Kindergarten Phonics Wedding

Being in kindergarten, Caleb got the chance to be part of the wedding ceremony of Q & U. The boys were the Q's while the girls represented U. 

At the end of the ceremony they exchanged ring pops.

Here is a link to Isaac's kindergarten wedding which includes video.

Special Moments

The boys have always loved baking with me, and now they (and I) are determined to learn how to cook some of their own things. Isaac was up first and decided to make eggs and bacon.  He cooked everything and set the table. He even added some special touches like names at each person's seat. Here is a picture of my spot:

The boys absolutely love music class at school. They are constantly in competition in class to earn smart cookies when they win the game of the day. When they win enough smart cookies, they earn a pizza cookie which our music teacher makes as a reward for knowing their musical terms. Caleb won the first one for our house in February and was pretty pumped!

Also in February the boys celebrated the 100th day of school as "old" people.

 

School

We went back to school this past week. The boys were pretty excited and even set out their clothes for the first few days in advance.

First days' outfits

Annual picture in front of the fence

Heading into school

Paul's classroom

Sitting on the ring (hopefully the only time this year ;-)

Considering that Caleb has been counting down for the start of kindergarten since his last day of preschool in June, it was an exciting day especially for him!

Isaac is in the second and third grade combo class which will be interesting for him and will call for a lot more independent work. 

Both the boys have wonderful teachers so we are looking forward to a great year.

Here is to another year of school and the routine that goes with it.

Mini-Olympics 2013

Isaac got to take part in the annual tradition at Calvin Christian called the Mini-Olympics.  It is a wonderful day where the eighth graders run different events in which the kindergarten through seventh graders participate.  

The seventh graders are the team captains who choose their athletes on draft day.  Isaac was super excited to be chosen by his seventh grade friend Josh.  His team country was team Russia, and his team color was maroon.

The afternoon is filled with various events including softball throwing, basketball shooting, jumping rope, hanging from the monkey bars (yep, that is all that they do for "Hang Ten"), running an obstacle course and a mini marathon, jumping both the long and broad jump, running the 50-meter dash, kicking a soccer ball, and throwing a softball for distance and accuracy.  The day is capped off with a gigantic relay race that has all teams and athletes participating as they run back and forth across the big field trying to be the first to finish the race.  We are pretty sure that Isaac's team finished the relay in second place.  After the relay all athletes get Big Sticks (a fantastically delicious Popsicle--ask Grandpa N about these).  The eighth graders will tally up all the points in math class this coming week, and then the overall winning team will be announced as the teams gather one final time for this year's Olympics.

No matter who wins, this day was fantastic!  It is always one of our favorite highlights of the school year!

Team Russia!

 Running the obstacle course

 Arm hang

Hey, look what we found!  (It was a gopher snake!)

Jump rope

Basketball shoot

 Beginning of the mini-marathon

This one has got to be my favorite!   Running long jump.  Check out the shadow!

 Softball throw for distance

 Isaac's biggest fan!

Caleb and his best friend watching the opening ceremonies

 Team Russia

 Kevin and Paul (and Caleb)

The Lapka boys enjoying their Big Stick popsicles after the final relay.  Danae was busy rounding up her eighth graders to start the clean-up process.

Still More Dress-up

Today was "Crazy Day" at the elementary school, and this is how Isaac and Paul looked as they left for school.

Paul originally had his Coke pants on and posted a picture of his outfit and partially shaven face on Facebook this morning. Within minutes many people made comments on his outfit including a college friend alluding to a pair of bacon and eggs pants that he wore throughout our college years. (Actually he and two of his close friends each came back after Christmas break with a pair of these stellar pants that had been Christmas gifts.) 

As soon as he read that comment to me, I figured he could pull off wearing them one more time despite the fact that they were ripped since he was wearing shorts over his outfit. And the bacon and eggs pants were resurrected for another wearing. 

The shirt was also a gift from Paul's mom who thought they might work for one of his dress-up days. Boy, was she right on that one!

Isaac was so excited to put his hair in a mohawk. He also kept adding to his costume and switching out shirts as he thought of more creative things to wear. I was very impressed that he went so all-out for this day since he usually likes to lie low and not draw attention to himself.

We are enjoying our dress-up days and look forward to the others that are yet to come.

Little Man

This post is solely dedicated to our little man who brings much emotion (both joyful and not-so-joyful) to everything that he does.

Here is his second "face painting" that happened at the preschool--a snake just like he said he was going to get.

Being painted by Miss Vicki

Unfortunately, he washed his hands and part of the snake away before we snapped a picture of it (much to his great dismay which we heard as he wailed when he realized he had wiped off part of his snake).

He still loves both his football guys and his baseball guys. Here he is having his baseball guys participate in the World Series. These guys were in our living room for quite a few days since he insisted on finishing the series and having them play all the games just like the real World Series.

Finally, here are a few art projects that he has made at preschool this fall. He is bringing home many pieces of artwork thanks to the great teaching of the preschool's new resident art teacher, Mrs. Lisa.

A scarecrow

Learning about healthy eating

Cubist art (the second picture)

Fall leaves and colors

More fall pictures with acorns and twigs

And our playroom walls are being adorned with the weekly letters. His letters are different than Isaac's letter collages, though, in that each letter is actually an animal (alligator, bee, caterpillar, dinosaur, elephant, fox, giraffe, and hippo).

It is a joy watching him learn and create new things and live life to the fullest every waking minute of each day.

More Dress-up

Our high school just celebrated homecoming week. As part of the weekly festivities, each day was a designated dress-up day which included Magical Monday (Disney themed), Twin Day Tuesday, Workout Wednesday, Tired Thursday, and School Spirit Friday. Being a freshmen teacher, I got to participate and dress up as well.  Only one day's outfit had a picture taken so I thought I would share it:

The curlers were the extra special touch and were a bit of a distraction to both my students throughout the day and to all the cars driving past school in the morning as I supervised the crosswalk with the crossing guards (my regular Thursday duty).

Caleb

With the new school year and my going back to teaching, Caleb started preschool and has been going full-time unlike Isaac who only went a couple days a week. Being a creature of routine, Caleb had a rough start to his year. He was very excited about going to preschool and loved picking out his backpack, lunchbox and new clothes. He marched happily off to his first few days and enjoyed having Isaac there with him his first couple days. 

Once he started going full days, though, he was not as much of a fan because he did not like the long two-hour rest time they have each afternoon. He loved the centers and the special things like Looney Dooney, bounce houses and the playground. But no matter what we said or how exciting the rest of the day was, he let the dreaded rest time color his attitude towards preschool. 

We developed a bit of a routine the first few weeks: Caleb's telling us he did not feel good at night before going to bed and then again when he woke up the next morning. Interestingly, though, he was fine on Friday and Saturday nights. He had some mornings when Paul had to have the teacher peel Caleb off of him because Caleb had a meltdown about going to school. He even had one lunch time when he refused to eat his lunch but cried the entire time because he wanted "Dad to pick him up" (pretty sure he was trying to get out of that afternoon's rest time which starts right after lunch). We started a sticker chart for him at home where he could earn a sticker each day that he did not cry on the way to school or while he was at school. 

The thing that was so frustrating to us was that he really did like preschool but was just being obstinate and very "Caleb" about the rest time. He usually was done crying by the time Paul walked out of the preschool building so we figured Caleb was trying to get his way.  

We are thankful to report that this is no longer the case. Caleb happily goes off to school each day and looks forward to what is happening in school (for the most part). He was not too excited about face painting last week and in true Caleb fashion declared (before heading to school that day) that he was NOT going to have his face painted. He came home with a spider painted on his arm so it looks like his teachers were able to reach a compromise with him. 

Standing in front of his sticker chart

Face painting is on the schedule for this week, and Caleb has already told us that he will let them paint something on his arm again. Praise the Lord for the big and small blessings!

Dress-Up Fun

 Isaac (with his first grade class) celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday by dressing down and raiding Mom's pan cupboard. Isaac says that Johnny would have been 238 years old this year. He loved eating apple pie (and has been asking me to make one ever since) and watching a movie about Johnny Appleseed.

The junior high recently had Decades Day as a dress-up theme. We got the 80's since I have eighth graders as my homeroom. After spraying my hair with lots and lots and lots of hairspray and blow drying it to stand out form my head, I was reminded of how thankful I am that I do not have to fix my hair that way every day. How in the world did I make it through junior high trying to get this look every day?!? Despite all the hairspray and teasing, my hair was flat by the time school started. Go figure!

Caleb was quite silly and posed for a picture on Johnny Appleseed Day as well. He was eating breakfast when I came into the kitchen all dressed up for Decades Day. He stopped mid-chew, gave me a look that was a cross between unbelief and total horror, and asked me what I was wearing.