Hockey Practice

Today was "Try Hockey for Free Day" at the skating rink where William takes his lessons. Try Hockey For Free Day is part of Hockey Weekend Across America. This program, designed to provide youth hockey associations a national platform to introduce new kids to the sport, is a joint‐effort between USA Hockey, the National Hockey League, and NHL member clubs. Phil took William up there to give it a try. They had a full set of hockey pads for him to wear and he even got a free Team USA jersey! We brought one of his hockey sticks, his skates, and helmet.  William had a really good time and did a great job.

Air Zoo Fun

After music class this morning, we took the boys to the Air Zoo for a little while. It was their Society of Women Engineers "Engineering Challenge" day so there were a lot of local companies (Pfizer, Perrigo, Stryker, etc) that had booths set up. In addition to all the rides, the boys learned about circuits, suspensions, and robotics.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It was a busy Valentine's week at our house. On Wednesday, Alex had a preschool open house. We went up to Curious Kids and were able to see his classroom and meet his future teacher. The boys were also able to visit with Mrs. LaLonde (Will's teacher from last year). We have him officially registered for the fall. He seemed fairly excited. At least, he didn't want to leave! On Thursday morning, Phil stayed home to play with Alex while I took William up to school to read baggie books with the class. I also got to help some of the kids put their Valentines in the mailboxes and the class sang a special song before I left. On Friday, Grandma and Grandpa came down to stay with Alex so I could help out at the Valentine's Day party at school. It was fun to spend the afternoon in Will's classroom. On Saturday morning, William had music class up at WMU. They were celebrating Chinese New Year (in the video, William is in khakis with an orange and blue striped shirt). At one point, he was the head of the dragon (holding the ball) but I didn't get video of that. On Sunday, I took William up to Wings West so he could try out his Valentine's Day gift from Grandma and Grandpa - Hockey Skates! He loved them and did a great job. We skated for about an hour and 15 minutes before our legs got tired.

Love Bug Hats

Future Preschooler

Action Shot - in 0 degree weather

Valentine's Day Bingo

Dragon

New Skates

Mosaics

Mosaics - A good winter activity

Star Student - Letter of Recommendation

The assignment for Friday was for someone who knows William really well to write him a letter of recommendation stating why William is special and why he is a STAR! Phil is the best writer in the family, so he took this one on: 

To Whom it May Concern, 

We’d like to take a moment to introduce you to William Martin Maguran, a truly wonderful kid who brings joy and happiness to everyone in his life. In many ways, William is your typical 5 and ¾ year old boy. He likes to run & play, he likes to read books, he likes to build things, and he even occasionally likes to get into mischief. He loves trains & cars. He likes sports & games. He loves his family and is kind to his friends. He tolerates his little brother…but is always looking out for him (just try to give Alex a peanut when William is around…I dare you!). But what makes William unique, and what ultimately will make him successful in whatever he wants to do in life, is his tremendous level of curiosity. 

William is curious about EVERYTHING!!!! People have been known to say that “curiosity killed the cat.” If that is the case, then it is a very good thing that William is not a cat! William asks questions about everything, and even after the question has been answered to the best of your abilities, he usually has a couple of follow-up questions ready to go. And he doesn’t just ask to ask or to hear himself speak. He asks to learn things, and to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the world around him. He wants to KNOW, and he won’t accept ‘just because’ or ‘I don’t know, William, that’s just the way it is.’ as an answer. He demands research and facts and evidence. I feel sorry for his future teachers…he is going to wear them out. 

But ultimately he is also going to make them very proud, just like he has his parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Because, that enthusiasm for learning is going to take him to some special places. And we can’t wait to sit back and watch and tell people proudly and with smiles on our faces…”That’s our William, and we’re so lucky to have him.” 

 With Love, 

 Philip & Kristen Maguran

Star of the Week - Adventures of Andy

Last Friday, William was sent home with the "Star Student" backpack. One of the items in it was Andy, a sweet little stuffed puppy. We got to hang out with Andy all weekend and take him along for all our adventures. On Sunday, we took Andy to Jungle Joe's to go in the bounce houses. William had so much fun taking him around. I think Andy went on every bounce house and slid down every slide. Then we got to write a short story about our adventures and William had to illustrate it. Today he gets to "present" his story and adventure to the class. The story will be added to the "Adventures of Andy" binder and at the end of the year the class will get to see all the fun things Andy did.

Star Student - "Me Bag" and Favorite Book

On Tuesday, William had to bring in a bag with four items that meant something to him. They could be pictures, toys, trophies, etc. William chose: 

Family Photo (from our trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes) 
Snow Globe from St. George Island 
Michigan Hockey Jersey (because he likes both Michigan and Hockey) 
T-Ball Trophy (I think because he wanted to show off his trophy) 

On Wednesday, he got to bring in his favorite book to share with the class. They had to be age appropriate and something they could read in class so he wasn't able to bring in a Boxcar Children book. He decided to bring in "The Lorax" instead. 

In addition to being Star Student, it is also Jump Rope for Heart Week and his Valentine's party is on Friday. Thursday is technically the 100th day of school, but the school decided to postpone those festivities until next week due to all the other stuff going on!

Weather Man

Star Student - Read All About Me

This week, William is the "Star Student" of his Kindergarten class. In addition to being the line leader and calendar helper all week, they have special activities and projects for the star student to bring in every day. Today was "Read All About Me" day. We have been working on his poster a little bit each day for the past few weeks. He had to include some basic facts like name, birthday, school, and family members.  He also needed to include some of his favorites: 

Color: Orange 
Animal: Giraffe
Food: Macaroni
Book:  Boxcar Children
Sport: Soccer
Part of School:  Recess
Thing to do at Home: Play with Mom

Some Special Facts about William:
- He is going to Disney World
- He likes to rollerblade
- He has bunk beds

I show others I care by being nice to them.

I am a star because I am nice to my family.

Happy 11th Anniversary!

On Friday night, we had a baby sitter come over to watch the boys so we could go out for our anniversary. We went downtown to walk around Art Hop (first Friday of every month) and to go out to dinner. On Saturday morning, we took William up to WMU for his music class. It is run through the WMU music department and is taught by faculty and students. They do a little singing, some dancing, and play some instruments. He seems to really enjoy them. In the afternoon, we took advantage of the beautiful weather to go sledding. William ran into a friend from his class and Alex had a great time both sledding and playing on the playground. On Sunday, we took the boys to Jungle Joe's (more about that later this week!).

Ready to Race

Detroit Fun

We had a fun weekend in Detroit! We drove in Friday afternoon. Alex had a surprise belated birthday party complete with his own CD player and cake.  On Saturday, we met up with Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, and Allie to see Sesame Street Live at the Fox Theater downtown. After lunch at Grann's, we all met up to go bumper bowling. Alex and William were able to give Allie some pointers since it was her first time. After bowling we went out for pizza. This morning, we got on the road fairly early since the roads were getting bad. It took about 3 hours to get home but it wasn't too terrible. Now we are getting ready for the super bowl.

Also, today starts our official Disney count down! 25 days to go!

What a difference two years makes!

The Disney countdown is on!