Crayola Day

We were lucky enough to have Brian home with us yesterday so we decided to head to the Crayola Factory. It was a great family day for the four of us and the trip also served as a reward to Carter. Proof that if you listen, help clean up toys, get good school reports and are the best big brother that you can be that there are rewards. Although not perfect, by any means, Carter's behavior has improved greatly since the fall and early winter.
Carter and Elijah start off the day by enjoying their Happy Meals.

Some face time with the red crayon.

Through the tunnel come the Lansek brothers. They loved this, especially Eli.

Rolling paint to make a treasure map.

Waiting by the drying oven for his map to emerge.

This glass wall was a huge hit with both Carter and Eli. They loved coloring the glass with the special window markers.

Daddy helps Carter spell his name.

Enjoying the sidewalk chalk station. Carter loved that it was inside so the rain will never wash away the pictures.

Sharing Model Magic with his brother. Yes, you are noticing that Carter is sharing the smallest piece he could find!

Posing inside the Crayola store with his new Spongebob coloring set.

Both of the boys had a great time and were very well behaved. We are so very proud of the fine young men they are becoming.

School Update

A lot of time this week at school was spent preparing and making crafts for the Dad's breakfast on March 12th. The class also learned about the calendar and continue to work on name recognition and letters. Carter brought home the picture that marked his cubby this week. No more using a picture to identify his cubby...he must recognize his name. Miss Kelly, the therapist, visited today and left a good report. She also gave some indications of areas we should be working on. But all in all Carter continues to thrive and do very well in the classroom and with his peers.

The religion theme was one of my favorites this week...Jesus feeds 5000. Dental was the other theme the children learned this week. Carter was very excited to watch a video at school about taking good care of your teeth and shared all the details with me. Below Carter poses with his tooth that he made at school. He is not in pain, I promise, just showing off his own pearly whites at the request of Mom!!

School Update

This week we made play dough for school. Carter was amazed with the whole process. He couldn't believe that we could mix ingredients, cook and stir them over the stove and end up with play dough after a few minutes. He was also very interested in mixing colors to create new colors...i.e. red and yellow make orange. All in all it was a very fun project and with the exception of mommy helping to measure the ingredients Carter did it all himself and was very proud to tell Mrs. McAtee that he did so. When finished our project yielded green, orange, pink and yellow play dough.

There is no artwork to share as Carter and his class are working very hard on their special projects for the Dad's breakfast in March. Aside from that Carter continues to learn the calendar and is working on his letters and numbers. Miss Kelly, his therapist also visited and left a very good report. A good week at school, indeed! Way to go buddy!

Potty Time

Hooray for Elijah! He used the potty tonight for the first time. He barged into the bathroom trying to pull his pants down. I stripped him, helped him to sit and ta-da he went pee pee and was quite proud of himself. With all of the excitement and not wanting to miss out Carter generously relinquished his small potty to Eli. I can see diaper free days on my horizon.......

Go Team!

For you Dad......

Every since I can remember my Dad has been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Here the boys proudly wear their Black and Gold, showing that perhaps the tradition of Steelers fans will continue.

Playing and Pizza

The boys had a blast yesterday playing with Mallory and then enjoyed some pizza. As you can see Eli took everything that the big kids were doing! Nice smiles, guys!

School Update: Hearts and Valentines

This week at school came with some warmer weather and the opportunity to play outside on the playground. This really delighted Carter as he has been patiently waiting to utilize the huge Noah's Ark. The class also had their Valentines party on Thursday. I arrived a bit early for pick up and watched from the window as the kids had a blast doing the limbo and then the parents were invited in to do the chicken dance!

Below is Carter's box that is now holding all of his Valentine treats. All of his friends at school were so generous with treats that we are pulling one Valentine each day to read and then enjoy the treat. (We are trying to avoid the sugar high that Halloween created!!) These two pictures show the front and back of the box.

Carter distributes his Valentines among the boxes of all of his friends.

This was our Valentine gift from Carter and I LOVE it!!

Cut and pasted especially for Mommy!

School Update with Groundhogs

Hard to believe but another week of school has come and gone. Carter was happy to get back to a full week of school after missing a session to due to a snow day last week. We have been lucky so far this winter and have only had one class cancelled because of the weather. This week was about groundhogs and the religion theme was Jesus blesses the Children. In addition to their groundhog inspired crafts the class also worked on Valentines decorations and making their Valentine boxes for their upcoming party.

Carter painted this guy during Thursday's class. His painting skills really impress me....even more impressive is the amount of time he will stay still if painting is involved.
The groundhog says it all....six more weeks of winter.

I know some of you were hoping for news that spring was on the way early.

Carter especially loves craft time at school and is very proud of everything that he makes.

Happy little snowman. He was posted on the hallway bulletin board for the last few weeks.

This snowflake hung from the classroom ceiling making the room into a winter wonderland. Like snowflakes that fall from the sky, each child's flake was different and beautiful and crafted from their individual hand prints.

Budding Artist

Carter enjoyed the snowy afternoon at his new art easel painting.

The finished work of an artist.

Thank you Uncle Jeven and Aunt Julie for the great Christmas gift. It is safe to say that the easel is officially broken in.

Peek-A-Boo

I See You!

Gone Fishin'

Elijah absolutely loves the fish tank at his G.G.'s house. He spent most of the visit just staring at the fish and giggling as they swam by.

Generations

Brian, the boys and I spent the morning today visiting our Grandparents. It occurred to me while driving that my boys are incredibly lucky....they have 1 great great grandmother, 2 great grandmothers, 1 great grandfather, 2 grandmothers and 1 grandfather and they are adored by all. I also realized that I don't have enough pictures of the boys with their grandparents...so...I started snapping pictures today.

Carter, Elijah and their G.G. (Brian's Grammy)
Carter and his G.G.

*Look out family...I am out and about taking pictures and I will post them on this blog!

Weekly School Update

Carter had a short week at school this week. Because of some winter weather we missed Thursday's session which proved disappointing for my little man. We are anxiously looking forward to get back into the swing of things this coming week.
The religious theme this week was Jesus chooses 12 Disciples and the theme was bears. (Take note to the cute little guy below) I was also lucky enough to bump into Carter's therapist this week and she gave me an excellent report. She said Carter is showing great leaps on maturity and was the most well behaved and tuned in that she has ever seen him! Good Job, Buddy!!
**This week BOTH boys were registered for next year. It's hard to believe that Carter will be a senior next year and Eli will be in the Tots Class! This is happening too fast for Mommy!**