all things ian. and also ninjas.

ian is officially 5 now.

he had a pretty sweet birthday considering we had a small party at home and i made ian take a nap first. i looked up games for kids' parties online and found this little gem... the kids then drew names for teams and decided who would be the wrapper and who would be the mummy. since it was a "super hero" themed party, about 30 seconds before i explained the "game"... i thought to say their super power was the speed of - toilet paper wrapping - obviously a gread power to have.

ha ha! oh precious little ones - you're so easy to fool. they had a blast. i didn't know if they would lose interest or think it was boring but i'm telling you, it was a HIT!

then they hopped around in their mummy suits for a minute or so,

posed for some pictures,

and got to rip it all off and toss it around in a huge t.p. fight.

we also did a marble/water/toe contest thing that i won't do again. everyone was dead quiet as each kid took a turn trying to pick up marbles with their toes one at a time and see who got the most.

it was not the liveliest game. lol.

although they didn't complain so i guess they kind of liked it..

ian's stomp rocket jr. however, was another party favorite! all the boys even assembled themselves into an orderly line without anyone asking.. we did it again and again and again...

merandy, thanks again for bringing ian's dream cake!

ian's gang.

meanwhile, owen looking gross covered in cake.

ian also started pre-school a few weeks ago. he is loving, loving, loving it. unfortunately all his knowledge of what to expect in a school has come from the few moments he saw of "high school musical" at his cousins, and what he's seen on various Nickelodeon shows...."no ian, girls will NOT be trying to kiss you"... "no, teachers do NOT LIVE at the school and only go home to get ready".."yes, there is a library INSIDE the school so you don't have to drive to one on library days"

NEVER have two boys been more excited to explore a school!! ian was in awe of the REAL lockers! and because we live in such a small town, he recognized at least 5 kids sitting in their various classrooms or with their pictures in the hallways, etc.. which made him feel very cool.

ian signs in every day first thing. here he is with his teacher helping him on the first day.

i am pretty sure this must be some kind of "naughty chair" outside the classroom. owen decided it was the PERFECT size for him and immediately climbed up.

on the day of his preschool "interview", we borrowed a friend's truck. it died - in the middle of the highway - on the way. i called andrew at work and had him call the school to tell them we would be late. not 90 seconds after the truck stopped, a friend and ISP officer came driving to the rescue and flipped a u-turn and pulled up behind us. ian asked in the most sincere voice if we were going to jail. i assured him we were not and the police officers HELP the good people and bring the bad ones to jail so the good people are safe. (ironic he didn't know this since his daddy is in law enforcement, but whatever..). then our buddy who's truck we borrowed also showed up and traded cars with us so we could get to the school and he could fix his truck. he is also an officer. ian talked for several days about how two police men came to our rescue and were our heroes. as far as he was concerned it was pretty much the best possibly way to begin his school year. after the interview on our way home i said, "ian, do you remember your teacher's name?" "hmm.." he said, "mrs......Hogganballu?" "uhh no!... close!" i said. "it's mrs. rosen (roseen)". i'm sincerely hoping his memory serves him better throughout his academic career then it did in remembering his teacher's name. i also said something to the effect of, "she seems like a really nice lady, huh?!" to which he said, "mommy! THANK you for saying lady - so i can say SEXY! hey sexy-lady!!"

sigh...yes, this was our conversation. heaven help me.

ian's "bestbuddytodd" (all one word) as he refers to him has made waaaayyy too many jokes about the girls chasing ian on the playground and trying to kiss him. so much so that it was the primary topic of conversation about school for the week leading up to his first day. i promised him they would NOT try to kiss him - then it took a turn for a few days into a conversation about ian kissing the girls. in fact, when he got on the phone to talk to my mom about school, it was the FIRST thing he mentioned to her. finally i told him that if he kissed any girls at school then their daddy's would come to the school and get VERY upset and say,

"WHY DID YOU KISS MY DAUGHTER?!"

he hasn't brought it up since.

here was the first day daddy got to see ian's class and meet his teacher.

5 minutes later, here was andrew having a mild anxiety attack as he thought about his own "joy"-filled school days... we worked thru it though and he was able to get into the

"school-is-AWESOME!" spirit eventually.

owen now makes himself at home when we drop ian off. he is pretty pleased with himself when he makes it up on the stools with no assistance.. (see the little smirk on his face?)

so, in honor of all things ian,

here are a few more ianisms for your sunday.

1. the other day i had on my MAC shimmer stuff that my sweet friend, annie hardison moody gave me last time i was in nc. (she knows the way to my heart for sure). i wear it all the time but for some reason on this day it caught ian's attention. i had it on my collarbone/chest and i guess the light (in the living room. i know - i know. i shouldn't be wasting mac makeup on myself when i have NOWHERE to go, but i just love it so very much. and so do my collarbone, eyelids and cheeks, even if the only light that has the chance to reflect off the shimmer is the one hanging from the fan in the living room). anyway, ian was snuggling me and sitting on my lap. he pointed to my collarbone and said in his inquisitive little voice with his eyebrows raised, "mommy, did you decorate here??"

DANGIT. that seemed much funnier when it happened then it does now in writing it. oh well.

it did make me feel like a christmas tree though...

2. ian likes to run into whatever room i happen to be in when he's watching "ni hao, kai lan" and bust out a chinese word and then tell me what it means. i love when he does that~ anyway, he told me his new word, and then said, "do you think someday we will go to china?" to which i said, "oh that would be so awesome!! yeah, maybe someday all of us can go to china together. we could see so many neat things! that's such a great idea, ian. do you want to go there someday?!" he said, "yes", but without much enthusiasm. he was quiet for a few seconds and said in a hushed voice, "but mommy, (dramatic pause) what about all the bad ninjas?" after i laughed out loud i said, "what?!" he explained how all the bad ninjas are in china. i said they weren't and then he said, "oh!! so ninjas aren't real?!" "uhh... i guess there are ninjas, ian" i said, "but there aren't THAT many i don't think and i think most of them are good - and i promise that no ninjas will hurt you if we go to china". "but mommy, what if they try to hurt YOU?!" yep. a good part of my day is spent going in circles in conversations like this one. anyway, later as i told andrew what he had said, andrew got a guilty look on his face (although also very entertained at the same time - fake guilt i think it was) and said, "yeah... that may have been my fault. i told him all the good ninjas live here and he didn't need to worry about the bad ones because they all lived in china".

i mean WHY?!!

do other people's husbands fill their trusting childrens' heads with utter crap just because they CAN?! or is just mine? then andrew and i had yet another talk about how ian believes every thing he says and how he can be a very LITERAL kid! not to mention, didn't ninjas originate in JAPAN?! i mean if you're gonna lie to him, at least make it a historically accurate lie.

3. ian has a loose tooth. bottom middle-right one. two days ago he said, "mommy! i think my tooth is getting longer!" (we haven't talked about how teeth get loose and i thought we had at least two more years or so before that would happen - so he didn't really have a vocabulary to describe how it felt/feels). after talking for another few minutes i realized his tooth must be loose - and sure enough we can wiggle it just a little bit. later he told my friend cheryl that the drink she gave him was sour right "hewe" - while pointing to the middle of lower teeth. she had no idea what he was talking about until i explained it must feel weird b/c it's loose - although "sour" probably isn't the word i would use. so ian called my dad, then mom and then his aunt t.t. - though he had no real desire to tell her, but only for her to relay the vital loose-tooth information to his awesome cousin, coleman, as soon as he got home from school. every time ian tells someone he says, (and again, i quote..) "guess what?! the tooth fairy is gonna pick me up! and also, my tooth is wiggling!" after him doing this 3 times i told him that the tooth fairy would only be picking up his tooth, NOT picking HIM up. to which he said, "oh - well okay, but i think i just want to keep saying it that way".

fair enough.

ian played in his very first basketball "game" tonight. it's a long story, and as far as i know there are no practices and no real teams?? anyway, i wasn't there. andrew took him. ian was apparently very confident with the ball and immediately ran to the hoop to score the second he got it. it was the wrong goal...and he ran like he was playing rugby (ie. no dribbling...) but still - yay for my little athlete! plus he looked SO cute before he left for the game - in his carolina-blue shiny basketball shorts and his little adidas shoes and hoodie. and he looked sooo old!!!! thank goodness he is still willing to kiss me goodbye in front of all his little preschool homies. wonder how long that will last??...

so anyway ian, thanks for making us laugh somuch, kiddo.

and thanks for telling me every single day how good i smell. how my pillow and sheet smell good and how even when i'm dirty i still smell SO GOOD! "how come you always smell SO GOOD, mommy?!!"

what can i say? i may not be the hottest or thinnest mommy around...i may not get out of my pajamas every day or be able to keep my child from raising his eyebrows in a creepy way and saying "hey sexy lady"...

but my collarbone is decorated and i always smell good.

and also, my 5 year old rocks.

(a few of the most recent ALBUMS w/captions)

january 2010 & ian's bday party: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140269&id=737543123&l=c2035cd701

christmas eve/day '09: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=139714&id=737543123&l=5d8496f1ee

november/december '09: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128623&id=737543123&l=8c975c6dd4