Finn’s All About Me Box

It’s that time in Kindergarten when the All About Me Box is due. We actually turned it in on Tuesday, which meant Bruce had a lot of last minute additions Monday night after returning from their camping trip. When I got home from Palm Springs at around 7:30, it appeared that the art supply box had exploded all over the dining room table.

Making of the box

There was lots of drawing, cutting and gluing going on and all three Moision boys were very focused.

Gluing stuff on the outside

Gluing stuff on the outside

Making of the box

Here’s a look at how it turned out.

Finn's All About Me Box, outside

Outside 2

Outside 3

Outside 4

And here are the contents of the box. First, some Ninjago, a recorder and some other doohickey I’m not quite sure about on the right.

Ninjago, recorder and a whoziwhatsit

Finn drew Bruce, me (looking like a teddy bear because I do snuggles at bed time) and himself (with flames for hair because he’s always hot).

Papa, Mommy and Finn

Ezra contributed a sweet Pokemon guy and a not-so-sweet drawing of himself.

Ezra's contributions

When we took it to school Tuesday, the other kids were very interested. I think it was because there was so much stuff glued to the outside. Each student will get the chance to present his or her box to the class. As of right now, Finn hasn’t gotten the chance to go yet, but I can’t wait to hear all about it when he does.

(If you want, you can see Ezra’s box here for a trip down memory lane.)

Bed Head!

We had some fabulous hair going on this morning. I guess the trick is to put them to bed totally exhausted and with slightly wet hair.

Ezra's bed head

Finn's bed head

Ezra’s Field Trip

Ezra’s first field trip of the year was last Wednesday and, of course, I went along to chaperone. It was a community based field trip, similar to Finn’s last month. This time, we were taking a school bus to Vons for a tour and shopping. We would then donate the groceries we bought to a local food bank. It was a great opportunity for the kids to put some of the stuff they’ve been learning about healthy foods into practice. Here are some photos.

First, the other chaperones and I admired the quiet (and I mean quiet!) reading time in Ezra’s literacy class as the adults worked out the kinks of the trip. I couldn’t believe that the kids could manage to concentrate with the excitement of the trip, but they did!

Quiet reading time in the classroom

First stop was Vons. Each group of five students had $17 to spend on healthy groceries to be donated. Here’s my group.

My group

And here they are shopping. (Thank goodness another mom joined our group, because kids are crazy in the grocery store.)

Picking out food to donate

Next we got a tour of the store, including the back room which was pretty cool.

In the storeroom

And the butcher area which was pretty gross.

Meat dept.

Then, thank goodness, Vons gave us a snack and we had a little break before heading back on the bus.

Vons snacks

Next stop was the food bank at Friends in Deed.

At Friends in Deed

We dropped off a ton of food and got a tour of the pantry from the nice folks who work there.

At the food bank

We then headed back on the bus to our final destination, La Pintoresca Park for lunch and play time. Ezra found this cozy spot to eat his lunch.

Ezra's lunch spot

Most of the boys, Ezra included, were more interested in watching the skateboarders than eating their lunch.

Boys watching skaters

And finally, it was time to head back to school. Here’s my little bus-rider.

On the bus, instagrammed

Later that night when I asked Ezra how he liked the field trip, he asked if people were allowed to donate food to the food bank at any time. When I said, yes, he said, “We should do that again!”

Finn’s First Book

Finn brought home his first book today. It was a project in honor of Martin Luther King Day so this is the cover.

Finn's book - cover

Before he turned the page, he said, “I made some mistakes with my letters. Because … Kindergarteners make mistakes.”

Finn's book - inside

Then he told me what he was trying to write: “I have a dream that everybody will have a home.” He drew a house and him showing someone inside.

Sweetest boy ever.

Rose Parade 2013

We scored some last minute free tickets to the Rose Parade, so we actually saw it live this year! After going almost every year growing up, I haven’t been to a Rose Parade in ages and the boys have never been so it was high time we took them. The seats we got were great — right on Orange Grove before the turn onto Colorado. I’ve never been so close to the beginning of the parade — where all the participants are super enthusiastic and energetic. And because the TV cameras are there, everything happened right in front of us — the military reunion, the wedding, Mater jump-starting the Cars Land float.

The only drawback was the ungodly hour we had to get up and get out of the house in order to be on time. But our earliness paid off with a great parking spot a few blocks from the route which afforded us a pretty easy time getting in and out.

It was also pretty chilly (for Southern California) so we decided to bring some hot chocolate for the boys. We couldn’t find a thermos, so Bruce fashioned a MacGyver version from some fleece pants and rubber bands. It worked!

Bruce's MacGyver thermos

Before we went to our seats, we took a walk down Orange Grove to get an up close look at the first floats. The boys were actually quite taken with all the flowers.

Checking out the flowers

Before the parade

Finally we went up to our seats in the bleachers and waited for the parade to begin.

Three boys

Here are a few of our favorite floats.

Rocket blast:

Rocket

Volcano (with real fire!):

Volcano with real fire

The Cat in the Hat:

The Cat in the Hat

The HGTV float with real live penguins (they’re to the right of the castle):

Real penguins on this float

Another penguin-themed float resembling the game Learn to Fly that the boys play:

Penguin float

And the flyover by the B2 Stealth Bomber was also quite impressive.

B2

Not to mention the surprise reunion of a military family. Not a dry eye in the place.

Reunion

We even got a little sun to warm us up.

Ezra getting a little sun

Ezra said it was “awesome” and even Finn came around to love it after his initial assessment that it was boring. Finn liked the bands the best. Of course, now we’ve probably ruined them with such good seats. Next year, we’ll have to take them down to the end of the route where all the floats are being towed and the bands and wavers are all exhausted!

Happy New Year!