Fun O'lympics

Today we did our Fun O'lympics at school.  I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine.  My coworker and I decided to have our classes participate together (3 and 4 year olds).  We made Olympic torches, and did a ring toss, a clothespin drop, a frozen t-shirt contest (they had to race to get the frozen t-shirts unfolded and on), a shake-a-thon (empty kleenex boxes with ping pong balls tied around their wastes that they had to shake out), water relays, and a cheeto throwing game (the kids took turns wearing shower caps with shaving cream on them and tried to catch as many flying cheetos as they could).  It was a bit wild and crazy, but fun.

Today was also Graesen's last day of swim lessons for this session.  He was so proud of his little progress report :)

The beginning of the preschool Olympics

For the next couple of weeks the gym teacher at work will be giving the kids some physical challenges to do as part of their "Olympics."  Tomorrow one of my co-workers and I will also put on a Fun O' lympics for the kids (I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine).  I think the kids are going to like it :)

Too tired Tuesday

Too tired tonight for more than a few pictures.

Polite

Graseen had swim lessons again today.  He was just full of it and so hyper the whole time.  He was silly and loud and excited about everything.  As we were leaving his teacher told me he did a great job and told me that he is just "so polite."  It made me smile.  I'm glad he is polite even if he is being so hyper :)

After lessons Graesen hung out in the nursery while I ran on the treadmill.  I gave him the choice to play in the nursery or go straight home.  I hate to make him stay out after a long day away from home if he is tired, but today he really wanted to go to the nursery.  He was still wired when I picked him up.  The sun was so pretty as we were leaving, so I asked Graesen if I could take his picture.  He jumped right on that suggestion and I eventually had to tell him that we were done taking pictures and really needed to leave.

Weekend in review

Evan's family asked a while back to have Graesen this weekend for a belated birthday party with his aunt and uncle.  Yesterday morning my aunt and I drove Graesen up to a lake cabin where they would be staying.  I always get so sad every time I drop my little guy off.  I just truly love him so much and enjoy his company.

We hadn't been up to this lake in a long time and forgot how long it takes to get there.  We actually thought we were going to be too early and maybe beat people there, so we stopped for ice cream.  It wasn't a long stop at all, but when we realized how far we still had to go we felt bad that we were going to be late. 

After dropping Graesen off we took the long way home so that we could enjoy a scenic drive.  It was really pretty.  We stopped and had lunch on the lake where I used to go to summer camp.  I could see the camp in the distance and it made me miss it so bad!  Some of my very best memories are from that camp.  I am so excited to one day send Graesen there and to have him develop great relationships with the wonderful Christian camp counselors.

Last night I went to my parent's house to celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday.  She just had open heart surgery a couple of months ago and is doing great!

After the birthday party I had a few of my coworkers over for a movie night.  It was fun to just sit around laughing and eating junk food.  I work with such great people :)

This afternoon Graesen came home and we quickly left to go to my grandparents' house for dinner.  Graesen provided the after-dinner entertainment by doing the slip and slide.  He's not the best at it yet, but it's cute to watch. 

After a little while I noticed he was bleeding on his back.  ANOTHER black fly bite!  I don't understand why he gets bitten so much while everyone around him is fine.  Well, my grandma had some bug repellant wipes, so I just rubbed a little on his neck and upper back (where they tend to bite a lot).  I did not work :(  He got 2 more bites, so we decided we had to go inside.  His lymph node is still swollen from the bites he got a week and a half ago.  Plus, he is apparently allergic to the bug repellant, and his skin was red everywhere it touched him.  I ended up giving him a bath at my grandparents' house to get the bug repellant off and the blood (from the fly bites off) off.  My mom actually made him some super light weight pants to wear camping if the bugs are bad since the poor kid can't seem to catch a break.

A Phobia

My kid has a fear of fire alarms.  Our fire alarm is super sensitive.  Sometimes hot showers can set it off, or cooking something in the oven even if it doesn't burn.  I asked Graesen if he wanted to get a pizza tonight and he said "no."  I couldn't believe it, considering the kid loves pizza.  Finally I asked him why he didn't want pizza and he said he was scared of the fire alarm.  I asked if he would want pizza if I turned the first alarm off and he told me that he only wanted pizza if I put the fire alarm in the closet with the door closed :)  So in the end we got a pizza.  I didn't remember to put the fire alarm in the closet, but it didn't go off and Graesen forgot.  We also made one of my favorite treats.  All it is is saltine crackers, peanut butter, marshmallows, and a tiny bit of butter put in the oven on broil until it starts to melt.  So good!  Graesen was a fan too :)

Checking out the pizza making:

Yummy treats:

Watching Caillou and eating his treats:

And again

These swim lesson nights we don't really have much time for anything else, so the only pictures I end up with are swim lesson ones.

And just for clarification, my mom thought Graesen was in time out in the picture of him with his head on the bench in the last post.  He wasn't.  He was just very tired and ready to fall asleep by the end of swim lessons.  He actually did fall asleep on the way home.

Wordless Wednesday- a little late

A little bit of a stinker

Graesen was a little bit of a stinker today.  I'm not sure why, because he slept 13 hours last night and napped over 2 hours at school.  He did wake up a couple of times last night just hysterical, so I am thinking it is either nightmares or he is not feeling well.  He has a big swollen lymph node from all those black fly bites, so maybe the bites have made him feel sick?  I don't know, it just seemed like he wasn't quite himself a few times today.  He was acting the way he would normally act if he just needed to go to bed, except for he didn't really need to go to bed.
We are doing a camping theme in my class this week.  I found a fake fire downstairs and set it up for story time.  The kids loved reading around the "fire" when they finished art.

Graesen had swim lessons again today.  While we waited Graesen was super antsy, so I entertained him by giving him letters to find on the signs.  He is getting so good at his letter recognition.

Today he showed them a little more of the usual behavior he has in the water, which is totally fearless.  He had to sit on the side for a while instead of holding on to the wall, because he kept letting go so he could go underwater/swim.  While he is totally fine, he needs to learn that when a teacher has a whole class he has to follow the rules even if at home he swims under the water all the time.

We had dinner between work and swim lessons today, so I was able to workout at the gym after swim lessons.  When I picked Graesen up from the nursery he told me he had fun, but informed me that he got in trouble for taking a ball from another kid.  He said he had just one timeout and cried a little.  See, I told you he was in a little bit of a stinker mood :)