Holidays and Birthdays

Ian's birthday falls between Christmas and New Years and since before he joined our lives we typically kept our Christmas tree up for the Catholic Christmas season.  I didn't want to take down the tree so soon after Christmas but I also didn't want all of Ian's birthday pictures to include a Christmas tree.  So the solution?  A Birthday Tree!

We've been transforming our Christmas tree into Ian's Birthday tree the night before Ian's birthday ever since his 1st birthday.  In recent years it seems like it has been the style to trim trees with colors that aren't typical for Christmas and so it has been easy to pick up birthday colored ornaments (bright greens, blues, purples, pinks, etc.).  There has also been more fun decorations like multi colored sprigs and fun colored garland around during the Christmas season in past years.

One other way we make Ian's birthday special is that we include the countdown to his birthday in our Christmas countdown.  If you look really closely there are actually 30 bags and not 25.  So bags 26-30 have birthday stamps on them and he is able to open a big for each day in between Christmas and his birthday.

So even though it is hard to separate the Christmas holiday from Ian's birthday these are two ways we try to make his day special.  

A beautiful fall day

A beautiful fall day is a good excuse for some outside fun and a few pictures.

Last weekend Caroline took Ian and I to the Henry Ford Museum.  We had a good time looking at airplanes, cars, trains, etc. 

Don't forget there are more pictures on Ian's share site. http://ianhugo.shutterfly.com/

Halloween

This year Ian was really looking forward to Halloween.  He's been counting down to Halloween since last Friday.  He also has been enjoying all of the Halloween decor throughout the neighborhood.

We started our festivities on Monday when carved our pumpkins.  I figured we'd just make some faces in our pumpkins but boy was I wrong.  Before we started Ian declared that one pumpkin would be a spider and the other would be a bat.  So that is what he got.  He was very excited when they were all finished.

Today, Ian was ready to hit the streets soon after we got home from school.   Before we headed out Ian did comment that he needed a firetruck and we had to explain that there wasn't a fire truck his size.  He has inquired about a fire truck several times since we decided to be a fire fighter for Halloween but I thought he was over it, guess not.  Ian went to many more houses than he did last year and he was really enjoying himself.  Like usual he had some funny "one-liners".

After walking up to one gentleman we said "What do you say" (Attempting to prompt "Trick of Treat") and Ian said, "Thank you".  The gentleman chuckled and said, "You mean Trick or Treat". Ian's response? "Yeah".  No trick or treat or anything.

Then just a few houses later, an older lady said "Will you help put out a fire since you are a Fire Fighter?"  Ian said (in his typical Ian matter of fact fashion), "No. I don't have a firetruck"

So overall it was a great Halloween.  A little on the cool side but the rain stopped long enough for us to get out and walk around.  This was the first Halloween Ian really enjoyed himself and I can't wait to see how excited he'll get next year.

For more Fall pictures, check out Ian's Shutterfly share site

End of Summer

Summer vacation has officially come to an end.  Ian had his first day at his new school, Montessori Giving Tree.  He had lots to say about his first day.  But this isn't about his first day this post is about Ian's splendid summer, in video.

Summer Adventures

I was going to start this blog post out with "I know. I know. It's been a long time since I've posted on Ian's blog" But, then I realized just how long it has been (EEK! November!) and it has been a REALLY long time.  My only excuse was that it was a busy school year.

It's almost the end of August which means it's time to head back to school. I know I'm supposed to say I'm not ready for summer to be over but I think, Joe, Ian and I are all ready to get back in to the swing of things.  Ian definitely misses seeing school friends and I'm hopeful that a little separation will make the heart grown fonder as I think Ian's had enough of us for a while.  The summer has been too packed but enough activities to keep us from going stir crazy.

Early on in our vacation we went to Grand Rapids for an overnight.  We went to a Whitecaps baseball game Saturday evening..

and then the Grand Rapids Children's Museum on Sunday morning.

In July we celebrated Molly's birthday, went to Tigers games, visited new playgrounds, went to a Verve Pipe concert (Ian's first concert), went to the Detroit zoo, rode our bikes and other general fun.

Starting in July and going in to August, Ian started a gymnastics class.  He seems to like it but when you watch its hard to tell just how excited about it he is.  He still struggles with trying new things and trying things he thinks might be hard.  So we're working on developing his growth mindset.

With the amazing weather in August we've been to the water park, playground, Kids 'N' Stuff (Grandma's Museum as Ian calls it), Calhoun County Fair, and paining in our back yard.

That's pretty much the gist of our summer.  If I forgot anything major I'll have to write another post.  Also, since MobileMe does not exist anymore. I've created a ShareSite on Shutterfly.  You can find more pictures at http://ianhugo.shutterfly.com/

Until next time, hopefully it won't be in 9 months from now.

2011 Fall Frenzie

I love the season of fall but I don't always love all the craziness of fall.  This fall hasn't let us down with activities especially in the last few weeks.  The first weekend in November, Joe's band participated in the state marching band championships which was Joe's first trip to Ford Field.

Then the next weekend Joe's parents, Joe, Ian and I went to Indianapolis to the Grand National Championships for Marching Band but we were only spectators.  Since Indianapolis has "the largest" children's museum in the world, Ian and I couldn't miss out so we spent Saturday morning there and had a blast.  Ian especially liked the race car, sand box, and special frog exhibit.

Outside of all the "extra" weekend activities we've also had some time to enjoy the some of the reasons I like fall, like playing in the leaves

and finding ways to entertain ourselves inside when it is cold outside.

Just as usual, you can find more pictures in the Fall 2011 Gallery and SLMB State Marching Competition.  We have lots of fun family events planed for December and so Joe and I have decided to stay at home for Thanksgiving. We'll be sharing lots of pictures over the coming weeks.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

In the graveyard

Ian was in the mood to sing this morning. He's learned a song called "in the graveyard" sung to the clementine melody. Pretty funny for 6:30 am.

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