April 4, 2009

What happens when a two year old named Sam has to say Good-bye to Grandma at a birthday party when he doesn't want to?

This happens.....


This picture was accompanied by an extended period of tears. This is not the first time Sam has gotten this upset when Grandma leaves - he sat at our living room window crying uncontrollably when Grandma took Allison home with her and left Sam behind. It was Allison's turn to sleep over at Grandma's house and Sam sat at the window yelling "my carseat - move, my carseat - move it, I go, I go".

I don't remember any of the other kids getting quite this upset over a departure.

April 4, 2009 - A New Bike for Nicholas

Last summer, Nicholas got quite involved in Mountain Biking with Paul on our numerous camping trips through out the summer. However, the 2nd hand BMX bike he was riding wasn't handling that type of riding all that well. So - the other night Paul took Nicholas out to pick out a new mountain bike. (finding a mountain bike with gears that is in Nicholas' size can actually be quite challenging - without spending more money than we wanted to spend for a bike he'll outgrow). The hand brakes have taken a bit of practice to get used but he is getting the hang of it and loves his new bike. Can't wait to hit the trails with his Papa this summer.

March 21, 2009 - Destination Imagination Regional Competition

Ravenna Public Schools are very involved, and tend to do very well in a program called Destination Imagination. It is a take off of what many of you may know as Odyssey of the Mind. Destination Imagination (commonly referred to as D.I.) combines science and drama. Each D.I. team is given a problem at the beginning of the season. This year, the theme for Nicholas's age group was 'hidden' - meaning that they needed to choose a problem that is something that goes on "behind the scenes" or "hidden from view". Ideas they had to vote on ranged from how a traffic signal worked, to how a vacuum cleaner works, etc - but the problem the team voted on and chose was "How do humans learn how to talk".

The team was then responsible to research their topic, create a drama presentation to present or solve their problem, and then build their own props, etc. In addition, somewhere in their presentation they have to include a type of gadget (there is a list they can choose from). In Nicholas presentation they used a 'pulley' as their gadget. The key thing to remember here is that the parents helping the team may facilitate conversation and keep the team on track but the entire presentation must be written by and props built by the children themselves. When viewing the video of their competition you will see Nicholas in a UPS truck. He had to design and create this truck by himself. The only thing Paul was able to help him with was the use of sharp razor blades, etc (things inappropriate for a child his age). Paul could help him stay focused and maybe give him something else to thing of like "how are you going to get in and out" - but Nicholas needed to find his own solution and carry it through.

Nicholas really seemed to enjoy D.I. this year and hopes to continue in the future. His team consisted of Kindergarten and First Graders and they are in the RISING STARS category. Therefore, at Regional Competition every team receives a medal and no one receives a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. The goal is the experience and to encourage the children. As the teams get older they will begin to receive "place" medals and the top so many teams at Regionals will proceed to State Finals, and the top teams there will go on to Global Finals. This program has teams from Nicholas's age all they way up through High School and I believe Ravenna Public Schools is sending 6 to 8 teams to State Competition this year and has had teams go on to Global Finals in the past.

The following video is a little bit long - but I really wanted to share Nicholas' performance with friends and family.

Click To Play