Kindergarten Art

Art by Novak

Halloween 2016

Fall fun

Nate, in one million words or less

I was asked to write this for Nate's sixth grade teachers. I asked Nate, and he was okay with me putting it on here also. 

Nate, in one million words or less…

 

Hello!

As I sit here with a blank sheet of paper ahead of me, I find it hard to determine where to start to describe my son, Nate.

Nate has always been one of the happiest kids I have ever met. He loves to have fun and enjoys friendly banter.  This started as early as Kindergarten, where he enjoyed “arguing” with Mrs. Chaney over which team is better, Hawkeyes or Illini.  Nate is a friend to everyone and is generally non-confrontational.

He enjoys playing soccer and has really loved playing on his travel soccer team for the last two years.  Some of his best friendships have been forged in this team. Nate is a thinker, and on the soccer field he is always analyzing the game.  Sometimes he even thinks a bit too much about the game – he is less likely to react instinctively and more likely to wait a half second to plan his moves.

Since a young age, Nate has enjoyed building and creating, especially with Legos.  He has a huge collection of Lego models, mostly Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.  Last year Nate was part of the 5th grade FLL robotics team and he loved the whole experience.  He has said that he would love to be an architect when he grows up, but more recently has been expressing an interest in engineering.  Last summer he went to a week-long engineering day camp at St. Ambrose that involved “race car” design.  He really enjoyed that as well; he was very proud of the race car he built and tested.  

Nate is an avid reader.  Like his mother, he devours books.  Sometimes I find that he is reading multiple books at the same time – not literally (that would be really hard!) but he will switch between books and have several “in process.”  It’s almost like he can’t read them fast enough, when he has so much he wants to read.  It’s been so much fun lately as he is interested in and starting to read books that I have read and loved.  He loves fantasy (Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, etc), and now is really excited to read The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Maze Runner.  I am always excited when a teacher has been able to turn him on to a new series or author.

Nate does best when he clearly understands the plan – he constantly is asking us “what are we doing next?”  He needs to be “in the know,” and asks a lot of questions if he doesn’t feel he knows enough about what is going on.  This can be frustrating for a “let’s go with the flow” parent like me, who doesn’t want to plan every minute of my day in advance…:)

A few other things about Nate:  He loves food, and likes to think of ideas for recipes.  He has studied comic book superheroes and often amazes me with his knowledge of obscure Marvel or DC characters.  (Seriously...ask him sometime!).  Like his mother, he can be stubborn and sometimes enjoys arguing a point just for the sake of the debate.  (This may or may not drive his father crazy…)   He works hard and always does his best.  He has a good sense of right and wrong and always tries to do what he feels is the right thing.  

Back to school (and routine!)

I sent off these three handsome guys to school today...

Kindergarten

Fourth grade

(Note: Nile just finished two weeks of a rapid palate expander - so his front teeth are widely spaced. It's temporary, they will all shift around to fill in the gap over the next few months. Can you believe that 14 days ago the front teeth were touching/overlapping?)

Sixth grade

Back to School night

Look who is a kindergartner!

He has been waiting for this day for several years. 

The icing on this cake?  He is sitting right next to his best preschool friend Lyla. 

I feel like a warning to Mrs. Chaney may be in order. 😳

Lost at sea

It's been a while since I posted. Turns out the Blogger Mobile app is no longer available from the App Store, and it took me a while to figure out how to install it. Plus, life. 

Anyway, prepare for a few back to school posts and I may document our summer if I get some free time later...don't hold your breath! 

Introducing...Stella!

Introducing the newest member of our family. This is Stella, formerly known as Peanut Brittle.

This photo is from her first night with us - it was late and the light on their faces was from the TV so they look blue. :)

She spent the first evening snuggled up against me.  So far we have learned that she is shy and timid around new things. She loves to snuggle and loves her new bed. She has not been interested in playing with any toys yet (the boys are waiting for that part!).

We are working on going potty outside. She is doing great with lots of breaks. She likes to go potty in the tall prairie grass. We haven't conquered stairs yet - too scary.  The leash is kind of scary too, but once it's on she is fine.

The best part is that through all the new things, even the scary and anxious parts, she has not shown an ounce of aggression. With lots of love and encouragement and time, she is getting more comfortable with us every day.

DC trip day 3 - monuments, monuments, monuments

After the Holocaust Museum, we went to the National Mall and got hot dogs at a food concession stand.  It was still cold, the wind was blowing pretty hard, but it was nicer than it had been earlier.  After eating, we headed out to visit as many monuments as we could before we needed to head to the Capitol for our tour.

WWII memorial

The Illinois pillar

We visited the Vietnam Memorial (The Wall), which is one of my favorite places in the world.  However, I never quite feel right taking pictures there.  It is a solemn, sacred place.  We talked quite a bit about the Vietnam War, and the names of the soldiers on the wall, but no pictures.

Lincoln Memorial

The great Leader.

Can you find Nate?  Taken from the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Speaking of Mr. King...

The view from the Tidal Basin.  The cherry blossoms were almost ready to bloom.

FDR memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Inside the Jefferson Memorial.

After viewing the Jefferson Memorial, we called for a ride to the Capitol building.  Nate took a ton of pictures inside the Capitol, but I won't include many of them here.  The Capitol tour was so crazy, there were hundreds of people trying to go on tours at the same time.  Our tour guide was one of Dick Durbin's staffers.  We were constantly being told to get out of the way by the "official" tour guides.  It was so noisy, that we could hardly hear what she was trying to tell us.

So. Many. People.

The original doors, that ended up too heavy for anyone to open.  They became a decoration.

A 15 million dollar chandelier.

DC Trip day 3 - lines

Finally, Monday was a nice sunny day!  It was a bit brisk in the morning (okay, it was cold), but at least the sun was shining.  

We had two things that we wanted to try and do on Monday.  Or three.  Maybe four.  Anyway, we wanted to try and go to the top of the Washington Monument, we wanted to visit the Holocaust Museum, and we wanted to visit all the monuments on the Mall.  This was our last day in DC and we had a lot we wanted to pack in.  Plus, we had a scheduled Capitol tour at 2:40 with Senator Dick Durbin's staffer.  Lots to do...

So first thing in the morning, we headed straight to the Washington Monument to try and get tickets for the tour/trip to the top.  We had read that the ticket window opened at 8:30, and that during busy periods the line formed as early as 7:00 AM.  We arrived just before 8:30.

Want to know why he's giving the thumbs down?

It's hard to see in this photo, but the line was already very long.  We decided to stick it out and wait, as the line was moving fairly quickly.

This was the line we were waiting in for tickets...

I took this picture while waiting in line.

See how tall he is getting?

Unfortunately, just as we got to the front of the line (we were no more than 10 people from the window), they ran out of tickets. Disappointed, we walked up to the monument to get a picture of the view and to decide what to do.

The view from the Washington Monument, at least the ground.

It was just after 9:00 AM.  We decided to head to the Holocaust Museum, because tickets for it would start to be handed out at 10:00 AM.  We decided to go and see how the line looked.  It was already a block long:

Long lines, cranky 5th grader.

Did I mention it was cold?  The alley between the buildings made it like a wind tunnel.

I did not pack for this!

But, we were successful in sticking out the cold wait and were rewarded with tickets to get in.

Success!

We headed in to the museum right away- thankfully the heat was on so we could warm up as we took in the museum.  Next post, the monuments!

DC trip day 2: Sunday

Long lines were the theme of our trip.  No matter where we went, it seemed that there were hundreds of other people wanting to do the same thing.  Apparently Spring Break in our nation's capital is very busy - several people in the area said it was unusually busy and "crazy."  It also turns out that many places have started to sell advanced "timed" tickets for entry to the sights.  You can try to get in line and get a free ticket, or you can go online and buy them in advance.  Well in advance.  Most of the places that we wanted to see were sold out for several weeks in the future.  More on this in the post about Monday.

On Day 2 of our Washington, DC trip, we were in line for the Air and Space Museum bright and early 20 minutes before it opened.  We weren't the first in line, but we definitely had an edge over all the other people who showed up after us.  

This museum was one of the highlights of our trip.

In line, before the museum opened.

We watched the IMAX 3D movie about D-Day.

Wearing the goofy mirrored 3D glasses...

Nate got to see the Lunar Module.

It was really cold, and a bit rainy with some sleet on this day.  I think the high this day was 38.  It was cold, but we toughed it out.

After the Air and Space Museum, on the National Mall.  Do we look cold?

Nate had really wanted to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Bill of Rights.  However, the line to enter the National Archives was way too long, so we decided to get a snack instead.  

A coffee shop right behind the National Archives.

After the snack we went on a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.  

Nate and the Treasury Building

The White House!

The (under construction) American Black History Museum

After this walk, we headed back to the hotel, with a quick pit stop in the Natural History Museum for a bathroom break and to warm up.  

The cleaning staff had made Nate's bed...

Dinner was burgers at a local bar/grill/restaurant.  Then on the way back from dinner we found something that we couldn't pass by without photographing.  (This may be one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip.)

What do you think is on the placard?

"Tom's"

Distance Walked: 8.1 miles.
Total Distance: 13.5 miles

DC trip day 1

I have been waiting for almost 11 years to share one of my favorite places on earth with my boys.  However, we have been waiting until they are old enough to appreciate it, and old enough to spend all day on their feet.  I wanted to make sure that they really enjoy it, and that the experience is great.

No, it's not what you might be thinking.  I am not talking about Disney.

I'm talking about Washington, DC.

We decided a few months ago that the best way to really make this a special trip was to have it be a 1:1 trip.  So we decided that I would take Nate alone over Spring Break.

We traveled on Saturday morning.  It was his first time on an airplane, so we commemorated it with a "selfie."

Unfortunately, when we landed, the weather was cold and rainy.  Actually, it was pouring when we arrived.  Luckily most of this rain fell while we were traveling from the airport to the hotel, and while we were waiting for our hotel room.

While we waited for our hotel room (it wasn't quite ready yet), we walked around, got some lunch at a nearby Quizno's Subs, and visited our first museum of the trip, the Hirschorn Museum of Modern Art.  And yes, Nate picked the museum.  :)  It was pretty neat, although one floor was closed, we were able to see a video art exhibit on the lower level and an extensive collection on the upper floor.  Nate even spied an artist working on painting a wall on the closed level.

One of the key places we wanted to go on this trip was the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  As we walked around the National Mall area (in the rain), we saw that the line for the Air and Space Museum was 2-3 blocks long in each direction, so we decided that our plan would be to go there first thing on Sunday morning.

Nate had told me of an International Spy Museum that he wanted to go to, so we decided to go there instead.  This museum is not free (it's not part of the National Parks or the Smithsonian), but it was definitely worth the money.  Highlights included selecting our own "secret identity" and getting to see countless types of spy gear.

We hit up a nearby restaurant for dinner, and then the best gelato place we have ever tried.  (it was that good, really).  Then we walked back to the hotel to relax and make plans for the next day.

Total distance walked:  5.4 miles.