52 Week project Week 38 - School

"Ryan Mengel, 6 years old, on the way to school for the first day of First Grade"

 

Ryan started FIRST GRADE on September 6th in Ms. Latos' class and so far, he is loving school.  Ms. Latos is new to the school but she is very nice and Ryan loves her.   Over the summer, some of the class moms got together and compiled a list of who was in each class - I was happy that there were some familiar names on the list although Ryan was a little disappointed that his "best friends" were all in other classes.   Well, the first day of school, he was really happy when he realized that a lot of boys he knew from the park were in his class.  Last year, most of Ryan's friends were girls and this year, it is the opposite.  I am so glad that Ryan has made a lot of new friends but has still stayed very good friends with some kindergarten buddies.

When we got to Ryan's classroom, Ms. Latos greeted us at the door and all the kids were told to find their table - Ryan quickly found the "Planet" table and sat down, picked out a book to read and could not wait to get rid of me!

A few weeks in to school, Ryan has started having homework.    Each week, he has gotten some math work sheets to complete ("How many of each?" is the current subject - simple math problems using addition and subtraction) and he has reading homework every night for which he needs to keep a reading log like last year.   Similar to last year, Ryan has gym, art and music every week but this year, Creative Movement/Spanish (still trying to figure that one out) and Science have also been added to the schedule.   Ryan told me that his favorite things about school are Choice time, Science and Chess!!  Ryan also declared that this year, he wants to get school lunch every Friday "because Friday is pizza day and I really want to have that even though I need to wait on line for 30 minutes".

I am confident that this is going to be a great year for Ryan!  I think he has already improved so much since the beginning of the year in reading and recognizing his sight words, and his handwriting is getting better day by day.  Some days, Ryan fights us on doing his homework so we decided to give him an incentive - We told Ryan that every time he gets a TERRIFIC on his homework (options are terrific, good work, and you can do better), we would give him a $1 for his wallet. (homework gets graded all at once, once a week).  Well, the trick worked and Ryan can't wait to find out how he did on his homework each Monday.   So far, he has gotten all terriffics!!!

I am so proud of you Ryan xoxoxxoxo Keep up the good work!!

 

52 Week Project - Week 35 - Beach

Jay and I both had off Labor Day and we wanted to have one last hurrah before the end of summer.
What better way to do that then spending the day at the 

BEACH

with the boys!! Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite cooperate but we decided to try anyway and headed down to Seaside Heights, NJ. (the trip was also so last minute that I didn't even have my camera - these are all iPhone pics)

One good thing about the weather not being great was that we had no traffic going to the beach or back and the beach and boardwalk were virtually empty!!

We started the day off hitting the beach because the kids wanted to go in the water, which was unbelievably warm.  Unfortunately, the water was also really rough and both Jay and I were pretty nervous with the kids in the water - we could not stand more than a foot or two away from them because the currents were so strong.

It would have not been so bad if they would have been content just getting their feet wet, but Dylan especially kept going deeper and deeper and about 20 minutes after being there, we decided it was just too rough and dangerous.

Because it was pretty windy, it didn't take too long for all of us to get cold so we put on some dry clothes and started exploring the boardwalk.  First stop was the Skyride.

Next up, we headed over to the Casino Pier and when the kids saw it, they started jumping up and down in excitement - for $15 each, we were able to get them an unlimited rides wristband and they could not grasp the concept that they could go on every ride as many times as they wanted!  When they finally got it, they wanted to go on each ride 6 times in a row before we had to literally drag them to the next ride (then the process would be repeated at that ride).   Again, because it was cloudy, not many people were there and I don't think the kids waited on any lines all day!

Ryan's favorite ride of the day was the Wild Mouse roller coaster, which he went on at least 15 times and Dylan's was the Frog Hopper.  They also really loved the bumper cars and I was really proud that Ryan kept trying to help Dylan when he would get stuck. 

After spending a few hours at the amusement park, we played some arcade games and when we came out, it was POURING!!  We definitely lucked out that the weather held out until we were ready to leave. 

The day at Seaside was a great way to end the summer and while we are sad that summer is over, we are looking forward to all the fun we are going to have this fall!

52 Week project - Week 21 - Light

Sunrise Light

To learn the magic of light, get up before sunrise...and watch. - Ted Grant

When we left Erika's house in February, our flight back to New York was at 6 am and it was still pitch black on our take off.   The darkness made leaving that much sadder for me but halfway through the flight, I looked out the window and saw one of the coolest sunrises I have ever seen.  The pictures don't do it justice.

 

May you always walk in sunlight. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door.”

- Irish Blessing

52 Week Project - Week 27 - Red, White and Blue

We spent the 4th of July in Atlantic City and proudly donned our red, white, and blue all day while we went to the beach and explored the boardwalk. After a late lunch, Dylan fell asleep so Ryan and I decided to head over to the HUGE candy store at the Pier Shops to get some goodies and Ryan was thrilled when we realized we were just in time for the Water Show so we got our some snacks and headed upstairs to get front row seats.

After hanging out for a bit at the pier look out point, we headed back to the hotel for a while before going back outside to the firework show on the beach.  I loved it - loved sitting on the beach, the show was pretty long and well done and we all had a blast.

God bless America,

Land that I love,

Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,

God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

Let the Birthday Festivities begin

For weeks, we have been getting ready for Ryan's 6th birthday.  SIX!!!!! I just can't believe he is 6 already.   Leading up to his birthday, we had many conversations about what kind of party Ryan wanted and after tossing around a bunch of ideas (Star Wars and Ninjago were the front runners), Ryan finally decided that he wanted an Angry Birds party.   

I told Ryan that for his birthday celebration at school, he could bring whatever he wanted.  When he asked me if I would make cupcakes for the class, specifically Angry Bird piggy cupcakes,  of course I couldn't say no and tried to figure out how exactly I would do that.  On Friday the 5th, we had his school party and while the cupcakes did not come out exactly the way I thought they would, Ryan was thrilled and all of the kids loved them too.

There were 27 kids in the class so I made about 30 - when I showed Ryan the first 5 and asked what he thought he said "Thumbs up and a sideways thumb mommy.  This one looks perfect, but this one looks little crazy, this one looks a little sloppy, this one has funny eyes....." oy

Thankfully my technique got better the more I did and by the time I was done, Ryan gave me 2 thumbs up! (which made me SO SO happy)

October is a very popular birthday month in Ryan's class and as a result, he shared his school party with a boy named Nikita.  Ryan seemed really excited to have a "birthday buddy" and I was really excited that Ryan liked the cupcakes I brought more. 

 It was really fun to watch Ryan with his friends and he seems to have made some really great new buddies that were really happy to help him celebrate, especially his classmate Roman.

 It was also pretty funny watching Dylan who I am pretty sure thought that he was in kindergarden and that all of the kids were his friends too.   He kept saying "Charlie, I am talking to you" "Javi, look at me", "Ben, you see my cupcake".   I am glad that the kids accept Dylan and let him play along too instead of treating him like the little brother.   I really hope that lasts until at lease he starts making his own friends. 

Right after Ryan's school celebration we went to the movies to celebrate Roman's birthday which happened to be the day before, but all I could think about was how excited I was for Ryan's party the next day.  The only thing that had me concerned was that the forecast called for rain and the party was outside.  How did it turn out??? Stay tuned.....

52 Week project - Week 28 - Water

If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.  - Bruce Lee

  
Water

Since November, I think everyone in the family has been excited about the pool at Michael and Jasmine's house and we have all been eagerly awaiting the "Opening Weekend".  We are very appreciative that they have had us over a bunch of times to go swimming - the kids have absolutely loved it and it is amazing how much better they have gotten swimming since the start of the summer. 

Right after their honeymoon, Michael and Jasmine had their pool opened and we were lucky enough to be there to witness Michael's first cannonball into his new pool. 

 We told the boys that they had to wait to go in because Michael (or Jasmine) should have been the first one in and as soon as Michel hit the water, so did the kids.

 Even though we told them they would not be allowed to go off the diving board, Michael said it would be ok which made Ryan and Dylan's day

Since the first day, the boys continue to love jumping off the diving board and they must have already gone off it a hundred times this summer. 

 

 It is clear that Michael has also done his fair share of cannonballs since the summer started because his form has definitely improved as well.

When they are not busy jumping off the board, the boys keep themselves busy playing another popular game: Timber.   
"Timber" is Dylan's favorite and he will do it over and over again.

 By the time we head home after a day at Michael and Jasmine's, the boys are usually so wiped out that they fall asleep before we are even off Michael's street.

 

Thanks so much Mike and Jasmine for letting us come over for swimming fun.  I can't believe that summer is almost over and I also can't believe that you have any water left in the pool considering how much water my boys have swallowed this summer.  xoxo