The Faculty Fun Committee organized an afternoon of bowling at Sunray Lanes, not far from our house. Maggie opted out, but the rest of us had a great time. (And Griffin beat Andrew!)
Faculty Family Bowling
Tag Archives: Oliver
Kid Dinner Night
Earlier this year, the kids agreed to cook at least one dinner per week for the family. They have chosen a number of bold recipes, including their first lasagna this week! It was delicious.
A Bit of Culture
We spent a fabulous day exploring the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall. We were wowed by sculptures by Simone Leigh, Yayoi Kusama, and Rodin. We also explored other worlds through an exhibit of contemporary Chinese photography, Laurie Anderson’s “Four Talks,” Mark Bradford’s 400-foot long “Picket’s Charge,” and John Akomfrah’s “Purple.” And food trucks. Obviously.
Festive Sweater Cookie Party
The Olson-Hammers outdid themselves once again with a magnificent holiday party featuring sweater-shaped cookies and a massive array of decorating materials. My sweater was intended to be creative, but I ended up accidentally crushing it in my hand just before the photo.
(Griffin’s photo is missing at the moment. We’ll remedy as soon as we track it down! )
Fluffy
This is another song that Oliver wrote at school last month. Here’s the transcript followed by the original.
Fluffy monkey puppy pants.
Ya ya ya.
If you don’t like it, you will be a saw.
Ha ha ha.
Fluffy monkey puppy pants.
Ya ya ya.
If you don’t like it, you will be a saw.
Ha ha ha.
Trees
This is a song that Oliver wrote in school in the last month. He says that it is not in his best handwriting. Here’s a transcription with the original below.
There’s trees there. There’s trees here. There’s trees everywhere. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I love trees. Trees are the best. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
There’s trees there. There’s trees here. There’s trees everywhere. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I love trees. Trees are the best. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Saint Louis Wedding
We drove down to Saint Louis to attend Clay and Meghan’s lovely wedding. Everyone found new fancy outfits for the occasion. Oliver’s was the talk of the town.
So Sweet it Hurts
As mentioned in the previous post, Maggie was away at camp all week. Griffin is also at camp and Sarah is out of town, so it’s just been Oliver and me holding down the fort for the past few days. We’ve had a great time.
Maggie returned yesterday. We had a lovely welcome home dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (one of her favorites). Things felt pretty normal. Watched a show. They were bickering before bed, just like usual.
Then, today, Maggie went over to her friend’s house for a few hours. When I was getting ready to drive over to pick her up, Oliver started gathering things in the kitchen. I asked him what he was doing, and he explained that he thought Maggie might be thirsty, so he was filling up her water bottle with fresh water and lots of ice. Then he packed a container of Nilla Wafers because he thought she might need a snack.
Seriously. I just wanted to hug him and never let go.
Oliver Flies Up!
Today was Oliver’s “Fly-up” ceremony where he transitions from Children’s House into the elementary school. In Montessori terms, he’s not only moving into a new classroom next year (as a first grader), but he is moving into another developmental stage (or “plane of development”). Here’s how his teacher described it in a recent email:
Fly-up is a celebration to mark the passing from one plane of development to the next. You probably already see signs of your second plane child: abstract thinking, reasoning mind, strong sense of what is just and fair, strong inclination to be with and work alongside peers. The fly-up ceremony is a visual representation of this internal growth.
At the celebration, each child will run down the hallway from the Children’s House wing, out the door and into the elementary courtyard where they are greeted by the elementary children, teachers and parents.
In honor of the occasion, Oliver decided to wear a festive fancy shirt and a top hat from our costume closet. He looks pretty dashing! (Maggie dressed up for the occasion, too.)
Measuring Up
Bedtime conversation with Oliver tonight:
“Did you know that Spinosauruses are real?”
“Um, maybe…”
“Well, they were. And they were really big. Do you know how big?”
“No… really big?”
“Yes. They were huge. They were 100 times bigger than a teacher!“