Geologists

You might recall that as our remodel was being finished up, that we wound up living with Yaya and Baba for a week or so (after a week or so living with Mimi and Pops).

One Friday while you all were still on winter break, I texted Mama and asked her what y'all were up to. She replied "They were geologists for most of the morning."

What followed were some amazing photographs that brought such joy to my soul. You two are so creative, such an amazing team, with complementary super powers.

I love that you have your Mama's creative oomph and such insatiable appetites for play, and creative play at that. Let that be a lesson for you: boredom is a great thing...look what can come out of it! AND you have so many hats you can wear, if you put your mind to it. You can be/become anything you want!

So...what does playing "Geologist" actually look like?

Well, Aidan was the excavator...smashing rocks and crystals into smaller pieces:

Julia and Aidan were the gatherers, collecting, washing, and polishing samples:

Julia, you were the organizer and cataloger of the geological samples. As well as the label-maker. You created the Museum exhibit for the samples (totally your idea too, apparently!)

This hammer cracked all of these crystals open. 

Please no touching!

This bench is special too. It belongs to the Queen and King!

These crystals are ____ and that are cool!

Way to go super geology team! Next stop...Grad School! Next stop...Smithsonian!

Aidan and Mommy and Daddy Date

One Satuday Julia went on a special play date with her buddy; and that means you, Aidan, got a special play date with your Mom and Me all by yourself.

The morning started with some musical interludes and lessons from Mommy.

...and ended up making a big splash as we went to one of your favorite places: the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park!

We loved having some two-on-one time with you, our special, sweet, animal-loving, smooch-giving young man.

Davy Crockett: King of the First Grade Frontier

Aidan,

Part of being a first grader is more and more responsibility and more in depth, more challenging school work.

And- one of the coolest events of the year- a report on a deceased historical figure. You, and each of the Lower Elementary students- chose a historical figure, dressed as them, and presented a report to all of the other children.

This is called "Historical Heritage" at your school.

You had been listening to a Classic Disney Songs CD and really fell in love with the theme song for "Davy Crockett." It turns out that Crockett was  a living historical figure- not just a cool song- and so you were delighted to pick him as your subject matter.

You and I went to the library and picked out some books on him.

You and Mommy read the books and you picked out the facts that you thought were the most interesting to you, which you wanted to share with the class.

Mommy wrote them down and you worked very very hard to transcribe them carefully in your best handwriting.

Mommy and you worked on your costume.

And suddenly you were becoming Crockett!

You worked very hard to memorize your speech, practice projecting, and reading your own handwriting.

You had a thirst for knowledge: you were so curious about how Crockett ate the bear meat that he hunted!

You've never lacked confidence, but you worked on stage presence as well. Practicing in front of mommy and aunt sham.

The end result was so awesome, and you Mommy and Grandparents and I are SO proud of you!

You took it all in stride.

Me: "Son, I wanted to let you know how proud of you I am."
Aidan: "I know that! You told me a million times already!" (I had, for the record, only told you once!)

I was most impressed with how dedicated you were to this project. You kept us on schedule. You kept track of your special index cards you needed to write the report on. You told us " I need to work on my aport!" And you did. Weekend nights, early mornings, you couldn't wait to write it down and practice and keep working.

You are truly growing to be a king of the wild first grade! You've grown into the stuff of legend, and even though you've never killed and eaten a bear

Rainy Day Arts and Crafts

One rainy September day as Aidan and Mommy worked on sewing up his patient...

Julia treated her patient...

Aidan's patient was all set!

Aidan, you made this Baby Groot all by yourself!

But then Aidan got sick and sought treatment..

He got better! But then she got worse! What a twist!

Julia made some beautiful pictures.

"Dear Mom and Dad. Julia is gonna writ a surpise for Julia to love Mom and Dad. Best Picture! Donut!

Best Unicorn Ever 

Then, the rain let up a little, and Mommy and the kids made wands out of mulberry branches.

Magic wands!

We gotta get out of here! Let's go to the Museum and see the pumpkin exhibit!

Ooooh... pumpkiny!

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the museum...with amazing results.

Works by Julia (L) and Aidan (R)

*Fin*

What a masterpiece!

Ears Pierced- Mommy Daughter Day

Well, young lady, you've been talking about it for weeks and months and years. But recently you got serious about it. We told you it would hurt, and you said "but only for a little bit." You love sparkly stuff, and thought there was one area in particular on your body where sparkly stuff just won't hang by itself. So, on the eve of your fifth birthday, you, and your Mommy, Aunt Sham, and Yaya went to the mall.... went to Claire's...and....well...see for yourself.

Before

After

Notice anything different? That's right! You - with the support of these lovely, wonderful, important, strong ladies in your life- got your EARS PIERCED!

There were some tears. There were lots of smiles and hugs. There was LOTS of shopping!

You were SO enchanted with the store...

you were so BRAVE....

and you are SO SO happy with your decision.

The only problem, for you, is that you can't CHANGE your earrings for ONE month! You want to try on a different pair everyday! 

You are also so responsible! You have taken charge of the cleaning and turning of your earrings. You do it twice a day by yourself, remind us to remind you when you haven't, and are such a wise young lady beyond your years!

This day was also amazing because it was a "Mommy and Me Day" (with some company from your Aunt and Grandma too).

You had especially told us that you were missing Mama a lot ever since the school year started, and that you faked a headache with the hopes that Mama would stay home with you and take care of you. We figured this out all together that you were just missing your Mama! So you had a special ladies day all to yourself. 

And now you and Mama get to share earrings too!