Seth is 6 years old!

Seth turned 6 years old while we were in Texas, but we haven't had time to update the blog.  We had a big party for Seth with his friends before we went to Texas.  It was a soccer party.  We used spray paint (red) to make a soccer field in the backyard.  The boys (also a couple girls) all played soccer for awhile and we also had soccer themed games - a soccer-ball spoon race, a water balloon toss where you tried to hit a goal in the net, trying to hit headers into the other goalie net, a bowling game with water bottles and soccer balls, and our soccer themed foosball.  It was touch and go with rain, so we had to be flexible and fit presents and cake around when it was raining.  Otherwise, there were hot dogs (although honestly, no one was much interested), and Gatorade and chips.  The cake was a half sphere soccer ball and cupcakes.  Seth had a lot of fun and most of the kids did, too.  One neighbor kid came with his older brother and kept leaving and running across the street by himself and I had to keep running after him.  It gave me a little bit of a heart attack.  But otherwise, it was fun.  Seth got some fun presents - a rocket shooter, a bank, a water gun, a gift card to toys r us, a gift card to a frozen yogurt place, and some cash.  It was fun!

We also had a small celebration in Texas on Seth's actual birthday.  We went to Legoland Adventure Center.  It was pretty fun.  They had a little shooting ride and then a ride where you were on bikes that circled around and the faster you pedaled the higher you went up and also a driving ride.  Seth was terrified of the shooting game - he thought it looked too scary, but we eventually convinced him to go on it and then decided it was his favorite game.  They also had a 4D theater show, which had real snow and water, which the boys thought was really cool.  There was a cool playground and also places to make cars and race them.  Also a large LEGO display of Dallas.  And then, outside there was a splash area with large lego blocks and stuff.  Seth had a lot of fun.  Then, we got some lunch  at Chic fil a and headed home.  Grandma had made him a bright blue cake (white cake with partially dyed blue and bring blue frosting) as he requested.  Michael and Meghan and Finlay came over to eat the cake with us and then we had some homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner (delicious, though the boys still think mine is better ... ha ha).  Later, Grandpa took Seth to Chuck E. Cheese two times to use all their tokens and get himself a birthday present.  A fun birthday all around.

Seth finished kindergarten.  His reading level didn't go up much and his teacher was really upset about it - she didn't think the teacher who graded him did it fairly.  But I know he can read really well and I can tell he made a lot of progress this year.  He was reading a pretty hard book to me today.  He is still in the phase where it is work to read, but I can't wait until he gets to the phase where he can read for pleasure.  Hoping it's around the corner.  He had a great graduation ceremony - really cute and all the classes sang different songs that were really fun.  He is excited to be home for the summer, but is really diligent about doing the summer work I have planned for him. He has two math books - addition and subtraction - that are grade 2 because they seemed to be more on level for him.  But I think they are pretty hard - lots of carrying and borrowing.  He is doing great and loves to teach himself multiplication.  He is also working on his print handwriting some more and we are reading about the earth and space for science and starting the medieval ages for history.

Seth also finished up the season of baseball.  He enjoyed it.  He is still working on batting - I think he needed to use the T each time, but he is pretty good at throwing and running and spent a lot of time in the pitcher position (just for fielding - they don't pitch yet).  There were quite a lot of rained out games, but they were rescheduled for when we

Otherwise, we spent the last month in Texas and that will be a separate post all to itself.  Seth got sick on the way home and has been sick most of the last week and is pretty miserable.  I think he is getting better now, though.  He has his well child visit on Monday.  I am curious to see how his height and weight have changed (during the school year, he grew 1 inch and 2 lbs, I think) and also to see about his vision.

Overall, Seth has spent most of the past month seeing things around the country (science museums, zoos, children museums, etc. etc.) and the rest of the time honing his skills on the Wii at grandma's house.  He even decided to use his allowance for Wii games instead of Legos.  But, I think he especially is happy to be home as he is my true home body.  He is looking forward to soccer camp in a couple weeks, but mostly being at home.

Fun Things This Month

• Trip to Texas - starring in a future post
• Sesame Street Live - the ticket was originally for Logan, but he was throwing a fit and wouldn't go, so Seth went with Katsu instead.  He really loved it and was dancing and having a grand time.  It was here in Greenville and was a lot of fun.
• Lots of baseball games - about 2 a week.
• Special events at school.  Seth wouldn't do pajama day, but he did crazy hair day.  It was just a little bit crazy - too much crazy or out of the ordinary is too much for him.  
• Korean cultural fest - mostly a dud, but the boys enjoyed watching the martial arts.
• Swim lessons - Seth had 5 swim lessons before we went to Texas and made a lot of progress on his stroke development.
• Seth had lunch with both mom and dad this month.  So fun!
• Kindergarten graduation.
• Walking school bus party - Seth wanted to leave early to watch the soccer game on TV
• Birthday party
• End of school - we celebrated with Oreos and a water balloon fight!
• Grandma and Grandpa in town - they got to see Seth's baseball game and we went to Andrew's baptism and church and then it was on to Texas.