The pool

We went to a pool party yesterday.  Gillian was prepared to go swimming and wore her new goggles in the car on our way there.  She didn't end up using them in the pool.  I guess they are just fun accessories.

John showed us some of his new swimming abilities.  He also jumped in the pool. He totally has no fear of the water.

Sky Zone

Last week John had a birthday party at Sky Zone. Sky Zone is an indoor trampoline park. John and his friends loved it. They started on the main court and jumped like crazy boys. 

 

Then they moved to the Foam Zone. Basically the kids jumped on trampolines into a sea of foam blocks. John loved it in Foam Zone. He spent most of the party here. 

John also attempted to slam dunk a basketball. Well, he attempts. 

Overall John had an awesome time. 



Magic Shell

I made vanilla ice cream on Saturday.  This kids were super excited to try it out.  I also gave them the option of having Magic Shell on top of it.  For those who don't know, Magic Shell is chocolate that you pour over the ice cream and it hardens.  It always reminds me of my Grandma and I haven't had any in the house for a while.  So I said "Here's a special treat."  Gillian immediately told me "I've had this before.  At Grandma's house.  It's the best!"  I only put a little on their ice cream but they loved it just the same. 

On Sunday, they again were super excited to have more ice cream.  Gillian helped me out by shaking the Magic Shell bottle.  Of course I got it on video.

Jump Rope for Heart

In February, John's school participated in Jump Rope for Heart.  All the kids at school jumped during their Physical Education classes, but kids also had an opportunity to raise money to support the American Heart Association.  John was very excited about raising money and bugged Daddy and I non-stop about asking people to donate.  Thru John's persistence, he raised $385 for the American Heart Association. 

Last week, Daddy and I received a letter from Mr. Davis and Mrs. Landis.  John was one of the school's top fundraisers and we were invited to go to an assembly on Friday.  Daddy had court on Friday, but Grandma and Grandpa joined me.  We arrived early and found our reserved seats.  They got all the kids in the gym/cafeteria and the top fundraisers got to sit in the front.

We heard from the superintendent, and a representative from the American Heart Association.  We found out that MFA was number one in the Monmouth County for collections, third in the state of New Jersey and 9th in the country!  They handed out awards for the highest class in each grade level (John's class was the highest in the first grade). Mrs. Landis then announced that they were awarding the top three fundraisers in each grade.  They announced grade one.  There were two girls tied for third place and John was announced as the second highest fundraiser for the first grade!

I am so proud of him.  He walked confidently across the stage and wasn't afraid at all.

After all the awards were given out, then the teachers put on a little show for the kids.  They jump roped and danced.  The kids loved it.

Like I said before, I am very proud of my little boy.  But he couldn't have done it without the support of his family.  He had a lot of generous donors especially his Granddad, Grandma & Grandpa, Mimi & Poppy, Gigi & Pop-pop, Uncle Joe & Aunt Donna, Uncle Kevin & Aunt Trish, Aunt Katie & Bert, Aunt Betty, Uncle Bob, Uncle Jay, Uncle T & Aunt Missy and all the other donors.   

Kindergarten Graduation

Today was John's Kindergarten Graduation.  I can't believe that my little boy has graduated Kindergarten.  It seems like it was just yesterday when we were bringing him home from the hospital. 

Our day started early.  John woke up and found me in the bathroom.  He told me "I need to get handsome."  And he proceeded to comb his hair (he has a crew cut).  Then he brushed his teeth.  He informed me "I'm going to make them shine!"  He knew today was a big day and made sure he was ready and looking good. 

At breakfast, he informed Gillian "After graduation, you can stay at school or you can come home with me.  I'm going with Daddy.  I'm not staying."  It was at that point when Daddy and I decided we should just let the kids come home after the ceremony.  I dropped them off at school and told them I would be back in time for the ceremony.

Daddy and I got to school and we pulled Gillian from her class and brought her into the earth room.  Grandma, Grandpa, Mimi and Poppy all arrived at the same time.  We only waited for a few minutes before the procession started.  John proudly lead his classmates into the earth room.  Miss Mary Ellen said a few words and then it was time for the pledge of allegiance.  John got to hold the flag.  He had the biggest smile for the entire pledge. 

Next it was time for songs.  The first song was "It's a small world."  Next was "I'd like to teach the world to sing."  Below is a video of the kids singing.

Next the kids sang, "Somewhere over the rainbow." I didn't get video of it, but I'm sure you can imagine how wonderfully they all sang.  Then they presented the diplomas.  John was first to receive his diploma. After all the kids received their diplomas, they read "Thank You for Me" a sweet little book.  John read the first set of pages.  Below is a video of them reading.  Notice when the third kid reads John taps Jillian on the hand to signal that she needs to flip over her paper.  The kids did an excellent job reading. 

After the reading, the kids did a few dances.  The first dance was to"Down the Avenue."  In this dance, the kids listened to the music and walked or skipped or jumped.  Then they danced to "Brazilian Carnival."  John told me last week that they were going to samba at graduation.  But I really didn't believe him.  I was wrong.  Well, I take that back, I was right.  John was the only one that actually did the samba.  Check out the video below.  Notice how John shakes his hips.

In closing, they sang "So Long, Farewell."  What a beautiful ceremony.  I'm so proud of my little boy.



 

Extended Timeout

Nothing much exciting going on in our house for the past couple of days. Daddy and I are having a hard time with getting the kids to listen. We will tell them something as simple as, don't stand on the furniture. But then minutes later we will see the same behavior. Tonight I sent John to timeout for jumping from couch to couch. While he was in timeout he proceeded to kick the wall and talk to Gillian. His timeout got extended longer due to both of these infractions. Then within 5 minutes after he was released from timeout he stood on his chair. And that was the last straw. I sent both of them to bed. I just couldn't take it anymore. John pouted the entire time up the stairs. He insists "I was so excited about watching your movie that I forgot." He couldn't talk himself out of this one. Both of them were sent to bed and John was again told that he is a big boy and needs to work on his listening.