MPA Headmaster's 44

BRAVEHEART: Right out of the gate this a.m. CJ was voicing his doubt that he'd ever be able to swim with his face in the water. Clearly, he was still reeling to a degree after his experience at the Ballard pool last night, where he couldn't go down the slide because he wasn't able to pass the solo/no flotation device swim test. So, we talked a bit about all of the really had things he's already accomplished in his life, like learning how to talk, how to walk, how to read, how to play really hard video games, etc. He mulled it over for awhile, silently, as is his style. About an hour later, out of nowhere he pops off at me, 'You have to get rid of your fear of clowns." I laughed and told him some things are non-negotiable and that clowns are MUCH MUCH scarier than putting one's face down in the water. : ) Of course this was challenged by Mr. CJ, who announced tonight that he wants to be a clown for Halloween.

TABLE TIME: For whatever reason, CJ & Annabelle's hearts and heads really weren't into worksheets today. Not sure why. Maybe it was because we were doing them an hour or so earlier than usual, trying to squeeze table time and a shower in before ballet. The work was nothing that taxing and they were both plenty rested. So, we just limped through one math worksheet apiece and called it good. Tomorrow is a new day. : )

SPLISH SPLASH: As the kids emerged from a shower this a.m. I realized I'd never played "Splish Splash" for them. So, I cued it up and they were, of course, interested in the infectious song. Incredibly, I even managed to find a Nintendo/Mario-related version for them.

IN THE VILLAGE: We headed to Magnolia at 10 for Bee's ballet, and then CJ and I were off to the library, per usual. The place might as well be called "Blockbuster" or "Netflix," because CJ sees it almost entirely as a repository of DVDs.

COMING ALONG: Though Bee had just finished ballet and CJ and I had just walked to the library, Kirby needed her PE time, so we took a stroll to the park to see what they'd accomplished between yesterday and today. It was fun to compare what we'd seen yesterday with the progress at the present. We also speculated about what the finished product would look like based on what we saw. Then the kids and Kirby played pretend soccer and we did some leaf hunting and gathering on the way home.

HOME AGAIN: Once back to the house, I thought it would be good to combine snack time with craft time. I popped some popcorn (which led to us talking about corn, of course). While it was popping, I had them stand by the microwave and "pop" along with it. while it was and cut out some cardboard templates of ghosts for them. They traced the templates on white paper, and then glued the paper to the cardboard. Then, they glued popcorn to the paper while The Popcorn Song was playing in the background. The frenetic pace of that music really got them going!

SAM AGAIN: This afternoon, we read another chapter of the Sam book, and Sam is starting to walk and talk. It's pretty cute and cleverly written and the kids are enjoying being "inside" the head of a baby and hearing his thought process.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME:
It didn't take Annabelle long this a.m. to deduce that today was my birthday. She pulled out her calendar to confirm it and bingo, true 'nuff. So we had a nice dinner at Aqua Verde Paddle Club (which Christian and I have been interested in since we watched Rachel Ray visit it back when we lived in Felida). I got so many nice presents, including gorgeous flowers from the family in Siletz (thank you!) and the musical Barack Obama card was a huge hit with me and the kids (thank you Vancouver!).

BEDTIME STORIES

This evening the kids watched a video I found for them at the library today. It's from Scholastic's Storybook Treasures series, and you really can't go wrong selecting a title from this line. Tonight's screening was "Pete's a Pizza" by William Steig. The disc contains 7 other stories, all with a read-along feature, so the words show on the bottom of the screen. The kids were absolutely rapt for all seven stories. CJ's favorite was "The Great White Man-Eating Shark," while Annabelle favored the classic "The Five Chinese Brothers." Really great stuff that promotes a love of literacy.