We had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Friday night, Serafina spent time with friends. Saturday evening Leo and I saw the new Avengers movie. Serafina wasn't interested and Tom wanted to watch basketball instead so it was just the two of us. It was a fun outing even though the movie was way too long and dragged a bit.
On Sunday we went to check out a park that was newly remodeled.
Yesterday the weather was hot and we had some friends over to swim. It was fun and easy since I had people come after lunch and before dinner. I put out some snacks and that was it.
Several floats met with their ultimate demise during the crazy pool time.
I also served the kids mini ice cream cones, including this mini kid.
Friday was a big day for the fourth grade students at Laurelwood. It was California History Day. We traveled back to 1849 to experience life like the gold miners seeking their fortunes.
The kids dressed the part and brought their lunches in bandanas and baskets. There were even suggestions to bring historically accurate food for lunch like beef jerky but we didn't take it that far.
Here's Leo as he arrived at school. He's wearing my cowboy boots.
I arrived at school about 30 minutes before the kids to help with set up. There was a lot to set up. The kids came out and lined up to stake their claims. It was a bit of organized chaos.
Each mining group of four to five kids staked their claim and parents came around to put actual stakes in the ground to mark it off.
Leo and his friend Elouan went for some authentic miner looks that included mustaches. The mustaches didn't last long.
Then they set up camp. The school has several tents for kids to use and some tents were brought from home. Here's Tom setting up a particularly complicated tent for a group of girls.
Here's Leo in front of their camp.
Once their claims were staked, the kids got to collect "gold" from the ground in their claim. There was also a chance to claim gold from "no man's land", which involved negotiating with neighboring mining groups. Once the gold was collected, it was weighed and tallied.
The gold was exchanged for tickets that bought them pancakes for breakfast. They returned to Boom Town to eat breakfast in their camps.
Here we are before the rotations started. The 20 or so kids moved through several stations spread out across the field.
Here's Leo and some fellow miners panning for gold. Tom was there to supervise, instruct and refill the troughs with gold between each group.
We made Leo stop panning to take a family shot.
I spent the majority of my time at the neighboring station. I taught the kids how to play blackjack and we played several hands during our rotation.
After the kids visited the panning for gold and blackjack station, they moved on to square dancing.
Other stations included a Native American station where the kids made corn husk dolls and played a game called Hoops and Spears.
They also made tortillas.
Leo's tortilla looked great but he had no interest in eating it.
They also played Rancho Games like sack racing and tug-o-war.
Another game involved these "horses" and herding pigs (pink beach balls) into pens.
This was an all day event. The kids visited three stations before lunch and then two more after lunch. Tom and I stayed all day from set up to clean up. It was exhausting but so much fun. It was great to see the kids engage in the activities and make connections back to what they had learned in the classroom.
And Tom was a superstar. He never complained and spent the whole day helping kids pan for gold and pitching in wherever he was needed. We both need the next two years to fully recover from the day to be ready to do it again when Serafina is a fourth grader.
The school has a lunch-time program called Circle of Friends for kids that need help with social skills. It's hard to believe that my chatty, outgoing kids are lacking social skills but both kids have been part of Circle of Friends. Leo's time with the program was very brief. He wasn't a fan and it's not something that can be forced. When after participating for a few weeks last year he decided he didn't want to do it any more, I let him drop out. Serafina didn't start out the year involved in the group, even though I requested she take part. The group was formed without her and when problems started to arise in class, she was added. Serafina suffers from being over-sensitive (just like her mom and brother), is a wee bit possessive over friends and doesn't do a great job choosing friends some times. The little girl she decided to cling to in her class this year is a real jerk and that has been a major headache all year for her teacher and for me. Anyway, when Serafina was put in Circle of Friends, she got to choose a friend to join too. Each "problem kid" has a model kid (or two) to partner with in the group. Serafina chose Jane, her tiny little Mormon friend, who is very sweet.
This Tuesday was the final Circle of Friends meeting and the group went on a field trip to the local farm. It's the same farm we received our CSA veggies from for years, but now it is run by the school district. All four of the Circle of Friends groups (first grade, second grade, third grade and 4/5th grade) were part of the field trip. We headed out right before lunch.
Here's Jane sitting on Serafina's lap.
They had adorable name tags.
We ate lunch at the farm at some picnic tables and then took a tour of the farm. There wasn't much to do or see but it was nice to be outside though a little dusty.
Here's Serafina checking out an aphid in her hand.
It was a short field trip and we were able to walk there. It was still pretty tiring since a lot of the kids involved in the program are the more challenging kids at school. I'm not sure how much Serafina gained from Circle of Friends this year but at least one lunch time a week she had somewhere she could be that didn't involve drama with the other second grade girls.
At Jane's baptism last weekend, the "Merry Band" was reunited. The Merry Band is this group of girls that were best friends in first grade. They were all in class together and gave themselves the Merry Band name. In second grade, they were separated into three different classrooms. They often play together at recess but they also play with other friends from their current classes and some times there can be tough dynamics of who plays with who. But this group does well together when they get a chance to be together. Serafina requested that the Merry Band get to have a play date and fortunately they were all available this afternoon. I loaded them up after school and took them to a local park for some water fun and snacks.
Leo's class hosted Muffins with Moms to celebrate Mother's Day. It was super sweet and Leo's teacher made all the muffins herself. They were delicious. I got this love rose.
I also got this folder with wonderful stuff written about me by my sweet son. It totally made me tear up and I will cherish it forever.
Here we are. I wore a dress for the special occasion and apparently I look pretty sloppy most of the time because I didn't see a single person who didn't comment on my outfit.
Last Thursday, Serafina's stomach was bothering her so I let her skip dance class. She felt better the next day so she went to school and I did my usual exercise class. But it wasn't the usual because it was May the Fourth and a Star Wars theme dress up day. I never dress up on the theme days, except for this one!
Saturday was Cinco de Mayo and we had a potluck at my friend Lizzy's house. Leo went to Nana's but the rest of us went to the party. Serafina wasn't 100% but seemed to be doing okay enough to have fun and eat Mexican food. Tom made this dish with poblano chilies, cheese and tortillas. I decided it was a Mexican lasagna and it totally was. It was also delicious.
When we got home that night Serafina wasn't well. She had a rough night and slept with me while Tom slept in her bed. She was sick Sunday morning too but we put her on the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet and gave her some medicine. She wasn't happy about the limited food, but it made her feel better. In fact, she was well enough to attend her dear friend Jane's baptism that evening. Jane was baptized at her Mormon church and it was very lovely ceremony. I hadn't attended a Mormon service before even though I know lots of Mormons through our school community. Here's the friends at the baptism: (left to right) Alissa, Millie, Jane and Serafina.
Right after that picture was taken I started to feel deeply unwell. Serafina was a good sport about rushing out of there. I ended up getting way sicker than Serafina. Tom also felt lousy and we stayed home miserable on Monday. Tom was on his way back to normal the next day but it lasted a lot longer for me. It's been rough. During all of this, it was also teacher appreciation week. I made two batches of cookies, a tray of brownies, a tray of blondies, bought flowers and gift cards and helped host a teacher luncheon. Yesterday I was at the school from 8am to 2pm.
Teacher appreciation week is totally bonkers at the kids' school and the primary reason I don't volunteer to be Room Mom. Monday each kid brings a flower and they are arranged into a bouquet for the teacher. Wednesday the kids bring cards and Friday they bring gift cards. The expectation is that Room Moms will display and/or present both types of cards in a creative way. Um, no thanks. Here's the card my kid made for Wednesday.
Yesterday I took a break from setting up the luncheon to see Leo do his book presentation. He read "Who Was Steve Jobs?" and we headed to the Apple Visitor Center to make a video for his assignment.
Here's the video in two parts. We filmed it over the winter school break and had a hell of a time editing it, but he was happy with the end product and his classmates liked it.
Leo has had a sour stomach on and off since yesterday. Not fully sick, but not fully well. Today is the first day I felt mostly normal and I even ate a real dinner. I'm optimistic that this is pretty much behind us and Leo will only get better and better.
Leo has done several weeks of theater class at school through the Starting Arts program. Today was the final class and parents were invited to watch. Only me and one other mom showed up. Honestly, it was a little painful but also funny and sweet. They did a series of improve games and Leo's group was the last to go. They were playing "Master Brain" and had to answer a question as a group starting and stopping speaking when the teacher touches their heads.
He is so expressive and creative and a total ham. The acting teacher approached me after class to tell him just how engaging Leo is and how he has a real knack for it. She encouraged me to keep him involved in acting and told me about some summer camps and after school programs.
