A Little Snow And A Little Sledding

We had some bitterly cold weather last weekend and a little bit of snow... about 2 inches of snow... Just enough to bring lots of smiles to our kids' faces and the itch to go out and play in it.  So, Sunday afternoon we got all layered up and headed outside to play.  

Our kids may be getting bigger every year, and Eric and I may be getting older, but this stud of mine has still got it.  He is like a work horse pulling the kids on their saucer sleds up and down the street.

We have a small hill at the end of our street and it is a convenient place to walk to on a snowy day.  Our kids like it and it is small enough that they can walk back up the hill dragging their sleds by themselves many times before getting too tired.

Eric likes to "go first" down the hill to "make a path".  He is my big little kid.

I love their sledding happy faces!

After about 30 minutes we called it quits and walked, and rode, home to get warm.

We are ready for more snow so that we can sled, make a snowman, and have a snowball fight.  Bring it on winter!

Silas and Mommy Fall 2016

Since school has started again, Silas and I have been on our own... We have found things and activities to occupy our time.  He helps me around the house and out in our yard with little jobs.  We play board games.  We work on "workbook", learning to write and recognize letters and numbers, and other school type things.  And, we go to fun places.

September

Silas still attends Garden Sprouts at Botanica once a month.  This month's theme was apples.

He heard stories about apples, learned apple facts, made an apple pie craft, and ate a mini apple pie for a snack.

We have also been attending preschool storytime at one of our local libraries together.  We usually go a little early so that we have time to check out books and movies.  Silas has started to enjoy using the computer at the library to listen, practice clicking with the mouse, and play games.

October

October's theme at Botanica was "Leaves".  The kids all heard some leaf stories, and then went out to gather a small bag of fall leaves from the ground in Botanica.  When they all came back into the barn they had to make something out of their leaves.  Silas wanted to make a fox and a butterfly.  I helped him lay out his leaves in a fox and butterfly pattern.  Then he put glue on the leaves and I helped him stick them back down in the spots we had originally placed them.  The teachers laminated the pictures for each kid to take home and keep.  Silas couldn't wait to hang his on our refrigerator and show Daddy, Popee, Nanee, and his sisters.

One Friday in October Silas helped me make Hershey's Kiss Cookies to give to the firefighters.  He got to visit our friend, DJ who is a firefighter, at his fire station, and take a grand tour.  So, as a "thank-you" to the firefighters and DJ, we made them some cookies.

At the library this month we discovered that he could listen to a story on the computer.  He is always in a hurry to walk into the library to see if there is an open computer available in the children's area for him to use.  He likes to listen to the stories or try to play learning games on the computers there.

The last storytime in October fell on Halloween.  Miss Lena wore a funny witch hat, read Halloween stories, played some Halloween music, and played a felt board witch game/story.  Silas especially liked the story called "Creepy Carrots".  

November

Silas wasn't too excited to go to Vintage Market Days with me on November 4th, but I reminded him that Dale and Jan would have a booth there, so we could see them, and that I would buy him some popcorn from Sweet Daddy Corn, another vendor at Vintage Market Days, and he changed his mind pretty quickly about going with me.  He did great walking around with me, looking at every booth.  He talked to several ladies, shoppers and vendors, while we were there.  He liked looking at the fall and Christmas decorations that many people were selling.  I bought him a bag of popcorn and a sweet little handmade stuffed snowman that he has slept with every night since bringing it home.  He always enjoys seeing Dale and Jan.  He especially looks forward to, and likes giving Uncle Dale some bear hugs and talking to him.

November's Garden Sprouts theme at Botanica was "What A Hoot".  Silas and the other children learned about Owls, heard Owl stories,  pretended to be Owls, looked at pictures of Owls and Owl pellets, made an Owl craft, and ate an Owl snack.

Below, is Silas's Owl craft.  The children needed a lot of help with these as most of the pieces had to be hot glued on to make them stick together.  The snack was a large cracker with berry cream cheese spread on top of it to hold on the other pieces of food... bananas and raisins for eyes, a cashew for the beak, and almond slivers for the wings and feathers.

Silas really liked the Owl puppet and stuffed animal that his teacher brought for the children to see and touch.  He waited patiently until the class was over to ask if he could hold the large Owl puppet and little Owl stuffed animal.  The puppet had a stick inside of it that could be gently twisted around to turn the Owl's head back and forth.

During one of November's storytimes at the library, Silas got to help put the "wind" on the flannel board during story.

Silas was a great duck salesman for me during one of my craft shows in November.  He took one of my wooden ducks that Dad and I had made and pushed it around and around the room, demonstrating how they worked and how much fun kids could have with this handmade toy.  I actually sold quite a few ducks thanks to Silas!

December

Botanica is all decorated for Christmas this month.  We had fun looking at some of the giant decorations.

This months Garden Sprouts theme was "Fireside Fun".  Miss Kate had the fire department come out and give a short talk on fire safety.  Then they performed a puppet show for the kids and adults about fire safety.  All the kids loved the show and the puppets.  After the puppet show each kid made a fire dog safety craft.

For snacks they each got to take a turn roasting marshmallows in the fireplace and making a smore to eat.  Silas told us he was "a little nervous" to roast his marshmallows himself so Miss Kate helped him.

His First Basketball

Silas was in a basketball clinic through our local Rec Center.  It was his first organized basketball experience.  He has played some with us in our driveway.  He can dribble alright and has worked on passing and shooting with Eric and I at home.  The goal in our driveway is still a little high for him but as his upper body strength increases he will have a good shot.

Practice One - Nov. 21st

On his first night of practice he was very excited.  Each participant was given a small sized child's basketball to practice with there and at home.

All of the children worked on dribbling while staying in a standing position.  Then they all worked on dribbling while they were walking down the court and back.

They practiced listening to their coaches and running fast by playing a red light/green light type of game.

Next they worked on bounce passes with a Coach.

Lastly they each got a couple chances to dribble up to the goal and shoot.  Silas seemed to suddenly forget how to shoot.  I think he was over thinking all of the things...bend your knees, push the ball up, look at the goal, aim for the square.... He was determined to make a shot and kept shooting until he did make one basket.

Silas did an excellent job of listening to his Coaches, Frank and Rob, tonight.  He followed directions and was eager to try all of the things that he was asked to do.

Practice Two - Dec. 5th

Silas was ready again for basketball practice tonight.  Popee and Nanee came to watch him practice.  The children all lined up on the line and started with a running drill/game.  Next they practiced dribbling.

Then a parent was asked to come out on the court and partner up with their child for practice bounce passing and chest passing.  Eric went out to be Silas's partner.

Lastly the children all lined up and took turns dribbling up to the basket and shooting before practice ended for the evening.

Practice Three - Dec. 12th

Popee and Nanee came to watch Silas at practice two and three.  He was glad to have them visit us and watch him play basketball.  He really wanted them to see him make some baskets.

He started out with dribbling practice again.  He is getting good at walking and dribbling the basketball.

Next was the running and listening to the coaches game....

Then bounce and chest passing with a Coach...

And then some practice playing defense.  Silas has watched many basketball games and played some drive-way basketball with us so he has an idea of how to play defense already.  He did good getting his hands up and moving his feet.

They each got a turn to play one on one defense while one tried to dribble in and make a basket and the other played defense.

Practice Four - Last Practice Dec. 19th

The last practice was a review on the skills they had learned and practiced at the previous practices.

Then it was time to split into teams and have a small scrimmage....

Everyone got a turn to pass, dribble, shoot, and play defense during the scrimmage.

Silas did a fantastic job of playing defense during the scrimmage.  He kept his eyes on the ball, hands up, and used his body to get in front of the players with the ball.

At the end of the practice each kid got a high-five from Coach Frank and Coach Rob and a cookie.  Thanks for a great first basketball experience for Silas, Coaches!  He had a good time and looked forward to his basketball time each week.