Once we learned that 80% of the world's cultures have insects as a dietary staple, we had to jump on the bandwagon! The Science Center's current Insect Exhibit features a Louisiana chef on Saturdays serving up gourmet hors d'ouevres a la bugs. (Don't worry, they weren't alive.)
I was proud of my future Survivor contestants, who reveled in their unique snack. Check out those little worms in the salsa!
We brought one of Evelyn's schoolmates along, but I have no pictures. She kept shrinking miserably away with a look of "I can't believe you people are DOING this!" on her face.
She warmed up once we got to the dinosaur exhibit (not for consumption), and fortunately the bug horrors faded away in the light of hours of well, normal fun.
So...who wants to go to the Science Center with us THIS Saturday??
Nothing like March 1st for remembering the start of the 2-month-old year! For the third year in a row, we headed down to Baltimore's 34th street in Hampden to see the lights at dusk. Shelley went with us, and we met our friends Betsy and Logan there.
As you can see, there are times when it's pretty in the city!
Then we headed home to watch "Tangled," play Wii, order Thai food (another recent tradition) and play three-handed Rook. Shelley, Alan and I barely made it to midnight. :) The girls were in bed long before that. (We learned our lesson about keeping the kids up late!)
We'll probably not encourage its use, but it made us laugh.
This is another VA Beach Christmas picture. We were going to a Starbucks (where the girls posted themselves as Door-women, saying, "Welcome to Starbucks" or "Have a good day!") and outside a little shop Amelia posed as "a statue."
We've been playing "the statue game" since San Francisco 2009. They freeze in position and I notice "the most beautiful/adorable/lovely statue of a little girl I've ever seen, how I wishI had a real one just like it." Then my wish comes true. :)
This was at Oregon Ridge last month. I love the woods in winter. It's quiet and you can see so much more without the trees.
Last weekend I was at RVR with the girls. We didn't get to walk in the woods, but we did go to the evening service, which was hosted by the Christian band, Willet.
I'm starting to show my age. It was so...LOUD. Both girls put their hands over their ears and cried, "It's too LOUD, Mommy!! Get me out of here! Let's go!!" I really wanted to see the drama, because it was being dedicated to a young woman who worked at RVR who'd died tragically in a car accident that week.
Once Evelyn saw that her cousins were staying, and having no trouble, she made a funny, tight-lipped face (the kind you made when you're trying really hard not to show how much something hurts), and said (or rather, yelled), "I'm ok, Mommy! I'll stay!" and went to stand between Anna and Aidan.
Amelia would have none of it. We both left the building, walking hand-in-hand in the cool, quiet night. I told her we had to go to the kitchen to see if Aunt Di was there. "Ok, Mommy," she said. "I'll walk with you, to keep you company." And sweet company it was. :)
He figured out how to get my posting back to normal. It makes no difference on how it LOOKS, but wow does it make a difference while posting. And besides fixing my blog ailments, Alan cooked a batch of great cookies this week...AND cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. Yes. A good man.
So today I took the girls for a play date to my friend, Janie's house. Amelia and her son, George, were classmates in pre-school. Amelia was IN LOVE with Janie's youngest, Maggie, who is one. Amelia was carrying her around relentlessly, and I said to her, "Amelia, if Maggie starts to cry or wiggle to get down, what should you do?"
Her reply? (Right in front of Janie, of course,)"Drop her."
Those are such great parental moments. Fortunately Janie has a good sense of humor. And a mother of four. I think she'll still invite us back.
Evelyn's home-made costume was almost a bust. The hat would not stay on the right place on her head, and it took a while to figure out how to keep the sides of her dress (made from an old sheet) from flapping open (especially since I had no safety pins.)
It didn't help that we made the whole outfit just minutes before heading out the door. (Thank you, Mom, for your help!!)
Eventually, I ended up wearing the hat, and all was well. Amelia repeated last year's eat-the-poison-apple-and-die-on-the-porch performances at as many houses as would watch, and Mom and I were basically trotting after them as they ran from lit house to lit house.
I enjoy Halloween. It's fun walking around the neighborhood in the chill of fall, seeing neighbors and doing something so odd (when you stop to think about it.) I enjoyed it as a kid, and it's been fun to do it all over again with our children, often with Mom along, too!
One of Evelyn's classmates invited us to her street fair near the Farmers' Market--it is the same street cousin Kate & Jay used to live on--and it was AWESOME. There were lots of fun things to do for free, and the atmosphere was so family friendly. (Keep in mind it is the city version of family friendly, which means you see mothers nursing babies without coverups, parents with tattoos and dreadlocks, and children dressed in 100% organic clothing.) The girls had a blast.
And I love how the face paintings they chose belie their personalities: the shy daughter as the fierce tiger and the out-going daughter with the dainty vine of flowers on her cheek.
Okay. :) And we'll stand far enough away from you to get the full effect of your tongue! (That's Angel, one of the Maryland Zoo's giraffes you can feed.)
It was nice to take friends to the zoo last week.
And tonight I got to go to a Kathy Mattea concert. Remember her? I'd almost forgotten how very much I like country music (I know some of you are cringing...but I've just got to be honest here.) She had a wonderful band with acoustic bass, lead guitar, an Irish fiddle & mandolin player, and herself on rhythm guitar. I was one big grin.
I can't believe I remembered all the lyrics to the refrain of this one. I belted it out shamelessly--almost as shamelessly as I sported the same perm & shoulder pads Kathy wears in this video:
And I totally bawled my eyes out while she sang this one. (The band in the video is the same one I heard tonight.) I remember crying to it in my 20's. Twenty years later, I'm an even bigger blubbering idiot. It's Kathy Mattea's true story of her husband's grandparents. Somehow it struck a nerve, too, that my sister-in-law Courtney was, while I was at the concert, at her father's bedside. He has Alzheimer's, and his mind is forgetting how to tell his body to work. She & Jon & the kids & her family are all with him this weekend. You can read her tender thoughts about being the daughter of man with premature Alzheimer's here.
1. How are Jesus and His Gospel REAL in my life? (The prayer of Peter--"Lord I do believe. Help my unbelief!")
2. How do we teach our girls to recognize the feelings of their own hearts & their basic human needs for Jesus' redeeming work while making them feel safe, enjoyed, and loved, loved, loved? (Parenting is ALWAYS in the list of top things on my mind.)
3. What does it actually LOOK like (as in a schedule--and is a "schedule" even truly necessary?) to prioritize the loves of my life:
- God
- Alan
- the girls
- our extended family
- friends
- our community/schools/work
4. How can I get the most work done in the least amount of time?
5. What else can I get rid of around here to keep our home environment from clogging up my time?
And for those who enjoy a cute picture:
We took friends to the zoo Saturday. My hope is always to use up a lot of the kids' energy, but I typically use up my own instead. In spite of how many times I had to say, "Walking feet, girls, walking feet!!" and "Please don't run so far ahead that we can't see you," we all had a really good time.
I always feel so blessed when we have a chance to spend time with other Christian families whose kids are near our kids' ages. Hopefully I didn't talk too much about the #2 thing on my mind that day. I tend to do that.
Last night Amelia asked if we could go to the fair again today. There was both sadness and joy in my heart as I told her the fair would not be back for another whole year. :) My mom and I are going to need all the time in between to recover.
(Title sung in my best imitation of Tevye from "Fiddler on the Roof." It is second only to my imitation of Tevye singing "If I Were a Rich Man.")
For at least the third year in a row, mom, the girls and I have gone to the State Fair on Labor Day (how fitting, given the vast cross-section of the American Labor Force on hand there.) We arrive when the gates open, walk around the Cow Palace (where, given its name, the country girl in me should be right at home with the woman in me who's been to Versailles; in reality it's a great place to watch your kids gawk at the many amazing kinds of cattle and how often they poop), and then get our all-you-can-ride Midway bracelets.
The girls are Midway Monsters. We had to drag them away after three hours with promises of ice cream at Grandma's (that's where the picture w/the pandas was taken. I considered making up some crazy story about how Mom won them at the Fair, but they are actually part of Mom's grand-kid toy stash.)
Last year Evelyn was SO disappointed she wasn't tall enough to ride "The Zipper." I wasn't disappointed at all. But this year was different. She'd grown. And she'd not forgotten. Not 15 minutes into our ride bonanza today, she dragged me over to it, flapping and jumping and squealing with delight that she was tall enough. Let's just say I think my equilibrium has officially aged past my body's ability to deal with this kind of "fun." All I have is the memory of Evelyn and me bouncing around in that little cage, upside down, screaming and holding on to one another. It took me about 3 hours to recover, although I did manage to enjoy the rest of the day nonetheless. And Evelyn? While she got off saying the ride had made her sick, she says it was the best thing she rode.
Highlights:
- Amelia walking smack into the glass walls in the mirrored fun-house...three times...and laughing her head off.
- The two of them getting off and getting immediately back in line for the "Zero Gravity," the giant obstacle course, and the Funhouses...over and over and over.
- Amelia bursting into tears after the Free Fall (What mother lets her 5 year old ride the Free Fall??) She said later it was because when it dropped "my bottom came off the seat and I thought I was falling off." Well that made ME cry!
- Eating Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with Mom and Dad afterwards.
- Enjoying a tradition with my mom and the girls. :) Thank you, Mom!
Here's a youtube Zipper clip Evelyn and I found when we got home. She wanted to give Alan an idea of what she'd done today.
I think Diana handed down this book of make believe and costumes, and we're at the perfect age of inspiration for it.
However, as hard as I try, I can't get either of the girls to agree to be the headless person for Halloween. I think it's an outrageous costume, & doesn't really work for someone of adult height. They just keep picking the princess and fairy costumes--what's with that?!?
The pages on making hats inspired the paper topper Nala sported last week.
And the first two days of school were cancelled due to power outages resulting from Hurricane Irene. How nice to have two more unexpected mornings at summer's pace!
Just one night before the start of our week of disasters ("disasters?!?" I think I've been affected by a little too much local news. My apoloiges), the girls and I went to the mall with Lisa. We had dinner together and the girls rode the in-house carousel. (Evelyn was disappointed that I didn't get Aunt Lisa out of her chair and hold her on my lap for a ride--Lisa and I decided if we'd had one more adult, we'd have given it a try!) We strolled around, supported a couple of missionaries who were making balloon shapes for donations in front of Chick-fil-A, and popped in to check out a glow-in-the-dark putt putt course (who knew black light would make such a comeback??)
It's good to spend time with Lisa. No, it's GREAT to spend time with Lisa. I'm always impressed with her grace toward a world and people who don't always consider what it might be like to be in a crowded mall or restaurant in a wheelchair. How grateful I am for life's many relationships, and how the Lord uses each one to show me Himself. Thank you, Lisa!
Check out that giant chair! It's one of the many things we enjoyed at Portsmouth, VA's awesome children's museum last week when we visited my in-laws for a few precious days of R&R. The girls LOVED this place, and once my father-in-law discovered the wall where you can push your impression through from the other side, we were all in stitches entertaining one another.
This is a VERY rare picture of Evelyn. She is ASLEEP. In the CAR. During the DAY. I think building the Greek Parthenon out of blocks at the museum pretty much sucked the life out of her. (It couldn't have been playing on the playground afterwards or walking the 18th century neighborhoods of Portsmouth while Alan and I drooled over architecture...)
The next day was BEACH DAY! Alan played 9 holes, the girls jumped waves until they were shivering and blue-lipped, and I was SO proud of myself for re-applying sun-screen on the girls AND me!
My in-laws joined us for dinner al fresco overlooking the ocean (and eating hush-puppies, one of our favorite beach delicacies), after which we toodled around the boardwalk in this very environmentally-friendly, sassy little cycling number, topping it all off with some kiddie rides. (You'd think Evelyn would have fallen asleep in the car after beach day. But no.)
And a visit to my in-laws' is never complete without an evening of cards and ridiculous laughter, which I am happy to report we succeeded in enjoying. How is it that we can all KNOW my father-in-law is GOING to try to "run 'em" in hearts, but he still manages to get away with it? Uncanny. And very entertaining.
Finally, the girls have found something new to love about Grandma and Grandpa Blackman's house--it is located in a quiet, flat neighborhood where lots of people walk their dogs. It is PERFECT if you are five or six and you love to ride your scooter, pet dogs, and make conversation with strangers. It's the South, and everyone is very friendly. :)
Thank you, Mom and Dad Blackman, for a lovely time together!
Two weeks ago the girls and I were at RVR for the week. They were in Day Camp, and in the evenings we enjoyed hanging out with some of the Ranch families. The kids would ride scooters and bikes around while parents chatted.
I was talking with one mom, when suddenly I heard Evelyn yelling, "Look, Mom!! I can ride a two-wheeler!!" Sure enough, coached by a fellow six-year-old, she'd done what she'd told Alan and me she would NEVER do. I guess it just took a little positive peer pressure.
The next week I took the girls to a local park here to ride bikes, and figured I'd get some exercise running as they rode. I got exercise all right--and they ended up waiting for me around every bend. Evelyn kept saying "Mommy, are you ok?"
So the positive pressure continues as I get back on the exercise bandwagon!
Alan had a meeting in NYC last week for a grant he got through Chamber Music of America (very cool. More on that later.) We used it as an excuse to spend 2 1/2 days visiting Josh & Laura and exploring the Big Apple kid-style.
We love visiting Josh & Laura. If they had a blog I would read it every day, just to see what they are cooking. They get a lot of food out of a local organic grocery's dumpster, tossed just as it reaches its expiration date. They also grow food in buckets in their apartment building's tiny back garden. They drink out of jars, & if you compliment Laura on a piece of clothing, she's likely to laugh and say, "Would you believe I found this on the STREET?!?"
Speaking of streets, our girls walked MILES of city streets last week. They were troopers! Alan researched two amazing playgrounds and a putt putt right on the Hudson River. We revisited "The High Line," a city park created out of an abandoned, raised railroad track. We rode a few city blocks in a cab--a tiny TV screen on the back of the seat in front of us was, of course, a total hit.
While Alan headed to hear some live jazz, I had the splendid idea of taking the girls to see Times Square. I wanted to see their eyes pop like the scene in "Enchanted" when Giselle emerges from the manhole into the city for the first time. Reality was a little different. It was pouring rain. We couldn't even get out of the subway--all the tourists were standing packed like cattle on the stairs. Once on the drizzly street, Amelia had to pee, and we walked to the police station to find that the only accessible restroom was McDonald's. Have you ever been to the McDonald's in Times Square? It's something out of a dark, futuristic movie. Seating runs along dark, brick corridors, where patrons sit on individual bar stools facing wall-mounted TV screens you swipe credit cards to watch. Fortunately, it was so packed and dark no one noticed that we peed w/out patronizing.
So we bought some street vendor soft pretzels and headed back to Josh & Laura's, where they crashed on the floor in about 2 minutes' time. However, it was still fun. And memorable. And we would do it again in a heart beat. Well, maybe not the Times Square in the rain part.
Grandma and Grandpa Blackman helped make one of Amelia's birthday requests possible--ice skating lessons. I'm actually glad we went for the summer session, as it's been so refreshing to be in that chilly rink for an hour a week during the heat of summer.
The girls have really enjoyed it, and have learned amazingly quickly. They have one lesson left in the session--and now we've got another fun thing to do together! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Blackman!
We brought one of Evelyn's schoolmates along, but I have no pictures. She kept shrinking miserably away with a look of "I can't believe you people are DOING this!" on her face.
We brought one of Evelyn's schoolmates along, but I have no pictures. She kept shrinking miserably away with a look of "I can't believe you people are DOING this!" on her face.
