Kindergarten is Over!

Last full day of kindergarten. He's dressed in class T-shirt and swimsuit for kindergarten field day, a much awaited event, for its water slides and moon bounce.

Sailing Trip

The second weekend in May, we went on a sailing trip. So fun! And the weather was beautiful. It was great.





an evening walk on the beach

Camping Trip

Before we start up summer adventures, let's see some scenes from spring! The first weekend in May, we went camping. Lots of fun!

Easter Egg Dying

spring update

Connor went to his first sleepover last weekend, which prompted the realization: oh, he's growing up. Apparently they stayed up 'til the ancient hour of 10:00, and he was forced to take a nap when his motor stopped running early afternoon. I think Connor's like me- he can go all day as long as he gets a good night's rest.

Last night was the last soccer game of the spring season. If he plays next year, he'll be in the next age bracket league with six-, seven-, and even eight-year olds.

Now that the weather's nice, Connor's interest in indoor climbing has waned. It's the season when all the kids play outside.

Yesterday morning I was at work when I heard my cell phone ringing in my office. No one ever calls me, especially during the day, so I took the call. "Hello, this is Mrs. H at O Elementary. I have Connor here in the office with me." Oh no, what has he done?! my mind raced.

"He was chosen out of his grade for good behavior and will receive a reward."

Ah, it's only that. So turns out he gets to choose someone to share the reward with, and he chose Riley! I thought that was really nice, because she's not even in his class. Here they are last weekend, planting azaleas.

the dynamic duo! In only a few months they will be joined at school by Isabella, who registered for kindergarten last week. Can't believe Riley and Connor will be first graders!

Spring Break

at a picnic by the reservoir. by the way, his grandmother encouraged him to climb this tree

trying out the new swings in the backyard with Poppa

eaten by a bird! part of an exhibit at the local natural science museum called “Amazing Butterflies,” created by the Natural History Museum in London

inside a cocoon?

life as a spider

Connor 5.5

Connor pointed out to me the other day that Friday was his 5 1/2 birthday (exactly 6 months after his regular birthday). We didn't throw a party.
Yesterday was second soccer practice. Connor scored the final goal in a scrimmage.
He is still reading up a storm. Ricky Ricotta (and his mighty robot) is the dominant series of choice, but he still enjoys listening to Beverly Cleary's Ramona stories at bedtime and yesterday checked out a Junie B. Jones book that he had missed. Except for one or two at the end, we finished that series.
His latest topic of interest is SPACE- the planets, how it all works. We're thinking of visiting the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in a couple of weeks over spring break.
I continue to be amazed at the things they teach in kindergarten these days. We are lucky to live in a really good district, and he goes to a good school where he has a good teacher. Recently he has come home talking about verbs and synonyms- and he knows what they are. In kindergarten? Wow.
His class is going to the city children's museum tomorrow! Look for pics later in the week.

Connor Climbing

Recently Connor took up a new hobby. Two weeks ago we joined a gym that offers indoor rockclimbing (specifically for that reason). For the first week and a half Connor would climb halfway, only to come back down- believe it or not he seemed little scared of the height. But the other night, he successfully conquered two walls and yesterday, he climbed all six of the autobelay routes. Here are some photos of his endeavors.

In other news, he is really reading now- chapter books on his own. He still likes the Black Lagoon chapter books. This past week he entered the reading-in-bed-with-flashlight phase. According to one preliminary test, his reading level is first grade, third month.

High School Musical is still a dominant force in our lives, both the movies and the soundtrack. Spring soccer practice starts next Saturday- he will meet his new teammates and run around the field.

Spring Break is close to a month away. We are thinking about taking our rockclimbing skills on the road, either to the Smoky Mountains or Arkansas.

Connor's 100th day!

On Thursday Connor and his class celebrated their 100th day of kindergarten. The celebration was interrupted and cut short by yet ANOTHER snow storm. Storm is relative of course, but as snow plows are few and far between here in the Deep South, schools had to be closed early and remained closed the following day. We have probably been home more than we have been at school so far this January.
Because the 100th day festivities were cut short, Connor's class did not get to enjoy all the activities planned for the day. We made this hat at home, modeled after the one Riley made with her teacher. And to mark the occasion, I took snapshots.

100 days and Connor is reading lots of "easy" words and doing simple addition. He is interested in and practices cursive writing occasionally.

He is still enthralled with High School Musical- movies and soundtrack- but took a break to watch Toy Story a few times this week. He loves playing Super Mario Brothers on the wii.

His latest favorite book series is Black Lagoon, but right now he is enjoying Sideways Stories from Wayside School again. We first read these stories last spring. He LOVES them all over again.

His spring soccer season will start soon, and today he is going to a gym to try a climbing wall. He loves climbing, so I think he will really enjoy it.

Connor's Meatballs

Connor's dad helped him make meatballs last weekend which he delightfully consumed. (Don't tell Dad, I think it was ground turkey ...)

Connor is somewhat of a vegetarian (although he doesn't eat many vegetables, ha ha! I know! I'm a terrible parent!). He's just not that into food. He doesn't even have a favorite food! So his dad made that one of his new year's resolutions - to try more new foods, and to find a favorite one. This meat-ball making activity was part of that. Apparently he's enjoyed meatballs as part of school lunches in the past. But with gravy?! according to him.

Unfortunately, after this first session, he turned his nose up at the leftover meatballs.

However he did eat (and enjoy) tilapia a few days later. Now if we could just add some color to his diet in the form of fruits and vegetables ... think I'll try sweet potatoes.