French With Nana

Nana has been snowbirding here in NOLA since the beginning of December and in that time she has been teaching French to Chance.  He was reluctant at first and some days doesn't want to sit in his chair but the amazing thing is that he truly is picking it up.  I will here him say a word in French here and there but where it is really noticeable is in class.  You will think he isn't paying attention and then Nana holds up flash cards and he just rattles through them like he's been doing it for years.



Another great way Nana is helping Chance learn French is through fun games.  Here Nana and Chance are playing Mancala each time you move your stones you have to count them out in French.

Chance Learns to Ride his Bike

On Monday Chance learned to ride his bike!  We have been working on it pretty solid every day that the weather permitted for the past week and a half. Then on Monday he just took off. When he realized he was doing it by himself he yelled "I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" It was adorable.

Winnie-The-Pooh book project

Over the last week and a half we have been reading the original Winnie-The-Pooh book by A. A. Milne for school. Chance and I have both been really into it, sometimes reading more than the assigned one chapter per day.

After finishing the book Chance picked his favorite chapter to be the subject of his book project. Since he doesn't like to write he chose to draw pictures to tell the important parts of the story. Using one of the book report templates the school had given us he drew Piglet stranded in his house as the flood waters rose, Pooh floating on a honey pot, Christopher Robin and Pooh floating on an umbrella boat and of course the flood waters themselves as well as the message in a bottle Piglet threw into the waters hoping to be rescued.

The end result is pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

Learning to Ride

A few days ago the weather was good and Chance really wanted to work on riding his bike.  Since he hadn't shown much interest in learning up to this point we jumped in the car right away and went to City Park.

He didn't get a lot of pedaling in, but he worked hard on his balancing.  He made a lot of progress this time. I hope the weather is warm on another day soon so we can take his bike back out to the park to practice again soon.

Climbing Higher

Yesterday Chance and I went to City Park. It was a little chilly but it was such a nice sunny day we couldn't stay inside. While there Chance worked hard to climb this huge tree near the playground.





It is tall and the trunk is very slippery, I was super impressed when he made it this far.  He said he wanted to go farther but he was scared.  I reminded him that he should go as far as he feels comfortable and as long as he is careful everything would be ok.






He sat in the first spot for a while but then decided to go for it and head out on the branch. He was very brave.






When he got way up here he said "This is really scary but I'm facing my fears" I know all little kids say things every once in a while that make their parents super proud and this was one of those moments for me. He physically worked hard to get up there and he mentally worked hard to get up there too. He said the very was beautiful.

The Battle of New Orleans

Last weekend we went to the Chalmette Battlefield to see a reenactment of the 1814 Battle of New Orleans. This was the 199th anniversary of the battle.




First we listened to the Marine Corps band play and then the reenactment began. It wasn't a very large production but still it was fun and informative.



We all agreed that after seeing this we all want to see a larger more organized reenactment in the future. As a matter-of-fact they are planning a much bigger reenactment next year for the 200th anniversary.
 

 Chance drew this after we came home. This is his interpretation of the battle.

Lego Club

This doesn't look like a very exciting lego creation and to tell the truth it isn't his best work. This was our first time at Lego club but making the most amazing creation doesn't seem to be what Lego club is all about, it is more about sharing ideas and being together with other people who share your love of Lego. Chance had a great time building with all the other kids. We will definitely go again and seek out other Lego clubs.

Aikido Yellow Belt with Black stripe.

It's been a little while but I still want to share this with everyone. I am so proud of Chance and the hard work he puts into Aikido and at the end of November he passed his latest belt test. He is now a 14 Kyu which means his yellow belt now has a black stripe.


Here Chance is showing off his skills during his belt test. He did an excellent job performing each technique perfectly.


Chance did not want to pose for a picture after we got back to the house but I got this one anyway. In the top left you can see him taking part in the ceremony to accept his certificate from Sensai Brian and of course a shot of the certificate itself.

Spontaneous Painting

A few days ago Chance and I were looking for something to do. We had been stuck in the house for the last couple days because Chance wasn't feeling well but it was so cold. Just then a local company Chez Clay posted a but one get one free sale on their Facebook page.

We have been there a couple times and it was fun both times so it seemed like the perfect thing to do on this chilly day.

Chance picked out this little car and I painted the little vase. We had a good time painting, it was so nice to do something spontaneous for a change. We will be picking up our fired pieces on the 21st. Chance's birthday!

Birthday sleepover

When I asked Chance what he wanted to do for his birthday this year he said he didn't want a big party with lots of people. He just wanted one friend, Emory to have a sleepover. So that's what we did.

This picture was taken during the only 15 minutes they were sitting still all evening. We stated a movie but I think they really only sat on the couch to drink their juice boxes because soon after they were playing with Legos and hexbugs once again.

They were up EARLY the next morning so after more playing and breakfast we went bowling.  It didn't take the boys long to decide to team up against me and in a kids vs me matchup they won everytime.

 I'm good but I'm not that good. That's rounds 1,2 & 3 in order. Chance broke 100 in round 2, there were bumpers but still.

This last picture is of the boys playing Weeping Angel tag, yes they watched a bit of Doctor Who.