 yards (I think they'd normally do 1/4 mile).  Rylan is running so much faster all of a sudden!  He did awesome!  Carter, Laney, and another girl were the top 3 finishers (I'm not sure which one won - Carter thinks he did).  They took the tear-off from the kids race bibs and put them in order of their finish but I didn't see whose was first.  I'm not sure what they are planning on doing with them.  After the race the kids got popsicles to cool off.

I'm having issues right now with uploading videos so I've put the video up on YouTube for now.  Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/Cy9HdZj1AiE

As we were leaving, both boys said they had so much fun.  Grayson and I didn't think it was so much fun in the heat though :)  The poor baby was soaked in sweat.

Using the Walker

When did this kid get so old?!?!?

I'm having issues right now with uploading videos so I've put the video up on YouTube for now.  Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/T1DxIJIwa_g

Carter - The River Bandits

This season Carter is on the Quad Cities River Bandits. Where is Quad Cities??? I had to look it up - Davenport, Iowa.

Carter is on the same team with the same coaches as the last two seasons.  We really love this group of boys and amazing coaches.

Carter has played two games so far.  He's still working the dust off a little bit from last season but he had this great hit that hit the outfield fence during his first game.

I'm having issues right now with uploading videos so I've put the video up on YouTube for now.  Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/okrK_TxuQGA

The fall season is the "off-season" for baseball.  Kids move up an age group in the fall and new rules are introduced but it is more of a practice season for the spring.  The kids play a few more games in the spring plus Carter's age will then keep score and have a tournament.

The new rules include being able to strike-out (there is no more tee to use).  Coaches still pitch to the kids and they get 5 pitches.  The boys can advance more bases now after hits and over-throws.  Also, instead of batting the entire line-up each inning, the inning is over after 3 outs (or after batting through the line-up).  This makes the games a lot more fast paced, and in my opinion, fun.

Titans Game

We went to a preseason Titans game on Thursday night.  This was Grayson's first football game!!!  When we went last year it poured the entire first half and we sat on the ground by the concession stands eating popcorn.  We got to watch a little of the second half last year but the game was really over by then.  We were also in the 300 level.  This year I found some really inexpensive seats in the 100 level in the end zone on Stubhub.  And it was dry!

All the boys ...

These two were so excited about the game.  There were talking about it for days beforehand.  I had gotten them some Titans shirts and tattoos at the end of last season that we busted out for the game.

I think the big boys like the mascot (T-Rac) more than the players.  He has a lot of entertaining vehicles and costumes!

The seats were great (especially compared to where we usually sit).

Grayson did awesome!!!  He spent a lot of time standing and holding onto the seats in front of us.  We stayed until about 9 pm (there was about 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter)

Carter tried really hard to get on the jumbotron with lots of dancing!

So much fun!!!

Kevin, Bob, & Stuart

Three of our five goldfish that the boys won at the fair are still going strong.  The 2 little ones only made it a couple of days before heading off to fish heaven.

Rylan named those two Jason and Jackson.

Our other three are named Kevin, Bob, and Stuart (after the Minions).  I suggested those names because Carter was having trouble deciding on anything and it stuck.

Kevin is our greedy eater ...

Bob is the shy one ...

And Stuart is sort of in between the other two ...

I've never had fish before so it's all new to me.  I have no idea if we are feeding them the right amount but they go INSANE now when I get close to them (even if it's not feeding time).  They eat up everything I put in the tank immediately.

The initial awe of the fish has worn off for the boys.  But they luckily aren't too much work for me.  We'll see what happens when we decide to take a vacation - I'm not sure what we'll do with them then!