fri, 9/24...day 267

Cory shared his "baby book" with his classmates yesterday, and his teacher said they all seemed to enjoy it.

It's a special book all about how he came to join our family, and he not only loves to have it read to him, but also finds it helpful when peers insist that he MUST have a father...when of course, he doesn't.

I love that it's so easy to create a book like this on Shutterfly or similar sites. Who would've guessed only a few years ago that we could create and publish our own hardcover photo books so quickly and inexpensively. I love it!

thu, 9/23...day 266

Cory created a wonderful little book today at Extended Day called "Forests." It includes a "fold-out" page, courtesy of a friend, that has a great big tree drawn sideways (so you turn the book to see the tree, as Cory is demonstrating here).

On the other pages, he wrote about other things you might find in a forest: a trail, sticks, moss. He wanted to be sure that I got credit for helping come up with the ideas (we were brainstorming in the car on the way home, since he hadn't finished the book in the afternoon), so we added a note about "Idea Contributor: Stacia" in addition to the "Author: Cory" and "Illustrator: Cory" entries.

And on the back, he wanted to include both of our pictures, so I found photos of each of us and trimmed them, and we attached them to the back.

Finally, he wanted to make a movie in which he would share the book, and then talk about how it was made. He's very comprehensive in his projects, this boy.

Now it's all set to read to other students, and/or take to the library to add to the collection. :-)

wed, 9/22...day 265

Second crop of broccoli from our garden! Smaller heads, but many more of them than the first time, even after pulling the bug-infested plant (leaving three still in the ground).

It's like that mythological character that Hercules fought. You cut off the first head and a bunch more sprout to take its place. :-)

tue, 9/21...day 264

Tonight was the Woods Building parent night at Little School. I brought Subway for the boys, and we ate by the little climber before it was time for the meeting.

Cory and Niall spent the evening in the Extended Day room, since childcare was provided by the school (yay!). Tynor and I listened to Peter - the new Head of School - give an introduction in the Meadows Center Room, and then Tynor went to Niall's class to listen in for me and I went to Cory's class. I figured I'd been to Alice's "back to school" session the year before so I had some idea what Niall was up to in class, but this is Cory's first year with Steve.

It was a marvelous evening. Steve shared with us his philosophy of teaching (which I love), and something about the daily routines of the classroom and how the children are working together. Then some parents talked about their school experiences as 6 and 7-year-olds, and how that did or didn't influence their decision to send their child to Little School. We wrapped up by making cards and letters for our kids and taping them to their cubbies. (The next day the children had a grand time creating cards in reply to bring home to us. :-)

mon, 9/20...day 263

Cory came upstairs to my craft room after lunch yesterday and asked if I would bring my laptop downstairs to work, so we could be together. How could I resist such a sweet invitation?

I decided to work on putting together my 2009 Project Life album, since I'd long-since printed many of the photos. So that's what you see open on the dining room table: the album with pages just started to get filled up.

Meanwhile, Tynor got out a piece of paper so he could do some drawing. "Did you know that I'm actually better at drawing than I thought?" People at school had told him so. Nice!

So we had a little crafting circle going on: Cory making his paper projects, Tynor drawing, me scrapbooking. Loved it!

sun, 9/19...day 262

Cory is ramping up his paper-costume making these days. Today he made a "batman" costume. I love it!

He's thinking about wearing it for Halloween, which I think is a great idea...if it lasts that long. :P