Puzzle Day

Today was national puzzle day. Grandma and Pa sent Ethan this nice chimpanzee puzzle so he could celebrate. Then he acted like a chimp and swung from a vine.

We had a school delay this morning so he got to be there for an hour and a half. I really don't get why early dismissal means no PM kindergarten but delayed opening does not mean no am kindergarten. It's just ridiculous, hardly worth sending the buses out for.

Anyway we took the time to do a little  more work on Valentines, which Ethan finished for his kindergarten friends.  Now we have to do a few to mail and a few for his after school friends. We also did a little Mardi Gras decorating.

Bagels and Bulls

This morning we went out for breakfast. Ethan had a bagel that was almost as big as his head, and some hot chocolate. He also wanted me to take pictures of his silly faces. Then he put on his new hat, which was made by me in a design requested by him. He wanted a bull, he told me, because his friend also has a t-rex hat and his friend's hat has sharper teeth. I asked whether he saw this hat, and he said no but the friend told him so it must be true. I said that was a lot of bull :) He named the bull Hot Dog.

Skating Away

After we left the eagles, we went to the town's new ice rink. Ethan tried out his new skates and made a new friend. 

Eagles

This morning we went to the Shepaug Dam to the eagle observation area. They are open from the end of December through March, and families are allowed one appointment per year to go see the eagles. I should have checked the weather first. We lasted longer than I expected, and we saw two different male eagles. We actually did see one of them fly out of the tree he was perched in and get some breakfast. We didn't see the catch, but by the time he landed, we were watching him eating something through the scopes. My camera isn't quite powerful enough for this, but maybe you can see him in the middle of the top picture. We'll have to do it next year. Apparently they like being there in the cold because the operation of the dam keeps the water from freezing and the fish are still moving around. 

Homework

Every Monday, Ethan gets to "share" something with his class. Each child has a day they are assigned to share. Since last month, we've been putting a secret item in a paper bag and writing three clues on an index card to try to have classmates guess what's inside. In the event that you can't read Ethan's writing, the clues are:
1. It has a handle.
2. It looks like a cup.
3. It's made out of plastic.
Let's see if you can guess what it is!

Here are a few ways Ethan has been amusing us lately. I have mentioned how he has a laundry list of professions he's going to be when he grows up. He told me earlier that he could only do one job when he grew up. I didn't quite get who tried to limit his goals, but when I asked about it he said, "Well Dad only has one job." So I had to explain how most people only do one thing at a time, but many people change jobs throughout their lives. So he decided he was going to settle on just astronaut and paleontologist. Tonight in the car, hours after the earlier conversation, he said to me, "Mom, I decided I'm not going to be an astronaut. I'm going to work at the car wash." Upon further questioning, he told James he's still going to do a stint as a paleontologist, but apparently car wash employee sounds more fun than outer space.

We were talking about the flag, and so I told him about the stars representing states and that's why one had a circle and one had a lot of stars. He said "When I get older, I'm going to make a new state. It's going to be called Robotville. It's going to be in the Pacific Ocean." Later, when he was telling James about this, he also decided it will be an island in the shape of a circle. James and I can visit, but only robots can live there.

** Grandma and Pa guessed it, it was a measuring cup. Ethan's teacher gave the kids another clue, that it was used in the kitchen, but none of them figured it out.

Aquarium

Sunday we made an outing to the aquarium. Ethan had a blast. He touched the stingrays but did not want to touch a shark. He also climbed under part of the tank where you could look up at the stingrays and sharks swimming by. There were meerkats and frogs too, and some jellyfish and sea turtles. We spent a few hours wandering around looking.

Lighthouse Contest

They had a lighthouse contest at the aquarium. We got to vote for our favorites. Here's my pick and Ethan's. Can you tell that the top one is crochet? So cool!

Outside

It was way too cold to go out yesterday during our snow day, but this afternoon I braved the elements to let Ethan ride down the hill a few times. We also made a snow angel and made a different kind of snowman with a stick. We also celebrated Kid Inventors Day by reading books about Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. We even watched the Tennessee Tuxedo where Mr. Whoopie explains the inner workings of incandescent bulbs. Remember those? We found a really cool Internet invention game on one of the Smithsonian sites which I am now personally addicted to. We also invented a new robot from recyclables. 

Happy Strawberry Ice Cream Day!

Today is national strawberry ice cream day. Last night, Ethan and I whipped up the ice cream base and got it in the fridge. This afternoon we put it in the ice cream freezer and tonight, homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert. Ok, so technically it was gellato. Unfortunately Ethan didn't really like it. But he did try it, and that's something.

Gingerbread House!

We will see if this works, I'm not sure how they are attempting to "improve" blogger, but it just gets worse and worse. Maybe time to use wordpress. At any rate, Ethan has been after me at least since last Christmas to make a gingerbread house. Knowing how this would go, there was no way I was going to all the trouble of baking it. Being my mother's daughter, I scored one for half price after Christmas. I figured it would be a good gross weather day activity. We need a lot of those here. Ethan decorated the people and tree entirely himself. He also did the gumdrops with gumballs on top and half of the roof. He ate a lot of snowflake sprinkles- he said he was the vacuum cleaning them off the table. We also got his hair cut today. There was a benefit in Sandy Hook at a salon so we went. They cut his hair and he got a cake pop, coloring page and balloon so he was thrilled and all the money is going towards the memorial. They were busy but we didn't even have to wait. Hope they stayed that way, they were working in shifts, 9-9. Here's a story I just saw about it http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Hair-Cuts-for-Sandy-Hook/186691101.

Living Vicariously

Ethan and James went to Costco while I was in Kohl's. This was the result. Think someone's reliving his childhood? After a much longer than expected assembly, they headed out in the fog so Ethan could give it a try.

School Work

For some reason, blogger has become incredibly difficult and annoying to edit. So I can't insert text between images, even when I edit the HTML. Makes NO sense. The first picture is of Ethan's sock. It says "In 2013 I am going to knock your socks off by making my mom a stuffed animal penguin." I can't wait to see it :)
The second one says "I like to make snow angels." The third was a picture Ethan drew to go along with a story.

This is the only other place I could insert text.This is baby new year.

Art!

Ethan has been telling us about the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky for the past few weeks. He tried to copy music in his artwork. I had to look him up, I'm not so good with art history. We found one of Ethan's favorites. 

Chocolate Day!

Today after school, Ethan and I baked a batch of bittersweet chocolate brownies to celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate Day. Certainly worth celebrating right? We got them in the oven, had our lunch, and headed out for swim class. Upon our return, we got out the good dishes and did it up fancy. They were so yummy. Now we're going to play for a bit (aka he plays, I clean up the mess!) before it is time to make dinner. FYI, we're working on the Christmas thank you cards. We're customizing them, so it's taking a bit of time. Please be patient!

Science Center

Our last adventure before leaving NC was the science center in Greensboro. We had not been there before, and our zoo membership let us in, so we figured we would check it out. It was pretty interesting, a mix of children's museum, zoo, science museum and it kept us entertained for a bit. Pa was kind enough to try out the wind tunnel with Ethan after a lot of coaxing ;)
We left Sunday and drove to Arlington where we stayed over and saw friends the next morning. Unfortunately Ethan left his much loved robot bouncy in our room. We called, our friend Tara kindly went to the hotel to try to retrieve him, but no luck. So I made him a new one, he named him Zip Zap Hocking and then kept calling him Bouncy. He said that's his nickname.