Milestones--The Kai edition

When my kids were little it seemed that there were new milestones happening every day.  There was always a "first" to write about or a cute story to share.  As they have gotten older I've found the milestones to be fewer and farther between, but they also seem to be bigger.

Kai is growing faster than I can keep track of.  This past school year he completed 5th grade and I feel like I need to stop and pinch myself.  In many schools, 6th grade is the beginning of middle school.  Luckily for us right now, 6th grade will be Kai's final year of elementary.  But that may change before Finn gets there.  It's all going to depend on how fast our district can get funding and build a new building.  But for now, Kai gets one more year of elementary.  It'll be the only year that all of my kids will be in the same building and I'm looking forward to that.  (Starting in August Bree will be in half-day Kindie, Finn will be in 3rd, and Kai will be in 6th.)

Here is Kai's year in pictures highlighting some of his big milestones, with maybe an occasional cameo by others of our family.

First day of 5th grade

Our school has a tradition of having all of the kids line up in their classes outside of the building and then waving goodbye and all walking in, grade by grade.  I initially got Finn settled in his class line and then went to make sure Kai made it to his class. Of course, he had and I stood there and took a picture and had the other kids say hi.  When an aide for a Down Syndrome girl in the class heard the kids addressing me by name she responded with, "It's ok.  We all need one of those moms in every class."  Yep, I'm one of those moms.  I've been Kai's room-mom for Pre-K, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.  I was the volunteer coordinator for his 1st grade class. And in addition to being the room-mom for this 5th grade year I was also the class photographer and the Thursday folder mom.  I enjoyed doing the Thursday folders, even though it definitely meant making room for it in my schedule, but it was good to be in the classroom every week and to establish that rapport with the teachers (I did folders for both Kai and Finn's classes).

Labor day weekend we finally checked out the new park in Briargate (a neighborhood on the north side of Colorado Springs).  It has a great play area and fun splashpad.

Splashpad at the new park (John Venezia Park)

The kids took their money and went shopping at the Lego store one day. 

Their super sweet cousin Isaac sent them some Pokemon cards in the mail.

A family trip to the zoo in September

On a pretty hike during our family's fall break trip (that will need another post)

Over the last year Kai has become a much more willing hiker.  He enjoys it and I don't have to drag him along anymore.  But he still is terrified of any insect that flies--including flies. 

Kai is also becoming a bit more brave and willing to work outside of his comfort zone.  It is a work in progress.

Kai was a stormtrooper for Halloween

They really got a lot of candy.  

The big field trip in 5th grade is a trip to Ameritowne.  The kids study economics and how to write checks and so much more before they go.  They have job interviews with their teachers to interview for the job they want and they have elections to elect a mayor and a judge.  The trip is a full day in their mini-town doing their job and shopping and visiting others at their job.  There are DJs and doctors and delivery men and grocery stores and an investment firm and so much more.  Kai wanted the town accountant job and that's just what he got.  He worked in town hall with the mayor and judge and balanced the town's ledger.  It was a fun experience and I was glad I got to chaperone.  It was the first field trip I ever chaperoned with him.

At Ameritown the parents aren't allowed to help in the building where their kids work, so I was just down the "street" at the investment firm.  I got to walk past Kai's building and peek in on him and he could come to mine to visit me. 

Peeking in on him from the "street"

We took a trip at Thanksgiving as a family of 5 with no pets and we can home after a really spontaneous decision as a family with a puppy.  The kids have loved having a pet they can "pet" and after a family vote she was named Rosie.  She was just 14 weeks when we brought her home.

The class Valentine's day party.  This picture gives a small view as to what Kai's teeth had been looking like.  After school this very day he would go to the orthodontist and get an palate expander placed.  He wore the expander for 3 months like a tropper--no complaints.  He reminded me he couldn't have gummy or sticky candy and he was very good about not eating spaghetti, peanut butter, or popcorn.  I was so impressed with his level of responsibility and lack of complaining.  It took only 24 turns of the expander (over 24 nights) and then it was left in for 10 more weeks to make sure everything would stay in place.  At the half-way point of those 10 weeks he had braces put on the four front top teeth.  He has been doing great!

Part of being the class photographer meant I had to go to school during their specials to get pictures of them everywhere.  This particular day in music they were playing a pretty silly game where the teacher used a stuffed monkey to show them what positions to do.  They had to copy the monkey.  Let's be honest, I have no idea how it relates to music, but they were having fun.

This picture makes me laugh!  He was copying the monkey.

As the patrol leader in his Webelos Den he conducted a few flag ceremonies at pack meetings.

A Saturday walk just me, the kids, and Rosie

We've had a zoo membership this past year as well so we have had a couple of chances to get over there all together.  Kai always loves to feed the giraffes.  This trip was over Spring Break.

No trip to the library is complete without feeding the ducks.  (also a Spring Break activity)

Kai's Easter haul

In January Kai tried out for the school's Battle of the Books team.  For Battle they all had to read as many of the 40 books on the list as they could and then when they tried out they were given sample questions to answer.  These are detailed, super picky kinds of questions.  There were 20 kids to try out and only 5 kids would make the two teams the school was sponsoring.  Kai made the team and attended Battle practice during his recess and lunch for the next 3 months two times a week.  Their first real battle was a district battle.  They did well and learned from the experience so that they were prepared for the regional battle ahead.

Kai was a part of team 1 and this was his teacher advisor Mrs. Liss.

At the beginning of the regional battle.  The regional battle consisted of 3 rounds of 10 questions.  There were 6-7 teams in the room from all over Colorado Springs.  That meant each round lasted about an hour.  Each question is worth 10 points and you either get it or you don't (no partial credit).  They were very strict with having parents remain absolutely silent and turning all electronics off.  I was so nervous for these kids. 

At the end of round 1 they have a perfect score!  We were so proud of them!  (Don't mind the mom in front of me with her camera, too.)  The winners of the round in each room received a medal and then the teams were all shuffled for the next round.  Round 2 was brutal for everyone.  Kai struggled after their team missed 3 questions in a row and I was breaking all kinds of rules smiling at him and giving him thumbs up signs and trying to help him get out of melt down mode.  Finally they got a few questions right.  They ended up with the 2nd highest score in the room with 50 points.  Yeah, it was a brutal round.

Before round 3 these kids got several pep talks from me, their teacher, the other moms, etc. and they were ready to turn a new page.  They once again won their round with 80 points.  So so proud of them as we knew they had done fairly well overall.

Both teams came back together to eat lunch and then head into the awards ceremony.  Kai was on a different team from his best friend Nathan so we had to get the full scoop from him as to how they did.  They had 20 points lower than Kai's team which was an awesome score!

When it was all said and done, with a score of 230 points, Kai's team tied for 1st place with 4 other teams from other school districts.  He was on cloud 9!

On stage getting their medals

That same weekend was Kai's final Pinewood Derby (and Finn's first).  Kai rounded out his collection of Pinewood Derby trophies with a 1st place finish (he had a 3rd his first year, and a 2nd place finish his 2nd year).  He was so excited to take the whole derby.  His brother came in 2nd overall and 1st in his den.  Apparently we just know how to build cars!!

In April a friend came out and invited our family along on a hike to Devil's Head Lookout with her family.  It was a really nice hike and wasn't too hard, just little longer than we had bargained for, but we made it.

We discovered that Rosie is terrified of heights as she struggled to get up the last leg of this hike (stairs) to the fire tower lookout.  But the view was worth it.  That's Pike's Peak in the background.

On the way down

Kai in the newspaper!

The weekend before he turned 11 Kai joined the Boy Scouts for a 5 mile hike.  The start of working on his tenderfoot requirements.

Birthday dinner on the 12th at Red Robin.  And look at those braces!

Birthday cheesecake on his actual birthday--May 14th

Presents

On the 15th Kai had his final den meeting.  It was a special meeting to award him and his best friend Nathan their Arrow of Light.  Here is his Webelos leader talking about how proud she is of him.  And how blown away she was with his ability to step up and lead the flag ceremony perfectly without any prompts because they had forgotten their paper.  He did a fantastic job and even the Scout leaders approached me afterward and told me that they were very impressed.

The face paint job that Reid did on Kai for his Arrow of Light.  Everyone was laughing.  When Kai saw it, he was not amused.  

The big project for 5th grade is a wax museum.  Kai was a colonial ship captain as they were depicting scenes from the American Revolution.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find Kai at all when I went through the museum.  I had to go back and look through my pictures to find him.  He is in this picture in the back left standing at a salute in the dark shadows (?)!

Another wax museum scene

May 18th--the last day of 5th grade.  I loved his teacher!  Doesn't she look sweet, amazing, gentle and firm, and just all around like a caring person?!  Well, she is.  We were so blessed.  I was near tears saying goodbye at the end of this school year.  My boys were both so blessed.

Rounding out our year with Great Strides.  We brought Nathan with us on the walk and Kai and him seemed to have a great time.  I'm so grateful for the so many good influences Kai has had this last year.  He has grown as a person and as you see in the pictures he is growing up.  I look forward to seeing what the next year has in store for him, but I'm holding onto our current summer as much as I can.