I'm going to play catch up here, since it has been so long since I've written. We had some really fun activities over the summer, including several trips to Sea World. They've updated the kids play area--can you believe it was "Captain Kidd's" world when I was a kid. I think they had better things to play on when I was a kid--but of course they'd be too dangerous for kids these days. Here's a picture or two of Jake and Porter enjoying themselves in the water.
We had some great days at the beach. Jake discovered Boogey boarding and has since taken up surfing. Dad is completely stoked about it. He finally has someone to go out with him. My mother is a little worried about starting him so early. But, I figure everyone needs a passion, and if surfing is his--that is great. There's no better way to stay in shape and find your center than surfing. I'm sure his Aunt Shannon would love to come down and take him out now and then too!
Jake got into GATE seminar--which is the Gifted and Talented Education class. He is loving his teachers--he has 2--and the projects they've done so far have really kept him interested in school. He's always been the "enthusiastic learner" a teacher euphemism for "loud" but he has always loved school. This class has just been icing on the cake for him. The first day of school they did an architecture project where they took tightly rolled up newspapers and made a structure. Jake's group did a very cool pyramid looking thing with a free swinging star floating from the top of the pyramid. One of his teachers plays guitar, and he came home completely enthused about singing in class--Blue Suede Shoes.
About half way into September, I decided I was going to replace the old yucky vinyl tiles in our kitchen. A lot of them were coming up off the floor, and most of them were cracked and damaged. I went and bought some new vinyl tiles, then started in on the removal process. To my dismay,
most pulled easily from the floor because they were completely waterlogged. I had that horrible sinking feeling one gets before bad news hits. When Paul got home, he took one look at what I had started (and I'm sure got the sinking feeling as well) and said we'd need to replace the entire floor--possibly even the studs. The first layer was bad--the wood was completely rotten. The next layer, was the cheapest particle board on the market, was completely disintegrated. Luckily, the next layer wasn't too bad. We laid down the new subfloor, and decided to go with ceramic tile rather than vinyl tiles. Boy, that was a ton of work, but the results are phenomenal, and I can say that we did it ourselves. The best part of all, my husband is still talking to me after this project.
Aside from this 3 week project, Porter and I have been keeping busy. We're working on our letters, he's starting to try and write for himself--we've been sorting M&Ms and other candy to work on our math skills, and we make elaborate projects with construction paper. A few weeks ago it was a big hat from a Costco box. Two weeks ago it was a jack-o-lantern card for his best buddies Chase and Ashley, and last week it was a rocket--with a paper towel roll. He's very creative--this is all in between making clone trooper or stormtrooper helmets out of any and everything.
Well, my internet link keeps timing out, so my pictures are going to go missing for a little bit. I'll try again in the morning. . .
We had some great days at the beach. Jake discovered Boogey boarding and has since taken up surfing. Dad is completely stoked about it. He finally has someone to go out with him. My mother is a little worried about starting him so early. But, I figure everyone needs a passion, and if surfing is his--that is great. There's no better way to stay in shape and find your center than surfing. I'm sure his Aunt Shannon would love to come down and take him out now and then too!
Jake got into GATE seminar--which is the Gifted and Talented Education class. He is loving his teachers--he has 2--and the projects they've done so far have really kept him interested in school. He's always been the "enthusiastic learner" a teacher euphemism for "loud" but he has always loved school. This class has just been icing on the cake for him. The first day of school they did an architecture project where they took tightly rolled up newspapers and made a structure. Jake's group did a very cool pyramid looking thing with a free swinging star floating from the top of the pyramid. One of his teachers plays guitar, and he came home completely enthused about singing in class--Blue Suede Shoes.
About half way into September, I decided I was going to replace the old yucky vinyl tiles in our kitchen. A lot of them were coming up off the floor, and most of them were cracked and damaged. I went and bought some new vinyl tiles, then started in on the removal process. To my dismay,
most pulled easily from the floor because they were completely waterlogged. I had that horrible sinking feeling one gets before bad news hits. When Paul got home, he took one look at what I had started (and I'm sure got the sinking feeling as well) and said we'd need to replace the entire floor--possibly even the studs. The first layer was bad--the wood was completely rotten. The next layer, was the cheapest particle board on the market, was completely disintegrated. Luckily, the next layer wasn't too bad. We laid down the new subfloor, and decided to go with ceramic tile rather than vinyl tiles. Boy, that was a ton of work, but the results are phenomenal, and I can say that we did it ourselves. The best part of all, my husband is still talking to me after this project.Aside from this 3 week project, Porter and I have been keeping busy. We're working on our letters, he's starting to try and write for himself--we've been sorting M&Ms and other candy to work on our math skills, and we make elaborate projects with construction paper. A few weeks ago it was a big hat from a Costco box. Two weeks ago it was a jack-o-lantern card for his best buddies Chase and Ashley, and last week it was a rocket--with a paper towel roll. He's very creative--this is all in between making clone trooper or stormtrooper helmets out of any and everything.
Well, my internet link keeps timing out, so my pictures are going to go missing for a little bit. I'll try again in the morning. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment