THE FIRST DAY

The other night we went to a get-together for the parents from Nicholas' class at a local bar. We talked about our kids, our interests, and where we were from. The conversation also drifted to the topic of admissions, and one of the kids' dads said his favorite story about the director of admissions, whom we all love, involved Nicholas and the first day of school.

Shortly after Kathleen and I left on that first day, the children gathered for circle time, a morning ritual. That morning this dad and the director of admissions were also in attendance. Nicholas was visibly concerned about something and reportedly kept looking around the room at the other children. This prompted his teacher to ask him what was wrong.

Without missing a beat, Nicholas said, "My mommy and daddy told me that there were only supposed to be 18 kids in my class, and I count 21!" The admissions director put her hand on the dad's shoulder, smiled, and gave him a look that said "you win some, you lose some" before walking out.

Two hours later, I was still chuckling from that story, and I am surprised that no one had told me it previously. I emailed that dad later that night and thanked him for sharing and for making my day. What a school and what a kid!

I'M YOURS

Nicholas has been learning to play the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz with his music teacher Jan, and he has come a long way. He was so confident in his musical abilities that he asked his music teacher Laura at Arbor if he could play this song during one of his music classes. She agreed, and so we brought in his ukulele, pick, and sheet music today. Nicholas said things went really well and that his class loved it. Note to Nicholas, keep practicing! Girls love musicians!

Here is a reprise of this performance with accompaniment by Miss Cate! Enjoy!

THE FIRST 100 DAYS

Tomorrow will be Nicholas' 100th day of school at Arbor. To celebrate this occasion (and to use it as a math teaching point), the children have been asked to bring to school 100 objects. Kathleen suggested that Nicholas bring in 100 animals, which meant that we had to sort through his boxes of animals in order to find 100 candidates that could fit in a small bag...or large bag.

We decided to pick animals of which we had 10-20 of the same kind, which was surprisingly not difficult. As we counted these animals and sorted them into different plastic bags, Nicholas reminded us that "at Arbor we always double check our work," and he implored us to do the same. Never mind that his dad has OCD and triple checks everything!; this recommendation was an example of one of the many amazing life lessons that Nicholas has already learned in these first 100 days.

Here's to Noah's Ark, and here's to compulsiveness!

A SNOWY DAY

Yesterday, we got our first snowy day of the season, and I must say it started off with a bang. Chunks of snow fell from the sky in the morning, which was sufficient to trigger region-wide school closures. As you can see below, the kids were heartbroken as they watched videos and cartoons and generally mourned missing school.





Fortunately, Kathleen was off and our nanny's classes were cancelled, too, which meant that I got to spend my snow day at work! That was my idea of a fun snow day, believe it or not!

SKILLZ!

Enjoy Cate's latest escapades!

A FEW FRUIT SNACKS GO A LONG WAY

This past weekend, we went hiking nearby on Sauvie Island, which sits near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. It was a cold and clear day, and we were accompanied by our friends Noah and Julia.



Cate started off in the child carrier, but after about one hour, she wanted out. Noah and Julia held her hand and helped her around (and through) the mud, for which Cate was grateful.



For the most part our kids were troopers on the hike, but as the hike wore on both Cate and Nicholas became... what is the word... impatient.

This is precisely where the secret weapon- fruit snacks- came in handy! Who knew?! We kept plying the kids with these and exhorting them to "just go a little bit further, and then you can have another fruit snack." It worked like a charm.

When times got really tough, I also pulled out the trump card- a stop at Cool Moon Ice Cream if everyone did a good job and did not complain. Needless to say, they did a great job!



Come to think of it, my car needs to be washed, and my grass will eventually need to be mowed. Fruit snacks, anyone?

A FEW MORE OF CATE'S FAVORITE THINGS

Little Cate loves to play with play-do, read books, go to the park, and wear other people's shoes (see above). However, painting is one of her favorite activities. As you can see from the video below, Cate is simultaneously in her blue and Pollock period.