vandalism is fun!

the library is having it's summer reading program through the month of july so we went and signed hayden up the last week in june.
when a child reads 3 hours they are able to go to the library and get a prize. something hayden was able to do about a week into the program. he got a baggie filled with candy, a pencil, a bookmark and other fun things. once they meet that goal, they are then also invited to the big end of the program party in august.
once they read for 6 hours they are able to go and pick from either a frisbee or a bag. hayden only has about 25 more minutes until that goal, so we'll finish that up today and then head to the library for his prize this evening.
the last goal is 10 hours where they will get another prize.
besides all of the reading, the library has a whole calendar filled with fun things for the kids to do. many of the events are for certain age groups but some are for all ages. each week we are able to register for any of the events that we want to participate in for the following week.
the first event was a puppet making workshop. they were able to make as many as they wanted out of the 6 different stations. hayden went in and very quickly made a paper plate puppet and then decided that was all he wanted to do. after a little bit of persuading, and letting him know that there was nothing else going on that day, he made a couple other puppets. i helped talan make a paper bag dog puppet that he still carries around the house.
the next day, hayden was able to go to the library and paint on the windows. we got there bright and early so hayden was able to get a great window! he ended up painting a picture of thomas the tank engine (and thomas' name) and a robot. he also wrote his name next to both of his pictures.
after he was done painting, we stood in line to have his face painted. he has never actually gotten his face painted before. he has always opted for his arm. this time he kept asking "does it have to be my face? can i just get it on my arm?" but then eventually decided he would try it on his face.
i suggested that talan get a drum on his cheek and hayden decided he wanted a drum and a guitar.
hayden was up first and sat perfectly still for the lady. then i pushed talan's stroller up and talan kept saying "drum! cheek!" but as soon as the lady started to draw on him he freaked out a bit, so we just walked away. he had about a half of a circle but he really thought he had a drum on his face. he went around all day pointing to his cheek saying "drum!"
we then went over to the bubble area for a bit before heading home.
hayden had a good time and was very proud of his pictures. yesterday, talan and i went to the library without hayden and talan was so happy to see hayden's paintings. and i know hayden is looking forward to seeing them again this evening when we head over to pick up his second prize.

claiming his prime window spot:






face painting:



this was the drum talan got:
fun with giant bubbles:

robot's (and hayden) invade vbs

hayden headed off to vacation bible school for his very first time this past week. i remember going when i was in 1st or 2nd grade to first baptist of northville and then years after that to ward.
unfortunately, it seems like many churches don't even do a vbs anymore. some of the smaller churches do a 3 day one. but thankfully ward church still puts on a KILLER vbs. so i signed hayden up and drove him over on monday morning.
hayden is not a shy kid by any means. he has no problem stepping into new situations with new people. he certainly doesn't get that from me! he didn't have any reservations about it...he simply wanted to know what they would be doing.
when we pulled into the parking lot on monday morning, hayden suddenly got VERY excited when he saw all of the bouncers set up outside. talan also was very excited and wouldn't stop saying "bouncy!" luckily i was able to convince him that the bouncers were only for the "big kids" and the rest of the week he would tell me "bouncy. big kids." i still have no idea how we made it a whole week without him freaking out that he didn't get to go on them!
we walked in to the church on monday and it was INSANE. i later heard that there were around 1143 kids that had PRE-registered. and i believe they said there was usually an average of around 1150 kids every day!!! i walked hayden to his class and he sat right down ready to get to the fun with hardly a goodbye to us.
after the second day i was told that they were going to be moving hayden to a different class. the leader at his current table was a teenage boy and they felt with hayden being so overly active and having some hard times calming down and sitting in big group that it would be best for him to be with an adult. i was told that hayden was one of the sweetest boys and was always giving hugs and making playdough cookies for them and they just wanted him to feel comfortable.
so on wednesday morning i dropped him off to his new class and he was once again ready to get right back into it. i talked to the girl again and asked for some specifics on what they saw in hayden as he is going in to the u of m for testing in just a few weeks. i was told that in the large group hayden would get bored and had a hard time sitting and paying attention. he was even starting to crawl under the pews. they also talked about how active he is and that at one point he said he wanted to just be by himself as he felt he was bugging the other children. nobody really knew why he said that as they didn't see him bugging other kids and none of the other kids said anything.
when i asked hayden about it he didn't really know why he said it either. i'm thinking it may have been a way for him to just get out of the large group and maybe do something he was more interested in.
it was really helpful to have this info as we will pass it along to the dr.'s at the u of m so they know some of what we are dealing with in hayden.
but i am so thankful for all of the volunteers at vbs. they would ask him at least once a day if he just wanted to go take a walk around the church, which he would tell me all about and really LOVED it. he was even able to tell us a bit about the bible story he learned about each day.
he had a great time every single day and was always so excited to show the different robot crafts that he had made.
on thursday evening they had the family program where they had all sorts of robots set up (the theme was gadget's garage in which gadget was the robot mascot) and then we all headed to the sanctuary. hayden and the rest of the preschool-1st graders got up on stage and sang a couple of songs in which hayden seemed to know most of them. he looked so proud and happy to be up on stage.
after all of the singing, uncle jerry came out. uncle jerry was doing vbs when i attended and it was crazy to see him still up on stage and the kids still loving it! hayden would always come home and talk about how silly his chicken puppet was.
he headed back for one more day on friday and has said that he is looking forward to going back again next year.
ward really does such a great job with their vbs. all of the volunteers and the work they do is just amazing! we are so grateful we were able to be a part of it this year and plan on going back each year from here on out.

we stood here watching these robots for a REALLY long time and i still have no idea what the point was. but both of the boys LOVED it:

waiting in line to control the robot. it was a long wait and he was pretty patient:

finally hayden got the controls:

i think this was hayden's favorite robot. a lego robot that set up and knocked down domino's. hayden was asking this kid all sorts of questions about it:



getting ready to sing. oh how hayden loves to be up on a stage:
yes, this really is hayden shushing the kid next to him (a kid we actually knew from our old church...i'm hoping his parents didn't see!):




hayden was so proud he gave a double thumbs up:
gizmo the robot:

both seemed thrilled by this production:
uncle jerry:

last day as a kindergartner

today was hayden's last day of kindergarten! the school year went by so quickly. i very vividly remember going to orientation the day before school started and hearing mrs. holmes tell us about the "light system." i distinctly remember her telling the parents that if a student moved from a green light to a red light a note would be sent home that day explaining what happened. "but," she stated, "that rarely happens." and i laughed inside and quite possibly even outside saying "oh, hayden will be the child to change that statement." and i believe that he has.
hayden had his ups and downs in kindergarten, always due to his behavior. we did receive MANY notes about regarding his red light days. we turned to a punishment and reward system here at home to help motivate him to get more green lights. there were some months he was able to get 5 green light days in a row and other months where he barely got a single green light.
thankfully, hayden ended the school year on a great note! the week before school ended he came home with 4 green lights and then a red. and he was SO upset that with that red, something he usually doesn't care too much about. and then this week he came home with greens every day! we are so proud of him as we know that is truly a HUGE accomplishment for him.
despite his many red light days, mrs. holmes always told us that he was a great kid. always happy and very enthusiastic about learning. he was one of the smartest kids in the class and was reading when school started, something that maybe only 1 other student was doing.
hayden seemed to really love kindergarten and is already talking about how excited he is to be in first grade next year and that he will be able to go into the lunch room.
i remember being in school thinking how long the school year was, but as a parent it goes by in no time.
in order to celebrate hayden's kindergarten graduation and especially his excellent behavior at school the last two weeks, we took him to logan's (his favorite restaurant simply because they have peanuts on the table) for dinner. after logan's we all walked over to costco so that we could buy a new wii game (mario kart) and then headed to 7-11 for a "frozen drink." we got home, played some mario kart and then all went upstairs, popped some popcorn and watched wipeout...hayden's favorite show (he's been telling me for almost 2 weeks that when he turns 18 he's going to the wipeout zone). it was a big day for him and he was so excited about all of it he could hardly stand it.
congratulations, hayden! we love you so much and cannot believe how quickly you are growing up!

me and my baby before his last day of kindergarten:




hayden, eric, hannah, legoless and jason waiting for the bus:



home from his last day in kindergarten!:

hayden's favorite restaurant, logan's. he really just likes the peanuts: