Category: Illinois

February 2, 2011

Dear Friends,

Oh my goodness!  I was visiting Ms. England’s family in Chicago, Illinois when a blizzard hit!  The winds were blowing so hard it was difficult for people to walk. There was even lightening and thunder during the storm and after it was all over, more than 20 inches of snow fell. There was so much snow that almost everyone stayed home for the day until the plows could move the snow. It was the third-largest snowstorm to ever come to Chicago and I was here to see it.  It was so much fun playing in the giant piles of snow.  I climbed a tree, slid down a hill and even made a  “Snow Bear.” It was truly a Winter Wonderland.

Hugs from your Friend,

Tidy Teddy

April 12, 2010

Tidy Teddy’s Day AT Bloomingdale’s

Today I visited Ms. England’s Aunt Janet in Oak Brook IL., she works at Bloomingdale’s which is a big department store. She is the Merchandising Supervisor for the store and it is her job to make everything look nice so people will want to shop there.

First Aunt Janet showed me all of the beautiful flowers for sale, they were so pretty, then she let her friend Jodi hold me a the top of the ladder while she worked on a display-fun! I spent the whole day looking at all of the neat stuff they sell at Bloomingdale’s, I almost got lost on the table full of Brown Bags, can you find me? With all the traveling I’ve been doing maybe I need some new luggage, do you like this one?

After lunch it was time for a nap, so I laid down in a great big bed and dreamed of where I might go next…..

Love,

Tidy Teddy

April 9, 2010

Hi Miss England’s first grade class,

I’m Scott, Miss England’s 16-year-old cousin.  Tidy Teddy traveled all the way to Tinley Park, Illinois to visit me during my spring break.  I found out he has visited other people in Illinois, because he told me all about the wonderful times he had visiting them.  I am very excited I finally got the chance to spend time with him.  The weather was not great, so we spent most of our time inside.  We still managed to stay busy and have lots of fun.  Thanks for letting me get to know your friend, Tidy Teddy!  I wrote short stories of what he did under each picture of him.

Love,

Scott

Fed-Ex delivered Tidy Teddy to my home through first class mail.  He said that he enjoyed the experience of riding in the box and that it was very cozy and peaceful inside it.  In this picture, he has just arrived at my house.

After arriving, Tidy Teddy decided to watch the Weather Channel to see what it would be like outside for the week.  Unfortunately, it rained during most of his visit, and he had to spend most of his time inside.

Because of the bad weather, Tidy Teddy and I started playing hide-and-seek inside.  It took me thirty-four minutes to find him once.  He ended up hiding in the light on the ceiling.  Can you find him?

In this picture, Tidy Teddy is using our telephone to make some calls to his friends and family.  He told his parents he arrived safe, let them know that he was having a good time, and said the people seemed nice.

I took Tidy Teddy to a magic show, and the magician asked for a volunteer.  He chose Tidy Teddy and ended up making him disappear!  The magician then pulled Tidy Teddy out of his hat and surprised everybody.

After the magician pulled him from the hat, Tidy Teddy took the magician’s magic wand, said, “Abra cadabra,” and pulled a rabbit out of the magician’s hat.  It was no ordinary rabbit, however.  It was Bugs Bunny!  Everybody clapped and cheered for Tidy Teddy.  He had a great time and said he wants to see another magic show soon.

Tidy Teddy was so busy having fun, here in Illinois, that he did not have time to go to the post office to mail his letters. Instead, we went to my mailbox, put his letters in, and flipped up the red flag so that the mail truck would pick them up and deliver them later.

While on the walk back to the house, from the mailbox, Tidy Teddy saw a fifty-dollar bill blowing down the street.  He ran over, picked it up, and asked me to take a picture of him holding it to show you.

Tidy Teddy went to the park, during the short time of nice weather, and met Red, the M&M.  They played catch with a football and had a fun time.  Tidy Teddy was so excited he got to spend time with Red and was glad he had the chance to exercise.  Red even let Tidy Teddy take a picture with him!

Tidy Teddy got thirsty and grabbed a juice box out of the refrigerator.  He relaxed in a chair and drank some very refreshing Minute Maid apple juice.  100% juice…YUM!

Tidy Teddy felt like coloring, so we found this Peanuts coloring book.  He worked on it for a long time and did a very nice job.  In this picture, he is finishing coloring these pictures of Snoopy and Linus.

After he finished coloring, Tidy Teddy really wanted to make a painting.  He gathered some paint and a paintbrush, and he began making a fan-shaped color wheel.  Here, Tidy Teddy poses with his finished painting

Tidy Teddy went to visit relatives who also live in Illinois.  They had a teddy bear picnic where they shared stories and took pictures.  Here is one of the pictures of Tidy Teddy and his family.

Tidy Teddy found a strange globe in the attic when he was exploring.  He touched the globe, and, blue and red light glowed from inside it.  All of the lines of light moved around inside the globe.  They all started at the large, red ball.  The light was blue until it touched the globe, where it turned red.  Tidy Teddy is not sure how this would happen without magic, so he thinks it is a magic crystal ball and, he made some wishes.  What would you wish for?

Tidy Teddy played with lots of toys, while at my house.  His favorites were the toy cars.  In this picture, he has a fire truck, police car, ambulance, and school bus.  He really liked the school bus because it reminded him of you, his favorite first grade class!

March 8, 2010

Dear Friends,

I made a wonderful discovery today… If you want to learn something new, ask questions!  I love airplanes and was excited that I was going to fly on a plane to Florida with Miss England’s Mom.  I wanted to learn about flying, so I asked the very nice people who work at Air Tran Airways some questions.  Before I knew it, I met the pilot of the place, Captain Bill. He invited me to come on the plane with him and sit in the cockpit, which is the part of the airplane where only pilots are allowed.  It had many, many dials and gauges that measure important things to keep the plane flying safely.  Captain Bill let me sit in his seat and told me he has been flying planes a long time.  He used to live in Illinois but got tired of the cold winters, so now he lives in Florida. He was so kind and so happy to help me experience what it feels like to fly a plane. I met a very kind flight attendant, who was kind, helpful, and help make my trip to Florida extra special.

I will never forget Captain Bill and all the kind people at Air Tran Airways who gave me the experience of a lifetime.  And remember- if you want to learn something new, ask questions.  Exciting things may be around the corner!

Hugs,

Tidy Teddy

March 7, 2010

Hello Ms England’s class,

Tidy Teddy traveled with Marjorie and Sally to the Field Museum in downtown Chicago, Illinois on March 5th.  The Field Museum building is 117 year old, and it sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, which is the second largest lake in the United States. Teddy saw lots of cool stuff, including Sue, the largest preserved dinosaur skeleton in the world. Teddy says Hi to the class!

See you again soon!

Uncle Ken, Marjorie, and Sally

March 1, 2010

Dear 1^st graders,

Tidy Teddy has been having a very busy few months and is a little run down. In order to make sure that he is ok to continue his travels around the country, Tidy Teddy took a trip to the doctor in Chicago.

Before the doctor could come in, the nurses put him on an exam bed and took his temperature. Since he did not have a fever, Dr. Soleymani came in to perform his check up. He gave Tidy Teddy a physical exam and made sure to use his stethascope to check Tidy Teddy’s heartbeat.

The good news is that Tidy Teddy is in good shape! Because of his great health, we put him to work answering the phones, so that he could help schedule appointments. He did a great job and was very nice and polite to everyone that he talked to on the phone. After a day of hard work, Tidy Teddy deserved a little pampering, so he got a cosmetic treatment to make his skin shine bright and make him look fantastic.

Love Miss England’s best friend,

Sara

February 2, 2010

Dear Miss England’s Class,

Today, Tidy Teddy and I went to the Peoria Rivermen hockey game. Hockey is a very fun sport to play and watch. Sadly, the Rivermen lost to the other team, but Tidy Teddy and I had a lot of fun!

I go to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. I took Tidy Teddy to my classes and introduced him to Lydia Moss Bradley, the founder of the school. Peoria is in central Illinois, where it is very cold in the winter, however there is very little snow. The students at Bradley are very nice and kind. I had lots of fun with Tidy Teddy!

Love,

Alyssa

February 2, 2010

Dear Miss England’s Class,

We have enjoyed having Tidy Teddy at our home in Pekin, Illinois.  We hope he has enjoyed his visit too.  Pekin is a small town in central Illinois.  It is 439 miles from our house to Nashville, and would take Tidy Teddy seven hours if he were to drive from here back to your school.

It has been cold here during Tidy Teddy’s visit. The average temperature has been 25 degrees, so we’ve been staying inside a lot.  This past week was pretty busy for Tidy Teddy.  He starred in a puppet show, went to a dance party, visited Pekin Insurance and went to Nick’s preschool with our family to hear a story.  We hope you enjoy the pictures of Tidy Teddy.  We had fun during his stay here!

Sincerely,

Sarah, Jon, Nick, Anne & Emma

January 30, 2010

Hi Miss England’s class!

Tiddy Teddy came to the office with me today.  There are pictures of him in my cube, at reception, and in our biggest board room.  At Charles River Associates, we work with companies who are suing each other over Intellectual Property (patents, trademarks, etc.).  A typical case would be something like: Company A sued Company B for selling a product with the same name or same composition (that’s trademark or patented) as Company A’s product.  Typically, we are the people who testify in court on how much Company A should get (what the damages should be).  Our office is located at 1 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606.  Being an “Analyst” is a really fun job because we get to work in a ton of different industries, such as Pharmaceutical, Industrial, Home Appliances, etc (those are the ones I’ve mostly worked in).  The work is fast paced and pretty exciting, especially when you calculate damages for trials that are millions of dollars!

To become an Analyst, you need to be good at math and problem solving, along with going to college and getting a degree in Business: either Finance or Accounting.  People that work here also go back to school to get their Masters in Business Administration (MBAs), or study for years to take series of tests to become Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) or Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs).  We even have people that leave our company to become lawyers.

Your Friend,

Hadley