The Master Man

Last week it was time for the parent teacher conferences for Cameron. We have just loved his teacher and it is clear that she loves Cameron too. She talked a lot about what a special kid Cameron is and how kind and helpful he is to all of his classmates. She said there are 4 main areas that they evaluate the kids on, and that the highest level is referred to as master and that Cameron is a master in all four categories! She said he is exceeding all expectations for his age. We are so proud of our sweet smart little boy.

100 days....late

Almost a month ago, Addy celebrated her 100th day of school, and apparently I forgot to celebrate it on the blog. Mom fail.

Addy had to come up with something to make that involved the number 100. She thought very hard and knew that she wanted her project to be made of legos. She came up with a very creative idea and ended up making the number 100 out of 100 pieces of legos. She was the first one to finish her project and bring it to school and then on the 100th day everyone had to explain and share their project with the rest of the class. Here was her explanation.

Why did you choose the project that you did?

Because I love legos! I was playing with them and I knew I had 100 legos. And could make the number 100. 

What were the hardest and easiest parts?

The easiest part was finding the pieces because I had so many. The hardest part was making the towers even. Because I could only use 100 pieces.

How does your project represent the number 100?

1. There are 100 lego pieces. 2. The legos make the number 100.

Great job Addy! And happy belated 100th day of school.

Spring!

Spring is finally here, although some days it's hard to believe. But the flowers are blooming and last weekend there was 1 day of no rain so we made the most of it. It was free state park day so we headed to one and did some hiking. It was awesome...except when it wasn't. The kids were great the entire time until it was time to go back up the trail. Addy protested several times and did a "sit in" refusing to walk up the hill. Luckily she was convinced to continue and we survived the adventure. We got some great pictures though and it was a good reminder of the sunny weather we will hopefully be getting more of soon. It has been a long rainy winter.

That'll be $5 please

Addy is almost done with the cookie selling "season" and the last part is selling with other girls in her Girl Scout Troop at stands outside of stores. She had her first round of stand selling last week and did great! The girls were very sweet to everyone who walked by and they did a great job selling cookies. Addy met her goal already and now they are just trying to raise more money for the troop. It was very cute to see them in action.

Dr. Suess Day

Last weekend there was a Dr. Suess scavenger hunt in our local downtown to celebrate Read Across America day. It was one of the coolest things I've seen. We got a map of all of the businesses that were participating in the scavenger hunt and at each place you would have to look for the Cat in the Hat. You got a stamp from each place when you found it. There were also activities at each business.
The kids got to make hats, play games, listen to stories and get their face painted. The local theatre even had a free showing of Horten Hears a Who! We spent most of the day downtown and at the end the kids completed the scavenger hunt and got their very own "cat in the hat" hat. It was such a fun day and makes me love this city even more!

Worms on Wheels

Last week at Cameron's school they had a special visitor who talked about how important worms are for plants and gardens and how they help with composting. Cameron got to touch the worms and hold them in his hands. He said it was really cool to see and that worms are great because the "eat all of the yucky things." 

Special Strengths

The other night, I was reading a book to the kids that had a nice message about how everyone has their own strengths and the key to teamwork is focusing on what each person is best at. I asked the kids what they thought their strengths were. Right away Cameron said, "Addy is a really good reader." Addy nodded and then said, "Well, I'm really good at reading very long and difficult words." We agreed this was true and that Addy could use her strength to help Cameron learn to read and to help he friends at school pronounce difficult words.

Then I asked Cameron was his strengths were and Addy quickly said, "Cameron is really good at hitting people." I tried to hide my smile and said that I didn't really think that was something someone should be good at. Addy tried changing it to pushing people, and again I tried to focus it back on something more positive. Then Cameron sat up straight and yelled, "I know! I know what my super strength is! My ninja skills!"

Addy and I both smiled and she turned right to me and gave me her eye roll look and shook her head. Cameron saw and jumped out of bed and said, "No! I'm serious, I'll show you!" He walked over with a very devious grin and proceeded to wave his arms around and kick his legs while exclaiming, "hiyah" and "witchyah!"

Addy and I burst out laughing but Cameron was as serious as ever and said, "Yeah, see. Ninja skills are my strength."

I guess if Cameron ever finds himself on a team that needs someone with serious ninja skills, we know who will step up to the plate. 

Baritical World?

Last week when I came home from work, I asked my usual "what did you do today?" question to Cameron.
He excitedly answered, "we went to baritical world!"
To which I said, "baritical world?"
He said, "No! Bah-rhi-ti-khal world!"
And I again, I said "baritical?"
"Mom! Baritical, not baritical!"
At this point he started to get angry because he thought I was playing a game and pretending not to understand him, but I really had no idea what he was saying. We repeated each other a few more times and then he very sternly said, "Bah, like a B, baritical world!"
I could hardly keep myself from laughing but I could tell he was getting very angry that I wasn't understanding so I just said, "oh cool! Was it fun?"
He explained that they had a great time climbing and playing and he can't wait to go back. I smiled and nodded, but still had no clue what he was talking about.
Then Brian came down stairs a few minutes later and I asked him what in the world was baritical world.
He smiled and said, "Vertical World"
And Cameron chimed in, "yeah mom, bartical world, that's what I told you!"

Here are some pics of Cameron and his buddy Hayden at Vertical/baritical world.

All Aboard the Submarine

Another cool thing we got to do at the museum was go onto an actual submarine. It was the USS Blueback, a retired Navy submarine. We got to walk all around inside and it was amazing to hear the stories of what it was like when it was running with 80 men inside. I never thought I would find it so interesting, but to picture that many people on this tiny ship was pretty amazing. When we first got on the submarine, the tour guide started talking to us and Addy whispered to me "do we just have to sit here and listen to him for 30 minutes? this is going to be so boring!" Luckily we didn't just sit there the whole time, and it wasn't boring at all. We all agreed Brian would not be suitable for submarine life! There was only about 1 or 2 rooms that he could actually stand up straight in!