All Saints Day: Henry as Francis

Henry chose to be St. Francis for this year's All Saints Day parade.  A child's monk costume from Amazon provided the basic look.  As a finishing touch, Elise picked up some clip-on birds and wooden beads from Michael's.  This year we also had to prepare a class report on our saint, and Henry made an impressive poster of scenes from Francis's life, including a detailed rendering of Francis receiving the stigmata.

 

 

Halloween 2014

Scenes from the Halloween season: the St. Anthony's costume parade, the Taylor Run block party, pumpkin picking at Butler's Orchard (very wet this year) and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  In case you couldn't tell, Vivian was Queen Elsa and Henry was a blue ninja.

 

 

 

 

  

 

First Grade

After a fun-filled summer at Burgundy Farm and an August vacation to Canada, Henry started First Grade in Ms. Walsh's class at St. Mary's. Here he is (left) on the first day of school with his best buddy Jack.  As you can see, Henry had a few visits from the tooth fairy this summer.  We're still waiting for signs of front teeth! 

Vivian was keen to start Kindergarten this year, but alas, she has one more year in Pre-K before she can join her brother at St. Mary's.

Good luck, Henry and Vivian, in the new school year!

Summer Camp at Burgundy Farm

Henry spent his summer vacation at Burgundy Farm, a private school near our home in Alexandria, VA.  From June to August, the school operates a summer camp.  Burgundy Farm has a unique campus, situated in a wooded area with classrooms scattered around the property in cabin-like structures and a small barn with live farm animals.  Once or twice a week, the campers get to feed the animals, including (according to Henry) digging worms for the chickens.  The school also has a small pool, which meant Henry and his fellow campers went swimming everyday (sometimes twice a day). 

Several of Henry's former classmates from St. Anthony's, including his best friend Jack, were at Burgundy Farm this summer, adding to the enjoyment.  We could tell Henry was having a good time because he woke up and got dressed every morning with no complaints.  And after a long day of swimming, playing and, occasionally, drumming(!), he was usually ready for bed right after dinner.  One night, while having popsicles on the stoop, he feel asleep on the sidewalk (see picture below).  We were so pleased Henry enjoyed his first experience at camp.  There's no doubt he'll be going back to Burgundy Farm next year, and Vivian is already asking if she can go too.

  

Getting ready for camp in the morning;

crashing on the sidewalk after a long day of play.

Vivian's Soccer

Vivian participated in a spring soccer session at St. Anthony's.  Both kids have done these afterschool clinics for several years now.  Run by Khary Stockton Soccer, they mostly focus on developing fundamental skills--there is very little actual soccer played. One of the highlights of every session is the parachute sprint, when each child runs around the field with a parachute strapped to his/her back (see the picture below).  The clinics are held in the park across from the school, making them super convenient.  And of course, everyone gets a trophy at the end. 

 

Kindergarten "Graduation"

Henry's first year at St. Mary's ended with a concert and reception.  Henry and his classmates sang some special songs for their parents, including "Let's Go Fly a Kite," from Mary Poppins, "Do Re Mi" from Sound of Music, and for their grand finale, "In Summer" from Frozen. Afterwards, the children received their Kindergarten "diplomas" and enjoyed some playtime together before being dismissed for the summer.  We were really pleased with how the year went for Henry.  Despite some occasional hiccups (we learned to assess our days in colors--red, yellow and green...and every now and then, blue!), Henry seemed to adjust well to his new environment and made many friends.  With Kindergarten behind us, it's on to first grade and the start of homework.  First, however, Henry has a well deserved summer of fun lined up with camp at Burgundy Farm and an August vacation in Canada (more about those later).  Well done, Henry!  You make us so proud.

 

 

  

Signs of Spring

 

 

After one of the longest, coldest winters in recent memory, spring finally sprung in May.  We knew summer was just around the corner when the irises in the front yard burst into color (see above).  We opened the windows and enjoyed the humidity-free weather before the full force of DC summer descended upon us.  Below are some photos of the kids enjoying another rite of spring: the annual Spring Fling at St. Mary's school in Old Town Alexandria. 

 

 

Valentine's Day 2014

We're getting accustomed to school projects.  This week's assignment was to construct a container for Valentine's Day cards.  Inspired by one of his new favorite movies, Henry decided to make a minion container.  Elise found some examples online and the rest was from our imagination.  As you can see, the final result wasn't half bad.

November Happenings

Mimi Joanne visited in early November to attend “Special Persons” (a.k.a. Grandparents) Day at Vivi’s school.  Mimi got to see some of Vivi’s artwork and also heard a special concert performed by the 4A class.  While she was in town, Mimi also took Vivian to the American Girl store in Tyson’s Corner to select an early birthday present.  Having studied the AG catalogue at home, Vivian had no trouble picking out the red party dress she wanted for herself and her doll.  Mimi’s visit also coincided with Bryant’s 42nd birthday, which we celebrated with a family dinner at Clyde’s.  Also in November, we finally got around to ordering Henry a twin bed.  It was long overdue; for months he has been hanging off the side of his toddler bed.  No sooner had we set up Henry’s new bedroom furniture than Vivian started asking for a “big girl” bed.   Before the weather got too cold, we also managed to squeeze in some outdoor ice skating at Pentagon Row.  Henry was able to skate on his own, and Vivian did pretty well with the help of some special double blade “training” skates (see below).  Finally, at the end of the month, we celebrated Vivi’s fourth birthday.  We decided to hold her party after the Thanksgiving break (more about that to follow), but marked the special day with breakfast at Krispy Kreme.  

  

  

 

Halloween/All Saints Day 2013

Halloween got off to a shaky start when Bryant got stuck in heavy traffic and was late picking up the kids (next year we’ll take the afternoon off and avoid the holiday rush).  After dashing home and scarfing down dinner, we hit the neighborhood to make up for some lost trick-or-treating ground.  Henry went as a dragon/dinosaur (his interpretation of his costume varied from moment to moment) and Vivian went as Ariel (from The Little Mermaid).  It didn’t take long before both kids had collected more candy than they needed (we always end up throwing out much of it after one too many sugar highs).  Above are the kids dressed and ready to collect their loot.

The next day, the children at St. Mary’s participated in the school’s annual All Saints Day parade through Old Town.  This required us to select and design a saint costume for Henry.  He went as St. Columba of Scotland, the origin of his middle name Callum (see The Origin of “Callum”).  Unlike your run of the mill Halloween getup, designing a saint’s costume requires some work and planning.  We ordered a white nativity gown from Amazon as the base and then bought green fabric for the vestment.  We used iron-on appliques—a Celtic cross and two doves (Columba means “dove of the church”)—to decorate the front.  And since St. Columba is not well known in these parts, we stenciled his name on the back.  As a final touch, we added some wooden rosary beads that Elise found at the local costume store.  Overall, the end result wasn’t half bad.  Several folks commented that Henry looked like a “natural” as a man of the cloth.  Above is a picture of our little saint and below is a video of his class’s procession through Old Town.

Kindergarten

Henry started Kindergarten at St. Mary’s in Old Town Alexandria in August.  After several weeks of ordering uniforms, assembling school supplies and picking out the perfect backpack (dinosaurs!), the big day finally arrived.  Henry got to preview his new school on his birthday.  Elise reported that he was a little shy upon meeting his new teacher—Ms. Guidry—but warmed up when he spied some former classmates from St. Anthony’s.  On Monday morning, we all drove Henry to school together, and Elise escorted him inside.  Henry seemed apprehensive but readily joined his class when the school bell rang.  Below is a video of Elise and Henry walking into school together:

We weren’t sure what to expect (having had some rough transitions in the past—see Transitions), but Henry managed to do just fine—much better, in fact, than we anticipated.  When Bryant picked him up after the first day, he seemed happy and even a little excited about the start of school.  One difference we noticed right away: Henry really misses his afternoon nap and is exhausted at nighttime.  During the first few weeks, he was asking to go to bed right after dinner.  Of course, starting a new school has been an adjustment for all of us.  Unlike daycare, we can’t arrive late, which means a concerted effort from everyone to get out the door on time.  And then there is the uniform rotation to keep track of: PE uniform on PE days, dress uniform on Mass days, and summer uniform the rest of the time.  We packed Henry’s lunch for the first few weeks.  Recently, he has been buying his lunch from the cafeteria (we loaded some money on an account and they debit whatever he buys).  So far, Henry seems to be making relatively healthy choices (yogurt, fruit, cheese and the occasional hot meal).  Carpool pick up and drop off can only be described as madness, but we’re slowly getting used to the system.  Henry is a big fan of aftercare and seems to prefer those days when we don’t pick him up right at dismissal.  Apparently playing Legos with his friends is more fun that hanging out with mom and dad.  All in all, a relatively smooth transition.  And although we fully expect further adjustments in the weeks and months ahead, we couldn’t be more pleased and proud with how Henry has begun the school year.

 

 

 

Pre-K Graduation

Henry’s Pre-K graduation ceremony was held at the end of June.  The children wore mortarboards and sang a few songs (“Lean on Me,” “That’s What Friends Are For,” and “The Candy Man”) for the parents before being presented with their “diplomas.”  Henry did a great job singing (and swaying—check out the video clips below), but seemed a little embarrassed when it came time to collect his diploma.  After the ceremony, we told Henry he could go anywhere he wanted for dinner, and he chose…IHOP.  So, we all headed over to Potomac Yard for pancakes.  Below are photos and video highlights from Henry’s big day: 

Henry has a few more months at St. Anthony’s and then will start Kindergarten at St. Mary’s in Old Town Alexandria in August.  Kindergarten will be a big change for all of us.  St. Mary’s will have four (4!) Kindergarten classes next year (it’s the largest elementary school in the Diocese of Arlington).  Fortunately, five other classmates from St. Anthony’s, including Henry’s best friend Jack, are headed there as well, so Henry will have some familiar faces in his new surroundings.  While Henry enjoys his last few months in Pre-K, we’ve been busy ordering uniforms and assembling school supplies.  We’ve also been trying to keep up with the flood of information about his new school.  We’ve read the carpool instructions several times and still aren’t entirely sure what to do at pick up/drop off.  And it’s still hard for us to imagine Henry buying his own lunch in the school cafeteria.  But friends assure us that it will all become second nature before too long.

In the meantime, we’re grateful to the teachers and staff of St. Anthony’s for providing such a great environment for Henry these last two years.  He has really grown, both emotionally and academically, during his time at the school, and we’re confident that he has been well prepared for his future at St. Mary’s  Below are a few pictures of Henry with his classmates/partners in crime (Jack and Wesley) and his Pre-K teacher Ms. Rina.