Ethan Writes a Book

So in Ethan's class they've been working on "publications." This means they draw pictures and write stories to match. Ethan seemed to think that his loose tooth was an important subject. In fact he's had 2 or 3 loose teeth so far this school year so I can see why it made the book. Don't worry, the hit he took from Kevin only slightly loosened his already loose tooth!

Ethan's Class Photo

Isn't he adorable? Check out the kid named Jacob - he's almost as goofy as Ethan!

Visit with Kalli October 09

Letters to Santa

Does God know Santa?

We've done a little Christmas decorating around our house this past week. Ethan and Kevin went to the Christmas Tree Shop with me and bought a few items that they thought were "perfectly beautiful" decorations for the house. Not exactly the items I would have picked out but they're excited and the huge gold ribbon wreath only cost $2 so what the heck.

Since the boys were so good in the store I let them each pick something out from the clearance rack for themselves. They both chose Christmas themed sticky notes. After we decorated they both decided they'd use their new notes to write letters to Santa.

Ethan's share day is on Mondays so he decided to bring in the sticky notes he wrote (all by himself - I will be scanning them in to share with everyone soon) to Santa for his share. He thanked Santa for Christmas. And then told him he wants Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 - whatever that is.

So it was very sweet last night when I put Ethan to bed and he asked if he could say his prayers (thank you Grandma). Here's how the prayer went:

"Dear God,

Thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for Christmas. Please tell Santa that I love him. And I love his reindeer.

name-a-jesus-christ Amen."

Live Y'ers Carnival Camp

Since there was no school on Mon-Wed I sent Ethan to the Live Y'ers camp each day. Their theme was a carnival. The kids went on a circus field trip, learned how to spin plates on sticks, juggle, and of course did some face painting. This is Ethan with his scary striped tiger face. Cute huh?

Ethan loves math!

The coolest thing has happened since Ethan started 1st grade. Whenever I tell him to turn off the tv and find something else to do, instead of fussing or asking me what else can he posssibly do - he asks for math problems.

I'm not kidding.

I filled 3 sheets of paper - front and back - with math problems that Ethan completed. All of them. He loves it.

Thank you Jericho Elementary School!

oink oink

Scott & I took Ethan & Kevin for their 1st of 2 flu shots the other day. Besides being about 50 degrees outside and making us all wait outside for about 45 minutes it went great!

The Science Experiment

We had lunch at Chick-fi-la and the prize for the kiddos was a science experiment. Ethan was very excited because "My Grandpa's a scientist." So he and dad worked on the experiment - I believe it was maple syrup, oil and water. Num-num and Baby Num-Num stood guard while it sat overnight. I don't think the syrup ever floated to the top. We should have colored the oil - that would have made for a prettier experiment.

Pumpkin Festival - Alabama style

It might not look like a pumpkin field but that picture in the top middle is where our hayride dropped us off. And don't you love the animals spray-painted on the big bales of hay?
All kidding aside - it really was a fun day. And you see Ethan & Steven flying down the bouncy castle slide? That's when Ethan's other front tooth got knocked out. Exciting day...

Ethan & Grandparents

Ethan and Grandma on the hayride at a pumpkin festival in Lafayette, AL (that's pronounced La-fet).

Ethan and Grandpa at the Arboretum in Auburn. They've really done some work on this place since we used to go there as kids with Mom & Dad. I didn't see any turtles or huge goldfish in the pond but there were some fish and they've added lots of docking...still a nice place to chill.

Airports and plane rides

Mom has been asking for pictures of our trip to Auburn. Here are some. These are from my phone and I think do a good job of showing off what an excellent traveler Ethan is. He was also very happy to smile big and show his missing front teeth! One came out before the trip, the other while we were there. The Tooth Fairy has been a regular at our house lately! And now she knows how to visit Ethan in Auburn too!

Highlights from Auburn trip Oct 2009

Tooth #3 has left the building

Ethan has been very excited about tooth #3. This would be the first of those famous "2 front teeth" that we all sing about at Christmas. For the past few days I've noticed it sticking out a bit crooked (like almost sticking straight out - very weirdly) but it hasn't been all that wiggly.

So I was quite surprised when I picked Ethan up from school yesterday and he exclaimed "Mommy I pulled out my tooth!" Notice he didn't say "my tooth fell out" like usual. No, in this case he was just ready for it to be gone. In fact, later last night he admitted to me that his teacher had told him not to pull it out because it wasn't ready. He actually said "I feel a little bad about myself because Mrs Dana told me not to pull out my tooth but I did it anyway." This boy has an amazing heart and can express his emotions better than most adults I know.

Upon close inspection - I won't gross you out with a close-up photo - you can see that the skin has in fact been torn a bit and it's not a very clean break.

A visit to the dentist may be necessary in the near future.

Let's just hope that Ethan lets tooth #4 come out on its own...

Early Fall in Vermont

Don't we live in a beautiful state?

HOMEWORK!

I picked Ethan up from Live Y'ers this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised when he ran up to me and said "Guess what Mom? I get to do homework today!"

Calling a Friend

Ethan made a friend in his 1st Grade class. His name is Brendan and he's very shy. We ran into them at the Harvest Market this past weekend and Ethan immediately asked if they could have a playdate. Apparently he and Brendan have been planning this since school started...

So last night Ethan asked if he could call his friend. We got a phone list from the teacher and since I had met the parents already I figured it would be ok.

I dialed the number and Ethan took the phone out of my hands. Brendan's mom answered and they chatted for a moment. Then Ethan asked in his most polite voice, "Could I please speak to Brendan."

They chatted for a while and devised a plan for Ethan to go home with Brendan from school for a playdate today. Not wanting to be pushy I asked Ethan if Brendan had asked his mother. After a few back-and-forths it was determined that this was indeed ok with her.

I got on the phone (after lots of prodding to get Ethan off) and spoke with Jen, Brendan's mom. She's as thrilled as I am that they've become friends. Her son is very shy and this is apparantly the first time he's talked on the phone with a friend.

So today after school Ethan is going home with his new friend to have a playdate at his house. We went over manners and talked about what kinds of words we shouldn't use at other people's houses (all the fun potty words that Scott & the boys like to use). He's so excited.

So am I...

Gymnastics at Open House

Ethan's school had Open House last week. One of the things we did was go to the gym and watch the kids play on all the equipment. Ethan had fun swinging on a rope, running & jumping on the vault, and showing me what a good balancer he is on the balance beam.

I met with his teacher briefly and she told me he's doing a great job. We got to look through his writing notebook and see the stories he's coming up with. He's got a very good imagination.

One of his favorites was the library. Ethan was very excited to introduce me to the librarian and he made sure to give her a big hug when he saw her. He also loves that the beginning reader section has a whole area devoted to Dr Seuss. So far he's brought home 6 library books, all of them Dr Seuss, many of them we already have at home.

Last night he did his daily reading (about 3 pages) from the Dr Seuss ABC book (Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator...A..a..A). I can't tell you how adorable he is sounding out the words. He takes his time sounding out each letter, sometimes to the point that he forgets the sounds from the beginning of the word and has to start all over. But once he got "alligator" he was so excited!

We're working each night on getting some reading done before the tv goes on...hopefully we'll be working on books with more than 5 words per page soon...

Dancin round the campfire

Ethan & Kevin did a lot of dancing around the campfire over Labor Day weekend. Here's a video of what I got to watch - over and over again...

4 years ago

Can you believe it's been 4 years since we moved to Vermont?

And for comparison...last year at Lake Carmi

Camping at Lake Carmi

We went camping with Scott & the boys at Lake Carmi over Labor Day Weekend.  The weather was gorgeous.  Chilly at night but perfect during the day.

The kids all had a great time.  There was lots of bonfire burning, riding bikes, and roasting marshmallows.

I'll post more pictures and even a cute video when I have more time.....

Our new backyard

This horse (and his buddy who's hiding somewhere out of the shot) live at the farm behind the condos. Sometimes they get fed apples by the boys. I have no idea who these people are though.

First Day of First Grade

Sorry it's taken so long to update this blog (that's for you Mom) but here's my big boy on his first day of First Grade!  He woke up very early and was ready to go...hope he keeps that attitude for many years!

500 Years Of Female Portraits In Western Art - Click here for funny video clips

Ethan meets a dolphin

Look what Ethan got to do on his vacation in Florida with Grandma! I always wanted to do this - I'm so glad he got to have such a great time. I don't know what the dolphin's name is but this picture is getting blown up and framed in his room!

Ethan leaves for a vacation w/ Grandma & Grandpa

This past weekend my friend Michele and I drove Ethan down to Virginia to meet Mom & Dad and let Ethan go back to Auburn with them. It was a very fun adventure and we got some cute photos of the trip...

On our way down to Virginia we stopped at a gas station and got out to stretch our legs. This place had a nice picnic table and lots of green grass for Ethan to run around on.

Just getting into West Virginia - Ethan pulls a Dukes of Hazard move and tries to get out of the car through my window. He insisted on going back in through his window as well.

My sweet smiling boy.

Mommy & Ethan in West Virginia. I guess it would have made more sense if we had taken pictures at all the states we hit but this is the only one we did. Oh well.

This is just a bridge that we drove over. Not sure which one - George Washington maybe? No that was the ride home. Well - it's a bridge.

I just couldn't wake him up without taking a picture. Poor boy was stuck in a car with me and Michele all day then went swimming at the hotel and finally got to sleep after 9:00. This picture was taken around 6:30am I think. Michele and I drove back to Vermont and Ethan drove with Grandpa & Grandma all the way back to Alabama. He was such a great boy both trips.

Here's the Clark Money's with the Clark parents. It's been a long time since I've seen Grandpa. It was nice to have dinner with them, swim at the pool, and have breakfast together before we all got back into cars.

I've heard from Ethan & Grandma a couple of times already today. They drove down to Destin, FL with Michelle Hubbs and her son. They've already been to Mobile to the USS Alabama and some restaurant where they throw rolls (Ethan caught his!) so they're having a blast.