Double Chocolate

When Connor found a recipe for chocolate cake in his cookbook, he HAD to make it. With a little supervision and guidance, he did almost all of it himself, from scratch. The only thing I did was to frost the vertical sides of the completed cake.


He was so proud, and it was delicious!

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

Connor has taken a sudden interest in helping around the house. He loaded the washer, folded laundry, vacuumed the car, and helped me clean out the cupboard above the fridge, which I can't reach very well myself.

I wonder how long this phase will last? He certainly won't fit in the cupboard much longer.

Up in the Ranks

Connor earned his Tiger Cub badge last night, in a ceremony held at the Super Slide Amusement Park. As part of their advancement, the boys had their faces painted to signify the tiger.


Most of the boys liked getting their faces painted; however, Connor wasn't too happy about it.


Then they exchanged their orange Tiger scarves for they yellow scarf of the next rank: Wolf.


Dylan also earned two Webelos badges.

After the formal ceremony of the meeting, we all headed to the rides - Super Fun at the Super Slide!

Train Bridge

The 4th graders at Northridge presented their final projects of the year today. The cafeteria was packed with parents to view the projects of over 100 students. They were supposed to choose something to do with North Dakota history, and there were many great projects, some obviously more student-constructed than others.

Dylan chose the original Northern Pacific bridge across the Missouri at Bismarck. It took him over two weeks and lots of work to research and construct. He was pleased with the final product.

Unfortunately, after we got it to school today, another child's project accidentally fell on Dylan's, breaking up most of the popsicle stick bridge. He had to hot-glue it back together this afternoon, but it turned out just fine in the end, and we were quite proud of him.

Burn Notice Season 3

Burn Notice, one of the HOTTEST shows on television, returns for its third season June 4 on USA.

In the meantime, here's a 1 minute teaser.

LOVE IT.

Band Night Parade

Whew! Made it through the Band Night Parade again. We had over 180 dancers in our unit, and the music worked great with a generator this year. I saw many in the crowd jamming along to "On The Dark Side," and I think Just For Kix made a big impact with such a large group.

The kids had a great time ("Look at me - I'm in a parade!") despite the cool temps. What a great night!

4th Grade Music

Tonight was Dylan's music "demonstration" at Northridge. Not quite a formal music program, they performed some songs of their choice and clapped some of the rhythms they are working on in music class.


The first song was a "Welcome Song" that they sing to start each music class. After singing to each other, they sang it with a family member.


They demonstrated a simple dance to "Yankee Doodle" and brought up a family member to join in. Dylan chose Connor, and they both excelled at the rhythms and movement, making my heart swell with pride.

The whole thing was no more than 30 minutes, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Three Little Pigs

Link

FLASHBACK: Here's a video I took a year ago. At the end of third grade, the kids in Dylan's class were paired up to present readings of alternate versions of fairy tales. Dylan and his friend Connor presented "Three Little Pigs" in class, and I had them do it again at home so I could take this video.

My favorite parts are when Connor grins and drops character to remember his line, and the way Dylan silently mouths Connor's lines.

Dylan has changed so much since this video was taken! Where has this little boy gone??