Visiting the B Boys

We went over to Sam and Noah's house this afternoon so Chris could play with his buddies while I visited with my friend, Debbie. After the boys got their crazies out, the little Beznovsky boys woke up and hung out with us too. Ari and Asher are getting so big! And Asher was crawling around like crazy, trying to chase after Christopher. Here they are together...

And here is Ari eating a very large wooden fork!

Plane Old Fun

Planes... The past week has been all about planes. At school. At home. He has made multiple planes now at school out of recycled materials they have in their art area. And at home he still flies his jumbo plane he got for his third birthday. Even today, in the 95 degree sun, Chris was flying said plane in the backyard...

And as you can see by the look on his face, he really gets into it!

I also took some non-plane-flying pictures of Chris (and our furry kid too).

A Somewhat Girlie Day

Today, Christopher was surrounded by girls... lots and lots of girls...

In the morning, the Kansas City Ballet was having what they call "Free Dance Day" at their rehearsal studio downtown called the Bolender Center. There were classes and performances throughout the day for people of all ages. We decided to check it out the creative movement class that was for 3 to 5 year olds. While it was probably a little young for Chris, he still enjoyed it nonetheless (except for when they played "Hakuna Matata" but that's a whole other story!). He was just happy to be in an actual dance studio that the KC Ballet uses to practice! Here he is at the barre and enjoying the class...

He even wanted to take his picture with an actual ballerina...

Later in the day, Christopher helped his dear friend Olivia celebrate her 5th birthday. It was a Little Mermaid pool party, and look at who showed up at the party!

Chris joined the girls for some mermaid fun...

Most importantly, though, Chris helped Olivia celebrate her special day. I love watching these two play together and grow up together!

And of course who could resist little brother Elliot's adorable smile!

Now, you might be wondering if there was just too much girlie stuff going on for Chris today. While he is up for almost everything, he did need to take a moment in between ballet and mermaids to assume the persona of Darth Vader.

Well, the costume was as close as we could get!

What else--airplanes!

On our way to school this morning, Chris and I were talking about the things he likes in his new classroom and he talked quite a bit about the fun materials in the art corner. Then Chris told me, "Mommy, I have a great idea in my mind." Now, he didn't provide me any details beyond that but he did say he was going to make something today in the art area. Well, when I picked him up from school, Ms. Rommel told me that Christopher had inspired the entire class to make airplanes! (Of course!). Chris made a concorde by looking at an airplane book and then all of the boys and one or two girls followed suit. They even built a hangar and airport for the planes. We are so proud of our boy for sharing his extensive knowledge of airplanes with his new friends!

Another thing Chris was way into today was my new set of boxing gloves. That's right, I took my first Title Boxing kickboxing class. It was super fun and Chris could not wait to try on the gloves himself. Here he is getting ready to practice his jabs and crosses...

School and After School Fun

Week one of Christopher's school is winding down and so far, so good! After I picked him up from school that first day, he would not stop raving about all the fun things they did in his classroom. As he told me what they worked on and what they had in his room, my teacher self was very very happy. Each day he has said that he enjoys school and loves his teachers. We couldn't ask for more! Of course, this whole five-days-a-week thing is definitely making our little man a little tired, but that is part of the deal. Last night his head hit the pillow at 6:55 and he didn't wake up until 6:20!

Just because school has started, doesn't mean we still can't have some crazy fun in the afternoon. Yesterday, we had some fun with some of the remaining science experiments he received in the kits from his birthday. Here he is tie-dying some milk with food coloring and soaping water...

We also did the infamous "Mentos in a two liter soda bottle" experiment in the back yard. I wasn't able to get a picture or video but let's just say that we had a 10 foot geyser of soda shooting off all over the grass!

Zoom zoom

Forgot to post this one last week... On Friday, we went over to Olivia and Elliot's house to play in the afternoon. When Mr. Matt got home from work, he let Chris sit in the passenger seat of his convertible. Chris thought this was the coolest thing! Now he wants Daddy to get a convertible...

Healthy for Life

Okay, it's been awhile but now that I've had some time... Healthy for Life is back! Check it out by clicking on the link to the left.

First day of school!

It's that time of year again! Christopher was off to his first day of PreK at Pembroke Hill this morning. After about ten minutes of saying how nervous he was, Chris then realized how excited he was and from that point on, he was bouncing off the walls all the way to his classroom.

He did say he was going to miss us, especially Kasey Moe.

Drop off at his school was so busy that we had to park over in Loose Park and walk. We weren't the only ones but we're going to have to figure out drop off timing at his new place! Here he is in front of his cubby and with his new teacher, Ms. Rommell...

We are so proud of our little man and will let you all know how the first day went!

Planes!

Chris has now officially seen his first kids movie at a theater! We joined his friend Nate and Nate's sister Molly at the AMC in Olathe to see "Planes." Obviously, both boys brought their own planes to hold during the movie and after it was over, they were reenacting the movie in front of the theater, running around flying their planes everywhere. It was a great time! The movie was okay (nothing compared to "Cars") but Chris and Nate loved it. When it was done, Christopher's first comment was "Mommy we have to get that movie on DVD!" Christmas is coming...

Stop by and say hi

This morning, Christopher got a chance to sneak a peak at his new classroom and meet some of his friends that will be in his class! Since he had already been in the classroom over the summer, Chris looked like he felt very comfortable and at one point, he said, "Mommy come with me. I want to show you around my classroom." And later he wanted to show me "his" playground! Anyway, it was nice for him to have a chance to play with some of the (amazing) toys and materials in his room. We met several of the kids and I chatted with the moms that were there. Everyone seems really nice and we are looking forward to a wonderful year! It also seems that Chris will be the oldest child in his class. Here he is driving a "bus" on the playground. He kept trying to get me to ride in the back but I didn't think we would get very far!

Art Day

If you know Christopher, you know that sitting down in one spot and working on an art project is not usually his first choice in activities. Well, apparently today it was. We brought several shells home with us from Shelter Island that would be good for painting (I used to do this--or maybe color them?--when we would go down the shore). He was very busy and came up with some really cool designs...

While he was at it, Chris wanted to make a butterfly, obviously inspired by our Powell Gardens trip from yesterday. I folded a paper in half and drew a wing design which he then cut out (beautifully, I might add!) and proceeded to color it so it would be symmetrical. Here is his butterfly...

After he made the butterfly, we went outside where he then drew a butterfly exhibit as well as flowers and (in the second picture) a "lilac tree."

It was wonderful to see him actually enjoying making all this art! As I was watching him work, I started to think of how big he has gotten and even though he is not technically starting kindergarten this year, I feel like I'm looking at one when I see him work or hear him talk. PreK at Pembroke will be great this year for him though and we are looking forward to going to see his classroom tomorrow morning at "Stop By and Say Hi."

Also today, Sam and Noah came over to play and among the many things these three crazy boys did together, they were singing silly (sometimes inappropriate) songs. Eventually the singing led to "Gangham Style" which then led to us all watching Bennett's version of the song on Facebook. The Beznovsky boys were very impressed with Bennett's moves and requested the video several more times. Later we downloaded the song so Chris could listen to it over and over and over and over... Well, before bedtime, Christopher completed his art day with the performing arts. Here is his own personal version of "Gangham Style." Your welcome.  (Give it a minute. It takes a few seconds for the music to start).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc7IeVgQ7Hc

Return to Powell Gardens

Today, Grammy and I took Christopher out to Powell Gardens to catch the end of both the butterfly and the lego exhibits. It was a gorgeous day--75 degrees and sunny. Perfect! The following are just a few of the pictures from our day. My favorite thing is listening to Christopher remark with enthusiasm how beautiful the flowers were and watching him taste mint and basil from their herb gardens!