Calling a Friend

Ethan made a friend in his 1st Grade class. His name is Brendan and he's very shy. We ran into them at the Harvest Market this past weekend and Ethan immediately asked if they could have a playdate. Apparently he and Brendan have been planning this since school started...

So last night Ethan asked if he could call his friend. We got a phone list from the teacher and since I had met the parents already I figured it would be ok.

I dialed the number and Ethan took the phone out of my hands. Brendan's mom answered and they chatted for a moment. Then Ethan asked in his most polite voice, "Could I please speak to Brendan."

They chatted for a while and devised a plan for Ethan to go home with Brendan from school for a playdate today. Not wanting to be pushy I asked Ethan if Brendan had asked his mother. After a few back-and-forths it was determined that this was indeed ok with her.

I got on the phone (after lots of prodding to get Ethan off) and spoke with Jen, Brendan's mom. She's as thrilled as I am that they've become friends. Her son is very shy and this is apparantly the first time he's talked on the phone with a friend.

So today after school Ethan is going home with his new friend to have a playdate at his house. We went over manners and talked about what kinds of words we shouldn't use at other people's houses (all the fun potty words that Scott & the boys like to use). He's so excited.

So am I...

Gymnastics at Open House

Ethan's school had Open House last week. One of the things we did was go to the gym and watch the kids play on all the equipment. Ethan had fun swinging on a rope, running & jumping on the vault, and showing me what a good balancer he is on the balance beam.

I met with his teacher briefly and she told me he's doing a great job. We got to look through his writing notebook and see the stories he's coming up with. He's got a very good imagination.

One of his favorites was the library. Ethan was very excited to introduce me to the librarian and he made sure to give her a big hug when he saw her. He also loves that the beginning reader section has a whole area devoted to Dr Seuss. So far he's brought home 6 library books, all of them Dr Seuss, many of them we already have at home.

Last night he did his daily reading (about 3 pages) from the Dr Seuss ABC book (Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator...A..a..A). I can't tell you how adorable he is sounding out the words. He takes his time sounding out each letter, sometimes to the point that he forgets the sounds from the beginning of the word and has to start all over. But once he got "alligator" he was so excited!

We're working each night on getting some reading done before the tv goes on...hopefully we'll be working on books with more than 5 words per page soon...

Dancin round the campfire

Ethan & Kevin did a lot of dancing around the campfire over Labor Day weekend. Here's a video of what I got to watch - over and over again...

4 years ago

Can you believe it's been 4 years since we moved to Vermont?

And for comparison...last year at Lake Carmi

Camping at Lake Carmi

We went camping with Scott & the boys at Lake Carmi over Labor Day Weekend.  The weather was gorgeous.  Chilly at night but perfect during the day.

The kids all had a great time.  There was lots of bonfire burning, riding bikes, and roasting marshmallows.

I'll post more pictures and even a cute video when I have more time.....

Our new backyard

This horse (and his buddy who's hiding somewhere out of the shot) live at the farm behind the condos. Sometimes they get fed apples by the boys. I have no idea who these people are though.

First Day of First Grade

Sorry it's taken so long to update this blog (that's for you Mom) but here's my big boy on his first day of First Grade!  He woke up very early and was ready to go...hope he keeps that attitude for many years!