On Your Mark, Get Set...Yikes, I'm Not Ready

Monday, August 24, 2009. While this isn't exactly "hot off the press," I couldn't NOT leave a post of Noah's first day of school. It seems like sooo long ago now. He's grown up a lot in the past three months since starting school. In a way, I couldn't be happier about that. And yet, there's part of me that wishes he could stay little forever.

The first day of school is obviously a big deal for the student. But it's also a huge day for parents. I didn't sleep much the night before, and I was counting the minutes until dismissal all that day. I'm so glad it went well and that he's loving school. Now if I could just get him to eat something other than peanut butter and honey sandwiches for dinner...

The sign outside Noah's classroom.

Standing in front of the school on day number one. Can't you just see the apprehension oozing out?

The old man and the rookie. About to enter a whole new world. Both of them. I now know what Nemo's dad felt like.

This kind of somber, sad face didn't make it any easier for Dad to leave his boy at school for the very first time. Thankfully, he has a really, really awesome teacher, and she made sure that sad face didn't stick around long.

I didn't want Noah having to deal with daycare on top of his first day of school. That's a long, tough day for a 5-year old. So I arranged to work from home that day and pick him up right at 2:45p. Here he is after school, starting to get his smile back.

Back home in his element, there was no more nervousness about school. Just being his old, silly self and enjoying a cold one.

Giving a shout-out to all of his new, soon-to-be kindergarten friends.

The first day of school was a big deal for the entire family. So here's Nutty celebrating the occasion with a popcicle too.

Gettin' His Float On

Thursday, November 19, 2009. Turkey Float Parade Day. Noah's school does an annual event where the kindergarten students each make a turkey float (a potato decorated like a turkey and placed onto an upside down shoebox lid with a string for pulling). At precisely 8:30a, with dozens and dozens of parents lining one of the hallways and all of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students lining most of the rest of the hallways of the school, the kindergarten students begin a single-file procession through the halls with each of their individual floats. And since it just wouldn't be a parade without costumes, they each wore a vest made out of a brown paper sack and a hat made out of construction paper. Macy's aint got nothin' on this Turkey parade!

Besides getting to see Beeju happily displaying his turkey float for all to see, my favorite part of the event was how the school incorporated all of the students (non-kindergarteners too). I thought that was a really great idea. It was cool to see all of the older kids cheering on the kindergarteners and applauding as they brought the parade all the way back through the halls after the initial passby. Based on the reactions of the kindergarten classes, I think it really made them feel good. I know that Noah, for example, couldn't stop smiling. And there are few things that a Papa loves to see more than an ear-to-ear grin on his boy.

Wish I had a good shot of his turkey float. But alas, "Photographer" isn't exactly my middle name. (Incidentally, if it was, I would definitely opt to be called "Shooter" instead of Ben. I've always wanted to be Shooter. I've even got the finger-gun thing down. But I digress.) Here are pics of each of the two parade passes...dang, that kid is cute...

Give That Boy a Ribbon

The other day, Noah came home from school wearing a blue ribbon on his jacket. He had come home with ribbons on a couple of times recently, but it was always a ribbon for saying no to drugs, etc. So I didn't look close enough to read the writing at first. But then he was complaining that the pin was hurting him, so when I went to take it off, I noticed what it said - "Student of the Month."

Apparently, he was nominated by his teacher for the Student of the Month award at his school. That's not at all surprising, because he is such a good kid and always EXTRA conscientious at school. But, at the same time, it was completely surprising, because I didn't know that such an award existed.

Needless to say, I'm soooo proud of my Beeju! He has some really great things in store in his future. It's just impossible for anyone to love their child anymore than I love that boy. He and Nutty make me so happy. Congrats on your award, Champ! Keep up the good work.

There's No Need to Fear....

I promise to put up a post or two about the boys later tonight. But first, a quickie from church today. Some of you know that I currently work with the 14- and 15-year old young men. In class today, one of them was teaching the lesson. It was all about good versus evil, built around a number of examples he was using of heroes and villains. Most of them came from the scriptures - David vs. Goliath, Jesus vs. Satan, etc - and he did a terrific job. It was very well thought-out, and he really has a good grasp of the scriptures. So keep that in mind. There were just two brief moments that made me love the lesson even more.

1) As he was listing out various hero-villain combos on the white board, in the middle of all of the scriptural examples, he included Batman vs. The Joker. He didn't elaborate or comment, and he clearly wasn't looking for a laugh. He was very serious. And really, who can argue with Batman and The Joker?

2) After he had gone over his last hero-villain example, and as he was wrapping up the lesson, he commented that not only could people be heroes but animals too (which was a good point). And then this very serious comment: "You know, like Underdog." Again, not looking for a laugh. And not getting one, by the way. Except from me. In my head. Man, I love these young men.

So in honor of our furry protagonist, a couple of my favorite Underdog lines...

"Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog,

It's just little old me, Underdog."

And from when someone would complain about the damage he caused...

"I am a hero who never fails.

I cannot be bothered with such details."

He's crafty...and he's just my type!

November 3 (pm) and November 4 (am) - I haven't posted anything in ages, so this is my attempt to get back on track. Just a couple of quick pics of Noah's first special homework assignment of his young career. His teacher wanted the kids and their families to work together on creatively decorating a turkey they were each given on construction paper.

I was both excited and nervous to work on this with him. First problem: uh, zippo legitimate craft supplies in my house. So the kids and I had to pitstop at a couple of stores to stock up. Second problem: Papa's a dude with very little craft creativity. I have few qualities that can seriously compete with my inability to sing on-key for "Most Obvious Void" in my talent spectrum. But my lack of art skills is one of them.

Fortunately, this was a kindergarten project. Papa can do kindergarten. So we pulled out whatever crafty type materials we could find, along with an eclectic mix of cotton balls, yarn, fishies, marshmallows, candy corn and straws. Next thing you know, we've got ourselves one bad mother turkey. Beeju's favorite part: giving the turkey eye ball legs and feet. He thought that was hysterical. Dad's favorite part: eating 10 marshmallows and 10 fishies for every one that made it onto the fowl. I refer to it as "product research."

I'm kinda diggin' this art stuff. Bring on the next project!

That is one proud little man holding his turkey. And that is one absurdly proud daddy holding the camera. Best part was the time together. The turkey just took care of itself.

An up-close of the glittery gobble gobble.