No - no - no - no - no.
I refuse to accept that my baby girl is losing her two front teeth.
She looks completely and absolutely adorable, and says words like "Mithithippi," but I am not emotionally ready to deal with not having a baby in my house.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
team
I am not sure how they do it - but they do.
And they seem to love it.
It was another late night at the theater for us - probably later than it should have been, but Punk was wide awake, and promised me that he wasn't tired at all. Even Kooka stuck it out until 9:45.
It is a lot of work putting together a show like this - a cast of forty, 20-some songs - more songs than I have ever had in a show - and two less weeks to do it. It has been exhausting.
Yet, when it is all said and done . . .I know this is right for them. When I see them hanging out with great kids, when Punk is home drawing and has the soundtrack to Bye Bye Bye Bordie cranked throughout the house, just because he loves it, when my seven year old can carry on a legitimate conversation with an adult, when they say to me, "Mom, this has been hard - but in a few weeks I am really going to miss this, so lets just enjoy it" - that is when I know this is right for us.
It is not football, not chess club, not swim team, but it is our team, and we are lucky to be able to play.
And they seem to love it.
It was another late night at the theater for us - probably later than it should have been, but Punk was wide awake, and promised me that he wasn't tired at all. Even Kooka stuck it out until 9:45.
It is a lot of work putting together a show like this - a cast of forty, 20-some songs - more songs than I have ever had in a show - and two less weeks to do it. It has been exhausting.
Yet, when it is all said and done . . .I know this is right for them. When I see them hanging out with great kids, when Punk is home drawing and has the soundtrack to Bye Bye Bye Bordie cranked throughout the house, just because he loves it, when my seven year old can carry on a legitimate conversation with an adult, when they say to me, "Mom, this has been hard - but in a few weeks I am really going to miss this, so lets just enjoy it" - that is when I know this is right for us.
It is not football, not chess club, not swim team, but it is our team, and we are lucky to be able to play.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
neighborhood freaks
There are not a lot of families like us on the block.
For starters, none of our neighbors have 10 year old boys running around in their bathing suits wearing eyeliner and blush. None of the boys on the block have seven year-old sisters who think nothing of going to Target to help their brother pick out the right shade of lipstick - one that won't make him look too "girly."
But what makes us most unusual of all, is not that we survive tech week anyway we can, it is that most of our neighbors would even consider letting their kids play on the rolla-bolla of death - more commonly referred to as a slip and slide. And certainly none of the neighbors children are doing so wearing Cover Girls' mystic plum.
For starters, none of our neighbors have 10 year old boys running around in their bathing suits wearing eyeliner and blush. None of the boys on the block have seven year-old sisters who think nothing of going to Target to help their brother pick out the right shade of lipstick - one that won't make him look too "girly."
But what makes us most unusual of all, is not that we survive tech week anyway we can, it is that most of our neighbors would even consider letting their kids play on the rolla-bolla of death - more commonly referred to as a slip and slide. And certainly none of the neighbors children are doing so wearing Cover Girls' mystic plum.
Friday, July 3, 2009
christian
The three of us spent a good part of the morning teary eyed, watching this video. The story is amazing (you can read part of the book at animal planet.)Trouble is, now both Punk and Kooka want a baby lion.
I sort of do too.
I sort of do too.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
life of crime
Apparently, I have been leading Kooka to a life of crime.
This was taken from the police report in the local newspaper:
Graffiti was written on a sidewalk with chalk in the block of L.Parkway
Are you KIDDING ME?! Fricking CHALK?! On the sidewalk?!
It was probably us.
Seriously.
Kooka's hopscotches are truly works of art. But Punk has a more "calvin and hobbes" approach to street art . . .screaming monsters, FBI chalk outlines, signs that say "run me over" - you get the picture.
However, I am pretty sure that there was some crack being sold somewhere, a drunk driver on the road, or maybe even some petty larceny going on at Target at the same time this grafitti was being inspected.
I, for one will sleep better knowing that the police are on top of this - bout time somebody cracked down on these loosers.
summer
THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT SUMMER:
late nights on the porch with the twinkly lights on
sweet tea from McDonalds
the fountain in town square
sleeping in
road trips
tech week at the theater
kabobs
sidewalk chalk
camp liz
the smell of sunscreen (Hawaiian Tropic)
fireworks
freezie pops
tan lines
frog catching
Friday, June 26, 2009
just in case
Just in case I have not been emphatic enough in gushing over Michael Jackson . . .take a look at this and tell me how many 11 year olds you know that can do this.
(I've seen a lot of 5th graders and not one yet can pull this off . . . )
(I've seen a lot of 5th graders and not one yet can pull this off . . . )
why i'm like this
My thing about Michael Jackson goes way back to 6th grade. It was an obsession. Not the glove-wearing, pepsi drinking kind of obsession - it was something less manic, but completely overwhelming.
When I saw him perform I didn't scream, didn't swoon - I studied. I mastered the moonwalk, broke down the isolations . . .he was the professor of pop, and I couldn't learn enough.
But it wasn't a terribly useful education . . .at least not on first glance.
It was not until I saw the video for Black or White that I knew. I didn't know what it was called, had no idea how to make it happen - but I knew - that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
We were sitting in our college dorm, making predictions about what people where really going to grow up to be. We figured the math major was predisposed to give up academia and start a family. The chemist would have her own infomercial for something everyone needs . . .and then it got to me . . . the political science major.
"She's going to be a senator."
"No way."
"Why not - she's good at arguing her point."
"No way - she is going to teach people to dance - kids I think - and make up dances for videos and shows and stuff."
I am the only one they got right.
By the end of the year, that's exactly what I was doing.
And the only reason I even considered it as an option, is because I saw that video and realized that I did not have to be a master ballerina to create something inspiring.
Even Punk, who is pretty technically savvy is inspired by that video - the effects (almost 20 years old) are still pretty sweet.
But the choreography is still my favorite part . . .
BLACK OR WHITE
When I saw him perform I didn't scream, didn't swoon - I studied. I mastered the moonwalk, broke down the isolations . . .he was the professor of pop, and I couldn't learn enough.
But it wasn't a terribly useful education . . .at least not on first glance.
It was not until I saw the video for Black or White that I knew. I didn't know what it was called, had no idea how to make it happen - but I knew - that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
We were sitting in our college dorm, making predictions about what people where really going to grow up to be. We figured the math major was predisposed to give up academia and start a family. The chemist would have her own infomercial for something everyone needs . . .and then it got to me . . . the political science major.
"She's going to be a senator."
"No way."
"Why not - she's good at arguing her point."
"No way - she is going to teach people to dance - kids I think - and make up dances for videos and shows and stuff."
I am the only one they got right.
By the end of the year, that's exactly what I was doing.
And the only reason I even considered it as an option, is because I saw that video and realized that I did not have to be a master ballerina to create something inspiring.
Even Punk, who is pretty technically savvy is inspired by that video - the effects (almost 20 years old) are still pretty sweet.
But the choreography is still my favorite part . . .
BLACK OR WHITE
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
fun part
Now comes the fun part.
For months - both Punk and I have been working on musical - he as an actor, me as the choreographer. It's been difficult. Working four jobs at once, getting Punk to his rehearsals, finishing up my stuff at school, and planning summer workshops almost drove me insane - almost. But this is the part I like best.
The best part of all, comes after the teaching - after all of the counting and questions, and music cuts. Now comes the watching, the waiting, the twisting and tweaking. I have three weeks to help the cast make this music theirs, to help Punk find his groove, to make Rosie and Albert really fall in love . . to make it all real.
This is the best part. It is why I love my job. It is why I do not miss acting myself anymore - not even a little bit. It is earth-moving to watch someone else carry out your creation - to watch it come to life.
And if you want to watch it too - you should go here, because tickets are selling quickly.
For months - both Punk and I have been working on musical - he as an actor, me as the choreographer. It's been difficult. Working four jobs at once, getting Punk to his rehearsals, finishing up my stuff at school, and planning summer workshops almost drove me insane - almost. But this is the part I like best.
The best part of all, comes after the teaching - after all of the counting and questions, and music cuts. Now comes the watching, the waiting, the twisting and tweaking. I have three weeks to help the cast make this music theirs, to help Punk find his groove, to make Rosie and Albert really fall in love . . to make it all real.
This is the best part. It is why I love my job. It is why I do not miss acting myself anymore - not even a little bit. It is earth-moving to watch someone else carry out your creation - to watch it come to life.
And if you want to watch it too - you should go here, because tickets are selling quickly.
Monday, June 22, 2009
friday
FYI - Punk and Kooka will be performing at Carleton College Concert Hall this Friday at noon, as part of the Northfield Youth Choir's Summer Program.
I won't give it away by revealing what show they will be performing - but I will say this much . . . Punk plays a monkey, and Kooka won the much coveted role of "beautiful jungle princess."
I won't give it away by revealing what show they will be performing - but I will say this much . . . Punk plays a monkey, and Kooka won the much coveted role of "beautiful jungle princess."
Sunday, June 21, 2009
obsolete
I am not sure when it happened, or how I feel about it, but somewhere along the line, I have become somewhat obsolete.
I walked into the kitchen tonight - and Punk had made both he and Kooka hot dogs for a midnight snack. They had also mixed a batch of green kool-aid ("we know it's your favorite"), which actually had the correct proportion of sugar/water/kool-aid.
It is nearly ten o'clock and my children are fixing full-fledged meals for themselves. Maybe next they will start paying the electric bill.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
punk's party
I have been somebody's mom for over a decade. Actually when I think about it - it's been longer than that - but for all practical purposes, I'm rounding down.
To celebrate this milestone we hosted a Lego birthday for our architecturally inclined eldest child. Sounds like a simple plan - right?
Wrong.
If you are three years old this is a simple plan - buy the duplo themed plates from the Lego store, put out some Bob-the-Builder sets and you are ready to go.
But Punk is 10 - TEN - and this was not so easy.
First we tried to bake the lego cake - which took three tries as it is - I don't know whose anal-retentive mom frosted that "homemade cake" here - but poor Punk doesn't have a mother with the same mental disorder. And to compound this problem - the icing is deadly. Look at that thing. In order to make any frosting "Lego Red" or even "Lego Blue" you have to put enough food coloring in there to give an elephant cancer. And the bitter aftertaste of red #40 is enough to completely negate any sweetness the cake may have originally had - even for Punk, which is saying something.
So then we decided to try the Lego ice cube thing. For $15, Punk's dad got a little ice cube tray that would make 8 mini-legos. Which would have been great if we only needed 8 ice cubes - or even if they would have held their shape in the freezer. Unfortunately, all we got was perfectly formed frozen legos, that turned into unrecognizable heaps in the freezer.
Eventually we worked a few things out . . . Lego candy from the Mall of America, a relay race to put together a Lego truck, guessing how many legos were stuffed into a blown up balloon, a Lego Punk on a bakery cake - and water balloons - lots of water balloons - which had nothing to do with Legos, but made it so nobody cared anyway.
At the end of the day, Punk said he had a great time - and he got to spend a few extra hours with "Lama Face" which he hadn't seen in months - and that he said, was the best present of all.
To celebrate this milestone we hosted a Lego birthday for our architecturally inclined eldest child. Sounds like a simple plan - right?
Wrong.
If you are three years old this is a simple plan - buy the duplo themed plates from the Lego store, put out some Bob-the-Builder sets and you are ready to go.
But Punk is 10 - TEN - and this was not so easy.
First we tried to bake the lego cake - which took three tries as it is - I don't know whose anal-retentive mom frosted that "homemade cake" here - but poor Punk doesn't have a mother with the same mental disorder. And to compound this problem - the icing is deadly. Look at that thing. In order to make any frosting "Lego Red" or even "Lego Blue" you have to put enough food coloring in there to give an elephant cancer. And the bitter aftertaste of red #40 is enough to completely negate any sweetness the cake may have originally had - even for Punk, which is saying something.
So then we decided to try the Lego ice cube thing. For $15, Punk's dad got a little ice cube tray that would make 8 mini-legos. Which would have been great if we only needed 8 ice cubes - or even if they would have held their shape in the freezer. Unfortunately, all we got was perfectly formed frozen legos, that turned into unrecognizable heaps in the freezer.
Eventually we worked a few things out . . . Lego candy from the Mall of America, a relay race to put together a Lego truck, guessing how many legos were stuffed into a blown up balloon, a Lego Punk on a bakery cake - and water balloons - lots of water balloons - which had nothing to do with Legos, but made it so nobody cared anyway.
At the end of the day, Punk said he had a great time - and he got to spend a few extra hours with "Lama Face" which he hadn't seen in months - and that he said, was the best present of all.
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