Week Of The Young Child- Day 4, Crazy Dress Day

Caiden had so much fun being creative and picking out his own crazy clothes. I loved what he came up with!

Yellow Shirt inside out, clip on tie, one long sock, one short sock, one red croc and one black sand shoe, rolled up sweat pants and to complete the ensemble.... A pirate had and eye patch.

He looked horribly awesome!!!

This outfit was great for school, but when I had to take him over to the hospital for a boo-boo afterwards, I was quick to let people know he doesn't ALWAYS dress so crazy... Caiden wasn't shy about telling people... "I look horrible, huh?"

Later in the afternoon, each class made a treat to share with the other classes.

Caiden's class made little appetizers that had chips with beans, cheese and lettuce and tomatoes.

Most of the other foods were traditional to this area: fry bread; blue corn tamales, blue mush, chili stew, chili/cheese tortillas and taco salad. The kids had a great time sampling all the different foods.Caiden didn't enjoy how spicy hot a lot of the foods were though. Poor little guy!

Week Of The Young Child- Day 3, Class Field Day

The field day consisted of about 8 events. I was substituting in another class and so I wasn't able to get pictures of most of the events that Caiden participated in. I was a little bummed about that, but hopefully the teachers will share some of the ones that they took.

The events consisted of: a spoon race, a stick horse race, a sack race, a watermelon eating contest, a cup-cake walk, a tricycle race, a waterbaloon toss and an obstacle course.

Each class had an assigned team color, I didn't get the memo and took Caiden in a blue shirt instead of orange.... (I felt so bad.)

I said that I was just letting him express his individuality! Dare to be different, right?

Caiden did really well at the watermelon eating contest... even though he really didn't like it!

Check out that action shot of Caiden flying off the last block of the obstacle course. He went through it so fast!

He's A WINNER!!!

His prize was a very yummy cup-cake.

(This should be a dental health poster: And this is what happens when you eat to many sweets!)

Week Of The Young Child- Day 2, Pajama Day and Sock Hop

For Pajama Day Caiden chose to wear his brightest jammies that had Sponge-Bob plastered on them.
Caiden had so much fun dancing with his daddy. Before we could get him off the steps, Scott and I had to go out and dance.... We chose to go old school and do the electric slide. We all had so much fun.
I know I have said it before, but I have to say this again.
I am so grateful that Caiden has a daddy that takes the time to be involved in his school activities.
This was quite a fun day. Once the kids saw some of the grown-ups dancing they started to get more comfortable and came out to join the fun.

The girls had no problem getting out on the dance floor....

The boys on the other hand were holding down the concrete stairs.

Caiden didn't want to dance with me... This is me begging him to dance... It didn't ever work, not even with a bribe.

Caiden loves his teacher, in this picture he was telling her good-bye.
With 112 kids around, I was bound to get a random body part in my picture... Nice, huh?

Week Of The Young Child- Day 1, Community Parade

I will journal about this parade when I have some time in the next couple of days. Check back to find out what fun things this week is all about.

~BOOKIN IT WITH THE BOOK IT PROGRAM~

The BookIt program is a literacy program that allows children the opportunity to earn a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. They earn their pizza by reading at home and filling out pencil shaped papers that list the titles of the books they have read.
I have never heard of preschool programs participating in the Bookit program.
I was pretty excited about Caiden being able to do this. I remember doing the program when I was just a kid.
It wasn't hard for Caiden to earn credits for reading books because we read to him without fail nightly and also whenever he brings us a book to read to him just for fun. Morgan and Jensen even read a few books to him. He loves seeing all of his progress up on the board at school. He has around 50 books listed up on the class wall. He has half of all the books that have been read for the entire class. (I have to say that I am very proud of that!)
This is the last week and so we have been working on getting a few more for him to take before the program ends.
When I was up in Utah I was able to find almost 20 Berenstain-Bear books and about 10 RugRat books at a thrift store. Those are his favorites right now so it was fun to see him so excited to read with us every night.





Caiden earned his first certificate and we cashed it in for him that night. He was excited to be able to order his very own pizza and 'pay' for it himself.
When he got the box he was totally in Awe over how cute and tiny his little pizza was. It was adorable to see him so excited over his accomplishment.

~SNORKEL PRACTICE~

Caiden has been preparing for his upcoming vacation that he will be taking in a few days. The first day he got his snorkeling gear he wanted to try it out immediately. He asked if he could practice in the bathtub in full wetsuit, fins, snorkel and mask. He wasn't quite sure if he really wanted to put his face in the water. I had to talk with him and help him to gain confidence and trust that he would really be able to breath under water. I put some of his cars in the water that I knew would sink to give him something to look at.
He went under for the first time and was breathing very fast and nervously, with each try his breathing slowed and you could see him relax. After a couple of minutes he popped his face out of the water and exclaimed, "HEY, EVERYTHING LOOKS SO DIFFERENT UNDER WATER!" He was noticing that the size and distance of objects changes in the water. (33% to be exact) His excitement was evident and he wanted to call his daddy and tell him what he was doing in the bathtub.

Because both Scott and I dive, he has been raised to be excited about water and that there is a whole other world that waits to be explored. He asked if he could learn to dive with us... Of course the answer had to be NO, but only because of the laws and regulation that govern certification. He will be able to be a certified diver in as little as 6 years... I can't wait! We took him to the base pool and put him in the water. It took a couple of minutes for him to get comfortable. (It is a lot different than a bathtub.) We noticed that with fins he kicks more like he is riding a bike than swimming, but that will come with practice. He is able to propel himself to where he wants to go and keeps his face in the water for minutes at a time, so that is a great place to start.
We have arranged two snorkeling trips for him. His first trip will be in Grand Cayman. He will be snorkeling with stingrays in a shallow lagoon for one portion and then it is off to the reef into deep water. The next day will be in Roatan, Honduras at two different reefs. This will be an adventure of a lifetime that I hope he will remember forever.
You can't hear it in this video, but Caiden is so comfortable that he is actually humming songs through his snorkel.

Caiden, I am very proud of you and I can't wait to give you the gift of the ocean and all of beautiful things that our Heavenly Father has created. You are a blessing and a joy to have as a son. Please know that you are so special to your mommy and daddy.
♥ Mom

A Childs Prayer

Caiden has been working on saying prayers without help. The content of the prayers can be quite funny and unexpected. Tonight as we said bed-time prayer, this is what Caiden said, "Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day, for our home, for our family and for our food...(I thought this is where he would jump into the "Please bless part, but I was wrong.) Thank you for our light switches and thank you for making electricity, thank you for my Jesus lamp and thank you that we can punch walls...REALLY HARD!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

So I don't even know where to go with that. Does he think that it is OK to punch walls? Or, is he just thankful to have hands that he can do things with? I don't know. All I could do was giggle to myself.
I do know that I am happy to have such a sweet little boy who loves scripture study and loves saying prayers and thanking his Heavenly Father for 'his' blessings. (Even if I find 'his' blessings to be, well...a bit odd.

Caiden, We don't punch walls!

Easter Time Fun

EASTER BUNNY FUN
Caiden has had another wonderful experience at his school.
On April 1st, the program put together a fun day for all of the children.
In Caiden's class they enjoyed making crafts and eating lots of goodies that were provided by the parents. Scott was able to attend the activities with Caiden and was able to capture some very fun pictures. I am beyond grateful for Scott's willingness and ability to take the day off to be with our precious little boy. I was substituting in a different classroom that day and although our class had a very good day, my heart was with Caiden and Scott in the other class.
They had an Easter egg hunt, and a visit from the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny gave them a bag filled with yummy but healthy goodies.

Kadziima Class- (teachers are Ms. Juana Charlie and Marietta Juanico)
I can't begin to express my respect and love for these two wonderful women.
They put so much time and effort into making each day important, fun and fulfilling for each child. They make going to school a joy for Caiden. I love that they provide consistent structure, nurturing and discipline to Caiden.

The day wasn't all play. They had circle time and reviewed the things that they had been learning throughout the week. The letter that they were focusing on this week was the letter "N" and "X". During circle time they take roll, say morning prayer (in Keres), give out daily chores, review the calendar (week day, month, date and year) and review site words that go along with the chapter that they are focusing on.



Caiden and his friends getting ready for the Egg hunt. They were going to hold it outside but we have been having fierce winds that blow sand in your face and chill you to the bone.
Instead they held it in the multi-purpose room. They hid the eggs under different bolsters, wedges and mats that they use for physical therapy and free play. I liked that all the children had a set number of eggs that they could find. It kept some of the older kids from getting aggressive and allowed the little kids to participate and have a fabulous time.

Kadziima Class with the Easter Bunny. Caiden looks like he had an awesome day.

At the party, Caiden really, really, really loved his cupcake. That face says to me, "I have had way to much sugar and am suffering from a sugar rush!"

During free play, Caiden played in the home living area. He loves dressing up!

Silly Caiden with his paper bag bunny's eyes.

The craft that they made was a paper bag bunny that was filled with newspaper. Scott enjoyed watching Caiden hard at work. It was an excellent day for us all.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

On Saturday April 4th, We headed off to the community Easter egg hunt.

We had a fun day but because of the horrible wind, we didn't stay very long.

Caiden found a few eggs, ate a few pieces of candy and saw many off his friends from school.

They had a different hunt for each age group. During the adult hunt, Scott went running up the hill and our digital camera fell out of his pocket(he didn't know that it had fallen out). It took the fun out of our hunt!!! Thankfully somebody found it and returned it to us.

We were happy to be together and enjoy making new memories with our sweet little Caiden.

Caiden enjoyed talking to the Easter Bunny. I am so glad that he isn't afraid of people in costume. It makes taking him to these events fun and enjoyable!