Our Spring Break got off to a great start with rain, rain, rain the first two days! I have to say it was kinda nice, it gave us an excuses to be lazy and hang out at home. We got to wake up late (8am is late for us), and eat breakfast while watching Dinosaur Train. A special rainy day treat to have a breakfast picnic in the living room.
We did venture out to the public library to get some more books...always a quiet afternoon on library days.
Yes, we did watch Frozen a few hundred more times...luckily it's such a great movie...
And we did have a few play dates. One afternoon Timo went to his buddy's house while Cameron had a friend over at our house. (I haven't mentioned to these mom's that the we have a blog and I don't like posting pics of their children unless I have permission) The next day another kinder mom and I planned a movie play date with some of Tiimo's classmates, Sherman and Mr. Peabody*. It was fun movie but did have one or two scenes that cause some "scary thoughts" at bedtime. It was a down pour when the movie got out but never too rainy for doughnuts!
Ahhhh, day 3, the sun came out and it was beautiful! We hit the park early with our friends Caleb and Evan, packed snacks and lunches and stayed all. day. long! The kids had lots of energy to run off after two days of rain. We ran into a bunch of Timo and Cameron's classmates (I love going to a neighborhood school!) so all the moms had a great time hanging out...enough so I forgot to take pictures of all the kids, just this one of Cameron at the top. But it was a fun day at the playground hanging with friends.
*In case any other moms are interested...I use Common Sense Media to check on the movies before we let the kids see them. The site is really good at rating movies/DVD according to age and letting you know of violence, language, positive message, etc. It gave good reviews of Mr. Peabody but didn't really prepare us for the "mummy" scene. But all and all it's been pretty accurate for us and kept us from letting the kids see a few things too.
I'm not sure about your household, but if it's anything like ours, the movie or songs from Frozen are incorporated into our daily conversation. Cameron loved the movie and had been saving her $$ so she could buy it when it came out on DVD. The day finally arrived and she was so happy. We had a wait a few days to watch it (no TV on school days) but our Saturday night movie night was filled with so much excitement!
Long before we had the DVD, we had the soundtrack and all the songs memorized. Here are a few samples of the kids singing. Do You Want To Build A Snowman and Let It Go! I like how they semi act out Let It Go..
Our school library has a wonderful fundraising way of raising money and adding new books to our library...the Birthday Book Club. You donate a set amount of money and your child get to pick out a book of their choice, get a big sticker in it with their name and they are the first to check out the book. The book is returned as a permanent book in the library but future children will always be able to see who gifted this book to our school! We could do this every year, so by the time we leave Argonne, they will have 12 books from the Ko Family! So here are our first two...Timo, of course, picked out an Everything Battles book and Cameron always has to go against the gain with Ultimate Weird but True book. Not your average 6 year old picks but pretty average for my 6 year olds...
We started a tradition last month that the kids are loving...Family Game Night! Growing up, we had family game night in our family so I couldn't wait till the kids were old enough to start it with them. We've played lots of games in the past, but I feel like we're moving on from CandyLand and Old Maid into more involved games...and keeping score! Timo struggles with not winning every game so Uno is nice because he might only win one or two hands but could come in 1st place after six rounds of keeping score. He's OK coming in 2nd place as long as it's behind his Daddy!
Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies have become a staple at game night...don't even think of messing with Cameron's desserts!
Cameron took on Daddy in Battleship...let the best man win!
The kids got a few new games for their birthday and we've enjoyed learning how to play them. One favorite is Headbandz...you have to ask a series of questions to try and figure out what picture is on your head. So much fun!
Our other fun on is Sequence for Kids...you need to match four in a row to win but other players can block or steal from your sequence, all the while you're trying to keep someone else from getting a sequence. It's really fun and gets the kids thinking strategy.
We have a little tree in front of our house that is growing nicely but the square around the bottom wasn't doing too well. The City planted the tree a few years ago and we have taken care of it, all the while procrastinating planting the dirt below the tree. With all the great weather we've been having, I thought it was time to dig out the weeds and get a nice herb garden planted there. I headed to Sloat Nursery, got our supplies and put the kids to work!
The brick boarder was a little tricky because we had to try and break the bricks in just the right spot to make them fit. Like they say, measure twice, cut once! We did it all with success our tree looks amazing! I'm super practical and wanted herbs planted so I could use them cooking...now to just make sure people walking their dogs will keep the dogs out!
Of course the kids couldn't let the extra bricks go to waste...especially with a hammer handy. Most of it got got pounded out into powder, mixed with water as they tried to make paint.
We celebrated St. Patrick's Day for the first time this year, thanks to school. It's kinda a non-holiday in our house simply because we're not Irish, not Catholic (St. Patrick) and don't really believe in Leprechauns. I guess I could take the biblical aspect of it and use it as a teachable moment but ugh, do we need another holiday to celebrate? Well, school is a whole different story, it's a pretty big deal, or just an excuse to have a class party. Either way, it was a big day for the kids and they were excited! We woke up and put on our green...except Cameron doesn't have any green clothes so we went with Aqua pants and a shirt with some green on it.
Ms. Marcia was explaining to the kids that while they were out for recess and little Leprechaun snuck in the classroom and hid a special treat...ohhhh, the excitement level rose about 10 notches. They all enjoyed healthy GREEN snacks, made life-sized Leprechauns and when out to find the special treat!
Timo's class had a story on Leprechauns and used clovers to decide if they believed in Leprechauns or not. Green snacks all around for everyone too, including green jello, and then they set off to find the little Leprechaun that left foot prints on the floor! Everyone was in search for the pot of gold and found little pieces of gold coins along the way. (chocolate covered coins). They finished off their day making loom bracelets, Timo was put in charge of teaching those who didn't know how to make them....guess it's good to have a sister sometimes!
We've officially stared baseball season! We are so lucky this year that Timo's school has a coach pitch team so he gets to play with some of his buddies in class. And each Friday, at school announcements, the team is recognized and cheered on for their game the next day. Go Argonne Wolfpack!
Timo was super excited for the first game of the season, ready to play! I'm really surprised how focused he is this year...a big difference from last year. His catching is much more improved, accuracy and hitting are all way better than previous years. What a difference between 5 and 6 years old.
We got to pick out numbers for our child's jersey this year and I couldn't help but pick my old track number, #24...he, he, he. (just fyi, I asked Timo what number he wanted and he was pretty committed to #10947, so I made the decision for him.) And since he's still in Coach Pitch ball, they only play three innings, everyone gets a chance to hit, no one gets out and there is no score. It's kinda nice, I think Timo would still have a hard time dealing with getting out or not crossing home plate each time...
We have great coaches this year, all dads of boys on the team. Each one is high energy, enthusiastic and really takes their time with each player. They expect a certain level of respect and ask each boy to give 100% each practice and game. I'm so grateful for all they are investing in our team!
We went out to celebrate after the first game...
It was a long day and everyone was feeling silly by the time dessert rolled around...
Timo got to be catcher for the 2nd game and loved it. He kept saying he was Buster Posey. I love the little catchers outfit that fits them, he was so cute!
What's a game without a bloody nose? All par for the course with our little allergy boy. But he was back up and ready to go in no time...ready to hit it out of the park!
Here's a video of him hitting at the first game...I didn't expect him to hit it on the first pitch so I was just pressing the record button and missed the pitch, but you get the idea. This was the last inning and the coaches told the kids they were too clean. They wanted them each to slide into home plate to get a little dirty...something Timo had no problem with!
