Rodeo

Aidan has been begging to go to the rodeo mainly because his teacher and her family were going to be there. His teachers son was participating in the "mutton riding" ( sheep riding) last night. I thought "what the heck", since I am all about new experiences and it sounded like a fun family outing I decided we would go. I told him we probably wouldn't see his teacher (and we didn't) but he still wanted to go. We were pleasantly surprised and it was a really fun evening! We weren't in the best seats in the beginning and then I spied a bunch of kids playing in the "end zone" ( or whatever you call it at a rodeo.lol.) We moved and he was much happier playing around with the other little cowboys.

We got to see them doing the bucking broncos and steer roping. My favorite part was the barrel racing. The junior barrel racing was even better! There were kids as young as 7 participating in that event!

It was really hard to get any good shots with the lighting and my less than average camera. I did get a few of the "charros", but the rest were to blurry to even tell what they were.

Hey Cowboy!

Having some quality time with dad.

 Where we were sitting there was a constant stream of people walking in front of us, so we decided to move.

yay! Another little cowboy to play with! I wonder what they were talking about? They look like they are using sign language to talk to each other.

 Charros

 I NEVER let Aidan have coke, but last night I made an exception.

Growing pains and Breakfast with Shamu

It has been a long week in our house. Aidan got in trouble for the first time at school. He and some friends were playing a rough game at recess and it got a little out of control. A friend told him to do something and him using his "5 year old boy judgement" did it and another student got hurt. He got an incident report sent home. I was shocked at what he did as he usually a pretty "gentle" kid and definitely gets upset when someone else gets hurt. He is experimenting more with rough play and I guess it is all a learning process. His teacher said he was very remorseful and she had a hard time calming him down because he was so upset. We talked about it when he got home. Why it was wrong and why we don't do something just because someone else tells us to do it. I really attempt to screen what he watches on t.v. Recently he has found the "Beyblades" videos on nexflix. I wasn't a huge fan of the show from the beginning but decided to let him watch them because he loves his Beyblades so much. I told him that his punishment would be no more Beyblade videos (at least for a couple of weeks) because they aren't kind to each other on the show. I also had him sit down and write apology letters to the other kids involved. * sigh* this is the not so fun part of parenting.

Aidan is continuing to enjoy school, but I think the whole Montessori philosophy is starting to backfire on me. lol. They really stress having kids do things for themselves and to think for themselves. I am starting to see evidence of this at home. Aidan wants to do EVERYTHING himself. The other night he decided to clean the bathroom without asking me first. He poured toilet bowl cleaner all over the bathroom and made a HUGE mess. I freaked because of the chemicals he got all over himself. He had on just underwear ( it has still been incredibly hot here) and the cleaner bleached out big spots on it. I made him get straight in the bath and thankfully it didn't hurt him or get in his eyes.  We had to have a talk about asking mom first before doing something that you think is a "good idea" ( After I put the fear of God in him first). It seems like we have been having LOTS of talks around here lately. lol. Although it seems he has been getting in a lot of trouble lately I guess it is a good thing and he is becoming independent. Lots of growing pains this week. :(

Our Seaworld passes are getting ready to expire and I have always wanted to have breakfast with Shamu. I LOVE whales and dolphins. I think they are some of the most gorgeous creatures God created and can't get enough of them! Since having Saturday morning breakfast together is my and Aidan's new tradition I decided spur of the moment that this would be the weekend we would go! It was a total surprise for Aidan. I put him in the car and told him we were going someplace special for breakfast. I then gave him hints as we were driving and had him guess. I told him it started with an "S" and ended with a "D". He thought for a second and said, "Is it Denny's spelled backwards?" My little clever boy. What a great guess! He was excited when we arrived, but I think I was WAY more excited. :0)

My silly boy came to me like this and said "hey mom look I am George Washington!" What an imagination!

 Breakfast with Shamu!

We were SO close to the whales. I LOVED it!

 Aidan decided to stand back because he didn't want to get wet while I was all leaning over the railing attempting to get some good pictures.

 getting a belly rub

 say ahh!

 Oh my sweet baby. I could just kiss your face off! Isn't she gorgeous!

 After breakfast we went to the underwater viewing area and I took some more pics.

 Bat Rays. Again I was all in the water petting these beautiful creatures while Aidan barely put a pinky in.

 Having a watermelon snack break

playing in the water.

 Aidan decided that he would ride the rides for the first time by himself! At least he is getting a little braver in this area. :)

5 year old appointment

I just got Aidan in for his 5 year old appointment yesterday due to insurance reasons. Since I am using this as  his "baby book" I am going to post how his appointment went here. He is now 46 inches tall and weighed in at 41 lbs, He was in the 95% for height and 50% for weight. At least he is consistent. He has been in these precentiles since he was born.  To sum it up- we are going to have one tall and skinny boy! I just can't get the kid to gain weight. He eats lots of fruit and veggies, so I am not going to worry. We are going to follow up with an orthopedist for his toe walking and his doctor also wants another Physical Therapy evaluation. I am supposed to talk to his dentist about his thumb sucking and how it is affecting his speech ( creating "tongue thrusting"). There is a retainer type device the dentist can give him to prevent the thumb from going into his mouth. The doctor said her daughter sucked her thumb until she was 7 and this is what finally solved the problem. Overall, he is one healthy boy and doing well! He had to get shots yesterday and for the first time was having a lot of anxiety about it before the appointment. He did great. He cried for a few minutes and then was sooo happy he was done (mama too!).

Today he starts AWANAS at our church. The kids play games, sing songs, and learn bible verses. He is very excited. He has still been very tired after school, so I hope it is not to much for him. He does an after school sports program and is still taking swimming. A full week for this 5 year old.

parent education night and lost power

I attended Parent Education night at Aidan's school this week. It was an informational night to educate the parents more about Montessori, the materials, and how the program works. It was very informative and I left totally overwhelmed. The amount of enrichment these children are surrounded with every day is unbelievable. The math area alone left my head spinning. Everything is hands on and they are able to do some very complex math with the materials.  Everything is done a certain way and I am wondering how my lil guy is doing with following the steps. He is more of a guy who likes to do things his OWN way. I know it may be frustrating now ( although he hasn't said this) but I am so glad that it is teaching him discipline. He is still loving school and I am so happy.  I got the chance to observe his class early in the week ( without him seeing me) and then met with his teacher the next day to discuss his sensory and fine motor issues. It is really amazing to watch a good Montessori class "in action". All the kids were on task interested in their own "work". I watched Aidan do orange juice squeezing ( and drinking the juice he squeezed). He squeezed the oranges, drank the juice, washed and dried his dishes, and then put everything away! He even took off his little apron he was wearing and hung it up on a coat hanger. I had no idea he was capable of all this and NO prompting from the teacher! Things are about to change at home. lol. Overall, his teacher said he is doing well. He is having a few issues not staying in his area but his teacher thought it was because he is such a curious little boy and was not concerned. Everything is still pretty new to him so hopefully after he is more familiar with all the materials this won't be an issue. I gave her some materials that we use in OT to help him. She was thrilled and is using them with many of the children in the class. Next month I get to spend a whole weekend doing parent education and we get to actually work with the materials. I am so excited! As with everything, a Montessori School is only as good as the program and the teachers. There are good ones and bad ones out there. I have to say that I think we scored big and are at one of the BEST ones. :) This school prides themselves in staying true to Montessori ( some schools just take bits and pieces) yet staying current with the times. The kids receive computer time, Spanish, Music, and PE every week as enrichment classes.

It is the HOT season for Southern California. The Santa Ana winds have started blowing in and the temps have been 100+. It is the "perfect storm" for forest fires. I am praying that things stay calm. The transformer in front of our house blew yesterday afternoon  due to the heat and we ( along with about 10 other houses) lost power. I decided to make the most out of it and finally camp in our back yard ( one of the things on our bucket list we didn't accomplish)! I built a fire in our fire pit so we could roast marshmallows and make smores and pitched our tent. I was VERY impressed with myself since this is a "daddy job" and I didn't think I could do it. The party quickly moved out front while they changed out the transformer last night around 9ish. It was quite fascinating for a little boy ( and his mom!). Several of the neighbors came over and a tackle football game ensued with Aidan and 3 other boys. The SDGE workers were so nice. One of them even offered to let Aidan control the big crane, but he was to nervous. Another one gave him an ice cold gatorade. To quote Aidan, " it was the best day ever". ;)  I love me some power crew! 

We ended up staying about 20 minutes in the tent and then Aidan thought the ground was to uncomfortable so we came in and slept on the couches in the living room. The power was turned back on some time in the middle of the night.

roasting marshmallows. The fire started making me nervous and I didn't want to see our house go up in flames ,so I put it out after we were done with the Smores.

 yum!

 I am very impressed with my fire and tent skills! lol.

2012 Summer Bucket List

So we didn't get EVERYTHING checked off of our bucket list but we sure did pretty well!Some things we could have checked off multiple times. I wasn't able to get pictures of all the things we did, but here are the ones I was able to document. I will have to say Summer 2012 was a success and a blast!

 slip and slide

 hiking with dad in Palm Springs

 making a city out of blocks

 treasure hunt

 beach time

 hopscotch

 mini golf

 Canyon Springs float in the 4th of July parade

 visiting friends in WV

 eating at a drive in

visiting friends in WV

 eating at a drive in

 Water gun fight

 sparklers

 visiting Mimi's park

 Kid Ventures

 San Diego Zoo

 Water Park (Legoland)

 Birch Aquarium

 science experiment ( this is what happens when you put ivory soap in the microwave!)

 water balloons

 water gun fight

 making smores

 eating smores

 sparklers. Look at that look on his face!

 watching a movie outside

 Seaworld

 Maritime Museum. Festival of Sail

 Maritime Museum

 Science experiment. Mixing colors and shaving cream. This one was to much fun!

 train ride