The Great Pumpkin

This week Brayden had a family project for school: decorating a paper pumpkin. Unfortunately his preschool does not celebrate holidays (wish I would have known that ahead of time). For this project we were reminded that they do not celebrate holidays and asked for no jack-or-lanterns and to be creative as well. =) Of course, Brayden wanted to put a sCaRy face on it and had a hard time understanding why we couldn't. So I knew I had to get pretty creative so he would enjoy it. I went to the handy dandy google.com and looked up painting techniques for preschoolers. I found a great idea using of all things shaving cream and Elmer's glue (1 part of each) with the result of "puffy paint". I thought it would be fun to try out....shaving cream is always fun. =) I decided to add some yellow and red food coloring to make it orange, then I mixed it all up in a bowl and it was ready to go.
First he painted the background brown with his watercolors.


Then he was ready to apply his "puffy" paint. (He decided he needed to take his shirt off so he wouldn't get it messy.)

If he looks a lil distracted, it's because we were also watching:

***I must say I was a lil disappointed in some of the language in the show that I guess I just overheard before. Brayden is at that age where he is very observant to what he hears...well they said a "naughty word" (stupid) SEVERAL times and he of course had to point it out EVERYTIME.

Here is our final product of The Great Pumpkin

(not quite sure if it looks exactly right or not)

After it had time to dry for several hours, I added some fall leaves to add just a little extra fall decoration.

He was excited while watching the movie because he also got to do this at school today:

Of course he wanted to do it again when we got home, but we're going to wait until Saturday. =)

The Letter Can and the Letter S

This last week, I discovered Brayden apparently has a new LOVE / Obesession...

....it's The Letter Can!!

It's such a simple thing, and I'm sure when his sweet teacher came up with the idea she had no idea the impact it could have on a 4yr old. Well, to Brayden, this last week it was his WORLD. He brought it home on Monday for the first time. In fact, this was the first time I have ever heard of it or seen it. As we walked out of his preschool that day he walked out with a lil extra pep to his step. (No exaggeration!) He was so excited about it, he had to tell everyone that we walked past "I'm the letter can helper." The letter of the week was the letter S....so we discussed some possible things he could take in to show his friends. One of us thought of Seashells and then I remembered the Dollar Tree has packages of Seashells. I thought it would be fun for him to take one in for everyone, plus a good excuse to check out their cheap Halloween decorations. While we were there we picked up our Seashells and I also noticed some Spider rings so we picked those up too. He was so excited to take them both in the next day.

On to Tuesday, when I picked him up guess what the first thing was he wanted to show me...The Letter Can. Yep, he chose The Letter Can as his helper job AGAIN. And he was just as excited about it. We had to think of another S item to put in the can. The day before we also picked up some cute Snowflakes at the Dollar Store so I thought we could use one of those, plus we could make a quick stop into Hobby Lobby for their half off Stickers. We picked up some Snowflake Stickers. He was excited to give a Snowflake Sticker to each of his friends. So we came up with this:

We also talked about how he could tell his friends that his Aunt GiGi lives in Colorado where it snows all the time.

Well since this was two nights in a row, I also tried to have the discussion with him that he might want to share this job and let another friend have it the next night. OMGoodness, you would have thought something TERRIBLY traggic had happened to him. He instantly dropped to the floor and started BAWLING his eyes out, I had never seen him act like this before. I think he was truly heartbroken over the possibility of not bringing this "paint can" home. When he finally composed himself, he managed to tell me with an attitude "Well if I can't be the letter can helper than I'm not going to be ANY helper." I told him that would be a really sad choice and I would hate to hear that choice was made when I picked him up...So fast forward to Wednesday pickup. Before he could even say the words "Hi mommy" he said in a very determined toned "Come here mommy and look at this helper chart!" So I followed him to the lil chart and he says "Do you see my name anywhere mommy? (as I looked) "Nope! You don't see Brayden. I didnt do a job today because I couldn't be the letter can helper." Apparently, he was so distraught because two other friends chose to be the letter can helper before him and he couldn't take it home. So just like he promised, if he couldn't have his way, then he chose to not have a helper job at all. Absolutely NO compromising.

On our way home, I tried to comfort him and told him I had another fun project planned for him to take in the next day for his show and tell. We were going to go on an "S hunt". But first he had to write an "I'm sorry" letter to his teachers for his sad choices from earlier in the day:


He wrote his name all on his own and drew himself...isn't it cute?!?

After he finished that, I pulled out some old magazines that I started saving. Then we started our "S hunt." Thankfully, he had a blast!! I cut out a big S from a posterboard. Then I let him cut out S's and other pictures of items that start with an S from the magazines. We glued all his things down and then we had a fun little discussion about all the S words we found. Here is our finished project:

He practiced all night and on our way to school in the morning recalling all of his S objects so he could share with his friends. I think it was almost as exciting as the Letter Can for him.

On to Thursday pickup...I'll let you take a wild guess as to what he had in his cubby on Thursday when I picked him up....

The Letter Can

This time I was fresh out of ideas and time for multiple S items so I thought we would just find something in his room. He decided on his Snake and music Shaker.

I can't wait to find out this week if the letter can is still going to be as big of a deal to him. If so, I think we might be making a trip to Lowe's to create our own home letter can. =)

Lots of Rain = NO Pumpkin Patch

Tonight I thought I would be posting some fun pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch with Brayden's lil preschool class. We were both so excited to go! He was thrilled to get a chance to ride the bus, go on a hayride, feed some animals, and pick his own lil pumpkin. I was just as exctited to go along with them and capture every lil moment with my camera. Unfortunately, as we walked in the door the very first thing they told us was the fieldtrip had to be cancelled...there was too much rain. Instant disappointment for both of us. They tried to assure us that they were going to reschedule and the kids would still get to go...but today was the day I took off work to go, not a "later" day. Surprisingly all the kids seemed to take the news really good (probably better than me). I ended up staying in Brayden's classroom to watch their calendar routine and eat snack. The whole time I am thinking how can I make this better for him, so he won't be disappointed. I thought of a couple of ideas then I decided it was time to go on and try to make the most of my day off. He of course, wasn't wanting me to go. He wanted me to stay there with him cause he was "going to miss me." I was touched and part of me wanted to just scoop him up and bring him home with me, but I knew he needed to stay and I needed to finally get some things done around the house without distractions.

So in an attempt to make everything better, after I picked him up in the afternoon the first thing we did was to go to a "mini pumpkin patch." Special thanks to Market Street, a specialized grocery store around the corner from us who had lots of different kinds of pumpkins for us to see.

He finally decided on this one:

Then once we got home he painted his own pumpkin out of newspaper and a brown paper bag. This is an old simple Halloween craft that I remember doing way back when I was in elementary school. He had a ton of fun painting and creating his own pumpkin. We also made some super cute "ghost cookies" from an idea that I saw on this blog.

It is very simple! Dip a NutterButter cookie into white bark, then we used black icing for the eyes. He then insisted that they also needed a nose or mouth (which I guess he was probably right) so he added those on his own:

He thought they were D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. and the perfect bedtime snack. (Aren't his new halloween pjs just the cutest?! I picked those up at Walmart today for only $6. He was SO excited about them!)

Since we still have plenty of this fall treat leftover from yesterday, I only melted one square of the bark. It was perfect for us, we were able to cover about 3 cookies...so no leftovers. Now we can save the rest of the ingredients for another gloomy day that needs some joy. =)

First Week of Pre-K

Well so far Brayden has concquered his first week of Pre-K. He hasn't been the most "excited" about it each day, but he is at least tollerating it. I think overall as much as he doesn't want to admit it, he is having a great time. (I discovered I can even watch him on my iPhone so everytime I get to peek in on him, he seems to be enjoying himself.) The only major problem we have encountered is evenings are still a lil bit of a transitioning period. It seems as though he is using up all of his "sweetness" during the day and seems to be quite cranky when I pick him up. I'm sure its from pure exhaustion (even though he is the first one to fall asleep at naptime and last to wake up), but I am hoping to find a way to cope with his "crakiness".
**Just a quick side note on his "silly glasses" in his picture above: I know he looks pretty goofy but he thinks he HAS to wear these if he is doing any kind of "reading". I think he gets the idea from my mom always having to grab her glasses anytime she needs to see/read something up close. =)

Monday morning didn't go quite as smoothly as I had anticipated. My mom was so sweet she spent the night with us the night before so that he would be able to sleep in a little bit longer. This way he could go in a lil later rather than me dropping him off at the usual 6:45am. When she went to wake him up about 7:30, he was wondering why he was getting woke up. When she tried to explain it was time to go to school, he insisted that it was too early for school. Then he wondered where I was and she had to break the news to him that I had already left to go to school. Well then he was just beside himself that his mommy left without him and how could she do that. After he got over all that, she was able to get him dressed and take him to school. He even let my mom leave him there without any tears. =) Then in the afternoon, I tried to pick him up fairly early, so I left school about 4:45 to go pick him up. He was in an okay mood...didn't necessarily have anything to exciting to say about it. He was just more concerned as to whether or not gradma would still be at home waiting for us. He was excited to hear that she would be. My mom made a wonderful dinner for us and then she headed back home and we headed off to bed, early. I think we were both totally exhausted!!

Tuesday morning when I went to wake him up he replied "Where are we going?" I excitedly replied "We're going to school." He then replied "School?!? I just went there yesteryear!! (Everything referring to the past is yesteryear instead of last year or yesterday.) Then he tried pleading to me to stay home. He said he would rather go shopping at Wal-Mart than go to school. After I got him dressed kicking and screaming, he finally calmed down on our way. Then once he got there, he was excited to see his best lil girlfriend waiting to eat breakfast with him. Thankfully I was able to leave without him having any tears.

Wednesday when I picked him up, I was greeted with a "What took you so long mommy?" (I took advantage of having a lil extra worktime at school, and unfortunately he was one of the last ones picked up in his group.) On our way out to the car, I asked him if he had fun, he gave a monotoned "yes". So I replied with the obvious "what did you have fun doing?" same monotoned reply "everything." Once we got in the car I tried to get him excited by telling him that we were going to work on his "homework" tonight. He replied "Homework?!? Homework is boring!! I just want you to do it all for me mommy." Excuse me?!? Already a 4 yr old thinking "homework is boring?!!" I thought I would have to wait at least 3 or 4 years before I started hearing that excuse! With the "mood" he was in, I decided to move on. So trying my best to have a conversation with Mr. Cranky I asked him if he learned anything today. One word response, "yes"...Pulling teeth, I asked him what he learned today. He replied "It's a secret." I said "it's a secret?" He then replied, "yes and its inappropriate." I'm thinking "inappropriate?!" He said that it was "inappropriate because it's a secret for you mommy." Hmmm....I guess that is an ok answer for now.

I tried out a few screencaps as I replayed his day and it actually worked. =)



Thursday was supposed to be his first "splash day" so he was actually really excited when he woke up. He even dressed himself in his swimsuit, swimshirt and swimshoes. Unfortunately it was a lil cloudy and a possible chance of rain so I wasn't for sure if he would even get to have it. I checked during my lunchtime, and saw that they weren't able to go. I was afraid that he would be so disappointed so I picked him up early with his favorite Sonic slush "green apple." He was in a MUCH better mood. We were able to go home for a lil over an hour before I had to head back up to school for our First Grade Information Night. I first dropped Brayden off for a playdate and he had a great time. Once we got home we had to work on his first "family homework project". It was an "All About Me" oversized paper doll. Here is our final product:

Friday was super exciting for him because he did get to go to the splashpad, but unfortunately after about 10 minutes or so of playing he fell down. (I think because his water shoes are about 2 sizes to big-purchased already for next summer.) Being the drama king he is, he stayed right by the teachers side the rest of the time and watched the other kids play.

(He is right in the middle of the pic.)
(Still wearing his goggles)
He also got his "Pride Folder" today and I was thankful to see he had been a good boy all week. They made a note that his favorite things of the week were dramatic play and playing with playdough (something we never do at home). Under the section "needs to practice"- he thankfully didn't have anything. It's great to know he behaves well for others. =)



By the end of the week, I can tell that each day has gotten a little easier for him. My only hope that it continues to get easier and easier. I am excited for all the new things he will be learning. A couple of simple little things sort of touched me this week. This week he had a special "helper" job of being the "weatherman" which he just loved. I also thought it was cute that he got his first lil Scholastic Book Order, just before I left my school I laid mine out on my desk to pass out to my students on Monday. Both things (helper jobs and scholastic book orders) are things that I do in my classroom, which just makes the realization of he is "growing up" that much more real for me. I am sure as the year goes along I will find MANY more similarities.

Meet the Teacher: Pre-K Style

Well it is so hard to believe my lil guy is officially going to pre-K this year! It seems like just yesterday he was this precious lil guyWhere has the time gone?!? The sad thing, I'm already thinking "Wow, this time next year he'll be starting Kindergarten and we'll be going to the same school!!" CrAzY!!!

This past Friday night was Brayden's first "Meet the Teacher". Luckily he was able to go to his "school" for about a month from mid April to mid May to help him get adjusted. I was hoping it would help get him excited for August but NO not with this stubborn lil guy. Let me just start off by telling you how much he was DREADING going to meet his new teacher and his first day of school for that matter. Over the last couple of weeks I had been trying to "prepare" him since summer was coming to a quick closure. Each time he ADAMANTLY demanded that he would NOT be going to school. I tried to get him excited by telling him that he was giong to "learn" so many new things. Well, that didn't go over so well. That lil stinker is such a fast thinker without hesitation he suggested that I could just have a teacher come to our house so he could learn all day while mommy was at school. So I am thinking, a Pre-K private teacher?!? Then I had to break the news to him, that mommy doesn't quite have the money for that one! So I tried turning it back to all of the positive things his school has to offer but of course he was able to turn my positives into a ton of excuses. He came up with a few good ones: "They make me take naps and I DON'T like naps!" (valid excuse-I'm not a fan of him taking them either because he wont go to bed before 12 or 1am if he does.) "I have to wake up too early and I like sleeping in." (VERY valid-neither of us are morning people) "I don't like the food, so my tummy gets hungry" (Valid for him, but unfortunately he's gotta learn to get over this one. There is more to eat in the world than grilled cheese, popcorn shrimp, rice, muffins and oatmeal-his ONLY foods of choice this summer). I gave up trying to convince him how exciting his school will be, I thought he's just going to have to wait and experience it himself...that is if I can just get him there. =)
Luckily both of my parents were in town and my dad planned on taking him back to their house to spend the night, so I was able to use that as good bribe. "If you want to go with papa you have to first go meet your new teacher." After several minutes of convincing he realized he didn't have a choice in this one. So off we were. Once we got there, and checked in a strange "shyness" overcame him...all of his teachers that were so excited to see him and that he loved before, for some reason he could barely give them a hello. In fact, he stuck to my mom like a magnet, he would not let go of her hand! As we checked in, we were excited to hear the music teacher, Mr. Austin is also going to be his classroom's late afternoon/evening teacher. Brayden loves him and he tries to mimic everything Mr. Austin does with his own guitar. Plus I think it will be great for Brayden to be around a "male figure" on a daily basis. We also learned they have a few new fun features that they didn't have before. He will get to participate in a lil Gymnastics class every Tuesday and Thursday through Sept is splash park day.It was also so exciting for me to see all the lil things he will be learning: they will have calendar helpers, checking the weather, show and tell, cooking projects, list goes on and on. I actually found it a lil touching because I could relate to the things his teacher was mentioning they would be learning...I could see it truly is the basis of kindergarten. Next on our tour was meeting the gymnastics instructors. Unfortunately, his strange "shyness" was still in place so he wouldn't show off any of his own fancy tumbling moves. They were super nice and tried pulling out all the tricks, but Brayden had his mind set up that he wasn't going to do it. I'm sure by next week, he'll want to be the first one in line to participate. One of the best things of the evening, he met a new, sweet lil friend that will be in his class. Guess what his name is!!...Brayden. Believe it or not, it is even spelled the exact same way. How strange is that?!? As soon as we got in the car, the first thing I said was "Well so much for the uniquness on naming him Brayden." My mom laughed, she said that is the EXACT same thing the other Brayden's dad said. What are the odds?!? Brayden did get to play with the "other" Brayden on the playground for a lil bit. He was finally able to break away from my mom for a few minutes. Then of course we couldn't leave before we made a stop in the cafeteria to have some juice and cookies. Thankfully, by the end of our hour and half visit, he decided school wasn't so bad and he might go back on the 24th. =) They have a "social" this Friday, not quite sure what all that entails but hopefully we'll be able to make it. I also have my Meet the Teacher on Friday night so it will be a busy evening.

Here he is grasping on to my mom's hand, a lil hesitant to go inside.


He would never take an eye off one of us even as he played outside. I guess he thought or was afraid we might leave him there. =)

In the cafeteria eating a cookie (no smile of course, cause he's not happy to be there.) If you look closely in the back lefthand corner you can see my dad getting his 2nds or maybe even thirds? =)
Of course, next week I'll let you know how his first day/week goes. With his school, they offer a great program where my family can watch him on the internet all day long to really see how he is doing. We can even review it in the evening to see what happened earlier in the day. It's great because he won't be able to put anything past me. =)