Two by two

Calvin was pretty excited about a couple recent lessons he got at school. The first being ironing. Yep, they iron at school all the towels and aprons and napkins after they are washed. Ironing is new at school and Calvin was the first to get the lesson. His teacher told me she wanted to teach him first because he is attentative and follows directions well...hence a great first kid to teach a lesson to. 

The second lesson he was excited about was his lesson on counting by twos without the chains. He wanted to go straight to a paper, but all kids start on a chalkboard because it’s easier to correct mistakes. Apparently he made none and insisted he could have gone to the paper first. He needed a little help getting from 8 to 10, but that was all the help he needed until he got to the 200 paper and needed some slight guidance to go from 108 to 110. His teacher said that he was the first student who didn’t need help going from 98 to 100. Within his first two days of his counting by twos lesson he did the 300 paper (0-300) without any mistakes. He was super proud of himself as he should be. 

And appreciate early Nick had fun at the ‘hawks game last night with his cousin Jordan. 

Wacky hair

This week is spirit week ahead of Dr Seuss’ birthday. Yesterday was crazy sock day. Tomorrow is wear Green Day. Today was wacky hair day. Ellie wanted cupcake hair and looked up tutorials online. She cut th cupcake liners and stepped me how to do it.

Riverdogs

It’s T-ball season! Calvin had the opening ceremonies and photos on Saturday with his new team, the Riverdogs.

Happy 10th Birthday Ellie!

Since we were in London on her actual birthday, we celebrated her birthday with a family dinner and wacky cake on Saturday. 

Lincoln Birthday

The kids didn’t have school on Monday in honor of Lincoln’s birthday. So they came to work with me for the morning. Ellie did some homework. They built some legos...and they played video games. 

Some younger associates at work have been bringing in their Nintendo and playing on the big projector after work. I’ve joined in a few times and it’s been a blast, of course I said something to the kids about playing Nintendo at work. So when we got to work, Calvin marched up to one of them and asked to play Nintendo. They set it up on the big screen in the conference room and the kids had a blast...

Sweet 16

Ellie’s official soccer season came to an end over the weekend in the State Cup. They made it to the sweet 16 and then lost 2-1. This meant driving down to Temecula on Sunday, after coming home on Saturday following their win. The girls played well and had fun, although they were bummed not to have made it to the quarter finals. 

The first picture is before the match, and the second one is after. 

The big helper

Calvin is considered a big kid at school. He is one of the older kids and routinely works with 2 and 3 year olds helping them with their lessons and work. That’s the Montessori way. It reinforces lessons and fundamentals as well as helps teach communication skills as well as compassion. 

Sometimes Calvin doesn’t like it though. He told me the other day that he doesn’t like helping the little kids and wants to spend more time on his hard work and getting new lessons. But, I have heard he is one of the better helpers at school. 

Here he is helping an almost 3-year-old with counting number rods. 

Egyptian Party

On Saturday Ellie attended her best friend’s 10th birthday party. Ishbel had an Egyptian themed birthday party complete with a mummy wrapping race and an “escape room” which involved puzzles and riddles to “escape” from a pyramid. Ellie had a blast and was happy to celebrate with her friend.

California polar vortex

While it hasn’t been below -20 Fahrenheit outside, us thin blooded Californians have been feeling the cold. It’s been below 40 each morning and I’ve had frost on my windshield. There has been ice in the shade on the lawn and the neighbors have frost on their roofs. The kids bundle up for the long walk between the house and the car and the car and inside their classrooms. Fortunately by 11am the temp is over 60 degrees and the sun is shining and all is right with the world. 

Tonight we drove down to Temecula as E has a 8:30am game tomorrow. We stopped for dinner and Calvin had pizza with olives, meatballs, and “chips” (fried wonton skins). 

Thursday = tough practice

Goalie practice on Thursday nights is tough. It’s cold, the coach pushes the kids, and they really workout their bodies (serious core workout). They end up having worst case scenario goal shots tossed at them for a good 45 minutes following a serious skills clinic and workout/warmup (jumprope, stadiums...). I know it pushes her to her limits, but she loves it. 

New daycare room

Things are changing at Meher with the addition of a new classroom and a new daycare room. Well, the nap room is doubling as the daycare room. Calvin has adapted well and is enjoying the new surroundings.

Also, it was so cold today there was ice on my windshield...

Rain and potholes

Nick had a long commute home. 

He hit a pothole on his way home from work and blew a tire. It was raining too much, so he called AAA instead of attempting to do it himself. As he sat in his car, pulled over in the side of the road. Another driver, driving the opposite direction to where Nick was facing, hydroplaned and spun right into him. 

Nick is fine. Absolutely fine. 

The car is not. But Nicks car is better than the SUV that hit him, went through a fence at Forest Lawn, and is now totaled. Fortunately the AAAguy Nick had called showed up within 5 minutes of the accident. He had a flatbed and was able to tow Nick from the scene. Nick then waited to get another tow to a Pasadena body shop arranged by the insurance company. It was along wait. We will see what the total prognosis is for the car, but it doesn’t look like there is no structural damage to the car to the frame. 

Friday night party

Calvin went to a birthday party tonight for a friend from school. It was a kids karaoke place. The kids didn’t so much singing but there was dancing and some games...which was funny because the games were ones the kids play at school on rainy days (so they have had plenty of practice lately). There was freeze dance, musical chairs, and the cha-cha slide. They all had a blast and it was a party in a Friday night for preschoolers.