Chef James

Lasagna was such a big hit last weekend that we are making more! And James wanted to help. I am sad that he's abandoned his dream of becoming a (cookie) chef but he was a great help in the kitchen. Dad ain't bad either (:

 

 

Karate Kid

James had the same reservations about Karate as he did with Spanish.  He all of a sudden stopped wanting to go.  Well, WE didn't want to let Karate go so Dad (Jim) decided to pay a visit to the class to pump up the jam!

These videos are from a few weeks ago now but they're still pretty funny to watch.  James had Karate class yesterday and told us that he is just one "stripe" away from his Gold Belt!  (I guess they need a certain number of classes under their belt before they advance to the next.)

WJDN?

He likes it! He likes it! Finally a meal with multiple ingredients that James likes! My lasagna. I won't hold my breath that he'll like ANY lasagna but this one is plain enough and slightly sweet. That equals James friendly. He willingly had yesterday's leftovers for dinner and then asked for more!  And those tomatoes aren't to the side because he didn't like them, but because he LOVED them.  He stole mine and started hoarding :)

You might think I'm silly for carrying on like this but it was nice not forcing something down your child's throat, especially when you're not feeling even 80%.

Swimming like a fish!

I have fallen out of blogging. I need to just sit down and sort through the pictures I want to share.

James' lessons continue to go really, really well. He practices holding his breath, putting his face in the water, and floating in the bathtub.

He really surprised his instructor by holding his face in the water for a rapid count of 13! He does it in the bath now and it scares me seeing him down for so long! He loves it though (:

So the other boys are younger and immature. It was really obvious tonight when the instructor struggled to control the younger boys. James just sat and watched patiently, waiting for his turn.

And you'll see in the first video that she sorta loses control of the two littler boys and then James goes under.  I stop recording, I was concerned and ready to jump in, but he popped up on his own and arranged himself on the little platform that's submerged under him.  

We moved to the other (deeper) side of the pool for jumping in. No fear!

WJDN?

-Blogging while living life!

Funny Things My Kid Does

We're on a No-New-Toys Crackdown but it was okay to dig through our old stuff and find an old Lego set of mine.  I guess I have three (older) Harry Potter sets, but shhhhhhhh!  Don't tell James because we only brought out the smallest of them.  

 

He studies the current Lego sets that are out there, mostly through watching YouTube videos on my iPad.  He truly is growing up to be a tech geeky kid (:  So anyway, he decided he wanted to make his own video to review his newest sets.  There are lots of Lego geeks out there who buy the sets and then make videos detailing every part of the set.  Here is my James mimicking those videos.  I was so proud (:

 

 

 

 

Article

 This is a long read but it is about my school district.  My school was abuzz all day.

Rolling Stone article

My school district issued a response and part of it is here.

I'm kinda glad we don't live within the district right now.  Too much politics and covering your ass going on.

Chaos

 Be careful what you wish for!  I was hoping for an exciting weekend but this is too much.  

Jim smelled gas.  I agreed.  We evacuated to Grandma Laura's while Jim called the gas company and waited for them to arrive.  Several hours later James and I received the okay to return.  We found several trucks and a backhoe digging up our yard.  Goodbye landscaping!  James was thrilled to stay up so late (11:30) and to see the chaos.  Jim and I?  Not so much!

I put on some coffee for Jim.  That's what Ma always did on LHOTP when Pa got bad news... !

WJDN?

 

 Learning a magic trick!

 

Creative

 James told me he was never going to be happy again... Until he gets the Lego Joker Castle.  Spoiled!  I let him wallow in his sadness but he quickly perked up and made his own Lego creation.  This pleased me.

 It is a movie theater!  He made rows of seats and even included boxes of popcorn (yellow)!  Oh and a large trash can for after the movie.

 Please no one buy him the Legos.  He is truly okay.

Swimming Day 2

Going well!  Jim took James to the last lesson so I don't have descriptions for each of these pictures but it looked like fun!

 

 

 

 

 

WJDN?

We don't know if he's sick but he's been very chill all day, a little groggy looking.  A quick temperature check was normal.  Watching TV with a Lego catalog close by (:

Foss Swim School, First Lesson

James started his swim lessons tonight at Foss Swim School.  I've always considered this the fancy pants place to bring kids to swim.  I was a nanny one summer and took the kids back and forth to their swim, tennis, and art lessons.  I guess that impression just stuck with me.  Anyway... James did so much better at this lesson.  We tried the YMCA two years ago but he was pretty timid and didn't want to follow along, just play.  Tonight the kid/instructor ratio was much lower, James is a much more mature boy, and he's had some water experience since so all went well

He surprised us by walking right up to the pool and climbing in!

You can see all of the parents hanging around the pool's edge like groupies.

Hanging on the edge and kicking!

A little platform in the middle.  The boys loved jumping on it.  I just kept imagining James slipping off into the water that's as tall as him, the instructor being busy with another kid, and me then having to jump in and save him.  We are all lucky it didn't come to that!

Face in the water!  Already!!!

Back float.  They told us to work on this in the tub :). We also bought the cute goggles for the tub!

James has always had baths.  We used the pool shower to get clean.  He squealed happily.  Showers may need to be introduced!

Christmas isn't over!

Grandpa Frank and Grandma Julie sent a nice Christmas card and money.  I took James to Target and he helped me spend the money all on him (:  He would have gladly spent the money all on toys but his responsible parent found some fun but practical items for him.  He was very helpful in picking the accessories to redecorate his bathroom.

The ocean theme compliments his new pirate bath toys too!

I'm replacing the sand picture with a picture of himself in his pirate Halloween costume.

We also found a great Pirate Lego set.  One thrilled little boy!  (Video to come soon.  We keep talking about making one to show Grandpa :)

Oh and a new Lego Ninjago shirt & a Star Wars swimsuit.  James has lessons starting tomorrow!

See?  Christmas wasn't over!

Pool

I knew the boys were downstairs together but I didn't know what they were up to.  I saw and ran upstairs for my camera quickly.  Glad to capture these!

I wonder if James will take to pool?