Chase and Madilyn playing in the big pool.

Nana, Hanna and Tony Playing in the Kiddie Pool

Chase Holding a Crawfish

The William H. Black

This steamer was used from 1937 to 1973 to drudge the Mississippi River. Chase, Madilyn, Hanna and Anthony.

I'm Seeing Double

The National Mississpi River Museum and Aquarium

We had a great time at the museum. We learned about the steamboats, got to tour all 2400 miles of the Mississippi River. We got to touch crawfish and pet a Sturgeon.

Anthony's First Sleep Over

Last night Anthony finally got to have a friend sleepover. After work I picked up Kendra from Angie's. We went to the Science Center to play and then home. Chase was just as excited as Anthony to have Kendra spend the night.

We let them stay up and play until 9:30pm. Then they all crashed in their sleeping bags on the floor. They were all up by 5:45am this morning! We played Elefun and Ants in Your Pants. We played the Wii and went outside to ride bikes. We then took Kendra home and off to the dentist we went.

Teeth

I took Chase to the dentist today to get one cavity filled and a tooth pulled. The dentist came out to get me and explain that Chase had an abscess on his gum above one of his baby molars. So she was going to pull both teeth and would wait to fill his other tooth, because it wasn't too bad yet. She also showed me the x-rays and once he loses his eye tooth, the permanent one will be coming in sideways. She said that his tongue and lips might help turn it around. I see braces in our future!

At the moment Chase's mouth is still numb. I have a feeling he is going to be in a lot of pain. They gave him this cute Spiderman ice pack he can use. Hopefully that will help.

4 year old Preschool

I put Anthony's application in for preschool today. Iowa has an education grant that covers the cost of preschool. However, there are a limited number of spots. Angie, who watches Anthony has a daughter that will be 4 in May and watches another girl that will be 4 in April. So we sent their apps in together and requested they be placed together. Angie said she would take and pick up, which is wonderful for me. I wasn't sure how we were going to swing picking him up everyday at 11:30.

Spring Break

Chase had conferences Wednesday night, and they went well. He is above in his reading and writing. He is going to second grade for math and it is starting to get harder for him. So we are going to work with him on subtraction of two digit numbers and carrying it over. They are also going to have him stay the whole time for the math lesson, rather than leaving early to come back for reading. So that is good news. It might be hard to learn a concept when you don’t get to stay for the whole lesson!

We then stopped at the book fair. Each kid received a $4 credit, plus books were 50% off. We bought four new books for $4.75, I was very excited. We also learned that Jackson Elementary is getting remodeled starting in June. So Chase will be going to a different school for a year. I am told it is over by the zoo. I need to look it up on the map. They will bus him back to McKinley for Metro Kids, which is right on my way home. That is good news for me!

Chase is now on spring break until March 23rd. I am going to take the boys to the Des Moines Art Center after work. We have never been, and “American Gothic” painted by Iowa native Grant Wood is on display. It is a primary example of Regionalism, a movement that aggressively opposed European abstract art, preferring depictions of rural American subjects painted in a representational style. I am pleased that we will have an opportunity to take it in.

Spring Break is going to be pretty low key. They will go to Angie’s and then next Friday I am taking off and the boys and I are going bowling and then to a movie. We are then leaving for Galena, IL Saturday morning to meet my mom and nieces for the weekend. The boys haven’t seen her since Christmas and she isn’t coming to Iowa until Mother’s Day. I told her that was too long to go without seeing their Nana. So we decided to meet half way. We are going to drive into Dubuque and go to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. I’ve heard good things about it.

World Math Day

Chase participated in an Internet math competition on March 4th. It is divided by 1st and 2nd grade, 3rd & 4th and 5th & 6th. Yesterday he was presented an award for completing the most math problems in his school, within an hour and a half. He finished 1051! They also gave him a t-shirt with a red star on the sleeve. He was very proud and so are we. I struggled with math, and Eric was a whiz.