Saturday November 26th Wesley turned 6 and we had his party the same day! It is the first time this has happened.
They are ready to celebrate!
in the tv room
the green room
vests, bandanas, eye-patches & gold earrings for everyone.
the goodie bags
the kids and I made repurposed crayons in pirate shapes.
looking in to the front door area
arr...
arr...
arr...
arr...
After a lunch of macaroni & cheese, pasta salad, green salad, rolls & fruit… it was time to hit the piñata.
Wesley starts us off.
Then Addison
Jillian
Stellanne
Aidan
Lilly
Ben
Aidan
then Wesley again with a strong finish!
they quickly filled their treasure chests.
Then it was cake time. To see more about the cake you can see the post I did about it here.
Before we sang to Wesley, the kids who wanted to – got to launch the cannons too.
Wesley launching the cannons.
a nice and powerful jump.
Jillian launching the cannons. The small black dot near the edge of the table is one of the cannon balls.
Singing "Happy Birthday" to Wesley. (not quite sure what Jillian is doing...)
Wesley is still talking about his party and had such a wonderful birthday!
Thank you to all of our guests – you really made it magical for him.
Tags: Amber, Jillian, Joshua, Pirate Birthday, Pirate Ship Cake, Wesley, Wesley's 6th Birthday
Wesley wanted a pirate ship cake with real cannons to launch for his 6th birthday.
Joshua’s cannon design was great and really launched his hand carved cannon balls. Wesley and Jillian both loved playing with it before it went into the cake.
Then I needed to put it in the cake…
Wesley wanted blueberry cake, so I found a blueberry bunt cake recipe and made it in 9×13 pans.
Here is how I created it:
Joshua thought to reuse this blue basket for the base. He then cut a piece of thin wood to fit in the basket for a strong base for the cake.
Here is the sculpted cake with a blueberry cream cheese filling between the layers.
I had to use a lot of skewers in the cake to keep the layers together.
I put on a thin crumb coating, then Joshua and I put in the cannons. The green thing is the launching pad taken from a game we have called FroggO.
The stern of the cake ship.
The bow of the cake ship.
The "front" of the cake with the cannons facing out.
Then I used brown gel coloring to make the cream cheese frosting brown. Blue water was added then ocean animals were glued onto the basket to make it look like it is really in the sea.
The front of the cake.
The sails are made out of chopsticks and fancy paper.
The stern of the ship. The rigging, wheel and ladder are made with melted chocolate.
"W"'s and upside down "w"'s and the #6
The back side of the cake.
There is even a plank...with shark infested waters.
The bow of the ship.
Close up of the bow.
Hours spent:
Building the cannon & carving the balls – 2 hours
Baking the cake and making the frosting – 3 hours
Carving & decorating the ship – 5 hours
Total hours spent: 10. 
Tags: Amber, Cake, Cannon, Joshua, Pirate Ship Cake, Wesley, Wesley's 6th Birthday
Happy birthday sweet boy!
Today Wesley was awarded Eagle of the month at school!
What are they? Eagle of the Month awards are given to students who have demonstrated growth in one or more of the Lifelong Learning Skills or achievement of a remarkable academic goal. *
What are Lifelong Learning Skills? Lifelong Learning Skills are skills that help us navigate the social world and help us to be successful at home, at school and in the workplace. Edmonds school District has identified six Lifelong Learning Skills essential to healthy social/emotional development. They are Respect, Responsibility, Cooperation, Problem-Solving/Decision Making, Reflection/Self Awareness and Independent Work Habits. Teachers not only evaluate student’s skills in these areas but they also explicitly teach and continue to provide opportunities for growth & practice of these skills. Each student’s progress in these areas is reflected on their report card.*
How are students nominated for Eagle of the Month Awards? Eagle of the Month awards will be awarded to those students who have shown outstanding effort and growth in these areas. Please encourage discussions with your children at home about the meaning of these skills.*
Does every student get an EOM award by the end of the school year? Not necessarily. Students are recognized for making a concerted effort and for demonstrating marked improvement. “Self-esteem is most likely to be fostered when children are esteemed and receive meaningful feedback in the form of appreciation rather than empty praise and flattery”*. Therefore, teachers take great care to describe the specific ways in which students have progressed. It is important to remember that classroom teachers also recognize students for positive feats in other ways. Many are rewarded with trips to the classroom treasure box, are given Kool Kid awards, are reinforced for reaching personal goals as outlined on positive behavior charts, or are recognized and celebrated within their own classrooms.*
(*Quoted from the school counselor’s monthly newsletter)
Respect is defined as: “demonstrates empathy and kindness toward others; appreciates diversity; follows classroom and school rules; takes care of classroom and school environment.”
Responsibility is defined as: “demonstrates self-control and self-management, handling frustration appropriately. Reflects on and evaluates learning and behavior for the purpose improvement; sets goals”.
Here he is getting his award from the principal. (The awards are normally given out during the school assembly... which will be Thursday afternoon, but since he goes to am kindergarten, the principal came into his class.)
With his principal
With his teacher and the other nominated student from his class.
We are super proud of you Wesley!!! Keep up the good work.
Tags: Eagle of the Month, Kindergarten, Wesley