Week 8 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  We had picked up the majority of Jackson's equipment for lacrosse at a swap but a stick was still on our list.  It was a very big decision for him to switch from baseball to lacrosse but we made sure to know that whatever was going to make him happy was the right decision (even if that did not include having Michael coach him).  We went to LaxWorld to pick out a stick and get some balls that he could practice with.  Upon returning home, he immediately wanted to go out and practice. He even left a message for his cousins asking for some help as we are a little over our heads.

Connor:  It has been really hard to find something for breakfast that Connor will eat without prolonged delay.  We've tried all kinds of things to no avail.  I think that it is a situation where he just isn't really a big fan of breakfast. He will routinely eat all of his lunch, which Jackson rarely does. We had been giving the boys some "baby" food and recently started to reduce it.  As a result, Connor was left with minimal items that he would eat UNTIL he agreed to tried bagels.  And, I'd have to say we have a winner.  The bagel has to have butter, which makes absolute sense, but it's like breakfast  has totally changed. We are so happy!!!

Week 7 of 52 in 2017

Jackson and Connor:  I had picked up sunglasses from Target and decided on those as Valentine's for the class. We had discussed making homemade tags and attaching the tag with a ribbon.  Words cannot express how proud I am of the boys for their general thoughtfulness related to this task.  Each of the numerous sticker on their tags was selected especially for the recipient among the large number of Valentines sticker sheets we had. After the tags were made, there were more thoughtful decisions related to the color of sunglasses for each classmate and the ribbon.  It was a great display that boys can and do enjoy crafting.

Week 6 of 52

Jackson:  In his continuing efforts to woo Adelaide, Jackson made her a special Valentine.  He was adamant about bringing it to school on Friday and we didn't discuss how he probably should have not done it in front of people because he did and he was crushed.  An additional note that asked her if she liked it was intercepted by some of the boys in her class and returned to Jackson with a negative note. The boys had a play date on Friday after school so I struggled to get the whole story but we discussed that it was so brave of him to do this and that it was probably the boys that wrote the negative note as Adelaide couldn't be any sweeter and would never have done that. He seemed to feel better after we chatted.

I know that the purpose of this is to do just one but I couldn't forget that this boy he fell hard for indoor soccer.  It was The Force's last game and a victory which secured them the indoor soccer championship and an undefeated season.  His enthusiasm either on the field or cheering on his team did not go unnoticed.  He was encouraging his team and louder than his coaches and his directions were accurate as he's truly embraced the game.

Connor:  He started off the season with the Force with a hat trick game and a lot of confidence.  His confidence remained throughout the season and he confirmed many times that he liked indoor soccer a lot more than outdoor.  He was aggressive on the field and was rewarded with an additional goal and a lot of assists.  There were a lot of games that he was in the midst of scoring more goals.  His enthusiasm for the game grew although he is definitely ready for baseball season to start.

Week 5 of 52

Jackson:  Jackson had a great week with a lot highs so picking one was hard but I'm going to go with something that really put a smile on his face this week despite him scoring 2 goals in his soccer game today and having a fun field trip to the Aquarium.  He has struggled with making friends and has hinted that he doesn't think that he has any friends in school.  We've done our best to reassure him that he does but he reminded me just last week about a kid from his Kindergarten class who told him he had no friends. This week, Jackson confided in a girl from his class about how he loved Adelaide. She approached Adelaide with this information and she responded that she loved him too.  I'm not so trusting of this girl and think that it could have been an attempt to poke fun at him so Adelaide's response couldn't have come at a better time. He was so shy about it that he had Connor tell me what was said.

Connor:  Connor has a lot of issues with jealousy.  It was on FULL display this week. The majority of what was causing his issues was that I was going to be a chaperone for Jackson's class.  He was not very happy about this.  Things worked out so that a portion of Connor's class joined the bus with Jackson's class and he was part of the group.  We were able to sit together on the bus on the way down and back and ran into him a couple of times during the day.  He was so happy to have that little bit of my time that day and knowing that I could help his class during their Valentines party turned his mood around very quickly.