Lunch

Of all the struggles I could have anticipated with first grade, I  never thought our biggest challenge would be lunch!  Here I am about to become the "bad guy" lunch maker to a boy who used to be a bottomless pit.  The trouble....he hardly eats any lunch and never eats the most important part....his sandwich.  I get that he might not be as hungry since he's just sitting around all morning but I can't tell you the frustration of having his sandwich come home uneaten every day.....and I've made some fancy sandwiches.  So the threat was made and now must be carried out.  Gone are the chips and fruit leather (the only things he eats) and he will now be going to school with a sandwich and fruit/veggies.  I figure he'll either start eating his sandwich or he just won't eat.

They only get 20 minutes for lunch.  So I can see lunch being a little rushed but what I've gathered from Tyler is that Mrs. McLatchy also reads to them during lunch.  I have no problem envisioning the scenario, Tyler sitting at his desk, food in hand, mouth agape, totally focused on the book being read.  A bite is taken every few minutes and then lunch is over.  He comes home hungry but otherwise the lack of food at lunch hasn't seemed to bother him.

Really never would have guessed this would be our "issue" in 1st grade.

I love first grade

Maybe I just love Tyler's first grade teacher.  I couldn't be more pleased with 1st grade so far this year.  Why?

1. Tyler loves school
2. Tyler comes home happy
3. He says everything about school is great
4. He says he's the best listener in class (as long as he things so, I'm going along with it)
5. He says Mrs. McLatchy is strict but nice

If the kids misbehave or are not listening, etc they have to stay in from recess.  This in and of itself should keep Tyler's behavior in check.

I can tell from the things Tyler has said that Mrs. McLatchy has really made him feel special and confident in his abilities.  Totally what he needed.

He's supposed to be tired

All we heard about 1st grade is the kids come home so tired after being in school all day.  We have yet to experience this.  If anything Tyler is bursting with energy.  I've been thankful that he has soccer on Mondays and Wednesdays to burn off some of that extra energy.  The only complaint I've herd is that his "bum" is sore at the end of the day.

Wednesday Dots

Wednesdays are Raven Racer days at Totem Fall Elementary.  Tyler's school has a gravel track that goes around the outside of their field.  On Wednesdays anyone who wants to participate during their lunch recess runs around the track.  Each time they complete a lap they get a red dot on their hand.  At the end of recess their teacher records how many laps each child ran.  Tyler tells me they receive a "foot" after every 25 laps.  At the end of the year the top 5 raven races (those that have run the most laps) receive awards.  IF I remember correctly, last years #1 runner had 600 and something laps.

Last week was the first raven racer day of the year.  Tyler was very proud to come home with 12 dots on his hand.  he was the top runner in his class for the day.  Only time will tell if Tyler participates the whole year but I can definitely see Tyler loving this.  It involves running and competing against all his classmates.  Curious to see what will happen when the rain arrives.  At this rate, he'll have a lot of feet by the end of the year. 

Refuse

On our way to gymnastics last week Hailey and I were listening to the radio.  After a song Hailey asked was "refuse" means.  There are a few words she would be better off not knowing.  Actually it is really Dave and I who would be better off if she did not know the words.  I'm pretty sure that "refuse" falls into this category.  I guess time will tell.

Hailey's Soccer

Hailey is playing for the same soccer league as Tyler this year.  Her schedule is a little different.  Instead of having practice twice a week and games on Saturday.  She has one 1 1/2 hour practice once a week that includes a practice and a game.  So we are only at the soccer field 4 days a week (yahoo for that).  I am very happy with her soccer experience so far.  Her team happens to be all girls (which is unusual).  An all girl team is great....I think.....I'm sure they will a get a chance to play (I cans say that....I have a boy).  Their coach is fabulous.  He is an avid player and you can just tell his love for the game.  His daughter has some sort of natural ultra ability but we are just happy to have an enthusiastic coach to coach us into greatness.  Although Hailey only knew one of the girls (her friend Addy) going into this it turns out all the girls will be going to Totem Falls next year.  And we are all hoping for 1/2 day Kindergarten.  There could be some AM/PM class issues but there is a chance they could all go to Kindergarten together.  That would be pretty neat.  Ok, all the parenting talk out of the way, let's get to the soccer.  

Hailey was very excited to start soccer.  After watching Tyler the last few weeks, it's an adjustment to start back and the beginning again and realize just how far he has come.  It's so fun to watch Hailey work on her kicking and running and her concentration (with tongue sticking out).  Warning.....lots of photos.

Coach taking a minute with Hailey

practice, practice

team huddle...they look so little!

Team picture....Mia, Addy, Hailey, Abby, Lexi, Alivia

 Yes, and Addy and an Abby....that's not confusing at all.

all smiles

game time...she shoots, she scores!

Meanwhile off on another field.....

Difference in Girls Soccer

I think I figured out the biggest difference between girls and boys soccer for young kids.

The girls are all about friends.  I mean, this was their very first practice.  Stick these four in front of the goal and there is no way that ball will get through :).

The bike rider saga

Well, just three days ago after a few hours together we were able to tackle the basics of riding a bike with two wheels, mainly in a straight line. The past couple of days while I have been at work Val and Haze have gone down to the park for some extra practice. I had SWAT training today that got me home a little earlier than usual and I took the kids down to the park for some more practice for Haze. She was turning and arcing and riding smooth and I can't say how impressed I was. This girl is going places, literally!

Soccer Practice

Tyler started this year's soccer season back in the last couple of weeks of August.  He was very excited for soccer to start this year.  He was full of confidence and ready to go.  The fact that a couple of his friends from Kindergarten were going to be on his team only made things better.  We are trying a new soccer league this year.   We've left the YMCA and are now with the Snohomish Soccer League.  Play is a little bit different.  There are 6 kids on the team.  Games are 3 on 3 and there is no goalie.  I am very happy with his coaches this year.  They have clearly done this before and are good about keeping practice moving from one thing to the next and before the kids know it practice is over.  More on the games in another post.  Here is how practice has shaped up.

Tyler's team has 6 players, 3 boys and 3 girls.  The other boys Nathan and Jackson ended being in Tyler's 1st grade class well.  So, they get to see a lot of each other :).  I was a little worried at Tyler's over confidence before practices started.  However, his confidence is well founded and I think it has given him some assertiveness he would not have otherwise had.  He's been quite the soccer player this season so far.  He has no problem going one on one or one on 5 and stealing the ball and breaking away for the goal.  At some point he's going to have to realize he has teammates :) but I'm going to let the coach handle that and just give him encouraging comments to help his friends score too.  His assertiveness and willingness to get the ball as well as his agility with the ball has been impressive.  Tyler has been going through a bit of a clumsy streak (growing again I guess) and will fall down walking down the hall at home.  But he's seems to have found his coordination on the field.  

He is having a blast playing soccer and we are sure enjoying watching him!  I can't wait for the years to come to see how this boy grows and to see which sports he chooses as his favorites. 

Tyler and Nathan

 

loves him some soccer

McKenna, Nathan, Jacklyn, and Tyler

The oh so patient sister who sits through all his practices with no complaints

Red light/green light

practice

scrimmage goal

scrimmage

Jacklyn is a good opponent for him.  She is fast!...and she has 3 brothers so she can hold her own.

No More Training Wheels in the Family

I can't explain it other than to say I just haven't had a lot of time with just Hailey to work on her bike riding. We are always doing something as a family or it is me with both kids and Hailey has never been able to handle working on a skill in front of Tyler. I think there is some added pressure and her pride in not appearing incapable of doing something in front of her Big Brother. So, thank you First Grade for creating a little slice of life than can be special for just Hailey and me. This was our first 'Daddy Monday' of 2011 (I love not working Monday's!) and after we had a little lunch after Pre-K Hailey was excited to go down to our little park and practice some 'scoots'. This is where I took off her training wheels and pedals and just practiced 'scooting' and feeling the bike balance beneath her. No Brother, no camera, no pressure, just 2 hours of 'scooting'. After a little break I put the pedals on for her first go at full-on bike riding and she did terrific. Haze was so excited we had to go down to the park for a quick demo after we came home from Ty's soccer practice. Enjoy, my girl is not so little anymore.

And she's off to the races!

That pole to the right always seemed to creep close to her path.

Her first ride in front of Mom she insisted on starting herself and got it perfect.

Jungle

Hailey wanted to make a jungle in her room so her lizards and frogs could have a place to live.  It took us a while to figure out how to make branches come out of her wall.  But brown paper and tape did the trick and now Hailey sleeps in a jungle with all of her jungle friends :).  Her love of animals, bugs, reptiles, etc. never ends.  She REALLY wants a lizard pet.  Gulp.  Dave told her when she turns 10.  Oh boy.

The Lake - Idlewood Park

Our other labor day outing was a trip to Idlewood park to play in the lake.  The water was kind of cold but it didn't slow Tyler down.  It took a little more coaxing to get Hailey wet.  And wasn't nearly a warm enough day for me to get wet :).  Dave jumped right in though.  After the kdis were done in the water they spent forever playing in the sand.  What started as a little hole turned into a big pool and soon Tyler had attracted a whole heard of kids who were all working together on building......and then some kid would come along and know  a wall down and all the boys would rush over to fix the leak!

enjoying the water and getting wet slowly!

jumping in

jumping in with dad

Building in the sand



Before long he recruited Hailey to help in the building



Then other boys came along to help

before they were taking up a good portion of the beach.

Tyler had a blast, he actually spent a couple of hours playing in the sand.  Good times!

Gymnastics

Guess who loves gymnastics?

Clinton Beach

We took advantage of our warm labor day weekend this year and did a few last fun family outings.  On Saturday we took a ferry ride over to Clinton Beach and played by the water in the sand for most of the afternoon.  It's really a great beach for collecting shells and rocks and climbing around.  

Some of our favorite things included digging:

Searching for bugs and having them crawl all over you (ok this is really a Hailey thing):

that's a ladybug on her arm

 Finding fun shells

 And cool rocks

 Stick lightsaber battles

 walking the log paths

A fun day for everyone.

Water contraption

Having fun with water.....we'll just call this a science experiment.

There may have also been some bugs involved whose lifespan have been greatly shortened.