Firstlight

Carter is still taking art lessons on Friday afternoons at Firstlight Arts Academy.  His class is from 4:15 to 6 pm and it's for 8 - 12 year olds.  Sometimes he's not overly excited to go, but he's always happy and seems to have fun when I pick him up.  I think it's hard to have the class at the end of a long school week with activities every single day after school, but Friday is the only day that doesn't overlap with sports.

I think Carter is definitely learning techniques and improving his skills.  Here are a few things that came home in the last few weeks (a lot of the kids' drawing is in their sketchbook which stays at the studio).

A gift - the kids were working on how to draw a box and also the shading/shadow.

This week the kids had to create an advertisement.  I'm sure there were things they were learning from this, but I'm just not sure what!

On this week, the kids were studying cylinders.  There were several things the kids could draw.  Carter drew part of a woman and her arm was the cylinder.  Afterwards he added more detail on his own which was to put a dresser with a mirror in the background which then included the woman's reflection.  Carter's art teacher was super impressed :)

Carter is not our only artist in the family.  Rylan is pretty stinking good himself.  Here's an egret he drew recently ...

Sunday Morning

Sundays are usually the only mornings we aren't in a rush to get anywhere.  Here's a little look at this morning ...

Watching a movie on Netflix:

I wish Gray liked to cuddle like this for more than five minutes!  And it looks weird but he's holding a balloon he got from Ellie's birthday party last night :)

Getting a little exercise:

Vanderbilt Basketball

Yesterday afternoon we took the boys to a Vanderbilt basketball game.  They were playing Iowa State as part of the Big 12 / SEC Challenge.  We were sitting in the 3rd level (as usual) but this time had tickets on the sideline instead of end.  Honestly the gym is so small that 3rd level isn't bad at all.

The big boys ...

And the one that currently refuses to have his picture taken!  I don't remember the other two ever going through that phase.  Maybe because I was taking way more pictures back then and they were just more used to it!

The game was an exciting one to be at!  Vandy was down most of the first half but tied it right before halftime.  They took a lead in the second half but Iowa State kept it close right up until the end.  Vandy held on for the win and we had fun cheering them on!

100 Days of School

Tuesday was the 100th day of school.  The only ones to really celebrate are the kindergarteners who get to dress as if they are 100 years old.  Self-conscious Rylan was nervous to participate but I was able to get him to dress up a little bit.  It's crazy because Rylan is such a goofball that likes to be the center of attention when he's confident but is scared to death that someone will make fun of him at other times.

Doesn't he look a little like that kid from Jerry Maguire!

Where's Gray?

Gray went to Ellie's birthday party at Harpeth Gymnastics last night.  Sliding into the pit was his favorite thing to do.

Basketball

Both Carter and Rylan are playing basketball this winter.  We have never loved the league Carter plays with (EWA - East Williamson Athletics) but it's super convenient and most of the kids at the boys' school play in that league.  We decided to keep Carter in the league but have Rylan try out the Nolensville league.  We initially thought we could get him on a team with a friend whose dad is coaching but Rylan got drafted in the first full round (there were a couple of kids picked in a small round before him if a coach didn't have an assistant coach).  Even though that didn't work out, Rylan lucked out and got a great coach.  He's actually the grandfather of one of the players and is an unpaid assistant coach for the Brentwood Academy boys varsity team.  So he actually knows what he's doing - he's very patient with the kids, knows what he needs to teach them, and also how to teach them (there are still a few that are unteachable though!)

Carter knew about half the kids on his team already.  One boy (Zack) is in his class.  Zack is probably the strongest player and Carter is the second (though not by much).  I think playing in the ultra-competitive BA Flight league this summer (in which Carter's team got killed in every game) made Carter a lot better.  Plus being a little older.  He's dribbling so much better, has a much more fluid layup, and gets things like pulling up and taking a shot or ducking around someone with their arms up to take a shot.

Carter's coaches are okay.  They have never coached before and their kids have never played before.  So while they lack experience, at least they aren't the jerks that only want to win (and thus play their kids very unequally - the worst kids only play the minimum required amount) and get nuts during the games (the main reason we don't love EWA).

Rylan is also the second best player on his team  The best player, Asher, just looks so natural and fluid while playing.  But Rylan is doing amazing and impressing us every game.  He is an especially good at defense.  He is really good at guarding his man and watching the ball.

Both boys could still work on their confidence and aggressiveness but they are doing great!

Rylan's team is 3-2.  I think that has a lot to do with having a good coach this season.  Carter's team is 1-4.  I think their record is partly due to their coaches - they didn't draft very well and they weren't prepared for the level of competition that is in this league.  During the initial practices they were telling the kids that other players can't steal the ball from them when they are dribbling.  I have no idea where they got that idea!  They are trying but they really haven't taught our kids anything this season and don't have the best plays.  But the league is also weird in that teams are formed via a draft but the age group spans two years and coaches can keep a team together in the second year.

Both boys are having fun and ultimately that is all that matters.  They've both scored every game except one each (I think).

I haven't taken an videos of Carter yet but here are a couple of Rylan ...

Space and Rocket Center

I took the boys down to Huntsville today to go to the Space and Rocket Center.  Brian needed to catch up on some work and it was rainy so it was a good day for a little road trip for the boys and me.

There was a break in the rain when we arrived at the Rocket Center so did some of the outdoor activities first.  Carter and I rode the gravitron ride.  Carter said it was super fun.  He was a little too short for the Space Shot ride (which is one of those rides that shoots you up and drops down).  I think both of us were okay with that :)  I did put all the boys on the kiddie version of the ride though.  Gray made it through one bouncy drop and we decided to get him off.  He didn't cry but he had a look of terror on his face (though he we trying to smile through it and be happy like his big brothers).

It was empty at the Rocket Center today.  We rarely saw other people - it was odd.  But it was nice to not have to wait to do anything and not worry about losing anyone!

The boys kept crashing the space shuttle in the landing simulator ...

 

I tried to get a group shot of the boys with Saturn V.  Gray just kept turning his back to me and saying "butt".

Then he did this ...

Eventually I got a picture with him facing me :)

 

Carter didn't want to climb the rock wall, but after I begged him to give it a try, he eventually did.  Rylan was right at the minimum weight so I didn't push him to try it.

Carter made it about 2/3rds of the way up the intermediate wall before deciding he didn't think he could make it up all the way.

He made it up the easier wall without too much trouble!

The temporary exhibit was all about Archimedes.

After about 4 hours, Gray was more than ready for a nap and we headed out.  We hadn't made it the Rocket Center in about 2 1/2 years so the boys didn't remember everything and really enjoyed it.  Since we get in free with one of our museum memberships, I'm sure we'll be back.

Funny Faces

Gray is very much like Rylan with his silliness.  He loves to get a laugh out of us.  He constantly does dramatic (fake) falls, likes to lie on the grounds with his tongue hanging out pretending his dead, yells "boo" at us in an attempt to scare us, and shoots us with his fingers.  The other day he wanted me to take his picture while he made funny faces ...

School Work

Both boys are doing great in school this year.

Rylan is still excelling after having such a great year at Otter Creek last year.  He's able to read just about anything to me.  He hasn't wanted to read any chapter books yet, but I'm sure he could do some easy ones if he wanted.

Rylan is doing a great job spelling too.  I'm amazed how well he sounds out words, and often correctly!  He's such a perfectionist that I'm impressed when he comes home with work where he has misspelled something.  He is so hard on himself and completely breaks down for me whenever he gets anything wrong.

Rylan gets pulled from class a few times a week to do extra math and reading work.  I'm glad he's getting a little extra work to make sure he is still challenged since he did a kindergarten program last year.

Carter is also now getting pulled again to do extra math and reading.  I have no idea how the teachers decide this and it doesn't seem to carry over year to year but I'm glad Carter is getting the extra work again.

The math worksheets he brings home from these sessions are fun problem solving practice.

I love to read the stories that Carter writes at school this year.  This was a funny one ...

My name is Carter and this is my imaginary adventure to the ocean.  I am going with a octpous named Ponder I got from the zoo.  Ponder the octpous hase strong arms to fight sharks.  Ponder and I went throuw the pipes to get to the ocean.  In the pipes it took so long I took a nap.  Ponder had to give me a ride to the ocean (in the pipes I was frezeing).  Befor we went in the pipes I packed a air tank to breath in the water.  Then I saw a shark and right then Ponder hit the shark away.  This was the best imaginary adventure. 

Raleigh

The boys and I had so much fun spending some time together in Raleigh over the Thanksgiving break.  Brian worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as did his parents.  I don't usually get to spend this much time with the boys with no time constraints (we usually have a practice to be at or a playdate scheduled with friends).  Each day we visited a different museum and park.  We'd been to most of these before but it's been a few years so I'm pretty much the only one that remembered anything about them.

On Monday we went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.  The museum is free which makes it even better!

Carter just finished being a squirrel in the second grade music performance so he was excited to pose with the squirrel.

Gray looks so old in this picture!

He's also learning from his brothers and making ridiculous faces and poses for pictures (including dabbing)!

We went to an animal encounter program and the boys got to touch several animals, including hissing cockroaches!

The museum recently expanded to include a research center.  There are exhibits here as well as actual scientific work you can watch being done.  There are also labs were the kids can learn more about science in a hands-on way.

One thing the boys did was extract wheat germ DNA.  This brought me back to my AP Chemistry days!

After about four hours at the museum, we moved on to the North Carolina Museum of History that is in the next building.  The boys moved through these exhibits a little quicker and so I didn't take many photos.

We spent about an hour there before deciding we'd had enough of museums for the day!  Since we were close to NCSU, we stopped by the Alumni Center to find a letterbox that is located in the parking lot.  While there, we got a picture with a wolf :)

We stopped by a McDonald's for ice cream (and cheeseburgers since Carter and Gray prefer that) and then went to Marla Dorrel Park which is about a mile from Brian's parents' house.  We planned to only stay about 30 minutes because it was getting cold but after many, many 5 minute warnings, we finally left after about 1 1/2 hours.  It's hard to pull the boys away when everyone is actually having fun and there is no whining!

On Tuesday I took the boys to Durham to the Museum of Life and Science.  We got in free with our membership to the museum in Oak Ridge, TN we join each year for only $35.  We got to the museum a little before it opened so we walked down a greenway near the museum to find a letterbox.  The museum currently has an outdoor dinosaur exhibit but they had another one that Brian remembers from his childhood that was damaged in a storm and abandoned.  There is still one dinosaur remaining from it and that is where we found the letterbox.

To get a good picture, I have to promise to take a silly picture afterwards.  I usually end up deleting them - don't tell the boys!

We spend about an hour inside the museum hoping it would warm up a little bit before heading to the outdoor exhibits.

The boys' favorite part was the new exhibit that opened last year.  It's called Hideaway Woods and it is AWESOME!!!  It is several treehouses connected by walkways and nets.  To me it looked like an Ewok village from Star Wars.  The boys spent a long, long time here.  Even Gray had no fear and climbed up and down everything on his own.

Gray almost lost it when he saw the train go by.  We had to wait until our ticket time of noon but he survived.  He's a little obsessed with "eeeeees" as he calls them (he's trying to imitate the whistle sound with his name for them).

We spent another couple of hours doing the outdoor things ...

Butterfly House:

Dinosaur Trail:

Catch the Wind (sailboats):

Into the Mist (it was only in the 40s but the boys didn't think anything of getting a little wet!):

We also saw the handful of animals they have and did Hideaway Woods again.  Then we spent about an hour doing the indoor exhibits.  Gray passed out inside pretty quick and napped the rest of our time there.  This is one of my absolute favorite museums - we spent the whole day there and still didn't see everything.  I knew traffic would be bad so we left around 4:15 pm and it still took us an hour to get to Brian's parents house.  It was worth it for such a fun day though.  All the boys slept on the drive though which made it easier!

On Wednesday I took the boys to Marbles, a kids museum in downtown Raleigh.  Again, we got in free with our membership to the museum in Oak Ridge.  We got to the museum just after it opened and it was great for about an hour.  And then it got really crowded.  It was still fun but we only stayed about 2 1/2 hours.

Waiting for the giant piggy bank to be filled with enough money (green balls) for it to open up

Pizza delivery man ...

The fitness area is pretty cool ...

Gray loved the giant train table.  He calls trains "ee-ee"s (that's the sound he first made to imitate the train whistle and it's stuck with him as the name of trains).  The whole time he was playing (probably 20 minutes), he was saying "tooo-tooo".

Once the museum got too crowded for us, we headed out.  We ate a packed lunch in the car and headed to Pullen Park.

Pullen Park is adjacent to NC State but I had never been there before.  It's a small park with a playground, a few rides, and a little lake.  Gray was SO EXCITED to get to ride another train!  For some reason, all the boys were.  We played on the playground 10 minutes and then sat on the unmoving train for 30 minutes since it only ran every half hour.  We did get the front seats though!

The train ride was only 3 or 4 minutes but no one seemed to mind that it was so short.

Next we rode the carousel.

We didn't spend much more time at the park - the troops were hungry.  We decided to do another McDonald's run for ice cream and cheeseburgers.  And then we went to another park closer to Brian's parents' house - Walnut Street Park.

After playing for a bit, we hunted down a series of four letterboxes.  It took a little while for the last one, but we managed to find them all!

We got back to the house close to 5 pm again.  Another long but fun day!

The next day was Thanksgiving.  My mom drove up and we had a fun day at home with Brian's parents.

On Friday my mom went with us and we took the boys hiking at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, which is adjacent to Brian's parents' neighborhood.  There is a beautiful new nature center that has been added since we'd been there in college.  The indoor area was closed but we still got to play in the outdoor area.

We hiked a couple of miles and enjoyed some beautiful weather for the end of November!

Gray didn't make it too long before passing out ...

I've never noticed him sleeping quite like this before in the backpack!

Afterwards we checked out a new park that was close by - Jack Smith Park.  There were these awesome sheep sculptures to play on ...

And piles of huge sticks to build with.

The playground was awesome too!

We went back to the house after this to watch NCSU beat UNC (yay!) and spend some more time with Brian's family.  We headed back to Nashville the next day.  We had a great time exploring Raleigh and I loved getting to spend so much time with the boys!