Bucatini and Letters

Mark and I discovered this great tasting thick spaghetti called bucatini while dining at Joe Beef in the St. Henri district of Montreal.  Since our return from our great feast gastronomique in Montreal, I've been intrigued by French cooking.  So, I've been reading Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook.  One of her recipes was scallops provencal.  I made her scallop recipe using the bucatini which was pretty good.  I thought the kids would like it since they've enjoyed scallops on another occasion.  Well, they weren't that interested in the scallops, but were intrigued by the pasta.

Liam took the thick spaghetti strands and made a capital "R", "U" and "L," and said "look at my letters", to which, of course, Christian was intrigued and started making some too.  We thought it was pretty cute of Liam to be doing this even though it is Christian with the obsession and interest in letters.

Labour Day Weekend

We had a pretty lazy Labour Day weekend.  The weather was pretty icky (wet and cold--12 C), so no BBQing for us.  Instead, I whipped out my slow cooker and roasted a chicken, made macaroni and cheese and today I am trying a meatloaf in it as well.  

Mark and Christian camped set out to camp in our backyard on Friday night.  Christian was so excited about it.  Unfortunately, around midnight, I had to put the kabosh on the sleepover as I saw some lightning in the distance.  Didn't want to take the chance.  When Christian woke up, he was disappointed that he wasn't sleeping in the tent.  Christian and Mark went fishing in the lake in our development the next day while I took Liam to the park in our development.  Christian was pretty funny about telling me how small the fish were that they caught.  It was almost as if he knew how unsuccessful their attempts were when they were only able to catch these tiny fish.  Liam was proud of himself because he was able to walk up the stairs for the slide and slide down by himself.  He did it about 7 times with a big smile.

First Impressions-Week 1 at Webber

Today marks the end of Christian's first week at his new school, Webber Academy.  As a parent, it is taking a little getting used to having to go 5 half days versus last year when we were just going 2 half days; I can only imagine what Christian is feeling.  We've been good about bedtimes (in by 7:30-8), but I think the adjustment to the longer week for Christian has made him a little more tired.  He is now back to taking a two hour nap in the afternoon which is good because he and Liam (and sometimes me too) can take a nap at the same time.  

The structure of the class seems similar to CPS.  They get to play when they arrive or play the sand/water table, sometimes the paints are out too.  Christian, of course, gravitates to the car/block play area when he arrives.  They've had Spanish class with Senora Sztabzyb and the Kodaly music lesson this week and I am told that show and tell will start next Friday.  The one thing I noticed that was quite a departure from CPS last year was that the teacher spent time in small groups of kids doing a worksheet where they used the red laddie pencil to draw some sort of lines, cut and pasted some things from the worksheet.  After just finishing the book Boys Adrift, I was a little conflicted about whether I like the idea of worksheets.  On the one hand, these tykes have such absorbent brains at this age, but on the other hand are we pushing too fast, too soon?  I guess for me, I love that this school balances the structured worksheet time with ample time outside to play in the playground, so I think that all around, it is a positive thing.  We'll find out more about their "curriculum" this week at Elementary Curriculum night, so we will get a better idea of what they will be doing.   I guess at some point, school has to get a little more serious, but perhaps I was not ready to acknowledge this and the fact that Christian really is growing up and going to the next phase of schooling.

School Daze..Time Marches On

Is it really happening?  Can our summer be coming to an end and is Christian really starting JK at Webber?  After all the research, the application and interview process and all of the mental planning that happens before choosing a school that is, we hope, the best fit for Christian, the big day finally arrives and the 08-09 school year begins.  It's strange to think Mark and I have been thinking about this day since we arrived in Calgary two years ago.  Marking the school year 08-09 on the application back then seemed so foreign and distant, almost a joke.  But, as time waits for no one, here we are 08.25.08

Liam woke up early today at 6 am- -the time I set the alarm to get myself ready and make breakfast so that we could leave on time at 8:10.  So, of course, the best laid plans did go astray this morning, but we managed to get the two kiddies ready for the big drop off, dress shirt, dress pants, tie and "blazer" and all.  Christian was happy to be going to his new school this morning, though not as effusive with emotion as he was last year on the first day of CPS where he was literally skipping down the street and down the hall to his classroom.  Perhaps dressing him in his uniform in the morning signaled to Christian that there was something more formal about this year than last year with Mrs. Robertson, or perhaps it was just waking up earlier than normal that kept him more subdued.  After taking off our outdoor shoes and changing into our inside dress shoes, we found Vicky Polson's classroom aka "Mrs. Polson's" classroom. 

There are 24 kids in Christian's class, double the size of his Calgary Prep class, though there are two aids to assist Mrs. P0lson.  Many kids had already arrived; some boys had built some sort of wooden fortress for parking their toy cars; not surprisingly, Christian honed in on that and got right into the action.  It is interesting to watch how boys can just jump right in and play with other boys as if they have known each other forever, whereas, it seems that girls are a little more cautious and selective about who they play with.  Christian was having a good time and seemed pretty indifferent about whether Mark or I was there.  Liam played with the plastic animals and was interested in what was going on.  He was also looking for the "bobbie" (aka Sesame Street Elmo) book he saw in the class last week when we came for the new families breakfast.  We stayed for about 5 minutes, said our goodbyes and were off to the market.

As we left Christian's classroom, I told Mark that I got a little bit teary eyed.  I think my emotions stemmed from my feelings that summer with the two kids was too short; where did all the time go?  You remember summer vacation as a kid and as I recall it, it seemed quite long.  I still remember like it was yesterday the last day at Calgary Prep and our ice cream picnic at the school to celebrate the end of the school year.  I also thought about how little time I'll have with Christian now that he is going to school five days a week, albeit half days.  I almost felt like we were pushing him out of the house, into this big bad world of school.  Soon it won't just be preschool; before you know it he'll be in first grade.  I'll miss those lazy days where we didn't have anything to do except play.  I also was emotional thinking about what Christian must be thinking about on his first day as I remember the first day of kindergarten feeling alone even though there were tons of kids and a nice teacher, Mrs. Powell.  He and the rest of his classmates must have lots of feelings about this big day, but are too young to articulate fully what they feel.  

Liam and I arrived to pick Christian up at 11:30.  Liam liked walking in and out of some of the other classrooms that were in session while we waited for Christian's class to be dismissed. Christian seemed pretty happy about his first day.  The first thing he told me was that he was not listening in the playground when he and his new friend starting throwing rocks at the bottom of the slide.  I hope this is not a sign of things to come...I asked him what he did after playing with the cars and he told me he "read" some car books, the teacher read a book to the class, they did puzzles, went outside to the playground, bathroom break and had a snack.  Mrs. Paulson told me he did really well today, though she didn't mention the rock incident to me. 

Christian is pretty funny when it comes to recounting the school day.  He always tells me what struck him the most in school right away.  Typically it is recalling who didn't listen; this week it was recounting the story of Mrs. Polson helping Jonathan take off his eye patch "because his eye wasn't sleeping anymore".  He'll also tell me if someone got hurt in the playground and whether another kid wanted some of his snack.  As the day goes by, he'll tell me more and more about what happened at school.  I found it extremely funny when he was telling me he wasn't listening in the playground as that is almost the exact same story he told me last year during the first week at CPS.  As a mother, you just want to die when you hear that.  I talked to Mrs. Polson to make sure Christian was OK and she told me that she recognized Christian was a good kid, but that his friend Dillon was not behaving.  Mrs. Polson told me she already separated Christian and Dillon and recognized that it was Dillon who was the ring leader.  Glad to say that this was the last incident of failing to listen.  Hopefully, Christian realizes that listening is the right thing to do in school.

Science Museum and Sesame Street Live

With the beginning of the school year approaching, I wanted to take the kids out in the city, so I decided to take them to the Science Museum and to Sesame Street Live.  On Thursday, we met Christian's friend from CPS Jason LaPlante, his brother Ryan and his mom Kathleen at the Science Museum.  The kids liked exploring the Sesame Street exhibit about the body and then we went upstairs to play in the tree house and water station.

On Saturday, Mark and I took the kids to see Sesame Street Live at the Jubilee Auditorium.  The production was Elmo's Ready for Action.  It was a nice experience for the kids to see live theatre, but I think the story line was a bit mixed up and a bit lame.  I was proud of our kids being OK with forgoing a balloon, cotton candy and other junkie toys as a souvenir.  Christian asked about one of the toys being sold there, but I told him we should select our toys carefully and we don't need to buy toys that will fall apart fast.  Also, we've been telling them that they don't need to buy something every time we go out.  They are extremely good about this, for which I am happy.  Liam was especially excited to see all of his characters that he reads about in his books.  Christian was excited, but I think a bit jealous of Liam as Christian knows that Sesame Street is Liam's "thing".   

Daddy's 41st Birthday

To celebrate Daddy's birthday, Christian painted Daddy a picture for him.  I made a chocolate bundt cake with a cream cheese filing, we grilled chicken tikka and vegetables for his birthday dinner.  The boys loved the cake celebration because of the sparklers that I put on the cake.  Liam was a bit apprehensive about the sparklers at first, but then he loved seeing the sparklers.  With Amy's help, Christian wrapped Daddy's presents and put his signature mark on the package- - he put a car sticker under each bow for each gift.  It was a really nice evening out and a nice simple celebration for daddy.

Christian's First Written Letter/Number

On Daddy's birthday, Christian decided to paint him a picture and he showed me the picture had the letter S, the number 3 and the letter T in it.  We don't really "practice" letters or numbers so I thought that was good that he was doing it on his own.  He is more aware of letters and numbers in the world now because when we see signs or packaging, he often will point out letters.

Suzuki Music Camp August 5-8

Marissa, Christian's music teacher, recommended that Christian attend the Suzuki music camp which fit into a week that we did not have any conflicting activities.  There were three kids (ages 3-4) in Christian's class and his teacher Nicole.  Nicole came up with fun games to play with the kids to reinforce what they all have been learning in private lessons.  They played the "abcdefg" musical alphabet game, the rythyms recognition game (whether Nicole was playing "pepperoni pizza, ice cream cone or run mommy, run daddy rythms which are all to the Twinkle Twinkle beat), having the kids turn their backs and guess whether she was playing a high, low or middle note and also guessing whether Nicole was playing keys that were accelerating, decelerating or staying the same, they practiced their posture and their bows (holding their bow to the length of time it takes to say "hippopatumus").  There was also a parent session giving us tips on how to motivate to practice and also reinforcing that it isn't easy to keep kids motivated to play.  After one more private lesson this summer with Marissa, we'll be off until September, then we'll be back to our 30 minute lesson with her.

Canmore August 1-4 and 8-11

At Christian's new school's annual gala this past spring, Mark and I bid on a week's stay at a lodge house in Canmore (the Three Sisters Mountain area), about a 45 minute drive from our house.  So we decided to bring his parents one weekend and one weekend we would go with just our immediate family.  We've passed by Canmore several times on our way to Banff, but have never spent any time there.  The lodge house was nice because it had its own clubhouse with a private theatre you could reserve, a pool and hot tub and a nice park for the kids.  Having Mark's parents with us, we were able to use the private theatre once for a mini date night.  We also took the kids swimming and met a nice young British family who own one of the lodges.  They come out twice a year (summer and winter) to enjoy the beautiful scenery.  It seems like a haul to come from England, but the scenery is really pretty beautiful.  On our way out to town one afternoon, we saw a real mountain goat who looked pretty stragley.  Christian asked me why the goat needed a  haircut!

The kids loved playing up and down the hallway counting all the bear motifs and also checking for puppies and a cat that lived in the lodge across the hall from us.  They also loved playing ball down the hall and going out with dad to fly a kite.  We loved the Coffee Mine cafe; nice homemade sandwiches, salads.  We also had time to check out the local library where we came upon its book sale.  Liam honed in on his "bobbie" books (i.e. Sesame Street) and we picked up a few new ones for them.  Liam especially loves "Farley goes to the Doctor" where Ernie has a sore throat and talks funny because of it and also the part where Dr. Rothman asks Farley to open up and say "ahh" when he is checking his throat.  It is so cute to see Liam so excited about reading his "bobbie" books; we can't figure out why he likes them so much when we rarely watch Sesame Street.  Christian likes the Sesame Street books too, but is more enamored with Richard Scary's Cars Trucks and Things that Go, especially the part where you find that tiny little Goldbug character.

On our last night, we had dinner with the kids at Luna, a pasta place that our neighbor recommended.  It was all right, but I had to scarf my food down so that I could watch Liam.  Once Liam is finished with his meal, he wants out of his chair (unlike Christian at Liam's age who could sit for a long time).  It was  nice to be out in Canmore and watching the olympic coverage at the same time.  We saw some pretty lakes that we will have to visit next time we are in Canmore (i.e. Quarry Lake).

Books we Love and Hide and Seek

Liam loves playing hide and seek with Christian.  He goes in the kitchen, hides his head in his hands against the the kitchen wall and "counts" --"won, too, ree" and cracks up when he gets to go find Christian.  He's also been extremely hooked on the Sesame Street books [Elmo Loves You, Farley Goes to the Doctor, Don't Forget the Oatmeal, Sesame Street Picnic].  He loves quizzing me on all of the character names.  There is one girl character whose name escapes me, so I tell Liam I don't know her name and asks "why".  He also loves putting his hand on his mouth in embarrassment like Elmo does in the picnic book when the pigeons are attacking Bert's baguette.  He also loves Bus Stop Bus Go by Daniel Kirk about a little hamster named "Hammie" who is taken to school by a little boy named Tommy.