Firstlight Arts Academy

Carter's love for art has continued to grow.

He still says that his favorite part of school is art class.

He was having a conversation with Brian the other day about having to get a job when he grows up.  He told Brian that he didn't want to work and just wanted to do art.  When Brian told him that doing art is a job for some people, Carter was so excited.

He also always tells me that his friends at school call him an artist.  And he's so proud.

I've been searching for art lessons for Carter for awhile.  But we don't have any friends taking classes and wasn't sure about anything I was finding searching online.  I really want Carter to learn skills and techniques.  Plus it's really hard for us to commit to most days because the boys have sports almost every single afternoon.

Finally I came across Firstlight Arts Academy last week.  They are a small art school in Franklin that has classes for preschoolers up to adults.  There are four teachers at the school and there are several classes each day.  They are a serious art school and have been around for over ten years.  I was sold after reading through all their philosophies and teaching methods on their website.  They are expensive but all art lessons seem to be.  And Carter has a passion for art and I really want to give him the opportunity to explore it while he is young and excited.

So Carter started the Foundations class last week.  It is on Fridays from 4:15 to 6.  Here is a description of the class from the website:

Foundational art lessons is for new artists, as well as those who have been working on their talents for years. Learn how to draw more accurately, learn different techniques for drawing and painting, and learn how to mix colors. We teach with our 3-part approach, which includes Insights, Techniques, and lots of freedom for Self-expression. Taken one school year at a time, this course has two years of curriculum that students can begin at any time in the cycle. Artists work on a variety of projects focusing on the core concepts that every artist needs.

We explore many of the tools and mediums each Fall. The Winter sees more of our color journal work, a few lessons on drawing specific things more accurately, and some fun projects with self-expression take up much of the Spring.

Carter enjoyed his first class and here is thing he worked on:

I'm really excited for Carter and hope he really enjoys this class.  The class is for 8 to 12 year olds so he's a little young but I think he'll be fine.  He really loves that he has his own box of supplies for the class that he gets to take home each week.  And that it's real art supplies.  Carter was really proud of everything he worked on last week and I'm excited to see what he does this Friday!

Stomach Bug

The stomach bug hit us all this week.  Carter got it Monday, Grayson on Wednesday, me on Thursday night, and Rylan and Brian on Friday.  And it was awful.  But we are mostly doing better.  Brian is still the worst off.  I'm still not eating but am able to take care of the kids.  The boys are all doing fine today.

Oh the joys of going back to school and getting exposed to everything again!

Student of the Week

I've still been struggling with the decision of holding Rylan back this year.  I think it's ultimately the right decision but he is really bored at school right now.  I know that the first few weeks of kindergarten is a lot about getting the kids used to routines and being in a big school and that it will get more challenging.  I just hope he doesn't lose his love and enthusiasm for school that he developed last school year!

Rylan has been excelling though so far.  He got to be the line leader the first day of school because he colored in the lines the best on his first worksheet :)

Also, look what he received at the end of the first week of school ...

Last night I emailed Rylan's teacher to tell her about the kindergarten program Rylan did last year and to share my concerns about him.  She responded back with this awesome email that makes me feel a lot better about our decision and what Rylan will be doing soon ...

I am so glad you emailed me because I was just thinking today about Rylan and how ahead he is from everyone else in the class. Rylan is definitely the top in the class. Not only is he the top, but he is also the most well-mannered and kind little boy. Which says so much about you!

These first few weeks of kindergarten has a lot of assignments where us as the kindergarten teachers are giving the students things to complete for us to be able to see what they do and do not know. We are reviewing over shapes right now in math (which I would say 98% of the class already know) but it is our first standard and we have to review it. It is boring and I have tried to make it more fun with the shape YouTube songs that we sing and dance to in the mornings. But yes, it is really boring. In literacy, we are starting stations this week and Rylan's face has lit up when we go to literacy station. These stations are a bit more tough and most kids in the class are struggling with them, however they are right up Rylan's alley at keeping him occupied. Rylan is placed in a higher level literacy group with two other kids (Selma and London) so as literacy stations go on, these three will be getting some small group work with me where I give them things much more challenging. I know these first two weeks have probably been boring for Rylan, but if you guys will just bare with me figuring out who is at what levels the next two weeks, you should see Rylan having more level appropriate work. For the time being, I will talk with my mentor in the morning about some activities she thinks would benefit Rylan while we are learning about shapes and things so that he is not bored. I hate that and I do not want him to be.

Rylan is such a sweetheart and he has also been so kind to our friend Lily in our class who has Down syndrome. You should be very very proud of him.

I will keep you updated on what we decide to do with Rylan as far as more on his level work goes for the next two weeks. If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask and I hope that this helps!

Titans Game

Last Saturday (August 13th), we went to the Titans first preseason game of the year.  It was against the Chargers and we were excited we'd get to see Rivers, even if it was for only one drive.  This was our 6th year of going to a preseason game with the kids.

The game was at 7pm and it was threatening to rain right around game time.  We got a parking pass for the first time in an official Titans lot (Lot E) and got into the stadium about 20 minutes before game time.  Our seats were in the end zone on the 9th row.

The Titans had a new show for announcing their best players that included fireworks and fireballs (that were super hot, even at our seats).

About half way through the National Anthem, you could see the rain suddenly coming down in the lights above the stadium.  We had to wait until the singers were done, and then we quickly threw on our raincoats.  It poured for about 5 minutes and then tapered off to light rain for another 5 to 10 minutes.  Luckily our kids handled it like champs!  Plus I got a cuddle buddy for about 30 minutes instead of a crazy toddler that wanted to run around!

It rained one more time for about 10 minutes and then was a nice, mild evening.

The Titans about to receive the kickoff to start the game ...

The boys did a great job watching the game and I'm sure having good seats helps a lot with that.

We stayed until midway through the fourth quarter (Carter had a triathlon the next morning and we were already pushing it with how late it was).  I know it was a preseason game and the starters don't play much, but it was nice to see the Titans actually win a game (27-10)!

Nolensville Kids Triathlon

Last Saturday Carter did the Nolensville Kids Tri.  It was a crazy busy weekend for him but he still did great (first week of school, Nashville Sounds game Friday night, soccer and baseball practices Saturday morning, and Tennessee Titans game Saturday night).

This race was the third kids tri Carter did this summer.  Each one is slightly different with the length of each section.  This one was a 100 yard swim, 2 mile bike, and 0.7 mile run.

Carter getting ready to jump in the pool ...

I got this picture off the race's facebook page ...

Carter looked so good swimming!  He's finally found an efficient stroke.  But it's been a month since swim team so 4 lengths of the pool is long after not practicing for awhile!

This year the kids had to run out of the pool through the zero-entry side instead of pulling themselves out on the side of the pool.  Carter is in the background of this picture running out ...

I just caught Carter coming out of the transition to start the bike portion.

And coming back from the bike ...

And Carter finishing the race ...

Carter finished in 7th place (out of 29) for 8 year old boys.  Here are his times:

Swim: 3:02 (Rank - 12th)

Transition #1: 1:01 (Rank - 4th)
Bike: 12:55 (Rank - 11th)
Transition #2: 0:35 (Rank - 9th)
Run: 5:12 (Rank - 3rd)

Total: 22:46

There were 350 kids that did this triathlon and it was the biggest of the three Carter did this summer.  He did awesome!

Before the tri started, there were six kids with disabilities that started a modified version of the race.  One of those kids was Cohen (the boy Carter was paired with for the Tri My Best Triathlon).  Cohen did absolutely amazing!  He did the entire race too!!!  And was at the finish line to cheer on Carter.  We love Cohen and his family and hope to stay in touch with them!

After the race, Carter got two medals.  One was for participating in this race and the other was for participating in all three kids triathlons this summer.  The second medal was really cool with race logo charms from each race he did.

There were 40 kids total that did all three races this summer.

Carter is already looking forward to participating in these triathlons next year!!!

Gymnastics

Gray started Mommy and Me gymnastics on Monday at Let It Shine.  I did gymnastics for the older two at Harpeth Gymnastics but Suzy and I decided to try this gym for the little ones.

The first class was okay.  The instructor wasn't very friendly with the kids and also didn't instruct us on what to do with the kids.  It was more free play.  Very expensive free play.  We are committed for the month (and would lose our $50 registration fee if we moved gyms) but hopefully it'll improve.

Gray had fun though.  We did have a five minute organized circle time midway through that he didn't want to sit through since he'd been introduced to all the fun trampolines and foam pit.  I didn't like having the misbehaved kid running away!  He wasn't the only one though :)

Look at little man getting those feet up on his own :)

Hopefully next Monday will be a little better!

Sounds Game

Tonight we took the family to a Nashville Sounds game.  Brian's company was having their annual summer outing there so got free admission and dinner.

Unfortunately the game started off really slow and since we were sitting in the outfield, it was difficult for the kids to pay attention to the game.

They spent most of the game playing in the berm seating section with their friends that happen to also have parents that work at Brian's company.  At least they were having fun!!!

Gray enjoyed eating the popcorn he actually got to himself since his bros were playing :)

We left in the bottom of the 7th inning when the Sounds his a grand slam to make the score 10-0 (which ended up being the final score).

Williamson County Fair

We took the boys to the Williamson County Fair on Wednesday night.  Even though it was the night before Rylan's first day of kindergarten, Wednesday was the only night we didn't have something going on.  Luckily Rylan didn't seem any more tired than normal!

We arrived at the fair around 6:30 pm and headed to the indoor arena.  The boys checked out the tractors as we waited for one of the shows to start.

We watched Lady Houdini escape a straight jacket and do the water torture cell trick.

Even though they are getting a little old for it, the big boys were super excited for the Little 1's Farming area.  They get to do thinks like brush a fake sheep, plant corn in a fake bed, milk a fake cow, etc.  After collecting items from each station, they "sell" their goods for a treat (chocolate milk, cookies, or an ice cream sandwich).

Next we visited the children's barnyard.

The mama pig had babies 5 days earlier!  They were super cute!

This baby llama was the cutest animal ever with it's HUGE eyes!!!

We wandered around the midway for awhile while the kids decided if they wanted to spend money on games or rides.  They decided on games.  This basketball game was $10 each!!!  For 5 shots - yikes!  Luckily Carter made all 5 and Rylan made 4 which was enough for them to pick out a prize from the same section.

Next they tried to win a goldfish.  For $5, they got 35 balls and tried to get them into mini fish bowls.

Carter got one in!

The lady gave us two fish!  We still have one guppy alive that Carter got to take home from school last spring.  So we added these guys to our tank when we got home.  Unfortunately they weren't as healthy as our fish from last year's fair (some of those made it several months).  One died on Thursday and the other one died today.  So we are back to one lonely guppy :(

Before heading out, we watched the BMX Pros Trick Team.

We left around 9:30 pm since the next day was Rylan's first day of school.  It was a fun evening and I know the boys are already looking forward to next year!