Bode in the ABQ

Bode has gone to Albuquerque for two weeks.  He's spending time with the Albuquerque cousins.  We've spoken to him every night on the phone, and he is having a blast.  Uncle Pat sent us a couple pictures.  First, here is Bode hanging on some playground equipment with the whole crew (and some extra friends).

Next is a cute one of Bode from the pool.

On one of the days, they all went to lunch at McDonald's.  We have never really been to one with Bode, and Ashley has a tendency to call the food, "Fat Food."  Apparently this has made its way into Bode's lexicon.  To get him to eat, Uncle Pat had to special order the "non-fat chicken nuggets."  I know this because when I spoke to Bode on the phone, he was so proud when he told me about these special "non-fat" foods.  Ashley and I are staying busy (no we aren't).  We've been working on our deck and other odds and ends.  Sadly, we seem to be going to sleep around 7:30.  We are pitiful.

We had a real treat at work.  Yesterday was the Academy's graduation, complete with a Thunderbirds performance.  Today, the Thunderbirds usually leave town.  Prior to leaving, they wanted to do some fly-overs of the Academy and have a chase plane take pictures.  Thus, a group of us was up on the terrazzo with cameras in hand.  In this first picture, you can see the standard triangle formation.  To the left, you can see the camera plane (I think it was Thunderbird #7, but I'm not positive).

For the next pass, I put my camera on burst mode and let it do the rest.

Finally, a movie so you can get the sound effect.

I suppose I should get downstairs and help Ashley with dinner...or maybe we'll just go out to eat :-)  Pleasant weekend to all.

Kindergarten Recital

The kindergarten classes at Helen Keller Elementary gave their final recital.  I won't overhype the event and say how awesome it was, but it did have its entertaining points.  It cracks me up how the kiddos will sing a verse, and then it's rather quiet at the start of the next verse because most have forgotten the lines.  However, once reminded, the volume quickly ratchets up a few notches.  Before the start of the program, I took this picture.  Ashley quietly shook her head--she was doing the math to figure out how old we'll be when Bode graduates high school :-)

Next, the kids entered the gymnasium.  Bode is always very sweet and waves to us.  He is the one in the plaid shirt if you can't tell.

They sang some songs, which were good fun.  Below is the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

After the program, there was a reception in Bode's class.  The kids ate some cookies and ran around playing.  We took the time to snap some pictures.  Here's Bode with Mrs. Foster, the teacher's helper.

Here is Bode with Miss Sandoval.  This was her first year teaching, and she did an amazing job.  Hopefully all his teachers are like her (and no, I don't just mean young and attractive).

We also took some pictures of Bode with his classmates.  Here's Bode with his buddy, Louis.

And some general rowdiness with a large group of the younglings.

Finally, Bode brought home a scrap-book with different assignments throughout the year.  It included a side-by-side comparison of Bode's handwriting from the first writing assignment on the first day to the last writing assignment.  It's an amazing improvement.

Our little guy has one more day in kindergarten.  Then, he'll be a first-grader...and right after that, in college :-(  Pleasant week to all.

Bode's Science Journal

Bode has made so much progress this year.  We have saved all his work.  It's so neat (and a little sad) to see how his writing has improved, how well he can draw (cut the kid some slack, since he is cursed with my art gene), and how much he understands.  Today, he told me something was "magenta."  Not blue or pink or purple.  Magenta.  

In science class, they put a bunch of caterpillars in a jar.  Each week, they had to draw and write about what they saw.  Below is the result.  I am submitting Bode for the Nobel prize.

Pretty cool stuff.  I'm sure Newton started off doing something similar.  Pleasant week to all.

The Basement Project

If you've ever been to our home, you will remember our basement was one big room.  It was nice to have all that space, but we felt we could get more bang for our buck.  Hence, the basement project.  Like most projects, Ashley had a vision for how things should be, and then we contracted out the real work :-)  Fortunately, our daily lives weren't disrupted.  The dogs, on the other hand, were confined to the side yard so the workers could use the basement entrance.  The project lasted a little more than two weeks.  We are very pleased with the results.  We had one wall put in to give us a bedroom in the basement.  We made the bedroom door a double so we could move the piano if we ever need to.  We moved the bar to the other wall, added a door to the laundry room, and painted.  Voila!  You have the below results.

Ashley would love to get rid of the green couch.  It is the last piece of furniture I own from my single days :-)  Bode continues to improve as a swimmer.  The outdoor pool at the gym was open today.  He, of course, wanted to swim.  I think the water temperature was warmer than the air temperature.  It really wasn't bad--Ashley didn't get in, but Bode and I swam around for an hour.  The little guy can go anywhere he wants.  He swims all around and never gets into a panic.  I wouldn't throw him in the deep end and expect him to tread water for a long period of time, but we're probably at the point where he could be unsupervised.  Of course, being the worriers, we won't get to that point just yet :-)  He also is now in Beginner Stroke Clinic.  Coach Danny makes them do "deck work" before practice.  Fun.  Obviously Bode needs to work on his core strength.

They also did push-ups.  I didn't take a movie, so I don't know if it's obvious but Bode needs to keep his butt down.  In the picture below, he looks pretty good.

After a couple push-ups, his form broke down.

Here's a movie of Bode doing some freestyle.  He seemed a little tired at practice today, but I assume I should cut him some slack since he's six.  Well, almost six and a half!

I recently mentioned how Joey will sleep with Bode.  This has become the norm at night.  Joey will simply jump up on the bed and sleep with our little man.  In the mornings, he'll come down for breakfast, and then head back up until it's time for Bode to wake up.  Very cute.  I took this picture early one morning.  I think the flash woke Joey up, as he looked at me as if to ask, "What's with the bright light at 5 am?"

Bode will sometimes take the camera and shoot a lot of pictures.  I won't know about these until I download them onto the computer.  Most are shots of the ground or blurry.  Some are gems.  Here's Harley eating, not really a gem, but I feel obligated to include a picture of both dogs.

Next is a funny one of Joey.  Note the tongue--it is always out.

Bode has three days left of kindergarten.  We can't believe we are about to have a first grader in the house.  He's got some camps lined up for the summer, some trips, and some quality time with Mom and Dad.  Should be a great summer.

Track and Field Day

Today was Track and Field Day at Keller Elementary School.  The kindergarten classes did the events from 12 - 2, which meant I couldn't be there because I taught from 12:30 - 1:30 :-(  Fortunately, my staff photographer (Ashley) was there.  She documented the day.  I don't really know the order of events, so I'll just post some of the better photos with comments from Ashley.  First up was the high-jump, which evidently was hilarious.  All the kids tried to hurdle the bar--no Fosberrys in this class :-)

Next was the race with big feet.  Here's Bode mugging for the camera before the start.

Bode didn't want to do the race with a buddy (at first).  This was where the kids had to hold a ball between them using nothing but their chests.  Ashley convinced him to do it, and after the first run, there was nothing else he wanted to do.  Here is a cute picture of Bode and Carsen.

Ashley also got some movies.  First up is Bode doing the long-jump.  He's no Bob Beamon...

Next is the 50-yard dash.  Bode actually looks pretty coordinated.  He probably should since Ashley was a sprinter--it's in the blood.  Sadly, he took the bronze in his heat, but we're still very proud of White Lightening.

Only a couple more weeks of kindergarten for Bode.  Today was my last day of class, but don't worry, I have plenty of work to do.  Everyone I know asks, "So what do you do when there's no classes?  Do you even have to go in?"  Yes, I have to work.  I have to prepare to teach the classes for next year.  While this might seem simple to you (don't you just use the same notes???), it's actually a lot of work.  Imagine having to give a speech for 50 minutes.  How long would it take you to prepare your words?  Your examples?  Your fun extras to keep things interesting?  How long would you practice?  Now imagine giving the speech and also writing on the board.  Do you write neatly?  Big enough?  Is your board work well organized, or are you constantly erasing?  Of course, after teaching a few semesters, the preparation takes less time, but it is still a lot of work to put together a lecture.

The forecast is for 4 - 8 inches of SNOW on Mother's Day.  Can you believe that sh*t??  Pleasant weekend to all.