Hana's summer is almost over; September 8 the Beach Bum/ Donkey Rider is due back in school. Let's see what the new year brings.
Last week.
I had a collection of pens traveling around in my handbag. As it was very annoying - everything got ink over it - I looked around for a pencil case. The only one I could find was a hippo pencil case of Hana (a pencil case shaped like a hippo). I quickly emptied it of its contents, and used it for my pens, and put it in my handbag.
This week.
Hana and I are talking about the upcoming school year. She telling me all the things she needs, as this year she is going to the ‘big school’; grade 1. Everything passes the venue, from lunchboxes to waterbottles, to erasers and pencils and I don’t know what.
“But you will have to get it ready and organize it, put it in one place,” I tell her.
“Oh,” she replies, “I already put all my school supplies together.”
“Oh, where did you put them,” I ask her, without really thinking about it.
“I put them in my hippo pencil case,” she says.
Silence.
Oooops, I think I just dumped all that stuff out. Better organize myself tonight, or I am going to eat it. I can just visualize this.
“WHO TOUCHED MY PENCIL CASE!!!!!!!!”
Hana is learning how to read. We play Memory with a number of sight words. At the end of the game (which Hana always wins due to her incredible cheating capacities), she gets to make sentences. She loves it when I read them out loud. Especially this one. In case Miss Founouni is reading this; Yes, those are your brownies. They were quite good!
I know I've already posted this one, but this Bikini Lady intrigues me. Her belly button, the orange hair flowing from one side only, the very hip bikini (if I may say so), the dainty little right foot (left for her), and then this ogre on her left who is obviously trying to get her attention, dropping his flowers while doing so. What is he trying to do anyway? Tickle her under her chin? And what’s with the headwear, dude? Going 10012 nights? I don’t know.
Halloween is in the air. She cut out some scary figures for me to decorate my room. Very cute. 
An ‘ara’, in Arabic, although someone told me that the correct term would be ‘Latin’. Anyway, at $1 a kilo, we ended up with an 8 dollar pumpkin. She designed the scary face herself, and I helped her carve it. And this is the result. 
Mind you, Halloween is not a Lebanese tradition, nor a Dutch one. This one is totally’ school infused’.
I recognize the words as the spelling words of the week, on which she had a spelling test that day. She aced it, first time ever. Now I know why. Well, she learn an important lesson on life. ‘Those that cheat, will pass.’ 
She’s become more ‘realistic’ in her drawings lately. This particular lady reminds me of Beyonce. 
This is a happy couple, sharing drinks. She painted the bottom of the glasses in silver color; that’s why they reflect.
S
This one is no drawing from Hana, but about Hana. Today she was ‘Queen for the Day’ and all her classmates learned how to spell her name, drew her picture, and asked her questions. These are the results. 
Hana was particularly smitten with this one. “I can’t understand that she’s not amazed with her own drawing,” she said. 
Hana practising her sight words in class.
A drawing of a lady painting a Christmastree.
I could recognize the spot. Can you? Up is her drawing, down is the actual spot.
So why the frustration, you might think (on her face)? She assumed she just could cut the dress into a fit, but the fact that it needs to be sewed as well, greatly annoyed her. And so she gave up.
