Spanish and Art Classes

I signed Carter up for a couple of extracurriculars at school this semester (because we aren't busy enough - haha!).

On Tuesday mornings he's doing a Spanish class from 7:15 to 8:15 am.  Brian and I both took Spanish in school and have exposed the boys to some words but Carter was interested in learning more.  The kids are learning basic vocabulary (numbers, colors, phrases such as "My name is ..." and "I like ...").  So far Carter seems to enjoy it!

On Wednesday afternoons Carter is doing an art class from 4 to 5 pm.  The class is run by SACC (which is the before and after school care program) so they provide care and a snack between when the kids get out of class at 3:35 pm and when the class starts at 4 pm.  Carter of course loves the class!  He also has two good friends from his class doing it with him so that makes it even better!

Here's what Carter did the first two weeks ...

Bath Hair

Crazy hair after bath ...

Grayson is going to need a trim soon!  It's not super thick, but his hair is starting to go over his eyes already!

Mini Miler Buddies

I took this picture last week of our big boys with Rylan's best friend from school, Mason ...

Mason is an awesome kid and I'm so glad Rylan and him have become friends!!!

Mini Milers

The boys finished up the Mini Milers program today.  The program lasted 6 weeks and the format was the same every week.  After about 20 minutes of stretching and games, the kids were split into 4 age divisions and raced.  Carter and Rylan were in the second group (ages 5 & 6) and got to run 1/4 mile (which is one lap around the track).

Carter won the race every week.  I'm sure it helped that he's almost 7.  But he still did a great job each week pacing himself not to go out too fast and finishing hard.  Carter was very consistent too and finished each week right around 1 minute, 45 seconds.

Rylan's buddy from school (Mason) stayed with Carter each week but always finished several yards behind him.  Mason wanted to win one race so badly though.  He stayed ahead of Carter today until the final stretch when Carter passed him.

Rylan has done AMAZING.  He has short little legs but is really figuring out how to make them work for him :)  He's taken off a few seconds during the last few weeks and finished today in 2 minutes, 12 seconds.

He always finishes the race sprinting and passes a few people before crossing the line.

After the races today, each of the kids got a really nice participation medal.

Each week the top 10 racers of each gender in each age category received points.  The child in each group with the most points at the end of the program received a certificate good for a free pair of Asics shoes from Fleet Feet.  Look which boy won for the 1/4 mile category!

Carter is so excited and can't wait to go pick out his new shoes!!!

Cheekwood Harvest

After skipping last year, we decided to make a scarecrow for Cheekwood again this year.  I asked the boys what they wanted to do and after several suggestions from me, we decided on Darth Vader.

I'd like to say this was a family project but I ended up doing it.  This wasn't my best crafty work as I was really busy, but Darth turned out pretty good :)

After Mini Milers on Sunday, we stopped by Cheekwood to check on Darth.  After a week of rain, he was still holding up!

I'm not creative, so Brian came up with our title for the scarecrow: "A long time ago in a cornfield far, far away".

The boys were pretty excited that the scarecrow next to ours was a purple minion!

I really liked this jellyfish scarecrow.

We weren't planning on going to Cheekwood when we left the house, otherwise I would have brought some cute clothes along for pictures with pumpkins!

Cheekwood is always gorgeous in the fall!

Spirit Week

Carter's school had spirit week a couple of weeks ago.

Crazy Hat Day:

Giddy Up Tuesday:

Wacky Wednesday:

Team Thursday:

Clovercroft Friday:

Carter's School Pictures

Our big 1st grader ...

Dancing Grayson

Grayson has recently started to enjoy music.  He loves to clap and twist his booty :)

Frankenstein

Look what we did to our pantry door tonight ...

The boys are going to be so excited in the morning.  We put our Halloween decorations up outside yesterday and they are so proud of them.  They've been playing outside in the cold rain just to be by them.  It's a little ridiculous!

Child of the Week

Rylan's teacher celebrates each child during the week of their birthday.  But because Rylan has a summer birthday, he gets a random week during the year.  Last week was his week.  On Monday he brought in pictures of our family as well as a poster about his favorite things.

Ms. Melissa also invites us into the classroom during the week.  On Monday I brought a special snack for the kids.  Per Rylan's request, I brought in doughnuts (I think that's what most kids have been doing so far this year and they all love them!).

Before digging in, we all sung Happy Birthday to Rylan ...

His shyness came through in the pulling at his shirt in that video.  He was excited to "break a rule" and stand in his chair :)

Then on Tuesday I ate lunch with Rylan and on Thursday Brian ate lunch with him.  It was great to see how things run in the classroom and meet more of Rylan's friends.  He has a really great class and an even more amazing teacher!