Sunday, March 29, 2009

disney

Punk called me from Disney World - he said the new improved Haunted Mansion is pretty cool. Kooka says that she finally got to see Pirates of the Carribean.

That is all I know about where my kids are today - and it is sort of depressing.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

hat day

It is "spirit week" or some such nonsense at school. Monday was pajama day - thank God for Hannah Andersson - it was snowing, and Kooka would have gladly donned her silky spaghetti strap nightgown if we didn't own the cozy pink and purple striped long johns.

Today was color day - orange for first grade, red for fourth. Tomorrow is backwards day, and who cares about Friday - because they won't be there anyway.

But the best day by far was hat day. It was not enough for Punk and Kooka to just plop any old hat on their heads and call it good. They both had to come up with an entire ensemble to complete the look. Punk had his orchestra concert that day, so he walked into school carrying his case - looking like a pee-wee Jason Mraz. And Kooka like a mini Colbie Caillat.

Since it was Tuesday (my volunteer day) I had a chance to scope out everyone else - and I must say - without a doubt, they were the coolest looking kids in the building.


Sunday, March 22, 2009

neighborhood

There is a new phenomenon at our house - something we have not been used to until now.

There are kids here - lots of them -often.

The door bell is always ringing, the front yard is always full. There are six kids inside this house right now and two outside. There are bikes in the front yard - and none of them belong to us.

I always wanted this kind of house - the one where our kids and their friends felt comfortable, but we never had a neighborhood full of kids before. Furthermore, now that I have it, it's a bit overwhelming. The house is small, my fuse can be short, the noise is tremendous, and the food is disappearing quickly. But when the sun is setting and the entire neighborhood is playing hide and seek in our yard, it all seems worth it.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

big woods

Only in a state like this can we go for a hike in shorts and stumble upon a glaciated waterfall, with ice floes tumbling over the edge.

I am a city girl - always have been. I am the one high stepping through the tall grass, lest any grasshoppers make a sneak attack and somehow wiggle their way into my pristine Keenes. But for Punk and Kooka's sake, I try.

Today we went to the Big Woods State Park. The hike started out as they always do - with me, unwilling to set off until I found an adequate snake beatin' stick. Never-you-mind that there are still patches of slushy snow on the ground, if you have seen the April serpent mating pictures at Carleton - you would not go into that woods unarmed either.

I figure the stick will also come in handy when that starving mountain lion leaps out of a tree and starts devouring one or both of my children. I think there is only one endangered lynx left in the state, but I am pretty sure he migrates to whichever scenic vista happens to appeal to my family, and when he finally decides to show himself, I am gonna need a weapon. The lady on Dateline who got her face torn off by a bobcat had a stick - and she is alive to tell the tale.

We make our way down the muddy trail. Punk is disappointed that there are no cold-blooded creatures wiggling about yet, but I am quite happy to see only birds and the occasional squirrel. It is a pretty nice walk, except for the fact that we are the only people in the woods. What if a black bear comes along? I think to myself that they will only find us when they realize my vehicle permit has expired for the day. When they finally send out a search party, they'll find nothing but Kooka's explorer hat, a mangled set of Keenes, and Punk up a tree with his eyes closed screaming like a baby.

Suddenly I am freaking out that there is nobody in the woods. Evening is chow time for mountain lions - maybe there was a bobcat warning posted at the entrance and we missed it. Crap! We are going to be bear food and nobody will even know it until it's too late.

Thankfully, two more hikers come along. I am temporarily relieved. But these guys don't look like the hiking type. One is like 250 lbs, wearing a cowboy hat, rhinestone boots, and an engraved belt buckle. The other is even bigger with an Abercrombie hoodie slung over his shoulders. What an unlikely pair. Why are they here? Probably to find a small family to murder and dump their bodies in a vast wooded area. I grip my snake stick even harder and check my cell phone. There is no signal.

Cowboy tips his hat, and Abercrombie says, "Great day, isn't it!"

I pretend they are not serial killers and say, "It's beautiful, have a great hike."

Needless to say, we made it back a alive, and from the looks of these pictures, you'd never know it was such a dangerous expedition.



Wednesday, March 18, 2009

best job in the world

So - as I am sure some of you heard, the Australian Office of Tourism, or whatever they call it, put out this ad in January. They were offering the best job in the world to the best applicant in the world. Huge mansion near the great barrier reef, life on an island - and a salary . . . all you have to do is live there - and blog about it.

So anyway, they are down to their short list, and while Claire (the girl in the #1 position) is ok, Julia in #2 has GOT to go. Mitchel from Canada is the clear winner here - and he NEEDS your vote! I do not know this guy - but his video is fantastic - he wrote his own musical - it's like a Dr. Pepper ad - and we all know how much I love those.

Here is the link - go vote - NOW!

Vote for Mitchell!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Punks Magnum Opus

Please feel free to join us for Punk's final orchestra concert of the year (and perhaps EVER, if he gets his wish to play the drums next year and join band). You can catch his virtuoso stylings on Tuesday March 24th at 7pm in the Northfield High School gymnasium. Let us know if you are coming - he'll bring extra autographed photos.

top o' the day


When Punk and Kooka woke up today, they found that the leprechauns had eaten all of the potato chips, but left heaps of chocolate gold for my 1/8 Irish kids to find.

In Kooka's half of the school - the nasty little buggers (leprechauns - not my kids) even left green footprints and destroyed a classroom . . . which left Punk to wonder "How come it wasn't MY classroom?"

Friday, March 13, 2009

speaking of retro

Speaking of retro . . . I had this songs in my head last week, and Kooka just loved it, even though I couldn't remember all of the words. Apparently the guy who wrote and sung this songs now works for Pixar . . . so I was wayyyyy ahead of my time in my appreciation for this fine music.





Punk has been watching the commercials and cartoons with me, and his comments usually go something like this:

"Soooooo, that is what commercials were like when you were a kid huh?"
"Yeah - why?"
"Well . . . "
"Well what?"
"Well they just seem like the kind of thing a little kid would put together. I don't understand why you even wanted any of that stuff when you saw the commercial."



But I just found the "How'd you like a nice Hawaiian Punch?!" commercial - and I know he's going to love that one." Somebody stop me before I waste my life away.

retro



So last night at bedtime, I told the kids the story of 4-year-old Uncle D impaling his Stretch Monster on my parents new bedroom carpet. Kooka laughed so hard she choked, and Punk was nearly in tears. They begged me to find a picture of Stretch Monster, so they could imagine the gooey fiasco more clearly.

So, naturally, I spent the rest of my night looking for Stretch Monster on ebay and google, which led me to a commercial for both Stretch Armstrong, AND Stretch Monster . . . which led me to more 1970's toy commercials . . . which led me to 1970's cartoons . . . which led me to this super cool website ( childhood memory keeper) which led me (among other things) to this:






I LOVED that commercial. I miss my childhood. And FYI: a new, in the box Stretch Armstrong goes for about $1,500 on ebay.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

cupcakes




Kooka has been dying to make cupcakes ever since she got a new cookbook for Christmas. The book is called Hello Cupcake, and has about 50 different designs for some of the craziest cupcake concoctions you've ever seen . . . kittens, puppies, scorpions, Van Goh's Starry Night . . . the list is pretty amazing.

On Sunday - we finally had the chance to make some. After pouring through the entire book, she finally settled on "Sleepover" cupcakes - but only because I talked her out of the labor-intensive german shepherds.

They turned out pretty cool - no surprise whose is who's . . . Punk's all look like human cartoons, and Kooka's like Sleeping Beauties.

Monday, March 9, 2009

flood x2

The basement flooded again - just Kooka's room. Apparently there is something messed up with the foundation of the house . . . hooray