My Little Traveler

We sent James home with Nana and Pop-Pop on July 15th. Yep. We sent him on his first road trip right after his 6th birthday. He stayed until July 29th. That is a LONG time for a just-turned-six-year-old. It's also his first real trip away from home. Oh he's stayed with MawMaw and Didi plenty of times but they live near by and I don't think he has ever stayed for a whole week. He was eager to go. What an adventure!

I went away when I was little. I'd go to my cousin's house for a week during the summer. My sister would go with me. But we never got care packages from home. I think I got my first one when I was in college. The university sent out letters to the parents encouraging them to order care packages for their students right before final exams week. James has had a different life experience! The day after he left, I knew I needed to put together something for him. I had to use Google. I packed favorite things from home, a cool t-shirt, a book, candy, toothbrush, hair gel, vitamins...and Treats & Challenges. I created that. I wanted him to have something to open each day he was there. I put candy (of course) and a "challenge" in snack baggies- things like bible verses, count to 50 by 5's, count to 100 by 10's, tell Nana and Pop-Pop his address and do the Gangnam Style dance...just for fun!

We skyped (is that a verb now?) or talked on the phone almost every other day. I think we only missed one day. And when I skyped with him, we've talked for over an hour each time. He got homesick during the first weekend. It broke my heart. Nana said he cried when we hung up from Skype. I cried when I read the text. I knew something was wrong. I knew he was sad. She said he was fine all day until we got on Skype. Ugh. I know that feeling. Chris wanted to buy me a plane ticket to go down there and get him. It broke his hear too. But we took a few deep breaths and knew that he was really ok.

He's had an amazing time though! He now LOVES Legos! I have mommy friends to thank for that. They bought Legos Hero Factoryy sets for him for his birthday. He and Pop-Pop sat out on the back porch and put together TWO Hero Factory packs! He got another set when he went to LEGOLAND!!! How cool is that!?! I went online to see what it was all about and I cried so hard! The videos show all these happy families with little boys and I suddenly missed him terribly.

James went to a Bird of Prey sanctuary, outdoor/lake popular sites around Orlando, the Orlando Science Center, several restaurants and an Orlando Predators game to see his Uncle Mark play arena football. He had a great time! My gosh! Aunt Ruth even got in on the fun! She sent him homemade cookies...blue whale and great white shark cookies! Awesome! He went swimming in the backyard pool and went to a birthday party for a boy his age. The boy's grandmother lives next to Nana and Pop-Pop. Those guys had a great time together. James called him his new best friend.

Before James left, I joked with him that he better not change or grow while he was in Florida. Naturally, he would defy me. :) He graduated from pull-ups! He didn't want to sleep in pull-ups the first night so Nana and Pop-Pop said OK. He did that every night for 14 nights! Amazing! I am so proud! We rewarded him for it. He wanted a sword to go with his ninja costume. You bet I got it for him!

A ninja and his sword!

James also decided to change what he calls Pop-Pop. He has a couple of nicknames now. James calls him G-Pop or Pops. You gotta be pretty tight to get a nickname! And James loved Nana. He called me Nana for a few days after he got home! It was really cute! I can just imagine HOW many times he said, "Nana!".

Nana and Pop-Pop weren't too worn out either. They want to do it again next year! And so does James. :)

Bits and Pieces

There is so much going on right now and I want to document it all so today's post is is formatted in my ever-favorite bullet points. I'm sure not to forget anything when I can think within a list.

• James just completed the Math-U-See Primer. I am not sure if I want to go ahead and buy the Alpha level yet. Until I figure it out, I am printing out worksheets on www.education.com and using those to review and continue learning. James likes mazes so I am printing those plus worksheets for subtraction and telling time. If he progresses well, I will start looking for worksheets on money.
• I absolutely LOVE the All About Reading reading program! I had to buy the Level 1 since James completed the pre-reading level in February. He is continuing to learn the sounds of letters but when he reads them, he tried to guess the word without looking at the individual letters. He does the same thing with math. He tries to figure out the word based on his own knowledge instead of reading the word. He reminds me everyday to color in a star on his progress chart. :)
• Our co-op semester is coming to an end tomorrow. It's been a great year! James has made some really great friends...and so have I. It went by so fast this semester and we will miss seeing our friends every Friday.
• I have taken the bull by the horns and planned my first field trip. We are going to the Morehead Planetarium & Science Center next month. We will being seeing two Planetarium shows: Earth, Moon & Sun and Solar System Odyssey. During our co-op this semester, James was taking an Outerspace class and I thought this would be a great time to go. I still remember visiting the plantetarium when I was in school. This will be James' first trip to the Planetarium.
• No Tech Tuesdays are back!!!! Since discovering Minecraft, James has been obsessed with playing it and watching the Youtube videos of guys who SHOW you how to play it. He has actually spent more time watching the videos and learning about playing than actually playing it. Soooooo, he needed to take a real break from screens. This past Tuesday was our first one and it was the BEST day. We talked more, read more books and had a very nice day. I think it's very freeing to be without the entertainment of the computer, TV  phone and make your own entertainment. He wanted me to read to him ALL the Shutterfly vacation books I have made (there are 6 of them). He ran around the house pretending to be someone. I wasn't sure who exactly. He could have been a Transformer or a Minecraft character. But what I do know is that he was having fun!! He also says "I love you" more.
• The Action Bible is still a HUGE hit! James enjoys storytime every night with Daddy. He grabs his Action Bible and they read. They were reading about Sampson this week. I think James liked that story. The best part is that James is comprehending and remembering the stories. We reading a story last week and Passover was mentioned and I asked him if he remembered what Passover was and he responded, "It's when the Angel of Death came. The people put blood on their door so the Angel would not take their first born.". Wow!!! 
• Minecraft! Nana and Pop-Pop bought the Minecraft gift card as an Easter gift. He LOVED it! Now he is playing more than watching. I like that. Is Minecraft the Ultimate Education Tool?
• With our schedules being so hectic right  now, James is spending a lot of time with Chris at work. He goes with him to make deliveries. James loves being with his Dad. He also spends some time with MawMaw & DiDi each week as well. I don't know what we would do without my parents willingness to help us out on the super busy days. 
• We have made all sorts of friends this semester. Lots of play days at the park, birthday party invitations, and soccer is back in full swing too. We have field day to look forward to and trips to the beach. We get so busy with the day to day schedule that we are ALL looking forward to some family time away from the daily grind. 

Happy Springtime!!! It's here!