The Week of 6/14

This was the week after Maile's school got out. I signed her up for a week at Camp Shoreline before summer school started. The camp went from 10:00-3:30, and the kid did arts and crafts, games, and water activities everyday. One day they had Wacky hair day, and the last day they had water gun fights from the pedal boats. Maile loved the camp, and out of all the camps/classes she took it was her favorite.

Since the Yaus were going to be out of town later that week for a week, they asked if we'd be interested in using their nanny during that time. So, we did. It was Mathis' first time being cared for someone other than me for an extended period. It was not an easy transition for him. Lots of crying but by day 5 he barely cried when I left and the nanny was able to put him down for nap without a single tear shed.

I took advantage of the time on of the days to go clothes shopping for myself. I even tried the clothes on in the dressing room (vs the usual "buy then try"). The clothes shopping was somewhat in anticipation of my going back to work.

The month before Hansel had been talking about quitting his job and trying some new ventures. Even though he had what seemed like a dream job (working from home with good pay), he still wasn't satisfied. So, we talked about my going back to work. We felt like the timing would be good for me and Mathis. He was at an age where he was, at times, hard for me to handle and after 3 years of being at home, I was ready to go back to work. So, even though we didn't want to make any changes until toward the end of August, I contacted my old company earlier in the month just to see if there was any opportunity there. If not, it could take a while to find something elsewhere. There was definitely opportunity, and they wanted me to come back sooner than later. That Friday I went to find out more details.

Also, on Friday, 6/18, Beck had his preschool graduation. In his case, just graduating from one class to the next. The kids had made their own graduation caps, sang a couple of songs, and received diplomas.

6/5 Payton C's Birthday Party

On 6/5 I took Beck and Maile to a birthday party for one of Beck's classmates while Hansel stayed home with Mathis. I asked before bringing Maile, but I figured it would be okay since it was going to be at a park vs a party place where they have limited capacity. So, the boy's name is Payton. Funny thing about that name is it was Hansel's top choice when we were thinking of names for Beck, and he wanted to spell the name the same way with an "A," like Walter Payton (vs Peyton Manning). I vetoed the name, but now we know two boys named Payton with an A.

When we first got to the park all the kids were playing in the sand area with a water spout. Lovely, sand and water with no change of clothes. The party had all the kid party details -- friends, food, drinks, cupcakes, pinata, and goody bags.

Random May Photos

For a while Mathis had earned the nickname, Screamer.

Mathis using Beck's old toothbrush.

Below Mathis is proud of himself for stacking the Playdoh cans.

The next photo is Mathis in his classic pooping pose -- sitting and holding his toes. He has half of a pooping expression.

I thought it was funny how Mathis was staring longingly at Beck's cheese. Beck is sitting away from Mathis, so Mathis can't poach his cheese.

5/27 Beck's Theme Night

Beck's preschool had a Theme Night on 5/27. The theme was countries around the world. The night was an opportunity to see all the preschool classes for current and prospective students. Each class was decorated , had activities, arts and crafts, and snacks based on their country.

We went to Beck's class first, which represented China. Posted on the outside of their classroom was a painting of the Great Wall that the kids made, and inside the classroom they had a Chinese lion's head, paper lanterns, and umbrellas strung up. They had traditional Chinese garb for dress up, tea and dim sum for pretend play, a mini ping pong table, a table for Chinese writing, and dumplings as a snack. And the cute and funny photo-op cut-outs pictured below.

The next classroom we went to I think was Mexico, but now I'm not sure because everything was beach themed. They had a water activity, an arts-and-craft project with colored sand, and a tiki hut stand for prentend play. The last classroom had an African theme, where the kids played with musical instruments and made rain sticks.

Not to be biased but I thought Beck's class was the most thoughtful in their representation of their country. Admittedly, they had a leg up since Beck's school is a bilingual Chinese school.

5/26 Rm 25 Open House

For a couple of months, Maile's class had been learning about penguins. All kinds of penguins, at least 4 or 5 kinds. They read books about penguins, did art projects of penguins, they played games and did experiments related to penguins. Through this they learned about height, weight, measuring, comparisons, etc, and what kid doesn't like penguins. The class' time and efforts learning about penguins culminated in a morning open house and breakfast potluck.

There were stations set up around the classroom, where you could play penguin games involving math, experience what it was like to waddle with an egg, compare your weight to a penguins, and view penguin art. The kids all had a great time leading their family around to the different stations and showing them what to do. I think the kids liked being the "experts."

For the potluck someone brought in a a breakfast bar/cookie that was an orangy-brown color. It was yummy in large part because of the chocolate chips. Some people were guessing what gave them their orange color. I guessed pumpkin, but it was pretty bright, so another person thought persimmon. Later when emails went around asking for the recipe, we found out it was pumpkin. Seems like I actually picked up some things from all the baking I'd done over the school year.

5/23 Kan YaYa and Seussical

So I think around our trip to Hawaii in April we noticed that Mathis called all living things YaYa. I think he started out calling all birds YaYa, which remotely sounds like the Chinese word for bird, Niao Niao. I don't think he's trying to say duck, which in Chinese is YaYa, because we don't see ducks enough for me to use that word.

Anyhoo, on this day while Mathis and I were outside I noticed him looking at something. I asked him, "Ni kan shen me?" Which means, "What are you looking at?" And I swear he replied "Kan YaYa." Kan means see. But he hasn't said a short sentence like that since, so maybe he didn't say that. But he still says YaYa alot.

Also, on that day I dropped Maile and Beck off to see Seussical the Musical with some of Beck's classmates, teachers, and parents. It was weird just dropping them off and not going with them. But Hansel was running and I didn't think Mathis would sit through the show. They liked it, but they weren't dying to get home and read their Dr Seuss books either.

5/16 Farm Day and Rm 25 Potluck

Maile's school has a mini farm with some farm animals and fruits and vegetables. During the year, a couple of classes at a time help at the farm on a weekend day. 5/16 was Maile's class' day, so Hansel begrudgingly took Maile and Beck while I stayed home with Mathis. I say begrudgingly because he's not into the whole school-socializing thing.

Later that day Maile's class had a end-of-the-year potluck picnic at a local park. We all went this time. After eating, Beck spent most of the time playing with a ball with some of Maile's classmates. Maile joined in the action later. Mathis spent most of the time crawling around.

Hansel was watching Mathis when he took this photo. I guess he didn't see the harm in Mathis sliding down with sticks. At least they weren't sharp.