And...he's done!

 Silas' last day of preschool was on Monday.  I won't lie:  It made me a bit sad.  Drew, on the other hand, was elated, and Silas only cared about the fact that he'll be going to camp there later this summer.  In his mind, it's not really over till camp ends.  I asked him how all of his classmates felt about it being the last day. Were they sad, did they hug, that sort of thing.

"I laughed when the girls cried,"  he responded.

"That's a habit you should rid yourself of before you're a teenager," I told him.  "Would you laugh if "A" (the girl he has a crush on) was crying?

"No, I'd NEVER do that!" he declared most adamantly.  Well, that's something, at least.

The first four pictures are from the sing-along last week. Videos are on Facebook, if you care to see them.

 He wrote out his whole name on his crown, which, due to our bleeding-heart- hippie-hyphenated family name,  ended up overlapping and somewhat illegible. But it is a grand crown, none-the-less.

 Silas' friend "I" is a riot.  You have to see the videos for the full effect, but this kid has a future on stage.

 Fast-forward to Monday.  Silas asked Drew to take pictures of his classroom.  So, these are for you, Silas!

Here he is, looking sadder than he was willing to admit. Circle area:

 Loft and the imaginative play area:

 Art and exploration tables:

 The volcano his class built:

Next stop...Kindergarten/!

Mother's Day Tea Party 2012

Pictures from this year's Mother's Day Tea at Silas' school: 

The table was set by the children (and the food prepared by them as well.  Silas made me a place-mat that said "Silas' Mom." There's also a sheet in which Silas answered questions about his mom.

This is the Muppet's Tour Van that Silas created for his classmates.  Underneath is a sheet the teacher's made in which all of the children tall about what they would do and see while traveling on the tour bus.

 Silas and one of his friends.  Beautiful kids:

They made a path through  the garden outside of school and explored.

We are getting out of town for Mother's Day today so that I won't be tempted to spend the day doing yard work.  

Happy Mother's Day!

Halloween 2011!

For those of you who haven't yet seen this picture on FB, here it is again: Silas as a wolf in sheep's clothing.  I think this might be my favorite of his Halloween costumes, to date.  I made the hooded vest and ears from the Bainbridge sheep's wool.  It's knit with spun yarn as well as with un-spun batting.  I also knit the wolf-paw gloves, but credit for the mask goes to Drew who cut all of the pieces, and my friend Barb, who sewed it together for us.  Thanks Barb!

We began our Halloween with a video chat with Grandma and Papa.  That afternoon, I dropped Silas off at school and got to see all of the adorableness that is a preschool costume party.

Comparing outfits:

Circle time, in which each child got to tell everyone about their costume:

He might not be a lion, a tiger, or bear (oh my), but I do think you might want to keep your distance, Dorothy!

After school, we headed to the Island, met up with Drew, saw some friends, and participated in the obligatory trick-or-treat madness.  Then it was back to the house to pass out candy for neighborhood nighttime trick-or-treat.  I took Silas to a few houses of people we know, but really, we were pretty tired by then.  Time for this wolf to start counting sheep :)

Back to the pumpkin patch

On a beautiful fall day last week, Silas' class went to the pumpkin patch (you can see last year's trip here).

Drew went along and dutifully took pictures for me.

These next two pictures melt my heart:

Silas and his best bud, J.  These two are thick as thieves this year.

With the pumpkin patch trip behind us, we are gearing up for Halloween.  The costume is done.  Now all we need to do is to carve the pumpkins.

Grandparent reinforcement, stage 2

(A little behind with this, but here goes.) Grandma G came to stay with us the 2nd week that Drew was gone. She took Silas up to school and even got to work in his classroom one day.

Look, they're even color coordinated!

Playing outside of the school house...

We are very grateful to both sets of grandparents for traveling 2000 miles in order to help us get through those two weeks. Thank you!

Preschool, year 1, part 3

Here we go with round three...

Art

 and more art...

Sharing time...Silas show's everyone Orangutan, on loan to us from Patrick.  

If you've ever wondered how to give an orangutan CPR, just ask Silas: 

Okay team, we've got the briefcase.  Make the swap at 0900 hours.

Then meet us back at the bat cave.  This is serious business, boys.

Self portrait.

What can I say... he's an abstract thinker.

I've got a few more stragglers to post from the end of the school year.  As for the new school year, Silas made it through his first week (his classes are Mon-Thur afternoons).  This morning, he was practically shaking with excitement.  I asked why we was feeling that way.
"I've got school today and I'm so happy!" he replied.  Yea!

Preschool, year 1, part 2

The trip down preschool memory lane continues...

Outside exploration:

Learning to be helpful:

They can come over and wash my dishes any time...

Field trip to the post office:

Everyone mailed a letter to themselves.

See?

Then we waited to see how long it would take for the letter to arrive. Ours came the very next day!

Playing bus (one of his favorite pastimes) with a friend:

Music and sound exploration:

That brings us to March. More to come...

Preschool, year 1, part 1

We just received a disk filled with pictures Silas' teachers took during the 10/11 school year. Silas just started a new school year today, so I thought it was good timing to share some images from his first year of school. Above, Silas on his very first day, with Teacher Debbie.
Art.
More art.
Who can forget Halloween!


This is the picture they used for the Christmas ornament Silas made for us:
This brings us to about November. Stay tuned for the rest of the 10/11 school year...

Last September, Silas was pretty apprehensive about starting school. Things could not be more different this year. He's really excited and is so glad to be back with his classmates and beloved teachers!