Mohawk

Well its official... William has a mohawk again! What brought this change about??? Well two things brought this change about, he needed a haircut and well I think he's adorable like this!!! Thanks to Julie he looks wonderful and, well, just look at that smile. How can you resist that face!? He loves it and so do I. It's amazing what one little haircut can do.

What does boredom + sleep deprivation + restlessness get ya??

It makes for one very grouchy mama and one very moody little one. The combination is not a very good one.. Poor kid is bored out of his mind since school ended and running out of things to do and there is only so much tv one can watch. For me, however, there is a different reason for the grouchy attitude.. sleep deprivation... Lately I've found myself having a hard time sleeping and so what do I do.... I spend time online... Talking to friends and then I find myself exhausted during the day, but unable to fall asleep. All the restless activity is disrupting the normal flow of life.. My usually worn out boy has way too much energy and it translates into some less than ideal behaviors at times. I'm dealing with a child that doesn't always wanna listen and wants to talk back in the headstrong nature of his, because he wants to play instead of go to bed.

I think that build up of energy he has is disrupting me as well.. I find myself feeding off this energy.. Exhausted as I may be.. his restless behavior has me feeling restless, needing some time to myself to relax and it's just becoming clear that school really made a huge difference. For the last several nights it's been at least 10 pm or later before he's asleep. I really do need to find a new activity for him to do that will wear him out.. The lack of sleep is really starting to get to me.. When I wanna sleep I can't, when I shouldn't sleep, that's when my body decides it's nap time.

So my plan is to spend as much time outside during my vacation as possible (as long as its nice outside) and see if that wears him out at all.. Maybe if I can keep him active enough he'll fall asleep sooner, so mommy can go to bed sooner.. Just a small experiment to see if I can get him (and me) back on a schedule before school starts up again in just a few short months. Hopefully it will work and in a week or so I'll be back to my usual, not sleep deprived, self.

End of School...

And my poor son is bored outta his little mind. School officially ended on June 8th. The week prior to that was filled with loads of fun stuff for them to do.. It included some child/parent activities.. The best being the music program.. I only wished my son had sung more. He got stage fright with everyone there and only sang during the first song. It was really a cute program. Before the program we had a picnic. It was fun meeting some of the other parents and kids in the classes. It was also funny to see the little girls chase him, hug him, and well call for him.. hehe.. I've got a heartbreaker on my hands.

just a few pics from the show

They ended the school year by the kids helping to clean up and pack up the classroom. Giving them the closure for the end of the school year they needed. The final day was games and fun stuff.

Since school ended he's been bored.. He has made one big trip. He went with grandma to visit great grandma and family. And he's done great. I'm so proud of my boy.

fire station field trip

The trip to the fire station was a blast. They got to try on gear, sit in the firetruck and an ambulance, watch a video, and try out the fire hose. It was a great trip. The kids had loads of fun. William's favorite parts were trying out the fire hose and then having his heart rate monitored.. He was their brave volunteer for that. It was a good day.

Not many times at the Oregon Coast can you do this....

It was a complete joy to see my son and nephew be able to play in the water, even if it was a sprinkler and a lake, at the coast this weekend.. Thankfully the weather cooperated. Bright sunny day at home.. slighly overcast at the lake. They had tons of fun. I couldn't help but take some pictures of them in the midst of their fun!

Starting here with a couple from them in the sprinkler... Apparently 11 am is the perfect time to run through one with your underwear and shoes on, without asking Mommy for permission..

And then here at the lake.. where they had so much fun swimming and playing they didn't wanna get out!!!

school days winding down....

Well its hard to believe but this school year is almost over already!!! And soon my sweet little one is going to be bored out of his mind at home. I can't believe how quickly these last 9 months have gone. Seems like just yesterday we were taking him for his first day and soon in less than in 3 weeks there is no more school. He is just growing up so fast. Highlights of the last month have been planting sunflowers at school, 2 field trips (one to an organic dairy farm & one to the Aurora fire station), an impromptu birthday party for a friend, making a mom's day gift, and of course just the fun make up days they've had for missing a week in December due to snow...
He is one of a few returning next year and his teacher can't wait. We are very happy with the progress he's made, along with friends and just how grown up he's become. However, it does break my heart to see him get so big. I, however, am working on a scrapblog to document all the things he's done over this 9 months in and out of school. The changes physically, the things he's learned, projects he's made, and things he's just been proud of and us too. I can't wait to catch the last few pictures for this school year.. The stickers on his folder that goes back to school each Monday, the destroyed backpack that has to be replaced, him on the last day, and maybe one or two on the bus.
Since he's been so active at school, my plan is to buy a Wii with some games he can play with his aunt and grandma at home. Along with free range of the cleaned out garage with this toys and the swimming pool, he aught to be completely worn out at the end of the day. He also has 4 free classes of TaiKwonDo to go to in June. If he likes it we will work a way for him to continue.. Even though it is kinda expensive. We will definitely have lots of fun things planned over the summer for him to do. I know he isn't looking forward for this school year to be over. I will definitely have to send something to his teachers thanking them for all they've done with him. He has enjoyed that class and the teachers so much. The least we can do is thank them.

Just a few things that have changed over this school year:

• he is more outgoing
  
• he loves to read more
• he knows all of his letters and numbers
• he can count to 30 with little to no help
• he can use scissors without help
• he has become less picky with food
• he is more confident in himself
• he has less separation anxiety

I love this boy with all my heart and I am so proud of his growth over this last school year.. We definitely can't wait until his school picnic and music program.. :)

second conference and school days update April...

So fast this last month has gone.. And how quickly the end of the school year is coming. Seems like just yesterday he started preschool and here we are nearing the end of April and completing the second parent-teacher conference for the year. So what a perfect time for another update on how school is going..

First, April, has been an amazing month.. Lots of new experiences and things to learn. They had their 100th day of preschool. They did reviews to see how far they have come from the beginning of the year. They have been learning so much. They celebrated Earth Day by learning more about recycling and how you can make new things out of old things. They made collages to bring home after conferences and they have been learning new songs and reading new books. He has had so much fun.. its going to be hard this summer when he's not in school.

His conference went very well. He is actually ahead of a lot of his classmates. He can cut without any help, his fine motor skills are very advanced. He can write his whole name and can write it smaller than he used to. He can draw circles, hearts, squares, rectangles, triangles, but needs some help with diamonds. But, hey, diamonds are hard to draw even for me. HEHEHEHE! He can count to 30 without any help and only mixes up a couple numbers. His alphabet is coming along very well. He can read his name and the names of 3 other classmates. He is very considerate.. very artistic.. Loves the library and since the book fair was on during conferences we went in and he bought a couple books for himself and then we bought one on the teachers list to donate. She loved it! She can't wait to read it on Monday. She looks forward to having him back next year and has said that not only will he be a leader in her class, but by this time next year she fully expects that he will be reading. He has grown his vocabulary very well. He has also had a big growth in self confidence since the beginning of the year. We are very thrilled to see the changes.

pcoming are a few events that we are very excited for. On May 14th the class will take a field trip to an organic dairy farm in the area. We love this as we have been buying organic milk for ages and he LOVES it. Then on May 28th they get to take another field trip to a fire station in the area. They had the firefighters in once before to the class and they got to check out a fire engine... This time they get to go explore the fire station and do some learning things there. Then the final thing we are looking forward to for the year is the Preschool Music Program on June 4th.. I will make sure to take lots of pictures for his scrapbook.. Can't wait to see what they do.