Evan, you are such a firecracker! Never silent, never still.
Your spirit is so bright. The light that comes from you is almost overwhelming! Your hugs are so fierce, you latch on with your arms and legs, the love that transmits from your limbs is intoxicating. You love so passionately. You are always all in.
You are thriving at school!! You love your teacher and your classmates. Your major issues are the issues I worried about for you in traditional public school. One of the primary reasons I chose Sparrow is so your spirit wouldn't be squashed by having to conform to what is considered normal in public school. You still need to be reminded everyday what proper behavior is in the classroom but you are never made to feel less than if you cannot achieve this perfectly. You are lovingly reminded and will continue to be reminded until you find a way to control the energy surging through your little body!
You are excelling at reading. I am constantly amazed at the words you read. I watch you look around a room and then exclaim "that says..." I should have known that you would be the first to read since you were always the child that longed for words, and you are the child that is never at a loss for them.
I have heard from many parents that you are constantly praising my cooking or talking about the food I make for you. This from my child who would not eat. Sigh. How far we have come.
You are the life of the party, singing and humming the Imperial March constantly! You have stopped singing the National Anthem for me, which makes me sad. I miss you busting it out when ever the feeling moved you.
You are so into Star Wars and you know all of the characters, since you have never seen any of the Star Wars movies, I am amazed, and amused. You and Ryan have intense conversations about the characters, what they do, and if they are good guys or bad guys.
I love your passion, your sense of right and wrong, your spirit, your ability to engage anyone in conversation, I love that there is no half way for you! I love you!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Ryan at Six
Oh Ryan!
This year you have grown in so many ways. First you are HUGE!!!! It wont be long before you are taller than me. Emotionally, you are growing into an amazingly compassionate young boy. You always want to please and you want to see others happy. You share your treasures so freely with your brother, and you are so happy to give to him, so much so, you are spoiling him!
In school you are doing very very well. You want to follow the rules, and you want Evan to do so too. In fact this caused some problems early in the year because you were trying to make Evan comply and when he didn't, it would upset you and him. You are thriving in the positive, loving environment that is Sparrow, Hummingbird Haven, and Ms. Kari. You have made wonderful friendships and seem to be a leader among your peers.
You are so supportive of Evan, who is reading much more than you right now. If this is bothering you, you are not letting it show. You stated in class the other day "Evan is a fantastic reader, I am so proud of him! I hope someday I can read as well as he can!!!" I love that you recognize that you are different and that is okay, that you can support your brother's successes and use his achievement as a goal for yourself.
You are so naturally athletic and naturally competitive. It is one of the areas that we need to work on, sportsmanship! You hate to lose. That will serve you well in the future, but right now, not so much. Your desire to be the best manifests in your desire to practice. You are always eager to get out on the ice first, or the field. I even had to tell you that you could not practice soccer during halftime.
What sets you apart is your heart. You have such a giving and loving spirit. You comfort others, you have such a knack for making people feel good about themselves. You are so giving of physical objects and of your love.
I love your smile, your joy, your silliness, your competitive drive, your compassionate nature, your sense of humor, your observations, I love you!!! (now stop growing)
This year you have grown in so many ways. First you are HUGE!!!! It wont be long before you are taller than me. Emotionally, you are growing into an amazingly compassionate young boy. You always want to please and you want to see others happy. You share your treasures so freely with your brother, and you are so happy to give to him, so much so, you are spoiling him!
In school you are doing very very well. You want to follow the rules, and you want Evan to do so too. In fact this caused some problems early in the year because you were trying to make Evan comply and when he didn't, it would upset you and him. You are thriving in the positive, loving environment that is Sparrow, Hummingbird Haven, and Ms. Kari. You have made wonderful friendships and seem to be a leader among your peers.
You are so supportive of Evan, who is reading much more than you right now. If this is bothering you, you are not letting it show. You stated in class the other day "Evan is a fantastic reader, I am so proud of him! I hope someday I can read as well as he can!!!" I love that you recognize that you are different and that is okay, that you can support your brother's successes and use his achievement as a goal for yourself.
You are so naturally athletic and naturally competitive. It is one of the areas that we need to work on, sportsmanship! You hate to lose. That will serve you well in the future, but right now, not so much. Your desire to be the best manifests in your desire to practice. You are always eager to get out on the ice first, or the field. I even had to tell you that you could not practice soccer during halftime.
What sets you apart is your heart. You have such a giving and loving spirit. You comfort others, you have such a knack for making people feel good about themselves. You are so giving of physical objects and of your love.
I love your smile, your joy, your silliness, your competitive drive, your compassionate nature, your sense of humor, your observations, I love you!!! (now stop growing)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
BlogHer Book Club: The Book of Jonas
The Book of Jonas, a first novel by Stephen Dau interweaves the stories of Jonas, a U.S. Soldier, and His Mother, like a finely woven tapestry. Albeit there are some holes, maybe left by the craftsman intentionally, or just the work of an inexperienced artisan.
Dau's style, short succinct chapters, made The Book of Jonas easy to read, but sometimes hard to follow. I read most of this novel in one two hour block of time, finishing the last 50 or so pages over the next two days. This enabled me to follow the story more easily, however if I was reading The Book of Jonas over many, many, days, I feel I would have been confused easily.
I had a deep desire to come to the end of this book. I just wanted to know that Jonas would be okay. I hoped that all of the foreshadowing was false and that the end would turn in a different direction. The book jacket suggests a surprise ending, but if you follow along, there is no surprise. Each chapter, each sentence, each word leads you to the obvious.
The Book of Jonas was a good read, but it left me wanting more. I loved how one action, like the flap of the wings of a butterfly, could change the lives of so many. I love that theory, but the way in which these stories were told made me feel like something was missing. It may be the writers succinct style, or my recent fondness for overly verbose prose, but I was left missing, wanting, longing.
The central theme of loss may have something to do with my desire to have more. When we suffer great loss, or those around us do, I think it is only natural to want more information, we (Okay, maybe I) want to understand, to see if there is anything we can do to help.
Read a review, join a discussion at Blog Her.com:
This has been a paid review for BlogHer, the opinions however are mine, mine, mine.
Dau's style, short succinct chapters, made The Book of Jonas easy to read, but sometimes hard to follow. I read most of this novel in one two hour block of time, finishing the last 50 or so pages over the next two days. This enabled me to follow the story more easily, however if I was reading The Book of Jonas over many, many, days, I feel I would have been confused easily.
I had a deep desire to come to the end of this book. I just wanted to know that Jonas would be okay. I hoped that all of the foreshadowing was false and that the end would turn in a different direction. The book jacket suggests a surprise ending, but if you follow along, there is no surprise. Each chapter, each sentence, each word leads you to the obvious.
The Book of Jonas was a good read, but it left me wanting more. I loved how one action, like the flap of the wings of a butterfly, could change the lives of so many. I love that theory, but the way in which these stories were told made me feel like something was missing. It may be the writers succinct style, or my recent fondness for overly verbose prose, but I was left missing, wanting, longing.
The central theme of loss may have something to do with my desire to have more. When we suffer great loss, or those around us do, I think it is only natural to want more information, we (Okay, maybe I) want to understand, to see if there is anything we can do to help.
Read a review, join a discussion at Blog Her.com:
This has been a paid review for BlogHer, the opinions however are mine, mine, mine.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Hummingbird Haven goes Camping
We have been really busy of late, seriously, what is new, but we have really had some fun times.
The first weekend of spring break, our Kindergarten class went camping, OH MY GOODNESS!!!!
The kids had so much fun!!!!
There were six families from the class and we had five campsites all either next to each other, or super close. This gave the kids a HUGE area to run and play freely in. They rode bikes, and ran and played and played. It was unbelievable how much fun these kids had together. There was nary a conflict, and I never once heard the dreaded "I'm Bored!"
I think the parents had just as much fun. After we put the kids to bed, well past their bedtimes, loaded up on smores, we sat around the campfire talking, and laughing, and just having a fantastic bonding experience too.
We all had so much fun we are planning another trip this summer!
I love these families, this school, and the amazing memories we are creating for our kids.
We were also lucky enough to have a couple of amazing photographers on the trip, including our personal family photographer, so we have great memories saved for a lifetime!
http://www.photographybyalison.com/slideshows/dos-picos-camping-spring-2012/
Our first camping trip was a huge success, I am so glad we can now do these things with the boys that Scott and I enjoyed in our lives before kids!
The first weekend of spring break, our Kindergarten class went camping, OH MY GOODNESS!!!!
The kids had so much fun!!!!
There were six families from the class and we had five campsites all either next to each other, or super close. This gave the kids a HUGE area to run and play freely in. They rode bikes, and ran and played and played. It was unbelievable how much fun these kids had together. There was nary a conflict, and I never once heard the dreaded "I'm Bored!"
I think the parents had just as much fun. After we put the kids to bed, well past their bedtimes, loaded up on smores, we sat around the campfire talking, and laughing, and just having a fantastic bonding experience too.
We all had so much fun we are planning another trip this summer!
I love these families, this school, and the amazing memories we are creating for our kids.
We were also lucky enough to have a couple of amazing photographers on the trip, including our personal family photographer, so we have great memories saved for a lifetime!
http://www.photographybyalison.com/slideshows/dos-picos-camping-spring-2012/
Our first camping trip was a huge success, I am so glad we can now do these things with the boys that Scott and I enjoyed in our lives before kids!
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