Field Day!

Henry recently had Field Day at school.  There was much anticipation, and in the end, a good time was had by all.  I appreciated that the kids all had fun, and the events weren't overly competitive.  They were much more focused on participating and having fun than on winning anything.  There was lots of water activities, and while the kids at first shirked the thought of getting wet, in the end, they loved it.  Here is our photo recap:

First, they had free play on the basketball court.

Next was the first water activity.  It involved wringing a wet sponge on the person in line behind you.  The second round included the chance to dump a glass of water on the person in line behind you.  The goal was to be the wettest team in the end.

Next was the classic game of "tug of war".  First, it was Henry's class against another class.  Henry's class got womped.  So Henry's teacher and I jumped in for the next round and helped their team to win.  Next, they switched up in boys against the girls.  Again, girls womped the boys.  So again, teacher and I jumped on and saved some face for the boys.  (Can I just say that my arms were sore all weekend because of this!)

Next was a game of chase with the waist flags.  Last man standing with his flags in-tact, won.  Henry tied in one round for first.

Next up, another water activity.  This one involved passing a full bucket with holes in the bottom over the heads of the team until it reached the end of the line and the remaining water was dumped into a bucket.  In theory, the first team to fill their bucket won.  In Henry's case, he ended up at the end of the line with some of his buddies.  Very little of the water left in the holey bucket ended up getting poured in the team bucket.  

This was some kind of obstacle course.  There was really no goal and no winners.  The kids just took turns rolling a tire back and forth, and running a styrofoam cylinder across while jumping hurdles.  It did burn off a lot of energy.

On to the Bounce Houses.  There were about 5 bounce houses and inflatable slides set up.  Even Henry's teacher got in on the action.

Next, it was scooter racing in the cafeteria.  This looked like so much fun I wanted to try (but I didn't).

This was followed by a few games of dodge ball in the school gym.

SNOW CONES!

The kids got to jump rope or play with hula hoops.  Henry's jump roping skills are on fire!

The final event was another that involved water.  The kids had to wrap a towel around their back, run to the pool, dip the towel in, and wrap it around their back again.  They then ran to the next kid who repeated those steps.  In the end, the kids were all a giggling, sopping mess.

From there, they went to the side of the school and had a picnic lunch.

All in all, a great time was had by all.  Even Nana and Papa stopped by to watch some of the activities.

Braggin Dragon and Tooth News

I think I've mentioned before about some of the challenges Henry has been having in first grade in the public school system.  His teacher has been awesome in working with both Henry and I.  One of the goals that the entire class has is to earn the title of Braggin Dragon for a week.  Ms. M clearly communicated to the children what they needed to do to earn the title.

Henry has wanted it for a while.  Ms. M explained to him very clearly what he needed to do in order to earn this goal.  He was very discouraged because some of the kids were on their second time around and he had yet to earn the title.

Then, we had a very bad week.  Actually, a couple of very bad weeks.  Okay...maybe they weren't so bad.  When we started this whole color coding thing, the infractions were many and they were major.  So now, the infractions aren't as many, and they aren't anything close to major.  But still, when you are looking at a color coded chart for the week that should be a sea of green, and you're seeing splashes of red and yellow all over it, it seems like a bad week.  I guess the reality was that we had made major improvements, and then we got stuck.  And I was tired of being stuck.

So Ms. M and I had a nice little email exchange, she had some conversations with Henry, and then I had some conversations with Henry.  Serious conversations.  Clear expectations.  Threats that he knew I would follow through on.  As a result, I missed going to my super bowl party and ended up watching most of the game by myself after he went to bed.  He was disappointed, but he got the point.  I was irritated that I lost my privilege of going to the party because of his behavior, and he got that point, too.

So before the next week started, he asked me:  "Mom, what would happen if I stayed green the whole week?"  Since that had never happened, I wasn't really thinking it was something that could be a reality.  So I responded:  "We'll have a party like you wouldn't believe!"  He knew that if he could pull it off, he'd also be a shoo-in for Braggin Dragon.

Monday:  All green...happy child, happy mama!
Tuesday:  All green...happy child, happy mama!
Wednesday:  All green...thrilled child, thrilled mama!
Thursday:  All green...proud child, worried mama (how was I going to plan the "Party That You Wouldn't Believe!")
Friday:  All green...Braggin Dragon child, ecstatic mama.  And special thanks to Leslie who found out that the Aeros hockey team was playing at home and offering special pricing for mid-field seating 9 rows behind the penalty box...instant "Party That You Wouldn't Believe!"

We rocked it and pumped it about how special it was to have that kind of week; how proud he should be of the effort he put into his behavior for the week; how much we knew that he had worked hard to achieve this goal.  If it provided positive reinforcement, then it happened.

One of the things about being the Braggin Dragon is that you get to bring in a poster all about you.  Since this wasn't necessarily meant to be an educational experience, I didn't feel guilty doing most of the work on this one myself.  I did let him select which pictures, help with the layout, and dictate the text that went with each photo.  It will hang outside his classroom all week.  Also, classroom time was dedicated to him explaining to his classmates what was on the poster.

Another part of the honors is to actually get to bring Braggin Dragon home for the weekend.  The kids are encouraged to interact with it during this time, and then are requested to provide an entry in the Braggin Dragon's journal about the time that they spent together.

Finally, there are some class room privileges that come with it as well.  Mainly, Braggin Dragon gets to sit on Henry's desk all week, and Henry gets to be the line leader and a few other things.

I was worried that his behavior last week was a flash in the pan.  However, this week is shaping up to go down as another great week.  We had one issue yesterday, but really, it was typical boy stuff and not really the behavior we have been so focused on.  However, one of my threats did include the condition that any further reds and yellows on his behavior chart would incur 5 "extra" chores each.  Since we had a yellow, I felt like it was my duty to consistent parenting and following through on my "threats" to actually assign them.

First, he actually reminded me that he needed to be assigned the 5 extra chores.  Then, as I announced the chores, he actually cheered.  And finally, went about happily singing while he dutifully accomplished all that was assigned.  Makes me wonder how effective that was as a form of discipline, but I'll stick with it for now.

And, our final news from last night, he officially lost one of his top teeth.  It has been loose...really loose, for several weeks now.  But it just wasn't ready.  Then he looked at me last night and moved it totally sideways with his tongue.  I decided it was time.  I reached in, gave it a tug and it was gone.  Henry wasn't too sure about it, but it was over before he had time to think about it and the look of surprise and relief on his face was priceless...wish I could have captured it with my camera.  Instead, here is a picture of his new smile:

Never underestimate a First Grader

First, here is a picture of the boy dressed for school this morning:

Whoa, you say. Wait, he's still wearing his jammies! Yep, it was pajama day at school today, in celebration of the last day of school before winter break. Much time and deliberation was spent picking the perfect pair of jammies. In the end, sports won (versus the "Total Knockout" pair that I picked) and he chose the baseball themed pajamas.

I met him for lunch and it was cute to see all the kiddos decked out in their pajamas.

And as for the title of this post, I am truly amazed at what Henry can figure out. In celebration for our Family Day this year, I decided to give Henry his own iTouch. He's played on his cousin's and uncle's iPhones, and took to it like a fish to water. At 6, he certainly has no need for a cell phone. But I figured the iTouch would be a nice thing to have for many reasons. I figured I could download some inexpensive games and it could be used for entertainment at home and under certain circumstances away from home (like on long car trips or air travel).

More selfishly, I was tired of dealing with the CDs that he listens to at bedtime. I got him an alarm clock that has a docking station on it so that he can charge and listen to his iTouch through it. I have been able to load an incredible amount of content to his iTouch, including bible stories, Arthur and Junie B. Jones books, and various types of music (including Taylor Swift) that he can listen to at bedtime. The alarm clock provides a sleep option that automatically switches it off after 30 minutes.

Also, it's become kind of a family toy. The adults have been known to pick it up and surf the web using it, since it has wireless capabilities.

And speaking of it being wireless, I am not always good at disabling the wireless after I've finished using it. Yesterday, Henry was excited to show me how he could go to you*tube and watch videos on his iTouch. YIKES! Fortunately, the video that caught his eye was the recap of a soccer game. Needless to say, I'll be much more careful about disabling the wireless when it is not in the hands of an adult. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd figure out how to shop in the iTunes store and start downloading a bunch of Star Wars games.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend in San Antonio

Last weekend, we made a roadtrip to San Antonio. We left after work/school on Friday and returned home on Sunday evening. Our reason for the trip was to watch the San Antonio Silver Stars play against the Detroit Shock, and mostly so Leslie could watch her favorite WNBA player in action, Katie Smith.

We spent Saturday morning lounging around the pool at the hotel. It was a nice pool, and for the majority of the time that we were there, we had the place to ourselves. It even had a swim-up bar. After it opened, we had to be their first customers of the day, of course. Henry enjoyed a strawberry smoothie, while Leslie and I enjoyed more "adult" concoctions. Henry thought the whole concept was pretty cool.

There was a water area for kids. In true Star Wars fashion, this particular feature got named the "deflector shield".

After a few hours of playing in the pool, it was time to head off to the basketball game. Here are a few pictures of Henry at the game.

I thought I was going to have to separate them!

Gotta love those eyes!

Just too cute!

An interesting way to eat gummi live savers, for sure.

And the funny thing is, at the last minute, they decided Katie was injured and she didn't get to play!

That night, we found a local Mexican restaurant (since we didn't get to eat at Gringo's on Friday night). On the way in, I got Henry some facial hair in the gumball machines in the entrance.

Sunday was dedicated to Sea World. It was a bit warm, but there was a nice breeze blowing. The park was rather empty meaning we didn't have to wait long for the rides and we had prime seating for the shows we attended.

Us on the Texas Splashdown

Henry with Shamu and Mrs. Shamu?

Feeding the dolphins

Posing with the scuba diver

Just looking cuter than cute should look

Nose-to-nose with a green tree frog

Family photo

Henry on the Shamu Coaster, posing for the camera that snaps your picture during the ride

Busy Weekend

So, we had quite the busy weekend at our place. It started on Friday. Of course we ate dinner at Gringo's...that's what we do. But we had a special guest this week. Usually Nada is our special guest, but she couldn't make it this week, so we had a different special guest. It was a member of the "cutest baby in the universe club"...Leslie's nephew David.

Saturday, we have a full schedule, starting with the Children's Symphony. The theme for this presentation was Aladdin and the Arabian Nights. It was the last show of this season. I had sort of decided against renewing for next year, but as Henry and I chatted before the show began, he told me how much he enjoys the Children's Symphony. So we ran out to the renewal desk and signed up again for next year. Because we renewed, we got to have a photo taken with the Conductor, dressed in his Arabian garb. Of course, all I had with me was my cell phone, so sorry about the quality.

From there, we ate lunch at a Burger King in "down town city", as Henry refers to Downtown Houston. I am sad to say that we've now eaten enough fast food that Henry has started having a "special order" versus just taking whatever Mommy gets him. We had a few errands to run, including a new haircut (thanks Aunt Leslie!).

And then, we had our first Astros game of the season. Since the Comets are no more, we decided to get a six-pack ticket package from the Astros. Henry really does seem to enjoy any kind of sports. So we were barely home for just a few moments, when it was off to the "ole ball game".

Leslie had gotten Henry a mitt and you would think the thing was glued to his hand. (As a matter of fact, I had to ask Henry to remove it this morning while he was eating breakfast!!). It was a good game, but we only lasted until the 8th inning. It was getting past the little boys bedtime and he had lost interest in the game. So we headed out while we were down 7-4, thinking it was a lost cause anyway.

As we climbed in the car, we tuned the radio to listen to the rest of the game. Much to our surprise, the Astros had rallied and managed to tie the game. It ended up going into overtime and finally ended with a loss for the Astros in the 11th inning. Whew, glad we didn't try and stay for the whole thing!

Here are some pictures from the game:

Sunday, Linda asked if we could go eat with her after the meeting. That's always a treat for us, so we let her pick where we would go. She chose Benihana...a place I would rarely say no to. The kids had a blast! Notice the creative use of chopsticks by Henry and Sara. And you can tell by the leftover rice on Samuel's face that he enjoyed it.

Whew, what a fun and eventful weekend!!