Mac and Marbles

When Ethan got home from school we made Mac and Cheese for lunch. He wanted to put in the cheese sauce so I decided he was old enough to stand at the stove (which was off) and mix it up. He put in the milk, butter and cheese sauce and made his lunch. While Ethan was at school I was tasked with finding a marbles game to play inside. Charlene had kindly given Ethan a big bag of marbles. So I found this idea to hold a wet paper towel over a plastic cup with a rubber band and place marbles on it one at a time. The person who put the marble that broke it lost. Unfortunately, today's paper towels are a little too strong and even though we placed the whole bag, it wouldn't break. So Ethan decided to take matters into his own hands, which resulted in a massive marble clean up effort. We are headed downstairs to do a craft, but I wanted to share this Dr. Seuss craft he did in school today. 

Our Day

Before kindergarten, Ethan and I mixed up a batch of potato rye bread dough. After kindergarten and lunch, we headed to the library for our weekly haul. We came home and made some double chocolate banana muffins- our healthy version of chocolate cake as tomorrow is National Chocolate Cake day. Then we did a paper marbling craft involving shaving cream. It would have been fun but for the smell of the shaving cream. I still smell like it. Yuck. I hope the smell doesn't stay on the paper. It came out pretty well until someone turned it into one color by insisting on sticking his hands in it. It's really hard not to have the same standards crafting with a five year old that I impose on myself while crafting but I'm trying...

We headed downstairs so Ethan could play while I folded the laundry. We also listened to the Eagles and did some dancing- you can look forward to a video when I have time to format the clip. We've assembled quite a play scene. I'm very proud to say that I am responsible for managing to make the train track that goes around and under the table so that the lego village (assembled by me w/ instructions from Ethan) could remain on top. Ethan and I worked together to built the structure from blocks at the end of the table to be his train station.

Then we had to do Ethan's homework. He had a book in an envelope. It said on Monday, read the book (presumably we read to him). The same for Tuesday and add on that he tells the story back to you. There wasn't really a story- it said something to the effect of things have wheels. They have one wheel. They have two wheels. and so on.... Anyway Wednesday he was supposed to read it independently and fill in a worksheet. We didn't get to it yesterday, so this was his first time opening it. He opened it and read it to me. So I figured we could skip part I. Then he did the worksheet. I think we need to ask for slightly more challenging books! We baked our bread, had some dinner (and tried the muffins) and then it was bedtime. Now it's mine.

Dinosaur Exhibit

This is my sixth try at uploading these pictures and given the hour it will be the last. This afternoon we headed to the Bruce Museum to see their exhibit of dinosaur fossils from Asia. We also got to see a meteor, a horseshoe crab, and a puppet show.

School Fun

Miss Paula was kind enough to send a few pictures of Ethan enjoying career day on Friday. You can see he also enjoyed checking out the mail carrier job. If you're wondering about the last picture, here's the note Miss Paula sent with it.

"We were rotating through centers and Ethan was sitting at a table writing B words in his dictionary page.  Each child had written a B word on the easel and the children has to simply write them on their page.  I was sitting with another child working on something else and I noticed Ethan was playing in the block center and I asked "Oh Ethan, you finished your B paper?" and he says "Oh no, but I left you a note that I left now".  So I go to the table and top of his work is a paper with "I left now" written on it.  I laughed so hard!  He made my entire week!  I so enjoy having him in my class!!" I guess he thought it was ok to skip out on his work so long as he let her know.

Career Day

Ethan and his friends in Miss Paula's class were invited to dress for the career they want when they grow up today. Ethan picked astronaut and marine biologist. Keeping in mind that he had to lug all of the related paraphernalia to Kindergarten and back on the bus, we went with marine biologist- so with a day's notice, I managed this scuba suit courtesy of a parenting magazine idea and some good luck at TJ maxx. 

Farmer's Cow

After lunch, we headed to Lebanon where one of the farms in the Farmer's Cow cooperative was having tours. It was super fun, though it was REALLY freezing cold. We started off with a one horse open sleigh ride for Jeannie, Elise, Ethan and I. After that, we joined the farm tour where Ethan tried to kiss a cow. Not really, but we've been teasing him about that picture. But we did see a lot of pregnant cows and a few new babies- one so new she was still wet. I could have done without that, but no matter. We went on to the milking house where we saw the storage tanks and the milking area. Let me tell you, this isn't the operation Gramps grew up with. Boy I wish he was there with us to see it. After the miking house we went back out into the cold to sample ice cream. Yep, you read that right. And it was good. Luckily they had some cocoa too. Then we took one more sleigh ride, this time we all went with the two horse sleigh. After that, it was time to drive home. Someone sure was tired out. But of course that means he's still awake...

Submarine Force Museum

Today we met up with our friends at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton. Ethan and Elise had a fantastic time in the museum where they had a submarine control room all set up to work in. That was definitely the best part according to what I've heard. The periscope, which actually gave a good view of the Thames River, was also pretty cool. After we looked around the museum, we checked out the USS Nautilus, which was launched in 1954. We saw some really cramped quarters, but some nice amenities too. After we finished checking things out, we headed to Chester's BBQ for lunch. It was good, but according to James not Dreamland.

Snow Rocket

On Saturday it was a little warmer out, and since Ethan hadn't really gotten to play in all that snow, we decided to make a snow sculpture. What do you think of our rocket ship?

My Valentine

I got this beautiful Valentine yesterday. Miss Paula helped Ethan make it for me.

Swimming

I took the camera to swimming class today.  It got a little foggy from the temperature change. I think you'll see the fun Ethan had.

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

We hope you are all having a happy Valentine's Day. We are having a good but busy day. Ethan had his Valentine party with his Kindergarten class today. He made the love bug and the heart from his hands there. As you can see, he also brought home a box full of Valentines. He has been enjoying lots of heart-shaped food today, pb&j toast stamped w/ hearts for breakfast and macaroni in a heart mound for lunch followed by heart apples for dessert. After swimming, he had hot cocoa with marshmallow hearts and a chocolate covered marshmallow heart. For dinner, heart shaped ravioli! Wishing you a day full of love. 

Star Reader!

Ethan's school had a celebration of reading for the past two weeks. The theme was Wild About Reading, and each day the children could enter raffle tickets for every 20 minutes they read the day before, up to an hour. They got an extra ticket for reading a theme book and an extra one for participating in the theme of the day, like bringing an animal shaped snack. Ethan was one of the school's top readers! He got this certificate and prize, and they read his name on the loudspeaker in school. Since James and I read the books too him, for the most part, I wonder if we get to use the pen and the noteblock? Hmmmm....