Second Grade

Today Harrison and I joined some friends at the park.  We were there for four hours with them.  We haven’t hung out at the park for four hours with multiple families since the Toddler days.
The Toddler days. Sometimes I miss the care-free hours of the Toddler days.
As we watched our first, second, third graders play together we reminisced and laughed at similarities in our boys. Apparently, Harrison isn’t the only one who loved wearing high heels as a toddler and the Guy I  Dig isn’t the only husband who made his wife promise not to paint his son’s toenails and fingernails. But I already knew that.
Yes, those days are long behind us and last week Harrison officially started Second Grade. Unlike everyone else, I didn’t get the off-to-first-day-of-school picture posted on Facebook that day (or the second, or the third day).
In fact, {shamefully as a photographer} I didn’t even REMEMBER to bring the camera until we picked him up in the afternoon! (GASP! I know!)

However it’s all still worth a picture or six – albeit fashionably late! We got his hair cut on Sunday and sent him off to school looking half way presentable on Tuesday. He even has several friends in his class again, including his friend M. below. As we start second grade he enjoys reading and read over 50 books this summer – long and short.  He finally started piano lessons and began making up songs on the keyboard once again.  He did swimming lessons again, 3 weeks for VBS (vacation bible school), a week of soccer camp, a week of Breakwater Camp in the Seaside Lagoon, two weeks of Camp Menorah and a week of Art Camp.  As summer was starting he discovered Cartoon Network and with it, Lego Ninjago the series, Beyblade, Pokimon, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry and some annoying cartoons that I remind him I don’t like/want him to watch and has to turned off… it’s tough being seven years old.

All-in-all, the first week of school ended with a hug for his new teacher – a good start for the year.
Let’s just hope he’ll still want to hug her after the first test!

Wordless Wednesday | He Likes It!

Baseball season is almost over...

I think he likes it. What do you think?

Link to more Wordless Wednesday here! 

Hands On Art

When I was a little girl, I loved art projects at school. I still remember making an “African mask” out of aluminum foil molded to my face and then painted them with bright paint. I drew, painted, colored, glued and even molded with clay – art was a routine part of the curriculum.

A lot has changed since then.

Fortunately, now days, Harrison experiences unique art projects through a volunteer-run program called “Hands on Art”.  Hands on Art provides children an opportunity to experience different mediums of art as well as learn about famous artists as they create.

I volunteered in Harrison’s classroom during their Hands On Art project, Tumbling Tiles. Harrison loved the project; his tiles took a life of their own, each one connecting to a different “world”.

But he couldn’t take his artwork home.  The children’s artwork is kept and displayed in local restaurants and at the schools events throughout the year.

As we walked home Harrison asked if he could make another set of tumbling tiles.

Easy-peasy! I have already have cardstock squares and oil pastels. He immediately got to work on his own personal set of tiles.

Then he had me record videos for some special people.

If you can't see the video in your email click here.

 

Hey, maybe he’s going to be a teacher!…

Wordless Wednesday | Mom! I LOVE Reading!

I think those are three of the most important words any mom wants to hear.

After 'I love you', of course.


Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Goodbye Kindergarten!

We couldn't have asked for a better Kindergarten year. Harrison's was funny yet firm with her kids, never showing favoritism in the classroom and every morning we walked Harrison to school and then watched his dart down the walkway to his playground. Homework folder and lunch in hand.

We would walk over and stand outside the playground each morning and watch him interact and grow. Often before we could leave for home, Harrison would run over to give us that one last hug before he started his day.

We knew how quickly these days would fly by; and they did.

Suddenly there was that final day of darting across the walkway and around the corner. Lunch in hand.

So much bigger, even from the distance it's not hard to tell he had completely abandoned toddler-hood once and for all. He had grown four inches in one year.
Crazy.

 First Grade Here We Come!

WW | So Many Pencils, So Little Time

Honestly, I don't recall Big Brother getting so many pencils in school and I think I collected maybe this many pencils during my entire school experience including high school!

Yet, just over half way through the year he already had a Fist Full of Pencils.

I think when all is said and done tomorrow, he will have averaged about three pencils a month for the last 10 months. (This is why I added a pencil sharpener to Harrison's party goodie bags.)


And that was only Kindergarten.


More Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Success!

Can you believe that today was the first day of kindergarten? (Heck, I haven't even caught up with the summer)

What does Harrison do on his first day?
Wakes up at 5:30 this morning.

5:30!

A.M.!.

When I went into his room expecting the usual - him warmly snuggled in his Big Blue Blanket, asking me to lay down and cuddle with him - I found him draped across his rocking chair, half dressed with the bedside lamp on; he looked up and said, "I'm going to school today!" {not until we all get a little more sleep...}
Within minutes, he was snuggled between us in our bed for another couple hours of needed sleep.



At 8:15, we all walked to school together, holding hands and greeting other families also walking to school.

Suddenly I was having a Mayberry moment.
And it felt so right.

 He was slightly pensive at first.

 But Daddy reassured him of the fun he will have in Kindergarten.

Then off he went to meet new friends
(I stayed with him for the first day)


And just for good measure, he finished the day with his first school injury. A elbow scrape from the "high top"... "I didn't cry." he announced.  In case you (or we) were wondering.

 That's my boy!

A Bittersweet Ending

Today (Friday) is Harrison's last day of Preschool.

The. Last. Day. Of. Preschool.

I can't believe it.

I started this blog when Harrison was just pushing two and half and just starting to go to preschool while I worked. Now he is finishing up his Pre-K year and he really is very excited about Kindergarten.

But as fast as the Toddler years were left behind, now the Preschooler years have all but vanished as well and it is [once again] - bittersweet.

What makes it even more melancholic is the loss of a very dear teacher last month. Miss Maureen or Teacher Maureen, as Harrison referred to her.

photo courtesy of Teacher Chris Anne

Very unexpectedly Miss Maureen, who had been a part of Harrison's school years since he first started, passed away. We loved Maureen and she loved - well - EVERYONE. I have never met someone with so much love and such a powerfully positive outlook on life. Even in the frustration of her most current, on-going health problems she kept smiling. This year had been extremely challenging and, sadly, she was out more than in the classroom the last few months. Only weeks before I received an email from her saying hello to Harrison and I and saying how much she missed everyone and hoped to be back soon. I can't delete that email now. It's my last communication with her; how sweet she was.

She often shared the funny stories with me of how Harrison would bring up Jesus into the classroom or a school event {at his Jewish preschool} - especially around Christmas time. She loved him.

As I sat at my computer yesterday sorting through pictures after Harrison's End of the Year Program and pot luck lunch at school, he got up on my lap and said, "I love Teacher Maureen".

The program had been dedicated in her memory so she was fresh in his mind again. I felt the tears well up in my eyes as I responded, "Me too Honey, me too."

Then we talked about how she is up in heaven keeping an eye on us and, in Harrison's words, playing with Dukie-Dog and keeping him company.

photo by Harrison

We'll miss you Maureen and thank you Chris Anne for teaching and loving our kids!

This year during the special programs Harrison  quite often decided not to sing instead he would run to me and cling - I don't know why; but Wednesday he gave it his all - one. last. time.

Preschool Days

If you get this by email and can't see the slideshow click here.

It has been a good run, preschool. I'm going to miss seeing his little face in the hallway on the way to movement or music or Shabbat; but for him, the adventure is still only just beginning.

There is so much more to come.

Wordless Wednesday | Teacher Appreciation

This week is Teacher Appreciation at Harrison's school. We are so thankful for them and all their hard work!

First day of school '09

The Sweet Taste of Purim

For the last few days Harrison has literally been nipping at the bit, so to say, for hamentaschen; a cookie made during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

I love Purim, I do believe it is one of my favorite Jewish holidays, albeit a minor holiday. Okay, it could be that I get a kick out of the fact that Judaism has a holiday that actually promotes drinking. But before you go all postal on me, let me just share this quote from Judaism 101 Dot Com
We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai," though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is. A person certainly should not become so drunk that he might violate other commandments or get seriously ill. In addition, recovering alcoholics or others who might suffer serious harm from alcohol are exempt from this obligation.


I remember how surprised I was when I first learned about Purim during a class about Judaism at the first synagogue I worked at. I was the only born-again Christian sitting in the room and I about fell off my chair, to think - they want you to drink on that day! Now if you wonder why I was so shocked, I as a Mid-Western Christian had a preconceived idea of Judaism based on three movies that lean toward Orthodox [based] Jewish traditions.

Are you ready?
Yentl - Barbra Streisand
The Jazz Singer - Neil Diamond
Fiddler on the Roof - Topol


Yup. Everything I once knew about Judaism, I learned from musicals.


Now for me, Purim is like a Jewish Halloween - in terms of celebration and dressing up in costumes (sans spooky, scary characters), only it IS a religious holiday based on the Biblical book of Esther.


As much as Halloween may have some {loose} roots in Christianity (I'm not going into the history of All Saints Day, etc), it is considered by most religions, including many Christian denominations, as a pagan holiday not a religious holiday.



So today, as we move into Purim, Harrison got to celebrate Queen Esther all day, eat hamentaschen, wear his favorite pajamas to school (it was a pajama theme this year) and run around and around the Temple Patio in the form of a "parade" with all his friends.

Wow, I think he got the best of both worlds in Preschool these last couple of years.


As for that long hair, he's been getting tangles in the back lately. I told his that's what happens when hair is a little longer...

He wants short hair again.

Sabbat Shalom

Harrison jumped into bed with us this morning and started singing a song.

"That's a Shabbat song I learned" he announced.

"Today is Shabbat!" I responded.

"I know that", he answered.

He has always enjoyed Shabbat service at preschool; and takes it quite seriously. In fact, he's become well versed on Moses, Noah, Joshua and Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego - just to name a few.
(heck, I didn't learn about that last threesome until college!)




Maybe it's the singing and dancing with the Cantor that he likes best...

Or maybe it's the Torah stories that the Rabbi tells...not to mention his affection for the Rabbi; he whispers to me as I'm leaving, "Can I go hang out with the Rabbi for awhile?"

Nah, I think what he likes best is really the grape juice, Hallah and snacks he gets to eat after his Shabbat service!

Just kidding! (although that cheese is good stuff!)

Shabbat Shalom!

Happy Passover!

Today is the first Seder for Passover (Pesach). Being in a Jewish preschool, Harrison really does get the best of both worlds; he learns all about Passover and the life of Moses up through leading the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt and then he goes to Sunday school and learns all about Easter, Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross and being raised again.

Old. and. New.

Does he get confused? No, not really. Does he tell his friends all about baby Moses, frogs, King Pharaoh, and Matzah bread? Most definitely. He also has no qualms about walking into the Rabbi's office, when the door is open, and discussing Jesus (and the Rabbi will take a hug from Harrison any day - because that's how their conversations always start).

My not-so-shy boy getting ready to entertain the parents.

Right there in the middle, doing all his hand motions.

Harrison is VERY serious about his singing...

He's also very serious about his Matzah.

I really love having the "best of both worlds".

On Friday during Shabbat Service Harrison's preschool marched around the synagogue plaza in celebration of the Israelites leaving Egypt and on Saturday night Harrison's Sunday school class marched around the halls of children's church celebrating Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem.


Both occasions caused my heart to march with joy.

If you're Jewish, you know Purim was on Tuesday, which was unfortunate for us because Harrison doesn't attend school on Tuesdays. He has been talking about making a costume and dressing up for WEEKS now. He sings all the songs he's learned and he tells everyone the story of Esther. So it was a no-brainer that I finish his crown and mask and take him to the Purim parade at school before we headed off to soccer.

Only there was one problem...

The Purim parade began at 9:30am - He slept until 10:00 am.

He NEVER sleeps that late.

I couldn't even wake him.

But not all was lost, he proudly wore his Purim costume to school on Wednesday.
Of course, as things go around here, we were getting ready to leave when he announced, "Mommy, you didn't make Hamantashen!" [Funny, I didn't know this was a requirement until that moment - sigh.]

At school his teacher saved the day with a bag of Hamantashen for him and the Cantor had a little mini parade one more time for him and his class .

How awesome is that?

Theme Thursday - We Create

I haven't had time to be creative with PhotoShop lately, but the other night I finally sat down and played with a couple of my favorite pictures from the last couple of couple weeks.

Harrison was very excited to find a worm in the back yard, he played with the little thing until, well, it's unfortunate demise. Even giving it gentle kisses (yes, kisses. What? Some people eat worms.) More to this story later...


There is nothing he loves more than a big empty room that he can run, spin and dance around in. He takes his dancing very seriously. (In fact, as I quickly type this he is dancing to the Chitty-Chitty Bang-bang soundtrack!)

I try to encourage creativeness at home as much as possible and Harrison brings many pictures home from preschool, most of which are self explanatory. The other day he brought home this with his artwork:


It was unmarked so I asked him as he sat eating a snack.

"Harrison what's this?"

He looks up at it.

"Oh. Yeah...That is paint."

Pause.
Then sighs,

"On a plate."

Paint on a Plate, who would have guessed?



More Theme Thursday at Land of K.A.!

School Days, School Days

A couple weeks ago Big Brother started his Senior year in high school. Crazy, where did the time go? Harrison and I accompanied him to his locker one day before the start of classes to drop off some books. Harrison was enthralled with Big Brother's school.

Well, Harrison started preschool today.


Happily, he donned his backpack, telling me that this is how Big Brother wears his backpack to school, too.

The last days of camp were a nightmare, he was screaming on the way to camp (the same place and the same teachers he has for school.) But today - peace. He went happily. He ran into the room and started playing right away. Teachers from other classes came to great him as well. He is loved at his school - since I work there, the teachers have known him since he was 4 months old. I know he is in good hands.

Once he got to school, he had to tell everyone that Big Brother wears a backpack to school also.

"Do you like my cool backpack? [Big Brother] has a backpack. He wears his backpack to school, too!"

Another big event - He has worn big-boy underwear for two days in a row and wore them to school today - without one accident! Woo-Hoo!!

Light at the end of the Potty-training tunnel!

Wordless Wednesday - "Passover " Me, Please

Harrison had a Passover Program last week. This is how he made his way off stage and into my arms.


And this was his prize for such a grand performance!

BSM - Just Having Fun

We went over to the local Purim Carnival today. Purim is the Jewish holiday that celebrates Esther saving the Jewish people from annihilation. I admit this is a great holiday; the Rabbi that taught a class I took about Judaism told us that one of the traditions is to drink until you don't know the difference between Haman (the bad guy) and Mordecai (the good guy). I know, I am summing up big time!! So you can learn more about Purim here.

How fun is that!? You actually get to drink [if you like drinking] I don't recall a Christian holiday where we are encouraged to drink like that! Of course, if you're Irish, today is a good day to have a green beer, eh? Or two, or three... heck, go for the 6-pack! It's St. Patty's Day!!!

[I digress.]

So we went to the Purim Carnival mainly for Harrison to play on the bouncer and get some lunch before his nap. Bouncer-Smouncer. He found this slide and a fun worm-like thing that he could run through, again and again and again.

Here is my best shot(s) for today.

Head over to Mother May I to see more best shots!