4th of July

I guess I should get the 4th of July up here before July is over! It's been busy Summer full of all sorts of fun stuff for the kids and not very much sleep for me. Yay?

But back to the 4th of July. We started the day at the Burien Parade. It was great to go back after a few years away. It's my favorite parade in the area and Nolan agrees!

Miles even got into it! The last time he was here he was not such a fan. He was little though and it was pretty noisy and overwhelming. 

We also got to share the parade with our friends, which makes it even more fun!!

We brought the earphones for Miles in case it got loud again but Nolan hijacked them. At least they got used!

photo credit: Maria!!

After the parade and a quick nap we packed a picnic and headed over to Lake Boren for some more time with friends and fireworks.

Lots of time on the playground.

Not quite dark out but he was worn out! I wasn't quite sure if we'd make it until the fireworks show.

But they rallied for some wrestling.

Sorry Corbin!

Finally quiet right before the fireworks. Those photos are on my phone so stay tuned!

Track

We signed Nolan up for track and today was his very first track meet. It was the most adorable thing ever to watch 5 and 6 year olds make their way through their events. But Nolan did great! Plus I got to try out my new, free lens my sister found for me. Thanks Emmie! I have a little work to do on figuring out the focus but you can't beat free!

Needs to work on his captive listening skills a bit. 

His first event was the 25 meter dash. He came in 4th, which is pretty good because he tripped a little at the start and came back from last. 

Next up was the softball throw, something he had never got around to trying at practice. It took a few throws to figure out which arm to use but once that was worked out he did pretty good, although did not place. 

Finally for his last event it was the 200 meter run, half way around the track. He was most excited about this and told me he was going to try for 3rd place since he got 4th on his 25 meter. Sure enough he got 3rd. 

Most importantly, he had this huge smile on his face the entire time. So glad he found something he enjoys, and wears him out...we all win!

Rachelle's Bridal Shower

Last weekend was Rachelle's bridal shower and I had so much fun helping put together this shindig. It was girly, rustic, glam and to me was perfect for Rachelle. I think she loved it too!

We held it at a local winery tasting room and it was a perfect backdrop since it had rustic touches too.

 

Her champagne bottle guest book was so much fun! I can't wait to give it to her! :)

My beautiful co hosts and fellow bridesmaids. They got it DONE! It's so fun when it's party planning with friends.

 
The oatmeal cookie sugar scrub favors smell so good. I may have come home with more than one! ;)

 

Congrats Rachelle. One step closer to the big day!!

Trip to the Farm

Miles and I ventured down to our neighborhood farm on one of the first sunny days of spring. I thought he would love it because he was obsessed with the chickens (or bock bocks as Miles liked to call them). He fell for this lovable little bunny who patiently put up with Miles petting. 

He was tolerated the corn bin.

Although he had way more fun climbing in and out of it rather than actually playing with the corn. 

This little pony was easy to love and Miles seem to be a fan.

I think they bonded over their equally large appetites. The horse nearly broke the fence to get to a little patch of new grass. So Miles picked it to feed to him.

Kittens!! who couldn't love that. Miles enjoyed these guys quite a bit.

This is where things got complicated. He liked LOOKING at the animals but as soon as they made noise he was over it. Which is why he liked the smaller/silent animals it seems. This parrot was one of his many enemies of the day.

The beautiful white peacock was amazing but it's repeating call was way too much for Miles. Lucky for us, the peacock decided to follow us around for most of the day and yell at it. It was great.

We finally found the chicken coup and I thought this would totally be his thing. But the roosters were crowing and he wouldn't even go in.

Same deal with the sheep pen. They were so cute but Miles would quiver with each Bah and yell "No that! No that!" while hiding his face in my jacket. So he is probably not going to be a future farmer.

We ended the day on a high note though with the baby chicks. These ones were just the right amount of noise.

Nolan's Progress Report

Nolan's teacher sent home an email right before his progress report came home. I have attached it here:

Nolan is an amazing kid. I am very impressed with his progress as we have reached the half way mark for the year. Nolan has learned routines, procedures and expectations and he is always willing to meet or exceed our classroom goals. I love spending my days getting to know him and helping him to learn. Some of my favorite things about Nolan are his genuine, kind personality, his enthusiasm for life and his family, his detailed and excited storytelling and the fact that he never ceases to bring a smile to my face. You have taught him wonderful skills to become a great friend and he is reliable and trustworthy. Nolan has the sweetest demeanor and he is always willing to help his classmates succeed. 

In reading, Nolan continues to make improvements every day. He currently knows 22 out of 25 sight words, 14 more than the first trimester. With our small group and one on one instruction I am working hard to get him to grade level by the end of the year. At this time, Nolan is reading a level B which is meeting grade level expectations. I will continue to work with him daily to help him gain the strategies he needs before first grade. He has gained skills for reading and understanding the story that will help him greatly as he grows as a reader. I will continue to work with him and build his confidence. He has the knowledge of many different reading strategies and so I want to teach him to try several things before giving up on a word. You have worked hard with him and his growth is showing! 

In math, Nolan’s strengths are patterns, counting, identifying addition or subtraction, solving stories and recognizing numbers. His goal is to work on more difficult story problems, writing number models consistently, and explaining his thinking and strategies for problem solving. He has faced “tricky” math challenges this year and he does so with determination.  He loves to make up his own story problems to share with the class.

Writing is a subject that is tricky for many kindergartners with very high standards from the district. However, Nolan has taken all instruction and tasks full steam ahead and he is making progress every day. When he writes his stories have a beginning, middle and ending to his book and words and pictures on each page to match. He beams with pride!! His stories are wonderful. We are now focused on how-to writing and he has been so excited to teach his classmates how to wash a dog, play games, and take care of pets.

My goal for Nolan is to continue to share his incredible ideas through his writing.  He is working on the sequence of his story and writing his ideas on the pages. He uses his reading skills during writing to add words to his stories consistently. We will continue to work on building his writing skills as the year progresses. He sometimes lacks confidence when writing even though he is capable and has the necessary skills. I continue to encourage him and remind him that he is able to write letters for words. He also plans his stories well so I will help him use planning to create the stories and books he wants to write.

I adore Nolan and I thank you for raising and sharing such a kind, considerate, warm hearted kid with me.

Yeah, we bought him the lego set he has been asking for since his birthday. I would've bought him a million lego sets if he wanted, we were just so stinking proud! I mean this time last year we weren't sure if he would be able to get through kindergarten so to hear that he is happy, excited to learn AND thriving is just amazing to us. That is one well earned lego set!

iPhone offload: Spring & Easter

Translation: The goggles are right here.
We couldn't find his goggles for a few days and when he found them he felt they needed to be clearly marked.

Practicing on his new "snorkeler". 

Ugh, toddler pudge. I will miss these rolls!

Miles was at our back window shouting "quack! quack!!" and i figured it would be a robin back there but sure enough our Lake Clingman ducks came to check us out. 

This was Miles the day before Easter. Possible pink eye and an ear infection. This was also about 36 hours before we were leaving for our trip. Our family really knows how to make things exciting. 

This is what happens when you hide the eggs early in the morning. Slugs come to crash your easter party.

Nolan found all the easter eggs by himself because Miles was finally sleeping after a few rough days  of no sleep. When we got inside Nolan asked if he could take half the eggs and hide them for Miles once he wakes up. Sweet little man! So he put on his bunny ears and hopped around the house hiding each egg and making sure Miles would be able to reach it. I think he enjoyed this even more than finding the eggs himself. 

Pat made special easter pancakes.

Miles finally woke up and with Nolan's help found every egg. 

The rest of the day was spent taking turns being the easter bunny or the finder.