Some more pics...see post below for the preamble..

Blogger was causing me trouble...so decided to create an additional post for more pictures.

Some pics

A friend of ours recently suggested we put together a collage as a present for our soon to be departing daycare provider and her helper. They've been big parts of our lives over the last 3 years and it's very sad to see them go. We owe them a lot. Anyways, I was tasked with taking some photos (and Jen helped as well...she took some great shots) of all the kids, while Zoe would assemble them into a framed/matted collage. We decided to go with black and white photos to avoid having the thing look like your refigerator. I experimented with a lot of b&w conversion options and settled on one that resulted in some fairly dramatic looks. I did a fair amount of manual tweaking, mostly to lighten the overall photo, which can be tough to do if you want to maintain the dramatic contrast. I'm fairly pleased with the results, although I haven't seen the prints yet. We were on the way to the surprise party where the collages were going to be presented when Will puked all over himself in the car....we turned around and went home at that point. Anyways...here are some of the photos...my favorites.

Shea's school progress

For family that hasn't seen any new updates for a while I thought I would clue you in on how Shea is doing in First Grade. First of all, he really enjoys school, although for some reason he will tell you that he liked kindergarten better...while his behavior tells a far different story. What he doesn't like about school is getting up in the morning. Yes, his mom and dad managed to pass along the "despise getting out of bed" trait that will serve him so well throughout his life. He had a brief infatuation with his new alarm clock, but that novelty wore off in one day.

Anyways, Shea was recently selected to participate in the Math Enrichment program at his school (basically they give students with a higher math proficiency the opportunity to do some extra activities). It was through this program that I have talked with school personnel about doing a Game Night. Might be time to revisit that. Also they just completed another round of DRA (a standardized reading test) to gauge progress. Shea scored a 30. They hope to have all the kids score over 16 at the end of 1st grade. 30 is the target they have established for kids entering 3rd grade. Shea still thinks of reading as "work"...hasn't crossed that barrier yet to where he will voluntarily pick up a book to read. Which is understandable...the books he's able to read right now aren't exactly riveting fiction.

Funny story, and I'm pretty sure it reflects poorly on me as a parent, but oh well. I was taking Shea home the other night, and he couldn't wait to get home so he could work on his "big drawing." He had glued together 4 big sheets of paper so he could make one really big piece. So when we got home, he put his Metallica CD (xmas gift from Uncle Jeff...Enter Sandman has been his favorite song for some time) onto his new CD/MP3 boombox and proceded to draw an epic battle scene. You remember the stick figure warriors with swords and bows, with the dotted line arrow paths. He was very cognicant of placing the archers on the "high ground", I'm assuming that was based on his Heroscape experience (as all great Generals know, you get an extra attack die for that). So anyways, how proud should I be watching my six year old son rocking out to Metallica while he's drawing an arrow sticking out of some dude's chest? Brings a tear to your eye doesn't it.

Game Class Flyer

Here is a flyer I put together for advertising a Game Class I hope to teach through the local Community College.

Flyer

Laying down the law...

Or at least as much as Shea is capable...This sign is posted on his door.



Oh...for those who come to the site and aren't "family", "Will" is Shea's little brother. And yes, a first grade education is no match for the sign-making needs of a frustrated older sibling. Actually I'm pretty proud of Shea for just winging it on the spelling, we've been trying to get him to stop always asking for help and give it his best shot. He has a tendency towards being a perfectionist (ok..little more than a tendency), and his teacher is pushing him to loosen up a touch.

Cleaning up the hard drive...

Thought I'd post some pics still hanging around...these would have been from some weekend Jen was working or out of town. I remember turning the kids loose outside with the sprinklers and they went bonkers. Soaked to the bone.

Image upload test

Can't remember when I took this...I was testing out a camera, or a flash or something, and Shea was getting a little annoyed with me. I think I had promised to play a game with him or something.

Chelan County Fair

It's that time of year again....the fair is here.

Packed the kids up for the annual trip...they love the fair. Greasy food, rides, and sugar...not necessarily in that order. As parents we enjoy it too. Greasy food. That's pretty much it for us. None of us care all that much about the animals and stuff.

This year we decided to start with the rides. This would be the first year for Will moving up from the pure kiddy stuff. He got to do the roller coaster (see pictures below) which was a hit. Shea is in the awkward age where he's too short to go on the big kid stuff by himself, and too big to go on the kiddie stuff. He REALLY wanted to do some of the big kid rides.....and since Jen is still having back issues, Dad (me) volunteered to go with him. Now I'm not a real big fan of fair rides, but I figured if Shea could handle it, then I'd survive. Well, someone forgot to tell my stomach about this logic. First up was the Scrambler...not too bad. Got a little dizzy, but it was manageable. Shea loved it. Next up was the Spider. Fairly innocous looking thing. Cars go up and down, around, and they spin a bit, but nothing happens terribly quickly. Car goes up...I'm okay...spins around...not so great, but I'll live...car goes down...oh, oh...this is not going to end well. Shea is practically giddy. Dad is...well, not giddy. After riding for a few minutes (you owe me son)....I gave the carny dude the "cut it off" hand signal, and we called it quits. Shea and Will went on a few more rides, but that was it for me.

Next up was the greasy food. At least it was for Jen, Shea, and Will. I sat with my head down on the picnic table trying my darndest not to puke while they all chowed down on the curly fries and hand-dipped corn dogs (you really, really owe me son).

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story, and I'm feeling better now, thanks.

Will's first roller coaster ride. I think he liked it. Oh...my favorite picture I've taken in a while. You might be seeing this again come Christmas-time.

Ahh..to be young again. They're really starting to look a lot a like these days, dontcha think?

Spaceship piloting is just the coolest.

Hi Mom, and Shea, and Dad!!

Shea showing off the free face painting. They had a neat kids area where they could do some arts and crafts type stuff for free (which is always very welcome at the money pit known as the fair).

Had to post a couple of these...it's so rare to get a good shot of Shea these days when he isn't totally "cheesing" up for the camera.

Will checking out his new face paint. When he sat down he said he wanted "Spider-Man." But he was promptly told it was a "star or a heart." Hmmm....star.

No trip to the fair is complete without some cotton candy, which holds a bizarre fascination for my kids. This is Will's first experience with it....yummm...pure sugar.