Works of Art #43

Dear Ian,

Hi Bear!  You've been working away at school, and it's so neat to see your projects starting to come home.  It gives us an idea of the things you've been working on and learning.  Without any further ado, let's jump into this artsy blog post.

This is Pete the Cat, hero of his own awesome book series.  Your teachers have been using his books on which to base their lessons.  It's been really fun to hear you sing all of Pete's songs.  He sings about his shoes and his buttons, and probably more, but these are the two I've heard the most. You made your very own Pete, and I think he looks great!

 Continuing the Pete thing:  He has a book about rocking his new school shoes.  Your teachers made this bulletin board which showed all of your classmate's shoes and the things they liked to do in them.  Here are your shoes and what you like to do.

And here is a shoe that you decorated.  Looks good, Bear!

This art is based on Pete the Cat's Four Groovy Buttons.  You and your classmates brought in buttons from home, and all kinds of activities stemmed from there.  Here you've created your I for Ian out of buttons.  

This last piece of art is one that you made in my classroom one morning after helping me set up.  It's so pretty.  I have it hanging on my little wall space in my room so I can see it every day.  I love how the colors are in order and that you really took your time with it.  It makes me smile.  

Love you bunches!
Mommy

The Iliad (def: epic poem) of Homer

Dear Ian,

Reading through our summer blog posts reminded me that I missed one event in particular that I know you will one day want to re-live.  Remember this post?  It's all about how you worked really hard to convince me that you were ready to take on the car of a dog.  It was pretty hilarious how you treated your stuffed dog, Gus, like a real pup.

Well, this summer, you got the opportunity to "own" a dog for a whole week.  Ms. Windy, a friend from Mommy's book club, went on a vacation and needed someone to watch over her dog, Homer.  Daddy was also going to be out of town the same week, so I figured, why not?  Homer is the absolute sweetest pup.  He's an older Boston Terrier who's had some vision difficulties.  Poor dude is completely blind, but he had a great time with you, and honestly, I could have not asked for a more chill dog for you to play with.

Every morning you would come downstairs and give him a pat and serve him breakfast.  I never once had to remind you to take care of him.  Then you'd help him outside, and the two of you would play in the yard for a while.  It was so cute to see you out there petting him, leading him around and talking to him.  Your days were full of compliments for Homer, too.  Stuff like, "Mommy, Homer is the sweetest pup, isn't he?" came out of your mouth the whole week.  I had to keep reminding you that Homer's mom would eventually be home to get him.  You were the best dog sitter.

Homer also gave us some funny moments.  He would occasionally pass gas, and unfortunately for all of us, it was kinda stinky.  You thought this was absolutely hilarious.  You had the brilliant idea to get your whoopie cushion, and every time you'd smell an odor, you'd blow it up, sit on it and announce, "HOMER TOOT!"  It was pretty funny.  Homer was a great sport and took it all in stride.

At the end of the week, you were definitely sad to see Homer go.  You ask about him still, and you frequently comment that we can puppy sit him again.  I promised to tell Ms. Windy that, and I think she'd be ok with Homer visiting every now and again.

I was very proud of your responsibility and how you took care of Homer.  Maybe one day soon we can add a pup to our family.  For now, we're very lucky to have Homer and Ms. Windy as friends, so they can visit and play.

Thanks, Homer, for visiting and being such a sweet pup!  We had a blast!  And great job, Bear.  You made me proud.

 Love,
Mommy

*I'm sad to report that about a week after I posted this letter, Homer passed away.  He was such a sweet dog, and we are lucky to have been able to spend a bit of time with him.  Much love to his family and to Homer.

Works of Art #42

Dear Ian,

Since we're back to school and all,  it's time to start up the Works of Art posts once again, to help with the stacks of art you bring home from school.  Without this photographic recording, our house would be one ginormous fire hazard.  So, here we go with the art from this 2013-2014 school year:

You told me that this was a drawing that you made in Art Class with Ms. Lynn.  It's a picture of all kinds of lines.  You pointed out squiggles and straight lines and were so very proud of your picture.

This is a drawing you also drew in Art Class with different kinds of chalk and pastels.  Luckily, my class did the same project, so I can expand and tell you that this is based on the Impressionist style of art, specifically Edgar Degas.  I love his paintings of ballet dancers.  But I digress.  Back to Ian art.

One more piece of art from Art Class with Ms. Lynn.  This is a paper and glue piece inspired by the book, Shapes That Roll.  You told me that it's made with all kinds of shapes that are primary colors.  Then you proceeded to tell me all of the secondary colors you can make when you mix primary colors. Smart boy...

This last piece of art you made in your classroom.  Ms. Jackie and Ms. Jan have been creating all sorts of cool lessons and projects based on the Pete The Cat books.  This artwork is inspired by Pete The Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  You told me all about painting the paper and then you sewed around the edges.  Very cool, Little Bear.

I love all of the art and work you bring home from school.  It's a neat way to get a glimpse into what goes on in your day, your class, and your little brain.  And it totally makes me smile.

Here's to more art and more fun!

Love always,

Mommy

Kodak Moment

Dear Ian,

Before we get into the "meat-and-taters" of this post, I feel obligated to explain the title of this post.  "Kodak Moments" was the marketing campaign of the Kodak film and camera company based in Buffalo, New York.  This is important because a bunch of us "olden days" people still use this catch phrase (as you can now plainly see), and because Kodak was from Buffalo.  Papa Davis will agree with that last bit being important the most.  I bet Mr. Kodak even had a Regents Diploma.  Which I will have to explain one day as well.  But back to your Kodak Moment.

Look at what we just got!

 A few weeks back, we had this photo taken by Whitney Fletcher as part of our Back To School festivities.  I was so excited to see it today, and it turned out just fabulous!  She captured a great smile, and we got to add some of your favorites to the photo to commemorate you at this age.

Man, did I have the hardest time coming up with all-about-yous to go on this print.  You answered a majority of them by yourself; your favorite toys, favorite foods and sports...  But what about the other things that make you you?  Should I have put on there that you ask the most random questions?  What about your love of cooking?  There are so many quirks and interesting facets of you that to list them all would have covered the whole picture.  In the end, we went with what you see above, and I am totally thrilled with it.  But, I am worried that as you grow and change that I will forget all of the funny little things that you do, say and love RIGHT NOW.  Hence the reason for this blog and the constant cataloging of memories.

I hope that you will appreciate this craziness of mine when you're all big and grown.  It's the little bits and pieces that will make you who you are and who you'll become.  It's always good to remember where you come from.

Much love always, sweet boy.
Your Mommy

New Beginnings

Dear Ian,

Hooray!  Today is the second day of school, so that means we officially survived Day One.  And it was a great day.  You are really enjoying your new room, your new teachers, and of course the new toys and friends to play with. 

Monday was your orientation day where you got to first find out all of this newness, and since I was in my classroom, you got to share the fun with Daddy.  You and I arrived early, so I was able to take a couple of quick photos, though. 

 

Here's our obligatory First Day of School photo.  Our grass was (is?) really tall from all of the rain as of late, so we borrowed Mr. Patrick and Ms. Christina's yard next door.  You look so big and grown up and handsome.  Sniff.  Sorry.

A close-up photo of your cute little self.  I can't believe this is your next-to-last year at Advent.  I'm not going to think about that.

This is a picture of your hook outside your classroom window.  VERY important papers will hang from here.  VERY important.

This is your class list.  Look at all of those kids!  It's a really good group, and you know a whole bunch of these kiddos already.  Ben, Bryce, Avery and Ellasyn were in your class last year, and you know Brooklyn and Spencer from your first year at Advent.  Sarah Payne is the same Sarah that used to come to our house to play.  How fun is that?!  And Ella Stephens is the daughter of Mommy and Daddy's friends Mike and Maria.  Wow!  

So tomorrow is Thursday, day three, and then we are finished with your first week at school.  Already you've had homework; we had to decorate a bag and put a few things you like in it to share with your friends.  You drew a rocket ship on your bag and filled it with a mini John Deere tractor, a magnet from one of our family cruises and a picture of your family.  It was sweet watching you decide what to pack.  The tractor for Grandma and Papa's farm, the magnet from the cruises with Grandma and Grandpa Brooks and then the picture of us.  It made me smile.  On Friday, we need to bring in an ingredient for Friendship Snack.  I have it written down so we don't forget, and I cant wait to hear all about it after school on Friday. 

Our school year is off to a great start, and I know you are going to do so well.  You're teachers are great, you are surrounded by friends, and I get to peek in on you every now and again. It's the perfect combination.  We're very lucky.

Happy New School Year, Buddy.

Love you,

Mommy

Those Summer Nights (and Days)

Dear Ian,

Tomorrow night is a school night.  Yup, it's that time again.  Tomorrow night we will lay out your orientation day outfit, pre-make your lunch, and get to bed on time because the next morning we will get up, run around, eat breakfast, get dressed and start another school year.  But not today.  Today is still Saturday.  Sadly, I am sick and feeling quite like poo, but you and Daddy are off having an adventure.  I honestly don't know where the two of you are; you left around 8:15 or something, and here I sit in an empty house at 10:34.  I'm not complaining much, but I do sorta miss the loud wildness.

Anyhoo.  I've been sitting here with my germs and a cup of hot tea trying to get my voice back, because hey, what's more ineffective than a teacher with no voice?  And I was reminiscing on all the things we did this summer.  I didn't get to finish our weekly blog posts from our summer chain, but I did take pictures, so this post is going to be a lot of photos from those last weeks.  Things around here just got a little to crazy for me to sit down and write, but I made sure that you and I and Daddy made a ton of memories this summer.

Remember how our 4th of July celebrations were rained out?  We didn't let that hold us down!  The week after, we all trekked up to the lake and got to enjoy some time on the boat.

 You and Papa driving the boat around the State Park

Boat babies.  You with your cousins, Taylor and Payton

You even caught a fish off the dock!

The weekend after that we headed up to Atlanta to celebrate your cousin Nole's first birthday.  We took Payton up with us in our car, and the two of you had a ton of fun and adventures.

 

Here are the two of you riding and reading books.  

Didn't take long, though, before the ride got a little dull and lulled you into naptime.

For dinner that night, we had a special treat:  Hibachi!  You loved watching the chef prepare the food right in front of us, and you inhaled all of your lo-mien.  Eating with chopsticks was an adventure, too, and you and Pay both did really well with them!

Nole's birthday party was a lot of fun and included an awesome water slide.  You had a blast!

It was super fast, but you loved every second!

The trip to Atlanta was our last traveling bit we did this summer, but you and I had a ton of fun at home, too.

 We got to have a pool party/water balloon war with Carrick and Carter, our neighbor's sons.  They are so good with you.  Us grown-ups also had a good time sitting in the cul-de-sac drinking wine while the three of you entertained yourselves with basketball, scooters, bikes and toy guns.

 One rainy day you and I used a cardboard box to make our own tv.  I had gotten a little tired of you being glued to the boob tube, so we did this instead. You had a lot of fun with it.  We drew a bunch of different "shows," and here you are "watching" Star Trek.

 It rained a TON this summer, so we had lots of puddles in which to play.  Here you are working on your fishing skills in a puddle at the end of our driveway.  It was cute.

We made home-made chocolate chip cookies!  This was part of our July Challenge, which I guess I will need to blog about next...

This adventure was a ton of fun.  At the end of the last school year, you mentioned as we were driving home one day that you wanted to ride the bus.  To be honest, I had never ridden the city bus other than the Garnet Express that takes you from the Civic Center to FSU football games, so I figured, why not. After some research on routes and such, you and I walked to the bus stop nearest our house and rode all the way down Thomasville Road to the stop closest to Winthrop Park.  We got off, walked to the park, and you got to a bit.  Then we walked back, caught our return bus and came back home.  You really enjoyed the adventure, and it was actually kinda cool!  And we can officially say that we've used the City of Tallahassee transportation.

You on the bus.

Rain, rain, rain took up a lot of our summer.  We did some science stuff, though.  This was dropping colored vinegar onto baking soda.  This occupied you for about 20 minutes :)

Camping in your bedroom: another fun thing to do.  Sad to say, you were coming down with a summer cold when this one happened, so as peaceful as this photo looks, that night was a big rough  But we still had fun.

So there you have it.  I'm sure I missed taking pictures of a few more fun things we did this summer,  like all the time we spent in the pool, Rough and Tumble Time with Daddy, mini golf and Fun Station and art at our dining room table.  But all those memories are locked in my mind and in my heart.  This summer was so much fun, and I am a little sad that it has to end.  But that just means I have a whole school year to plan next summer's adventures.  

Happy Beginning of the School Year, Bear!

Love,

Mommy

Ohmygosh

Dear Ian,

Son, I swear I am going to get to weeks seven through whatever on our Summer Fun Chain posts, but lately you have been running me ragged.  My goal this weekend is to knock out the rest of the summer's posts, because believe it or not, school starts in one week. 

This post is just a quick little annotation on what you are up to lately.  Sorta like Ian-isms, here's a snapshot of what's happening around here:

You have taught yourself how to whistle!  It's not perfect yet, but as of today, you can at least make a tone.  And you are so very excited about it.

And here's a funny Ian-ism from a conversation we had the other day.

Mommy:  Hey Daddy, there's a truckload of fruit in the fridge.
Ian: Where's the truck?
Mommy:  There's not really a truck, but there's so much fruit it could fill a truck.
Daddy: Yeah, Ian. That's a figure of speech. A colloquialism.  Can you say colloquialism?
Ian:  No, I can't say that word. I don't have the right kind of mouth.

We love you, Boo Bear,
Mommy and Daddy