Christmas 2011 with Marty

Santa's message to Marty



Marty's response to Santa

Hey Guys!

I didn't realize just how long it's been since I've blogged! Happy New Year!...Happy Valentines Day!...April Fools....Happy Easter...wow! It's almost Summertime! I've had a very busy Winter and Spring. Let me tell you all about it....

Tonight my school, The Reading Ranch, had a rodeo! What a blast that was! We had barrel racing with stick ponies, and you’ll see here that I was in the roping category with the assistance of our wonderful School Director, Miss Kim. We even had a real rodeo announcer!! Thanks Miss Kim!

I'm soooo excited to finally have my "big boy" room complete. You know, Mommy started the project last Fall, about the time she went back to work. Big Mistake!! Guess what took priority! You guessed it, it wasn't my room! I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in an empty room with only a bed and half painted red walls and the other half still pale yellow from my nursery. Finally, Mommy brought in a professional to finish the paint job- "Gumball Red" is the paint color and my room is now a "nautical theme" complete with Cousin J.D.'s former boat bed that John Daddy and Uncle John had built for him, nautical flags on the walls and other cool stuff. Check out all of the photos in our album.

In February we headed back to Florida for a visit with the Vaneskahians and Llabonas. It was my Abuela and Abuelos 40th Wedding Anniversary and they had a big party. I met some new relatives and got to play with my cousins, including Paolo who came all the way from Uruguay. Of course, I danced all night with all of the women! Mommy and Daddy and I also went to DisneyWorld on what was the coldest day in Florida history I think- it was about 40 degrees with a wind chill in the 30s! But we had fun and Daddy was very happy because Mommy didn't make us stay till the parks close like she usually does. We went to the Animal Kingdom for the first time and even the animals were freezing!

I've been having a great time at my school. Last Fall they moved me from the 4 year old Preschool Class into Ms. Sarah's class, which is a Kindergarten Class and I'm learning a lot of math and reading! In fact, I'm reading at 30 words per minute now. Mommy and Daddy are very happy with my progress. Daddy and I work on my homework in the evenings- yes I do have homework in Kindergarten! We also have spelling tests on Friday!

Each week in my class a different student gets to be "Star Of the Week" which means you get to bring a different thing for show 'n tell each day of that week. I waited and waited until it was "my week." I had already planned what I was going to bring! On the last day students are invited to bring their pet to school. I was kinda sad since all of our pets had died in the last year, but Uncle Tommy cheered me up! He and NayNay (Renee) put Tony in the horse trailer and brought him up to Allen for all of the kids to see and have pony rides at school! I was soooo excited and was definitely a star that day! See all of the photos of that day here!

And, speaking of rides...I got to go for a ride on Mr. Lee's tractor out on his farm! Mr. Lee and Miss Brenda live next door. They are my favorite neighbors! Mr. Lee has a tractor that he takes to his farm and one day they invited me to come along and help work on the farm. You know, I'm really a big help! See my photo riding along with Mr. Lee! Later we had a long talk about tractors...and farms...and motors...and airplanes...you know, most all of my conversations end in airplanes! Well anyway, I had a great time! I love hanging out with Miss Brenda, and also with her daughter Brittany too. Brittany comes over to play with me sometimes too! She's been helping me with my basketball, and likes to play with my Legos.

While we are on the subject of Legos, I've been building lots of things on my Legos table that Santa brought. So many that Daddy started a photo album of all of our creations. Mommy is in on it too! She built a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house with a big tree out front and a dog house in the back, and she helped me with an airplane and a race car. Daddy and I have been working on cars and a helicopter. I built a four-wheeler all by myself, along with lots of varied aircrafts. I'm really enjoying my Legos! Mommy and I went to the Lego Education Center in Southlake to sign me up for Summer Camp there. It was so cool that we decided to book my birthday party there too. She's very impressed with herself to have plans that far ahead!! So save the date- Marty's BIG 5 is scheduled for August 29th!

Not only am I already scheduled for Lego Camp in July, but I'm registered for Zoo School this summer at the Fort Worth Zoo. I'll be staying with Grandma and John Daddy that week! I'm also registered for a Swim Lessons Boot Camp in June. I'm not sure what "boot camp" means, but I think it's a little different style of learning then the lessons I was taking at the Natatorium last month. I've had a lot of fun taking swimming lessons and playing in the pool with the other kids. I like to splash and kick and I can float on my back and paddle around. But I don't like to jump in or go underwater. I've heard Mommy say she's ready for me to "really swim," whatever that means...I'll let you know how Boot Camp goes! I'm also signed up for camp in early June at the Handwriting Clinic! My handwriting could use some improvement and the Clinic is supposed to be a fun place to learn how to write. My Abuela is bring my cousins Perla and Isabelle to stay for a week in June and we're going to Orlando in August. Then we will spend a long weekend in Miami with family and go on a cruise so my summer is filling up. Hmmmm...I think I remember Mommy saying just last month as she was driving me from school to basketball practice to swimming lessons that when summer hit that we were going to slow down.....

That dang Easter Bunny, he did it again! I wasn't going to let him fool me again this year! Again this year we spent Easter Weekend at Uncle John's lakehouse on Possum Kingdom Lake. What a great time we had! Aunt Sandy had lots for us to do! We decorated Easter cookies and dyed Easter Eggs. Grandma also brought us a Gingerbread Bunny House to decorate.

We flew a kite and went fishing! Uncle Vic bought worms-eeewwww! They were wiggly! J.D. and Carley had their big fishing poles and Grace had a little kid's fishing pole. But, I didn't have one and I really wanted to fish with everyone else. So, J.D. made me a cane pole! He found a big stick and tied the line onto it. I was SO proud of my fishing pole! I threw my line into the water and waited and waited, then I waited some more. Grace was catching some cute little catfish. J.D. had some fish on his line. Me? I had nothing! But I didn't give up! I kept putting my line back into the water. Finally- I pulled my line up and said, "Hey J.D.- I don't think I have any fish food on my line!" Even though I didn't catch any fish, I still had a great weekend. We built a fire pit and roasted marshmallows to make smores.

Now, about that bunny! Last year, Uncle John took all of the kids out for a boat ride. While we were out on the lake the Easter Bunny came and left. When we got off the boat there were eggs all over the yard and Mommy said I had just missed him! Well, I wasn't going to let that happen again. This year I brought my binoculars and I was on the lookout! I sat on the back steps and scanned the lake and the shorelines. J.D., Carley, Grace and I waited all day on Saturday for the Easter Bunny to come and bring us eggs. I carefully watch the water, hour after hour in case he was to come by boat. Finally we all decided to walk around and look for him and wouldn't you know it- he had come and gone again!! This time he left the eggs in the front yard on the side of the house NOT facing the lake! That tricky rabbit! Well, he left several hundred eggs so we all had plenty of candy to eat the rest of the day and for breakfast the next morning. See all of the photos from our weekend here.

Mommy's still working 4 days a week and we both take Wednesdays off from work and school. But this summer she's going to a 3-day work week so we'll have more time together. I'll go to the Reading Ranch on the days that she works, but it's just down the street from her office so I'll be close by.

Daddy and I have been spending lots of Saturday mornings at Lowe's doing their kids' projects and having a great time! I love wearing the goggles and using the hammer. It still makes Daddy a little nervous when he has to hold the nails when I'm swinging the hammer!

Well, I promise to write more often and I hope you will too! See all of our photo albums online by clicking here. Please keep in touch over the summer! Remember to wash your hands often! And, Happy Mother's Day to all of my favorite Mommys!

Love ya,

Marty a.k.a. Jean-Martin Garabet Vaneskahian

Happy Holidays from Marty!

Our Christmas Card...CLICK TO ENLARGE

Dear Family and Friends,

Tomorrow night is it! The final decision will be made...will I have made the cut? It will be close! I hope I made the list. Just to get in a final good word, I visited Santa again tonight. I wanted to make sure he remembers me. And, I'm not sure how many times Mommy has actually talked to him. If she has as many times as she says...well it's coal for me! My friend, Ethan's Mom actually has Santa's phone number on Speed Dial of her cell phone! Man is he in trouble!!

I first put in my bid for a Lego table back when Santa first arrived in Allen around Thanksgiving. He seemed to really take a liking to me and remember me from last year. I thought I had it in the bag...so to speak! Here I am with him last month...

Then things got a little rough at school. I was moved to the Kindergarten class. Seems as though I can do Kinder level work...when I apply myself- though I'm not sure what that means yet. I know I'm reading pretty well for a 4 year old. But I sure do like to play at school! And, that does get me into trouble! I get a grade every day at school. An "E" is best. That's what Mommy and Daddy like to see every day. It means "excellent." A "G" means "good" and an "NI" is really bad- it means "needs improvement." I've only gotten that once, and let me tell you- it was a bad day! Lately I've been getting more G's than E's. You'd think that "good" would be good, but it's really not! Am I making sense? It's all very confusing. I think we just need Santa's system at school- "Naughty" or "Nice!" But I'm afraid of which list I'd be on!!

Anyway, back to what I was saying about Santa.... so today Mommy and I met Grandma, J.D. and Carley at the Gaylord Texan Hotel to see Santa one last time. Here's the photo from tonight- me and Santa. I made sure he knew that I'd be at Grandma and John Daddy's House on Christmas Eve. And I reminded him of the Lego table that I'd like to have. He didn't say no, so I'm assuming I'm still on the list!!

I hope that you are on the list too! From me, Mommy and Daddy- Have a wonderful Christmas or celebrated holiday of your choice! You can bet you'll be hearing from me in 2009!

Love ya lots,

Marty a.k.a. Jean-Martin Garabet Vaneskahian

Marty's Progress With Sight Words

Marty is now 4 and a quarter years old. We have been working on his academic skills every single day. I am very happy with his progress and wanted to show off some of his skills with the sight words.




Watch the video below of Marty's sight words. We add to this list daily.

Happy Fall Y'ALL!

Dear Friends and Family,

Whew, I'm getting this email out just in the "nick" of time! Pardon the pun....before Fall is over that is! Mommy knew we were missing the Fall deadline way back on Halloween Day when we rushed into Wal-Mart after school to buy some candy for the big night and the isle that before had tons of gummy body parts and chocolate pumpkins was now draped in red bows and was 200 feet of Christmas candy! And it wasn't even November 1st yet! I'm not allowed to repeat what she said as she raced around the store looking for the leftovers of candy for Halloween! Everyone would know she waited until the last minute if we handed out red and green Hershey's kisses that night.

And...what a night it was! It actually started long before that night. You know Mommy, we had to prepare for the perfect costume. I wanted to BE an airplane. A U.S. Navy Blue Angel F-18 to be specific. She convinced me to be a pilot! The costume would be easier she said...so she ordered me an "official" pilot's flight suit. Grandma and John Daddy actually gave it to me for my birthday. It has lots of cool patches with airplanes and helicopters and even one with my name as the pilot. Next stop was to the photo studio...ugh. I took my model F-16 Fighting Falcon airplane with me to get it's picture taken too. It's my coolest airplane- but it's NOT a toy! My favorite cousin, Charlie gave it to me. He's given me some great pictures of planes too. He works at Raytheon and they give them airplanes and pictures there! It must be a cool place to work!! I'm very careful with my model plane, I wouldn't even let the photographer touch it.

While we were at the photo studio Mommy took advantage of the shoot and had a few more pics taken while we were there. We had a picture taken of us for Daddy and my "4 year old" photos that I hadn't gotten taken back in September. That's something else she does every year is have professional photos taken on my birthday, but she's been really busy! Her part-time job has been very full-time lately!! You know, she organizes volunteers for the outreach programs to provide several hundred needy families with groceries of food for Thanksgiving, and more than 800 kids to be "adopted" at Christmas to make sure they all have lots of toys from Santa. It's a big job that takes hundreds of volunteer hours, so it takes lots of hours of planning in the beginning for her. She promises me that after Christmas we'll have more playdates together with friends, and she promises Daddy that she'll clean the house!!

In the mean time, I'm spending some extra days at school and getting a jump on my reading skills. I love going to the reading lab and Miss Kim says I'm very smart! And I also have some very good friends that I've made in my school. My teacher, Miss Maureen is very nice. I have gotten into some trouble lately for my behavior...sometimes I just want to do my "own thing." You know how it is for a 4 year old...but it lands me in Time-Out when I get home!

Each week we have Show-n-Tell on Fridays and we have to bring something that starts with the letter that we've been working on that week. I usually have an airplane that's named after that letter...well, except for the Letter P week when we couldn't find my "Predator" airplane and Letter G week when Mommy forgot about Show-n-Tell so she stopped and got granola snacks for everyone in the class on the way to school! She was a little stressed that morning!

So back to Halloween day... it started at school. My class had a fun party with big lunch, and games and even a pinata. Mommy came to school and helped with the party. She was even on the party planning committee! Then after Daddy got home from work in the evening we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. I didn't wear my new pilot suit however- the pants were a little long, so I wore last year's NASA Astronaut suit which was still REAL COOL! It was my first time to REALLY go door-to-door! What a secret everybody has been keeping from me! It was fabulous!! I stopped in to see my favorite neighbor first, Miss Brenda. She always has hugs for me! This time she had candy too! (Daddy was hoping she was handing out fudge so he came along! The pic below is of me and Miss Brenda.) You can see all of the Halloween Party and Trick or Treating Photos in our photo albums by clicking here!

Miss Brenda makes the best fudge! She has her own business now, Walden Farms Fudge. She's got lots of flavors- Mommy likes the peanut butter best, but me and Daddy like the Turtle Fudge! You can order all of her flavors on her website at http://www.waldenfarmsfudge.com/. Remember it for Christmas gifts, including gifts for me and Daddy!!

Earlier in October we spent the weekend out at Uncle John's lakehouse at Possum Kingdom Lake. It was BBQ Cookoff weekend at the lake and it's an annual event not to be missed! There was lots of good food, and some "grown-up" stuff going on all weekend. I had a good time playing with cousins J.D. and Carley. Aunt Sandy and Carley won first place for their cobbler AGAIN this year! (Above is a photo of J.D. and I hanging out at the BBQ.)

Each October is also the annual Alliance Airshow in Fort Worth. Mommy and Daddy and I went, of course!! This year the Air Force's Thunderbirds Aerobatic Airplanes were the main event of the show, but we had fun seeing everything all day.

I even got to sit in an F-16 airplane with the pilot!!! And Mommy said the pilot was "hot" though he didn't look sweaty to me. He was very nice. We also saw the new F-35 Joint Strikefighter that I have a model of- I had never seen the real one yet! That was exciting!

My pal, Rebecca just had her 4th birthday and celebrated with a great day at Celebration Park in Allen. Our friend, Brynna was there with lots of other friends and family. We had so much fun. But then we always do when we get together! Photos from her party are in our photo album too.

I can't let this blog go out without commenting on the recent presidential election. I stayed very involved throughout the process of both candidate's campaigns. I knew both men by name and sight, and though I didn't always recognize Senator Biden when he was flashed on the news, I did recognize Governor Palin on TV and Tina Fey when portraying her on Saturday Night Live. It's no secret that I was born into a divided household of Democrat and Republican. However, while this year Mommy tried to lay low as a Republican, Daddy went all out putting bumper stickers on his car proclaiming him one of the 3 lone "Collin County Democrats" and a sticker for Obama '08. Mommy says no matter what it says, "bumper stickers are tacky!" And while our front yard is divided half Republican, half Democrat, Daddy put a sign in his half of the yard. Mommy refrained this time around, since in 2004 she had a BUSH sign on her half. The neighbors had a McCain sign next to her side of the yard anyway. What was funny was when Daddy's Obama sign was stolen one night, his co-workers tried to convince him that Mommy did it! (He had another in the yard in 24 hours!) Anyway, congrats to the Democrats and may we have world peace and candy everyday with Obama in office! As a side note: Mommy didn't reveal who she voted for!

We just returned from a big trip to Florida! Here I am above in the pic with my Abuela. We went to visit my Vaneskahian grandparents and my Tia Lusan and Tio Nelson Llabona and cousins Perla and Isabelle. We had a GREAT TIME! Mommy and Daddy took me to the Magic Kingdom at DisneyWorld! It was a really good day, except for a frightening experience in "Stitch's Alien Experience." Let me tell you though, if you are ever scared at Disney, if you scream like you are being killed by a huge monster, a nice woman in a uniform with a flashlight will come running. She will unlatch the bar securing you in your seat, as well as releasing the latch of the seats of your embarrassed parents, and after climbing over about 30 people in the ride who are still strapped in, she will escort you to an exit!

NOTE: The Tiki Room Show is also creepy so you might want to avoid it- I made my parents leave it too. The good news is that I warned them before it started, and though we had to feel our way out of the room in the dark, we weren't locked into seats so were free to leave on our own!

Daddy and I rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Mommy and I flew in Dumbo, we rode the Airplane roller coaster- yep, I screamed on that one but it was outside and too late to get off! We drove the race cars, rode the carousel, and overall had a fun day. Most of all, Mommy had fun. As Daddy says, "Disney is really all about Mommy!" It's her favorite place! She could stay there forever...Anybody that knows her knows that she wishes she was secretly one of the princesses and lived at the castle!

The part of the trip I talked about most was the Blue Angels Air Show that we were going to at the Kennedy Space Center while in Florida. My Abuelo was taking us all there for the day. I'm still a little shy to the loud noises of the jets, but with my earphones muffling the sound I'm ok. And, I like to sit in Mommy's lap when the really loud jets fly low and jiggle my tummy. It's scary for a 4 year old!

Anyway, we were all excited about the big day. We made the drive out to Cape Canaveral early Saturday morning so we'd get good seats. Once we made it through the line to get tickets, then the line to get on the bus to ride out to the causeway to see the show, Mommy and me and the girls (Perla and Isabelle) scoped out the grassy area and found a good spot to spread our blankets and get settled in for the 2 hour wait for the show to begin. Daddy and Abu went to walk around and find some lunch for us. They'd been gone awhile when Mommy's cell phone rang, then after she hung up from talking to Daddy she yanked up the blankets and yelled for us all to follow her! Seems as though Daddy and Abu had found their way into the VIP Hospitality Area, where there were bleachers, concessions with no lines, and a perfect viewing area! What a find!!!

So the parachute jumpers began the show by jumping in with the American flag as the national anthem played. I had already asked Mommy for my headphones, but she said it was early and she'd get them out before the airplanes started flying. So there we all stood on the aluminum bleachers, hands over our hearts watching the flag wave in the wind as it floated to the ground with the parachuters. Then, from out of nowhere, behind the bleachers came the huge grey F-18 fighter jet right on top of my head, and as soon as he was on top of us he turned and went straight up- the exhaust of his turbines blasting opening my eardrums! It knocked me off of my feet as it shook those cheap metal bleachers. I think it even singed the hair on Daddy's arms...there's no hair on his head anyway! I screamed! Daddy scooped me up as Mommy dove for the backpack where my earphones were....but it was too late. I had already lost my composure. It was a good 30 minutes before I quit crying!

Luckily, I calmed down. It helped that Abu promised to buy me a toy airplane if I'd stop crying. By the time my beloved Blue Angels were soaring just a few hundred feet above us I was flying my toy Blue Angel from the stands right along with them. It was certainly the coolest show we'd ever seen because the planes were flying so low and close to us, just above the water and right next to the NASA launch pads. But until I quit crying over the noises, it may be my last show that Mommy and Daddy take me to for a while..... Anybody up for the next airshow??? I may need a ride!

The rest of our trip to Florida was just about family! I spent a lot of time with my cousins. I had my FIRST SLEEPOVER! Tia Lusan invited me to spend one night with the girls, but was concerned since I had only spent the night away from my parents with Grandma and John Daddy. She asked me if I'd like to come and I said YES! I never gave a thought about missing the folks! In fact, the next morning she asked me if I needed to call them and I told her no, I'd just see them later.

We all went to the park one afternoon and played Frisbee, tried to fly a kite with no wind, and hung out at the playground. And, the weather was great... until we tried to get home. We boarded the plane in Orlando at 5pm on Monday and after a detour to Houston (nope, they wouldn't let us off of the plane, but we did sit on tarmac for 3 hours there waiting for the bad weather to leave DFW) we finally got off of the plane at 1am on Tuesday. I have to admit, I was a much better traveler on that ride home than either of my parents. We hadn't eaten, and all they had on the plane were 2 big cookies and some left over gum in Mommy's bag. I took a 2 hour nap and watch movies on Daddy's IPOD. They were kinda grumpy!

You can bet I'll be on my best behavior for the next 6 weeks or so. You know who's watching....and I want him to bring me a Legos table for my game room and some new Legos...and a Leapster 2 and some games...and some new games for my Smart Cycle...and some new airplanes and helicopters! I also like Little Einstein toys and Handy Manny...so if you see Santa put in a good word for me. I'll do the same for you!!!

I love ya,

MARTY, a.k.a. Jean-Martin Garabet Vaneskahian

WEBSITE: http://www.vaneskahian.com/

PHOTO ALBUM: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaneskahian/sets/

My Birthday and Stuff!

Hi Everybody! I'm 4! Yes, finally I'm 4! I've waited all year and it's finally here. Though, now that I'm 4 there are a few things that I'm not so happy about....

No one told me the pitfalls of turning 4... The excuse of "I don't know" doesn't work as well at 4 as it did at 3! Neither does "it was an accident." Speaking of accidents, it's big boy pants all of the time now! No more Pull-Ups now that I'm 4. That means I can't be a little lazy when I'm busy and not get to the bathroom in time, if ya know what I mean! I don't get away with crying to get my way either...I just go straight to the time-out chair! Ugh! (Mommy and I are pictured above just before we went to see a magic show!)

And, did you know that 4 year olds get homework??? Yes, I have homework each night to work on! (Here I am pictured above on my first day of school in Pre-K!) Actually I enjoy homework time with Daddy, well most of the time. He's a little impatient. But I love, love, love my school and my teachers. And, I'm learning to read! I even had math homework last week. And the kids in my class are really cool and we have so much fun together. Mommy and Daddy are very happy that they chose The Reading Ranch. I even stay later a few afternoons a week, sometimes staying for the reading tutoring. And, they are flexible if Mommy needs to bring me to school an extra day during the week because of her job.

Now back to being 4....let me tell you about my great week of celebrations! First, Mommy got cupcakes for my class and put airplanes on all of them for me to take to school to share with my friends. She also sent my picture in to The Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout PBS and I was on National TV on the day of my birthday! See the video clip below where Daddy recorded it!

Abuela flew in on my real birthday on Thursday, September 4th and stayed through the weekend to be here for my party on Saturday. First Mommy bought a cake for my real birthday and we went out to dinner with Abuela. I got my very own digital camera and a Big Wheel!

We had the big party at Uncle Tommy and Naynay's house in Southlake, where Tony the Pony lives. (Here I am, above, with Grandma and Abuela at my birthday party.) All of my friends came over to ride my pony and to play in this huge bounce house and water slide that Mommy rented for us to play in! I heard Mommy and Naynay (Renee) giggling that they tried out the slide after it was delivered the night before- yikes! Visions of two old mommies in the dark playing in the water and sliding are not what a kid wants to think about! Thanks to everyone that came to my party and all of the wonderful presents that you gave me! You just have to see all of the cool pics! Click here to see the photo album.

A few weeks after Abuela left, Abuelo (Garabet Vaneskahian) came for a visit. They don't like to travel together- they don't like to share me! I'll have to talk to them about sharing....you know, I have to go to the time out chair when I don't share! Anyway, "Abu" hit town and it was a none-stop party! He's loads of fun! He and Daddy brought pizza and cookies for my class and had lunch with us one day. You can see the photos in our photo album. Click here.

Then we went to the Plano Balloon Festival and watched the balloons launch. As we were leaving we saw some of the balloons landing. Abu jumped out of the car and ran over to help the crew wrestle the big balloon to the ground. It was great! He sure looked like he knew what he was doing! And, just when Mommy thought she'd had all of the fun she could stand for one day, we spent another two hours at Chuck E. Cheese's playing games! Woohoo! What a day!

The rest of the weekend was just as busy and went by too fast! I really miss my Vaneskahian family and my Llabona cousins. There's great news though, Mommy and Daddy just booked airline tickets for the first week of November for us to make a week-long visit to Orlando to see everyone and even spend a day at DisneyWorld! I can't wait, and I'll be asking them EVERYDAY, "how much longer until we leave???"

While Abu was here, Grandma and John Daddy delivered my "big boy" bed. Daddy and Abu moved all of my baby furniture out of my room. Mommy posted it on Craigslist Saturday morning about 10am, and at 1:30pm the same day a buyer came and bought it all! She loves Craigslist! John Daddy spiffied up the boat bed that he and Uncle John built for my cousin, J.D. It looks like a vintage Chris Craft boat. It's pretty cool. Now I have it in my room! I love having J.D.'s old bed too, because I love J.D.! Now Mommy is going to paint my room and hang up new curtains and nautical "stuff." And she took the curtains and things from my nursery and used them to redecorate the guest room. I'll show you new pictures when she gets it all finished.

Well folks, that's all for now! I've got homework to finish, a Big Wheel to ride and some airplanes to fly before the end of my weekend! I hope you've had a good weekend to and have a great week ahead. I love ya!

~Marty a.k.a. Jean-Martin Garabet Vaneskahian

To see all of our latest photos, including my birthday party, go to http://flickr.com/photos/vaneskahian/sets/

Almost 4.......

Dear Family and Friends,

Whew...the summer has flown by in a flash! Faster than some of my F-18 Super Hornet airplanes fly! When I last wrote I was just easing into summer and swimming lessons.

Since then our 4th of July celebration lasted a week, seeing the fireworks in Allen the weekend before -after going to a really cool party with lots of kids and their parents at my friend Kathy Gipson's Sunday School class party. They have a big party every year with tons of food and lots of fun. It ended the evening with a great view of the fireworks from Celebration Park. I got a little spooked by the noise of the explosions soooo close, so we left at the beginning of the fireworks show and watched them from Daddy's car. Needless to say Mommy and Daddy were a little frustrated with my fear of noises...finding it hard to rationalize with me.

The following weekend we met the Clendinnings for dinner at a restaurant outdoors and the Addison Boomtown Show of fireworks, though I wasn't told just how close we would be viewing them that evening. It was CLOSE! Mommy came prepared with industrial strength earphones! However, I was having so much fun playing with Ella and Logan that the sound hardly bothered me after the show started. That frustrated my parents even more! They can't understand my hang-up with loud noises.

Then the next night I sat with my next door neighbors Mr. Lee and Miss Brenda on their front steps and watched the Mckinney fireworks from the ballpark. It was such fun with them!! We had a great view and the sound wasn't even an issue. Go figure a 3 year old...I mean almost 4!

Yep, that's right! I'm almost 4!! Yes, I know I've been saying that for the past 6 months, but now I really mean it! It's just days away from my 4th birthday- on September 4! My Abuela is flying in for the big day from Orlando! Then on Saturday, September 6th, Mommy has planned quite a soiree for my friends to come and celebrate with me. We're going to have the party at Uncle Tommy and Renee's (Naynay's) house again this year so everyone can ride my pony, Tony. That's where he lives! (Mommy says it's a good thing he lives there- he'd run away from home if he lived with us 'cause she's secretly afraid of horses and doesn't like to get too close to them! Especially to feed them!) Mommy also rented a big bounce house and water slide for us all to play on in the backyard with Tony! It will be fun! I hope you are all planning to come! We're going to have a birthday breakfast party at 10 a.m. and play before it gets too hot for the old folks...like Daddy!

Daddy is old! We just celebrated his birthday this past weekend! He's 34 now. My Tia Lusan (Daddy's sister) and Tio Nelson Llabona and cousins Perla and Isabelle came to Texas for Daddy's birthday! Well, that's what they told him! (Lusan and Nelson are Dave Matthews Band fans and they came to Dallas for a concert this weekend, but Daddy thinks it was all about him!) We had a GREAT time while they were here, and we had a pre-celebration of my own birthday as well. They even took me shopping and let me pick out my present! You'll have to come over and play with my new Mega Rig Space Shuttle and Launch Pad, with Aliens and Space Ship! It's so cool!

Mommy invited everyone secretly to i fratelli's for a big party for Daddy's birthday on Friday night. Grandma brought a birthday cake for Daddy! All the kids came- JD and Carley, Ella and Logan, Grace and her new baby sister Maddie, and of course Perla and Isabelle! See all of the photos in our albums by clicking here!

Then Saturday we all drove up to Lake Texoma to spend the day on Uncle Vic and Aunt Mary's big boat. We went out for a ride and I drove the boat! Then we came back in and had a cookout on the dock! Once we got home, Daddy took us to Chuck E Cheese's to finish his big birthday celebration! He said he had always wanted to spend his birthday there and now he finally got too! We left that night after 10 p.m. with some really great, cheap toys we got after a million dollars in tokens and 3 hours trying to win enough tickets!

My summer is almost over, but I've got to tell you about my fun time at camp! I spent 2 weeks at Spanish Camp that was held at my Spanish Schoolhouse. It was all about dinosaurs and was really fun! While I was at camp it gave Mommy a chance to work! Then I went to Grandma's house for a week and went to Zoo Camp every day at the Fort Worth Zoo. I had the best time, I can't wait to go again next summer! I learned all about animals, how they lived, what they ate, and even which ones are carnivores and herbivores! I may even grow up to be a zookeeper, if I'm not a pilot- of course!

I've also spent a lot of time the past 2 months with Grandma and John Daddy while Mommy went back to work. Mommy just thought she was starting a part-time job...but seems as though her part-time work has been the part of the time that she's not sleeping! In case you don't know, she's returned to Allen Community Outreach as the Director of Volunteer Services. Actually, she jumped into the middle of a project that provided school supplies for about 2400 underprivileged students going back to school. That took a lot of time to coordinate and to get volunteers organized. Thank goodness Grandma had a lot of free time to keep me entertained! Once I'm back in school, Mommy and I both will be on a more regular schedule!

And speaking of school....I'm about to have a life-changing experience! You know I have a flair for the dramatic! My Spanish School which I attended last year and loved has had to move their location this year due to renovations that weren't complete. They moved farther away by a few miles, but a big difference in minutes when driving thru traffic to get back and forth. Since Mommy is only working the days that I'm in school, this year 3 days a week, she felt that adding an extra hour's drive to her day and removing an hour from her work schedule was too much! So she and Daddy began a new school search and found The Reading Ranch in Allen. It's only a mile and a half from Mommy's office. And, while it's a bit more expensive (a lot if you ask Daddy, but I'm worth it when you ask Mommy!) they are excited about the curriculum that focuses on teaching to read, write and learn mathematics. They also have science and computer labs (though I'm an ace on the computer and in science!), and teach other things like music...but they really concentrate on early reading. Mommy thinks I'm ready for it since I'm constantly trying to sound out signs I see ( like the ones in the department stores when we are shopping- "lingerie" really stumped me!), the names on my airplanes, and books I read with Daddy when we go to the library each week. I'll let you know more about the school once I get going......

Well, I gotta go! The Llabonas are off to the airport and I'm off to Grandma and John Daddy's for a few more days! I hope you are enjoying the final days of summer and have relaxing plans for Labor Day weekend! Don't forget my birthday party on September 6th- I'd love to see ya! We'll have plenty of donuts and wear your swims suits! We'll be splashing!!!

Love ya,

MARTY a.k.a. Jean-Martin Garabet Vaneskahian

See all of our latest photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaneskahian/sets/