Garrett's maxims

Garrett has been studying Benjamin Franklin in social studies over the last week. Part of their discussion at school included Ben Franklin's Common maxims, or proverbs, on the value of work and savings for success from Poor Richard's Almanac. As homework one night Garrett was to come up with a maxim of his own. He came up with one from our many walks home from school: When walking home from school, if you're still a half a mile from home and find you're very thirsty and have to use the bathroom, that's a bad combination.
This past Saturday night we came out of dinner at a restaurant and not watching where he was going, Garrett bumped his head on a column. Since he happened to hit his head on the same spot he bruised earlier that day playing tackle football with Michael, a few tears followed as we walked toward the car. Half way to the car, with tears still on his face he giggled and said, "I just farted". Hearing this I laughed at him, and then we all agreed he'd just come up with another maxim for his life: A good fart always makes you happy.

Yankee Doodle Day

It was Yankee Doodle Day for the fourth grade students today at Pine St. As usual, the parents who stepped up to plan, prepare and then run the day did a wonderful job. Garrett couldn't resist playing dead for the camera so I was able to take a quick shot with the camera on my phone. Thankfully, the weather cooperated as the second half of the day's events were on the playground and by about 2pm I'd guess it was in the low 60s. The morning sessions were indoors and I understand they covered such things as the Boston Tea Party and Ben Franklin along with crafts that included a feather pen and drum complete with pencils for drumsticks.

Snow Day

What a treat to enjoy a snow day today! Garrett is recuperating from strep throat but that didn't stop him from getting outside to enjoy the inch and a half of snow we received. The wonderful thing about snow in the south is that it doesn't take much to cancel school and most times the snow is gone very quickly. It's now 5pm and while we can still see small amounts of snow in the flower beds and on the roof, the majority of it melted by early afternoon. There was just enough snow to enjoy a short snowball fight this morning which was Garrett's first ever.

The remainder of our day has been spent watching the inauguration coverage, playing Wii, reading and taking it easy. It's back to work and school tomorrow with only three days until the weekend!

Morning walks

Winter has arrived in SC with the temperature when we walked to school at a crisp 26 degrees today. Thankfully, Garrett still enjoys walking to school and it is certainly my favorite part of the day. Garrett never ceases to surprise me with his discussion topic of the day. Whether we each come up with a team name and have a "Wacky Race" (narrated by him of course), discuss his ideas for a slide from the second story of a house down to a trampoline, or talk about if Garrett were to be a talking dog, what would he look like, where would I take him, etc ... our morning conversations are to be treasured. I shall hope time doesn't fly by too quickly for I will miss this part of my day a great deal when he heads off to middle school.