Cub Scout Den Meeting

During tonight's cub scout meeting, the boys learned the first two lines of the Scout Oath, the Scout Motto, Scout sign and salute.  I did not know that Collin already knew the sign and salute.  He did great learning the Motto and the lines of the Oath.

Next, they worked on a word scramble that included the words of the Oath.  They were timed to see who could find the most in 8 minutes.  I was shocked to see that Collin was the only one to find all 12 during that time. We do work on word searches because he really likes them.  Guess it paid off.

Working on the word scramble

Dad got involved when it was time to learn to tie two different knots....the square knot and bowline. The boys caught on quickly learning the square knot but had trouble with the bowline.  I don't blame them because that one was tough!

Dad showing Collin the square knot

After the meeting, the boys played a little together.  He had a great time and is loving Scouts so far.

Teacher Conference - 1st 9 weeks

I meet with Ms Briggs for Collin's first parent teacher conference this year.  Dad was home watching Collin and a friend so he was not able to make it.

Ms Briggs said that Collin is doing really well, he is such a sweet kid and has a big heart.  Plus, how can you get mad at him when he looks at you with those big, blue eyes?  I told her I know what she means but you have to not let the "blue eye" spell get you.  :)

She started with how he has fantastic handwriting which I knew but am still surprised how quickly it changed to what it is now.  He not only has really nice handwriting, he uses correct punctuation regularly where most of the other students still need some reminding.  Maybe that's because worked hard on this last year when I felt better and thought he might be a little behind from from when I was sick.

When he writes, he does need to work on using more expression.

He is reading at a level 16 which is where he should be for 2nd grade.  She tried the next level and he struggled a little but she knew he would get there soon.  We do need to work on recollection of the story, predicting what is going to happen and answer questions about the story when he finishes reading it.

Overall, he is doing great and is a pleasure to have in class.

Here is his report card:

Her comments are Collin is doing well in 2nd grade.  He is very organized and always does his best on his work.  We continue to work on table conversations.

Here is how Collin thinks he is doing at school:

Gotta Have a Plan

Sunday after picking up Collin from a sleepover at a friend's house, we came home.  I mentioned we had about 2 hours before he had to leave for a birthday party.  What did he want to do for those 2 hours?  I suggested that we needed to be outside for some of the day because it was a gorgeous day.  I was getting a snack in the kitchen when Collin said he needed a pencil and paper.  I was not sure what he was doing but found out soon enough when he walked up and handed me this piece of paper:

Looks like he was working out a plan for us for the next two hours....with this itinerary.  Notice the time alloted for the first two items on the list.  He later borrowed some time from Play with Burke because he was still resting and playing a game on the iPad.  At the end of the two hours, he and I did accomplish everything on the list with 10 minutes to spare.  I don't know if he has seen my lists or not or what made him think of making a list.  I do know that I really enjoyed the two hours with him because we were spending time together and we were spending it the way he wanted to in a variety of ways.

Raiders - Another Loss...But Close Game

It was a great morning for football.  The weather was cooler and the teams were a better match than the other teams the Raiders has played so far.  We were hopeful for our first win.  

Collin played both defense and offense and did not sit out as much as he has before.  From the sidelines, I took that this meant he was paying attention to Coach which was the reason he played more.  He did not get a flag but he was close a few times.  He hiked the ball much better to the quarterback so he could catch it can complete the play.  

Mimi was at the game and enjoyed taking to the boys when they were on the bench.  Collin at least got to visit with her more this way but he payed attention to the game as much as he could.

The Raiders did end up losing 14-0.  There is always the next game.

Collin on defense on the right of the picture

Coach Holmes discussing plays with the boys

Collin about to hike the ball

Offense about to get in formation

Landon and Collin trying to figure out what happened during the last play

Hoot....Hoot!

Collin really likes to draw in class when they have free time most days.  He still draws barns with the barn doors and horses peeking out of a window. I am still not sure what the fascination is with barns and horses. He cannot explain it either.

So, I was really excited to see a new animal Friday when he showed me the following drawing:

It's an Owl!  He said he did not get to finish outlining the owl and coloring it.  I thought it looked great and knew immediately what it was when he showed it to me.  He was really proud that I could tell what the drawing was.  I especially liked the details on the wings and the feathers on the owl's head.  He did not know why he drew an owl though.

Saturday, we went to a friend's house that had a lot of their kid's paintings and drawings hung up around the house.  Collin wants to do this with some of his paintings.  I said I have a lot in my office which he forgot about. He wants more hung all over the house.  We made an agreement to wait after his art class session is over sometime at the end of the year, then look through all of his artwork so far and pick our favorites to hang up.  He must be excited about this because he asked when we would do this several times that day.

Pumpkin Decorating for School

As you have already read, Collin wanted to enter the pumpkin decorating contest this year at school.  The only rules are that the pumpkins cannot be carved and they will not be able to return them to the students.  This year's categories are:

• Most Original
• Funniest
• Best (by grade level) 
• Scariest
• Best Overall

Collin wanted to create a scary pumpkin.  He has learned from other projects like this to look on the Internet and get some ideas.  I like that it's him typing in the search terms to find what he is looking for.  Here are the two pictures he found.

He really liked the flames on the second picture and wanted to make his pumpkin like that one.  First, we both painted the pumpkin white for the background.  We had to wait for the pumpkin to dry between each coat of paint.  While waiting for it to dry, we tried to come up with some costume ideas because he has not settled on anything yet.  Next, I drew the outline of the picture for him to paint.  He decided to use markers and crayons because we were out of black paint.  This worked out well anyway because the decorating went much faster....we did not have to wait for the pain to dry.  He was VERY happy with out the pumpkin turned out.  I have to agree with him.

We have to bring the pumpkin to school Thursday for it to be judged.  These will be on display during the Fall Festival at school this Friday.

Update:  He did not win a prize for his pumpkin but that did not bother him.  I forgot to check later during the Fall Festival to see if anyone bought his or not.  We should have but were too exhausted at the end of the Festival to see what pumpkins were left.  Collin has not even mentioned his pumpkin so I guess it was not a big deal to him anyway.

Pumpkin Time!

I love picking out pumpkins with Collin every year at this time of year.  We usually pick a small one for him and then two or three larger ones to put outside the house.  This time, he wanted to participate in the school pumpkin decorating contest.  He skipped last year but did participate for the 2 years prior to that.  

We arrived at the pumpkin patch we have been going to the last 6 years because it supports our local church.  OK, it's also REALLY convenient to the house.  We could walk there but I would not want to walk back with the pumpkins we end up buying.  When we got there, Collin could not wait to pick out the pumpkins.  He was really picky about the one for the house selecting a candidate and then passing on it when he found another one.  We did finally find the ones that were acceptable to him.  One of the ones for the house was so large that he had to turn it on its side and roll it to the front to pay for it.

Resting and trying to figure out how to carry both pumpkins to the check out line

Posing for Mommy

He found the perfect one for his school project.  This one looks like a skeleton.

Still trying to decide which big one is right for the house.

Goofing around and making a pumpkin snowman

A Wolf Can be a Mystery Reader

Collin really has a cool Dad which he already knows.  Now, after being the Mystery Reader at school Friday, the rest of his class and the teacher probably think so too.

Dad showed up dressed as a wolf and read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs book.

The kids thought this was hilarious because he was 1) dressed up, 2) scratched and acted like he had fleas, 3) acted out some of the pages pretending he was the wolf and 4) had a hard time turning the pages because of the wolf gloves on his hands.  Collin loved having his Dad there reading to the class.  Apparently, the kids guessed who was reading to them after the first clue which was "He drives a Jeep".  Well, duh, everyone knows that!

Here are some pictures and a video the teacher took without the Wolf knowing.  Now, how am I going to follow that?  Thank goodness, I have a few weeks to think about it.

Wolf acting out a part in the book. Possibly talking about the Wolf sneezing which is why he blew the straw house down.

Collin is on the left in blue shirt pointing to the Wolf

Career and College Week at School

This week, the school district is focusing and preparing the students for post-secondary educational opportunities.  There are fun activities planned this week including an opportunity for the students to wear something each day focusing on post-high school activities.

Yesterday, he wore sunglasses for "our future is so bright, we have to wear shades".  Today, he showed up dressed as his future profession.  It should be no shock that he wants to be a vet.  Here he is before getting on the bus as Dr. Burke Boxer (Mr Todd came up with that name.  I love it!).  He had a real lab coat from a local vet he borrowed from a neighbor, a pamphlet telling pet owner's what dogs should not eat and fake stethoscope.

Tomorrow, he wears a college shirt so he will be wearing a Longhorn shirt for his Mom.  Thursday, he dresses in professional attire.  He actually wants to wear a collared shirt and tie.  I bet he will look so cute.  They end the week by wearing a funny hat, visor, college hat, etc etc. for "Hats off to College".

Odyssey of the Mind Group

Collin and another 2nd grader joined the 3rd Grade Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) group.  The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students to learn creative problem-solving methods while having fun in the process. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems. They are free to express their ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism. The creative problem-solving process rewards thinking "outside of the box." While conventional thinking has an important place in a well-rounded education, students need to learn how to think creatively and productively. More information can be found here:  http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/

The 3rd grade group which consists of 7 students have already met three times. During these meetings, they have read through all of the problems they have to solve and finally decided they wanted to work on Problem 1.

Problem 1: No-Cycle Recycle
Teams will build, ride on, and drive a no-cycle, recycling vehicle. It will pick up discarded items, adapt them in some way, and then deliver them to places to be re-used. The vehicle must travel without pedaling for propulsion and cannot use AC current. In addition, the driver will have an assistant worker riding on the vehicle that will help process the trash items being repurposed. They will make an unplanned stop along the way to perform a random act of kindness.

During each 1 1/2 hour meeting, there is a Coach and a parent helper.  I helped this past Sunday and got to hear the ideas the kids came up with about how to move their vehicle and what ecosystem they wanted their vehicle in.  The Coach and helper cannot offer suggestions but can only be there to assist the students with some structure and keep them on task.

Yesterday was brainstorming about how to move the vehicle.  One student mentioned solar power and another mentioned batteries.  Collin drew a picture of his idea which included using robot feet to move the vehicle or have kites lift the vehicle and a propeller to move it along.  That spurred another student to think of the world as the ecosystem because he liked the robot idea.

Collin Wants to be a Wolf!

Well....he wants to be a Wolf in Cub Scouts.  Since we attended his first meeting, he has wanted to know when we can go back.  He regularly asks when the next meeting will be.  Because these are only once a month, I guess it's going to be a long month unless the Halloween decorations distract him enough.  :)

Friday, Dad and I bought Collin's Scout shirt, patches, belt and handbook.  I planned for Collin and I to sew some of the patches on over the weekend.  I knew there was a strong possibility that he would want to have all of the patches sewn on by Friday night.  Because there were only seven patches, I thought we could have them finished by at least the weekend.

When he got home from school, he immediately saw the shirt and patches I laid out.  "Can we sew these on now?"  I asked him to help me because he needed to learn how to sew.  "You know how to sew?"  I let him know that I learned from both of my grandmothers and I was going to teach him.  I told him Dad knows how to sew, too, because of Boy Scouts.  He was eager to get started.  I showed him how to select the right color of thread, use two to three pieces of the thread, cut the length needed and tie a knot at the bottom of one side of the thread.  It was his turn to thread the needle which did take him a few attempts to get one piece of thread through.  I had to redo it to get all of the thread through the needle.  I then showed him how to place the patch on the shirt and anchor it with a safety pin so the patch would not move around while we were sowing it.  He did not understand why this was necessary but agreed this was necessary only because he wanted to get started.  I made a few stitches showing him how to do it and then handed the shirt over to him.  He made three stitches with some help and then was done.  "You can do it much faster than me".  He was tired from being at school all week and his friends had just knocked on the door to play.

When he came back inside from playing, he asked if I had shown all of the patches on. I explained my fingers were tired and needed a break.  The next day, he asked again.  That afternoon, him and friends watched a movie.  Afterwards, yep, he asked the status of the patches.  "While we were watching the movie would have been a good time for you to sew the rest on".  Ha!!!  What a motivator though.  I did finish the patches in time for him to show Mimi that night.  He wore his shirt the rest of the afternoon and played in it while Mimi was watching him for us.

I am not sure if he is more excited about the shirt with the patches or being a Cub Scout.....maybe a little of both.

2nd Grade Picture

Collin brought home is 2nd Grade picture last night. He has such a big smile!!! It shows how he is a sweet boy with a big heart.

At least he did not show his other fun-loving, attitude side like in this one.....I do like that I can see more of him though because you can see the cut on his elbow and the wrist bands he does not take off until they wear off.

I love all of his school pictures but I think this one is still my favorite because he was still in the chubby check stage and his blue eyes are so big and deep blue here.  Goosh!!!  He he sure isn't this little boy anymore.