Rylan's School Valentines

Rylan's preschool class celebrated Valentine's Day on Thursday.  Besides handing out Valentine's in the morning, they had a party at the end of the day.  A different group of moms handled the party this time and they did a great job.

The party started with the craft.  One of the moms had prepped vases by painting them white, putting a ribbon on them, and adding a foam flower.  Then the kids got to dip a finger in paint and using two fingerprints, made hearts on the vase.  I helped Rylan place his finger and his vase turned out super  cute.  He decided it would be for me so he wrote my name on the leaf :)

Next, it was time for a game.  Bingo went a lot better than musical chairs did at the Christmas party!

Rylan was the first one to yell out Bingo too!

Snacks were after the game.  A mom had put a "Love Potion #9" label on the water.  When I told Rylan what it said, he refused to drink it.  I convinced him it was just water and he tore the label off so he could drink it :)

Rylan ate his cookies and skipped the fruit - go figure!

After that the kids just played for a little bit before heading home.  Rylan and his best school buddy, Radnor ...

Both Carter and Rylan decided they wanted Star Wars Valentine's this year.  I found this cute idea online.  I found the image online and added "May the Force be with You this Valentine's Day - From Jedi Master Rylan."  I had the photos printed at Walgreens, mounted them on cardstock, and added two glow bracelets as Lightsabers.

We had to bring shoeboxes in and Ms. Sue helped the kids make them into mailboxes.

Rylan also had some gifts for us.

The kids decorated a picture frame and heart earlier in the week.

Love It!

Carter reading a book to Rylan while eating lunch ...

Carter is becoming a great reader!!!

Rolling Over

Grayson finally rolled over today!  He's been close for the past couple of days - getting on his side but never all the way over.

I caught him trying it again today and started videoing him.  His arm was in the way for a long time and he was starting to get frustrated with it.

But he eventually got it!

Grayson lasted about two minutes before he had enough tummy time (sorry for the blurry picture).

Writing Web

Carter brought this worksheet home from school yesterday.

What Carter wrote on the back is what made me laugh (and then cry ... not really).

In case you need help interpreting kindergarten spelling ...

"I play basketball.  I like scoring goals.  I scored 6 goals in two games.  Basketball is fun.  My team never beats the other team."

Carter still has 4 more games - maybe they'll win one :)

First Run

I took Grayson on his first run today.  It was relatively warm (50ish), sunny, and not windy so I figured he could handle a few miles.  He was awake for about 20 seconds, then the sun got in his eyes, he closed them, and passed out.

I only have the carseat attachment for the double stroller so I may have looked like I lost a kid during my run :)

We ran from the house and did 4 miles in just over 40 minutes.  Considering all the hills we did, I was completely happy with that time.  It felt so good to run outside again!

I was sick last week and ended up taking a break from Insanity after 4 weeks.  I've been doing some of the T25 workouts since they are shorter and easier to fit into my day (Grayson likes the shorter workouts too since I don't have to ignore his crying for as long).  I only have 5 weeks until the half marathon I signed up for so I need to get in some long runs soon.

Multiplication

Apparently kindergarten is NOT too early to start learning how to do multiplication!

Every afternoon, Carter's class has RTI before getting ready to go home for the day.  During RTI the kids get to do quiet, independent activities.  This is also the time when students can get a little one-on-one time with the teacher.  Kids can be pulled because they are struggling or because they need an extra challenge.

Carter told me that last week and this week on Tuesday, he, two other kids from his class, and 2 kids from other classes have been getting pulled out of the class to work on math because they are so good at it.  Carter's teacher hasn't told me about this so I only know what Carter has told me.

Today they worked on multiplication.  We went over these worksheets and he seemed to understand what he was doing!

Recent Pictures

"In 2015, I want to Play with my Brutr (brother)."  Aaawwwww :)

All grades in Carter's school are making pottery right now.  Because it's a bit hard on the day the kids are working with the clay for the art teacher to help everyone, parents were invited in for this one class to help out.  I was lucky that Brian was able to watch Rylan and Grayson so I could help.

The kindergarteners are making hearts.  Carter got to pound out the clay, draw a heart in the clay, cut it out, and then decorate it by pressing items into it (like nails and straws) to make indentions.  In future classes he was going to paint it and finish it up.

Last week Rylan, Grayson, and I met Missy and her kids at the Adventure Science Center.  These two almost look like they know what they are doing!  Rylan actually has gotten pretty good at playing checkers against me.  He basically understands the rules and doesn't make a lot of mistakes.  He seems to have a little bit of strategy when playing.

Grayson is starting to chew on Sophie a little bit.  He still doesn't take a paci but chews on his hands constantly so I figured it was time to get him out some toys.  He's able to grab ahold of Sophie and put her feet in his mouth.  He's becoming a lot self aware lately!

Since Carter is in school full time now, he doesn't get to go to library storytimes anymore.  I finally noticed that the Brentwood Library has a program called "After School Explorers" for K-2 on Tuesday afternoons.  I took Carter for the first time last week (Grayson slept through it and Rylan worked on his letters and then played with the iPad).  During the class, Carter said they read a couple of books, talked about the awards the books had won, played some games (like Simon Says), started making their own books, and got a snack.  Carter finished his book at home.  I helped a little by providing the facts from the internet :)

Carter said he really liked the class and is excited to go back tomorrow.

I also took Carter to "Lego Mania" on Friday at the Brentwood Library.  It is help once a month and is for ages 6 and 7.  After talking about a theme, the kids were able to free build with huge buckets of Legos.  They could built based on the theme or just make whatever they wanted.  It wasn't very structured but Carter still enjoyed it.

Carter's creation ...

Brian now works from home.  He often will go to a library or coffee shop for part of the day to work.  On Friday he was at Einstein Bros. Bagels when it closed at 5 pm and they gave him a bunch of bagels there were just going to throw away.  Score!  I told Brian he needs to work there every Friday afternoon :)

Before Carter's basketball game on Saturday, he had a birthday party to go to for a girl in his class.  He could only stay 40 minutes, but he had a blast.  It was a Pancakes and Pajamas party so the kids got to wear their pajamas and bring a stuffed animal.  Carter got his face painted to match his pajamas and made a Fruit Loop necklace (which came in handy because we left just before breakfast was served and I didn't bring anything for Carter to snack on before his game!).

Today after gymnastics, we took the kiddos bowling.  We always have to hit up the arcade for a few games.  Rylan hit the jackpot on one game and scored 71 tickets - he was so excited!

Progress Report

Carter's progress report for the 3rd quarter ... 

He's still doing great!!!

Marcella Vivrette Smith Park

A new park opened in Brentwood just a couple of miles from our house about 3 months ago.  It took forever to build the entrance to the park because a new bridge had to be constructed over a set of train tracks but phase one is finally done.  There isn't too much there yet - mainly just some hiking trails.  There is an old mansion (almost 200 year old) on the property where weddings are held and the park connects to the extensive greenway system that I typically use.  I now have a place to park that is closer to the house which is great!

A lot more is planned for the park and hopefully it will get funded.  It's supposed to have 4 multi-purpose fields, some picnic shelters, a playground, and maybe even some mountain bike trails (PLEASE!!!).

We had a relatively mild weekend and decided to check out some of the hiking trails this afternoon.  Since dogs are allowed on these trails, we took Charlotte with us for once!

We started with the red trail since it goes up to the top of the ridge.  With it being winter it's probably the best time to do that one since all the foliage will block views when it warms up.

The trails aren't always very distinct and packed yet but we still didn't have any trouble staying on them.

Grayson stayed awake for the first part of the hike.  I had him all bundled up though because it was super windy in clearings and all that warmth probably helped him eventually pass out.

Carter walked Charlotte most of the hike.  Luckily she was too tired to pull much and send him flying!

There is a large clearing at the end of the red trail on the ridge.  Looks like it'll be a great place for a picnic when it warms up!

Grayson passed out on the way back down trail.

About half way down we split off the red trail and took part of the blue and black trails back to the trailhead to add on a little length.  In all we hiked 1.8 miles.  The big boys did awesome with almost zero complaining from Rylan (and we didn't have to carry him at all).  We are super excited to have such a great new park so close to the house and are excited to try the other hiking trails soon!

Vanderbilt Basketball

Grayson attended his first college sporting event yesterday!  We went to the Vandy basketball game against South Carolina.  I got tickets off Stubhub last week.  Our seats were in the rafters again but the arena is so small, there really aren't bad seats.

The weather was so nice yesterday that we didn't mind the walk from the parking lot to the arena.

Our view ...

Grayson took a nap for about half of the first half.

And then was up the rest of the game.

Vandy started off quick but then slowed down and trailed for most of the low scoring game.  But they rallied at the end of the game and had a great comeback.  It got pretty exciting (which Grayson wasn't loving - it got really loud).  The big boys were really into the game for awhile and still did great after they got over the initial excitement.