Homework time

We have a pretty good routine when Kyle comes home from school. The boys get to watch a show and have their snack. Then it's homework time. This has become Max's favorite time of day! Kyle gets a homework packet every week that he can easily do in one sitting. I usually have him do half one night and half another night. The other nights he reads his books from reading group (which are sent home at least twice a week) or does a page or two from a number of activity books we have here at home. Max has decided that he wants to join in the homework fun since Kyle seems to enjoy doing it. At my request, Ma found some great activity books for Max to do during homework time - mazes, dot to dots, letters, numbers, and other coloring/activity pages. I was hoping these would last through the summer but at the rate Max is going we'll need new ones by then. Mazes are his favorite but he'll do anything you put in front of him and quickly request more. We usually spend about 30 minutes on homework, but Max is often still sitting there an hour later long after Kyle is done. It's great to see them so motivated to learn and I hope this continues into their later school years as well . . .

Chuck E Cheese party

We celebrated Kyle's 6th birthday on Saturday at Chuck E Cheese with many of his friends. There were 12 kids in all including long time friends, preschool friends, and kindergarten friends. We reserved an early time slot to avoid the rush and it worked out well! He had a great time playing games, hanging out with his friends, eating pizza and cake, and collecting tickets for prizes. Since he was the birthday boy he got to go in the ticket blaster which is basically a big clear tube that they turn on and whirls tickets around that he has to try and catch. It was fun to watch and he got quite a few tickets including a special "200 tickets" ticket which he was thrilled about! Max had a good time as well, even though the birthday show was a little much for him. They do some singing/shouting/clapping with the kids and at one point Max burst into tears because it was "too loud." This coming from one of the loudest kids I know :). Kyle seemed a little shy during the show part, but afterwards said he enjoyed it. He got lots of fun presents - his friends know him well - which he enjoyed opening and playing with when we got home. He's been talking about a Chuck E Cheese party for months now and I think it was everything he was hoping it would be! :)