Dad's Home!

Jim had another business trip last week but this time it was a more interesting place- Orlando! We were sorry that we couldn't join him but maybe next time!

James rips into the Disney bag...

Oh cool. A lego magazine that he didn't have...

 

Ooooh. A Vinylmation guy that looks like Yoda.

 

And some mini figs!

Jungle guy, Olympic swimmer, and a Computer Geek (holding a laptop and coffee cup).

Thank you Dad!

 

Parque

This afternoon we started biking towards the park. James quickly corrected me and told me we're going to the Parque. Spanish for Park! It's one of the first times he's volunteered something in Spanish!

I'm going to need running shoes to keep up with him.

 

He still needs to have more confidence in himself. Here he's telling me that he can't do it by himself. He has a hard time getting started and sometimes needs a slight push. He'll get there.

 

Enjoying the sunshine!

 

Japanese Loot

Tia Kiki and Tio Berto sent a box of loot for both James and myself. Here are the things that James received. Dinosaurs, Legos, and cool things, oh my.

 

I love the shark!

 

Ummm, we tried putting together the dinosaur 3D puzzle. We did a great job until I just couldn't figure out one section. Japanese directions, you know. Hahaha. I'm hoping when Jim gets home he can finish it :)

 

I'm Stealing This One

 

Me too

I can exercise too!

 

Letter

James had an urge to send his Grandma Rose a letter. He prepared a sticker treat for his Grandma and we put it in an envelope. He was so excited to mail it. We had to get a stamp from the post office but he insisted we take the letter home to mail it from there.

 

 

 

Oh, he forgot to write a message so I wrote down exactly what he said. Here's his message:

 

 

Preschool Picture

James' final New Horizon class picture!  We bought the 8x10, the only picture from his spring pictures that was decent.  The last round of spring pictures were just so-so.  Nothing special.  Oh well :)

"You can do it, Mom!"

James watches me exercise. He's the only one allowed to :) He gives me a lot of encouragement and I don't want to fail in front of him, so I do complete the whole workout.

Today James brought out his camera to take my picture. Eeeeeeek! I smiled and kept going. I figured I'd worry about the results later.

 

 

Here are some of the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom, you got five stars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smiling and sweaty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resting between songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-portrait.

 

 

Stormy

I had to put my own storm fears aside to comfort James last night. He was scared of the lightning and "loud noise". We laid in his bed and listened to the rain. He was a giggly little boy, and was soon comforted. It was 9:30 and late for him!

But he woke up right on time at 5:45. UGH.

Anything for me???

 

 

Artsy

James found his old puppet art set in the extra bedroom and surprised me by setting to work on it ALL BY HIMSELF. I waited for him to ask for help but he never did. He concentrated on punching out the pieces, using the glue stick, and following the (visual) instructions to make this lion.

 

Great job!

 

 

Competitive

I didn't know my little James had a competitive streak in him. We played checkers, over and over. He "won" each time but I took care to keep it close :) I was just glad that he kept to the general rules of checkers- I remember playing Candyland with him when he was littler and all rules were out the window. Now, he's at least willing to follow game rules.

 

 

"Can I move my guy here?"

Oh! You jumped my guy!

His giggle makes my heart happy!

 

Jim must have heard the giggling because he came up to see what we were doing.

 

DIY Lego Fun

This morning my sweet boy presented me with flowers. He's so sweet! He later made a "vase" for them and they are now in the middle of the dining room table. Ha!

 

Jim helped James build this "castle". James received a Lego magazine the other day and has been poring over the pictures of the new Lord of the Rings sets that will come out later this year. He has caught a few glimpses of the movies too so has seen that there are battles, trolls, and other warriors. He then created his own battle scene this morning with the Castle. Good vs. Evil? I don't remember how he distinguished the different sides.

 

You can see some of the minifigs with weapons and looking like they are in mid-fight!

 

We made a big to-do about how we can create our own sets and they are just as fun! I'm sure he'll much prefer the real sets when they come out, but..

 

Earth (Month) Artwork

James' classroom always has a month-long theme. This month was very Earth-friendly- focusing on recycling, ways of being "green", and cleaning up the Earth. His class took to the streets (well, actually to the daycare yard and parking lot) and cleaned up after the litter bugs.

Raindrop. I'm sure this was an activity using scissors skills. I guess it's something we can work on this summer!

The Earth!

Ummm, no idea. A magazine ad glued to a piece of paper. I wonder if it's more scissor skills and then glue skills in action?

A Tree. Trees are very important to the Earth.

Recycling sign. Gluing skills.

James' interpretation of "What is Earth Day?"

He told me that he is holding orange "peppers" his hands. We've been eating those at home a lot!

 

Ninjas

It's not very often that I get to catch James in action while playing. When I arrive at his daycare class, if a kid spies me they'll shout out, "James, your mooooooom is here!" And then James stops whatever he is doing, runs to me, and hurls himself into my arms for a hug while yelling, "Mom!!!" It's actually quite nice :)

But on this day I found James on the far end of the playground, looking like he was play fighting with another boy. Turns out they were playing "Ninjas". I wonder if they were using their learned karate moves?

They demonstrated a few moves for me.