May the fourth be with you!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Happy Birthday David
Aaron's friend David turned 8 today and had his party at Pump-it-Up. New bouncers (and a larger variety) made the party even more fun.
Aaron and I gave the boxing bouncer a try with a Father-Son match. I thought the heavy gear would make him lose interest but it didn't. In fact, I've never seen him look so determined and focused.
"Time-out for daddy" was the last thing I heard and the picture below was the last thing I saw...
K.O.
Aaron and I gave the boxing bouncer a try with a Father-Son match. I thought the heavy gear would make him lose interest but it didn't. In fact, I've never seen him look so determined and focused.
"Time-out for daddy" was the last thing I heard and the picture below was the last thing I saw...
K.O.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Aaron at Kindergarten!
Yesterday morning we had our scheduled classroom visitation at the charter school we are considering for Aaron this fall. Well, our mind is definitely made up about the school (loved it!).
The teacher started with circle time where they talked about what the date was (in both English and Spanish), and then they had a question of the day (what kinds of transportation vehicles they had all been on before). She asked a lot of the kids to answer the question directly, including Aaron, and I was happy that he actually answered as I had coached him pretty heavily about being polite and answering the questions he was asked. Then they sang some songs and had a quick game of Freeze Dance. She then broke the class into three groups, a math center, a choice center (free play basically), and PE. Normally she would have had two academic centers and not just one but was short a parent volunteer.
We went with the PE group first, which was led by the parent volunteer, and it was just free play outside, not organized games or anything. Afterwards his group went to the math center, and Aaron did really well. Each child was given a paper bag filled with colored blocks that interlocked. The task was to build towers by attaching the blocks of the same color together (3 red blocks, 4 blue blocks, etc). Then they were to sort the towers in order from tallest to shortest. Lastly, they were to color in squares on a grid sheet corresponding to their towers. So, the task involved sorting, counting, and conceptual thinking.
Now, granted, Aaron had two of us (Michael and I) keeping him on task, but honestly he did really really well on his own and only needed help when he got to the grid part. Translating the concept of what he had built to coloring it on paper was a bit advanced for him. But no trouble building or sorting his towers. He did better than at least 3 of the other kids in the group of 6 kids .
At this point it was snack time, so we excused ourselves.
Aaron liked the visit and his special day, but he definitely made a point about not being big enough yet to go to this new school.
The teacher started with circle time where they talked about what the date was (in both English and Spanish), and then they had a question of the day (what kinds of transportation vehicles they had all been on before). She asked a lot of the kids to answer the question directly, including Aaron, and I was happy that he actually answered as I had coached him pretty heavily about being polite and answering the questions he was asked. Then they sang some songs and had a quick game of Freeze Dance. She then broke the class into three groups, a math center, a choice center (free play basically), and PE. Normally she would have had two academic centers and not just one but was short a parent volunteer.
We went with the PE group first, which was led by the parent volunteer, and it was just free play outside, not organized games or anything. Afterwards his group went to the math center, and Aaron did really well. Each child was given a paper bag filled with colored blocks that interlocked. The task was to build towers by attaching the blocks of the same color together (3 red blocks, 4 blue blocks, etc). Then they were to sort the towers in order from tallest to shortest. Lastly, they were to color in squares on a grid sheet corresponding to their towers. So, the task involved sorting, counting, and conceptual thinking.
Now, granted, Aaron had two of us (Michael and I) keeping him on task, but honestly he did really really well on his own and only needed help when he got to the grid part. Translating the concept of what he had built to coloring it on paper was a bit advanced for him. But no trouble building or sorting his towers. He did better than at least 3 of the other kids in the group of 6 kids .
At this point it was snack time, so we excused ourselves.
Aaron liked the visit and his special day, but he definitely made a point about not being big enough yet to go to this new school.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I see you Grandma!
Being the "geeky" dad that I am... today was really special because I got to watch Aaron and my parents have their first video phone call. It was a lot of fun!
If you use Skype, feel free to add me (mlmeraz) to your contact list.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Garden Update - into the home stretch!
Michael dug/constructed the last box for our community plot this week and on Saturday we mulched all the paths and rebuilt the teepee structure, lining it with brick. Then, on Sunday, while the boys were down at Grandma and Grandpa's (see Mike's last post), I spent the day beginning to plant the two middle boxes (one rose each, and some poppies), and portions of the last two veggie beds. A lot of my seeds have not come up at all, so I planted some last minute procurements from the nursery.
I did start some seeds at home last week (carrots, salad bowl lettuce, green onions, chives), and hopefully these will do better and can be transplanted into the existing gaps.
I did start some seeds at home last week (carrots, salad bowl lettuce, green onions, chives), and hopefully these will do better and can be transplanted into the existing gaps.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Grandparents & Technology
Technology is growing and expanding at an incredible pace. For some of us, its pretty exciting but for most its fairly intimidating. For grandparents... it's downright scary!
Web 2.0, digital downloads, social networking, RSS, DVRs, podcasts, mp3... are just a blur when you're still trying to learn the basics of how a computer works. So, I have to give my parents a HUGE round of "virtual" applause for taking a big leap into the scary world of technology over the past few weeks. The VCR has been ditched and replaced with a DVR, digital cable and new HDTV (which is gorgeous). Their computer has been completely overhauled and they're now using web-based emails, calendars, RSS readers, and Skype. They're enjoying the world of digital music with an iTunes account and iPod. And just last night we installed a webcam and they made their first video phonecall.
That is a lot of tech to absorb in such a short amount of time but they're making slow and steady progress each day.
Great job Grandpa and Grandma!
Web 2.0, digital downloads, social networking, RSS, DVRs, podcasts, mp3... are just a blur when you're still trying to learn the basics of how a computer works. So, I have to give my parents a HUGE round of "virtual" applause for taking a big leap into the scary world of technology over the past few weeks. The VCR has been ditched and replaced with a DVR, digital cable and new HDTV (which is gorgeous). Their computer has been completely overhauled and they're now using web-based emails, calendars, RSS readers, and Skype. They're enjoying the world of digital music with an iTunes account and iPod. And just last night we installed a webcam and they made their first video phonecall.
That is a lot of tech to absorb in such a short amount of time but they're making slow and steady progress each day.
Great job Grandpa and Grandma!
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