Back at it

We have the kids back in a pretty good routine.  Each night, for the most part, they dedicate some of their time hitting the books.  Dylan breezed through two Kumon books over the past month, Mazes and Upper Case Letters -- earning the respective book certificates that he takes pride in.  Believe it or not, I'm still not sure what hand he is -- he swaps back and forth and I honestly cannot tell which handwriting looks better.

Madison is in the advanced math class -- they started a new math program at her school this year and she's part of the pilot.  A handful of kids from the 1st grade at her school were selected based on their skill level and get to participate in the 1+ math (which is 2nd grade level from what I can gather).  The funny thing is, all it took was 3 math books (Kumon) and an addition/subtraction table on the ipad -- which she had pretty well mastered over a year ago.  On top of that, Madison also has a picture and short story getting published in the next school paper.  Maddie's teacher selected her most recent work to feature in the paper, we're looking forward to seeing what she put together.

Big Ball Bowling

I was digging around tonight and found some pics that I forgot to post, these were from a couple months back.  It's a nice low cost festivity that the kids always enjoy, while I'm no bowler, I could see us going back a few times after the weather takes a seasonal turn for the worse.

Whopper vs Bacon Turkey Bravo

Ever order the Bacon Turkey Bravo at Panera Bread?  Well I have, pretty much every time I'm in the joint.  After I'm done I definitely feel over capacity, but it's Panera Bread -- it has to be healthy for you right?

I began to wonder, how does this compare to the traditional fast foods out there?  Naturally I landed on the Whopper, as a former Burger King employee with over three months experience -- during which time I worked my way up from the steamer, to the burger board, to the Whopper board, to the specialty board, then all the way up to the cash register and drive-thru -- I was motivated kid back in 1994, who wouldn't be for minimum wage at the time, $4.25 an hour!  While I was diversifying my skill set at BK, everything was on the up-and-up except my hourly wage.  So I quickly found another job making $7.00 an hour mopping floors in a kitchen, my burger flipping days came to an abrupt end.  However I do hold a place in my heart, and belly, for the good ol' Whopper.

I only eat a Whopper at most 1 time a year now (usually on long road trips to visit family) since it's way too unhealthy to consume more of these flame broiled heart attacks on a regular basis.  So I often choose to eat the Bacon Turkey Bravo over traditional fast food -- plus it's so much nicer in Panera Bread, the ambiance makes you feel as though they care about appearance right?  Well, maybe not yours:

Bacon Turkey Bravo (from Panera Bread website):

Whopper (from Burger King website):

Dylan's Day

Snow cones, bounce house and TMNT, what more could a kid want?  Everyone had a good time at Dylan's fourth.

Back at it

Madison started 1st grade yesterday, this is her 3rd school in 3 years -- I view it as training in adaptability.

4 Years

Dylan was up bright and early this morning (5:50am) -- ready to celebrate.  We had a small family party which started in the morning and continued throughout the evening, the secondary celebration takes place this weekend on Saturday with his friends.