Mason 365: Day 10

Runnin' Against The Clock

I recently took upon myself the fun, though arduous, task of creating two custom pages of "memories" (mostly pictures) from this past year to be printed in Logan's school yearbook. Most likely for the benefit of the creatively challenged parent (i.e. yours truly), the yearbook website suggested some fill-in-the-blanks type options for memories he might want to include. Since I had absolutely no idea how I wanted to set the page up, I recorded a number of age-appropriate suggestions in a Word document and asked him for the answers a few at a time over the course of a day.

As we all know, one of the paramount components of the 4-year-old kindergarten curriculum is the importance of sharing - second only to the importance of parental modeling. So as to uphold my civic duty in helping provide my son a quality education both at school and in the home... I thought I'd share.

Before we begin, every good post needs a Color Key.
Or maybe that's maps...
Or nuclear reactor manuals...
Well, at any rate, my post has one.
It's just more entertaining that way.
Since the post is about Logan, I've chosen his favorite colors: blue and green.
Excellent Coincidence: They happen to be my favorites as well.

Fun Color Key!
Question
Such A Sweetie
Come Again?
Maternal Commentary

Oh yeah, one last thing before we begin.
Some of the questions have more than one answer.
I'll refer to these as my attempts.
If the first answer seemed not-so-yearbook-friendly and/or completely insane, I repeated the question in hopes of eventually arriving at something I could use.
Sometimes the answers improved.
...sometimes they didn't.

4K Yearbook Sucesses and Fails

A talent that I have is... drying off after the shower.

Julianne has been known to start drying off before she gets into the shower, so I suppose, at our house at least, waiting until you're actually soggy to begin the drying process could be considered a talent; 

He has also managed to avoid adopting the Corinne Method of vigorous drip-drying combined with racing furiously around the house, moaning mournfully, "Cwothes, Cwo-o-othes," then screeching and running off again when anyone tries to put some one you. 

So that's a plus.

My hero is... Mason because I love him. <3

This year I feel most grateful for... my mom because I love her. <3

My favorite thing to do is... nothing.

To be fair, although this answer appears to be lacking in ambition at the surface level, we have so much stuff going on around here that, every so often, 'nothing' is my favorite thing to do as well.

My favorite subject at school is... recess.

I kind of thought that didn't start until they were a little older...

My proudest moment this year was... starting Highland school. <3

Who has two thumbs and made the right call about schooling?
THIS Mom!
Every little win counts :)

The thing I love most about my mom is... she makes me waffles in the morning.

(from the Eggo box...)

The thing I like most about my dad is...

first attempt: ...he takes a shower.

There is something to be said for good hygiene...
By the way, I also shower. Just not in the morning. I'm too busy "making" waffles... and putting out fires.

second attempt: he farms a goat

yeah...except he doesn't!

Needless to say, that one didn't make the yearbook.

A time I felt really great this year was... when I ate corn dogs.

Some people just really appreciate the little things in life.

The word that best describes me is...

first attempt: goat  (hmm... petting zoo as a babysitting alternative?)

second attempt: Logan  (true - if a bit obvious)

My favorite place in the world is... America.

(shakes head) Ethnocentrism at such an early age.
Still, at least he know where he lives.

My favorite thing to wear is...

first attempt: an afro  (Blame Madagascar. He's only seen it once.)

second attempt: khaki pants  (infinitely better)

(Now would be an excellent time to tell you that after Julianne got home from school, she began stepping in from time to time to offer her input. (You won't be surprised to learn that she wants to do everything Logan does...)
I've added her in to the key as pink. That's her current favorite color. She passed purple down to Corinne when she changed her default setting to pink.
Too bad if I ever get around to painting their room it is still going to be all purple... because I already bought the paint... and I prefer purple.
Sometimes it's good to be the mom :) Anyhow...
Julianne's answer is "dress shirt," which isn't exactly what you're expecting. 
According to the New Julianne Dictionary Preschool Edition, "dress shirt (n.) is defined as "any dress worn as a shirt, over jeans - as shown: 

One of Julianne's more interesting clothing combos.
It's kind of my fault.
She insisted on wearing dresses in the winter,
so I insisted she wear pants underneath.
Maybe it'll catch on...
or not.
They're playing "doggie" here.
The dog talks.

If I were an animal I would be a...

Julianne said "goat", probably because her brother thinks he already is one.

Logan said "cheetah because they run fast and eat people."

Me: Because they eat people?! Do you want to eat people?

Logan (shrugs): Sure.

I took a few steps back and slipped over the baby gate unnoticed. Close one.

A memory from this year that makes me smile is... Mrs. Parker. <3
That's his 4K teacher. She's such a sweetheart. 
He got the most beautiful, spontaneous little guy grin the moment he thought of her. Love it.
Julianne's going to have her next year, and I have to admit I'm a little glad for both of us.
Now I don't have to give her up just yet :)

My favorite memory from vacation this year was... the sunken submarine at the hotel pool.

It was pretty fantastic.

The Polynesian Water Park
Wisconsin Dells
Kids 12 and under stay free!

One of my favorite foods is... apples.

An apple (or 15) a day...
No joke. I can hardly keep apples in the house.
I'm seriously considering buying a tree.

For Halloween this year I was... Chester from The Kissing Hand.

Front View

Back View
His bag has a copy of the book cover on it.

Something big that happened to my family this year was... Baby Mason was born. <3
...and we have a winner!

My favorite toy is...
Julianne says Counting Pal.
Logan says "my humongous puppy dog from Aunt Karla."
Thanks Aunt Karla!

My favorite thing to do is... dance!

I want to fill this space with a video of Corinne dancing, because she does the most adorable baby dance.
But I haven't been able to get a video of it yet that does it justice.
Stay tuned...

My favorite book character of all time is... Frog & Toad.
They really should have considered multiple-character titles when drafting this question.
Also, I love Frog & Toad too.

My favorite author is... Arnold Lobel.
He wrote Frog & Toad.
Owl At Home is another winner.

I love to spend time with... Mom because I love her.
aww

My favorite game to play is... Star Wars Monopoly.
Quality time spent with Dad on the weekends.
I don't do Monopoly.

And finally.... (desktop drumroll please):

When I grow up, I want to be... 
first attempt: a snowman. (that's just cold)
second attempt: a king. (dream big...)
third attempt: a papa and a Charter worker.
...just like his dad. 
I can live with that.

The Finished Product!

(Sort of...)

Technology has really  been fighting me every step of the way on this one and,
although I was certainly the underdog,
I called on my last-ditch secret weapon, Deputy Print Screen, to save the day.
Just as the final seconds were ticking down, we pulled off the unlikely win
and got the image to you safe and sound...
until the copyright enforcement folks arrive anyway.
(But that's an element of technology that I have no knowledge of for another day.)

The custom page background is a photo we took of the Wisconsin River last summer when we were on vacation in the Dells. Some certain naysayers said that doesn't really matter because you can hardly see any of it and no one would know what it is.
But I know it's special, and now so do you :)
So that makes several of us.

I finally marked the custom pages 'Print Ready,' with little to no time to spare,

the night before it was due...

...really took me back to every deadline I've ever been given

ever.

Can't wait to see the officially finished project when the yearbooks arrive.
You've been good to us 4K.
We'll Miss You!