Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Streets Of Philadelphia




(L to R: Audrey (in the stroller), Thomas, Christopher, Colson, Ava, Joshua, Zachary)

So, our field trip went really well yesterday. Before we left Philadelphia, I told all the kids that when they got home they had to write 3 sentences about what they learned that day.


Zachary, upon hearing that everyone had to write a report about the field trip, said, "But I don't know how to write!". To which I answered, "Then you can draw a picture." So this is his picture of our carriage ride. The brown blob with 6 legs is the horse.

Colson's report, and his picture of the horse and carriage, and the statue of liberty.





Ava's report and her picture of the wishing well near the "tume" of the unknown soldier.



Want to know what I learned?

I learned that Bonnie laughs really hard when you suggest finding sticks and roasting marshmallows over the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Amy's Anecdotes, Part 3



This Amy moment came from my niece Brooke after she heard about the field trip my oldest niece Bonnie and I are taking today. (We are taking our combined 7 kids on the historic walking tour of Philadelphia.)

Both my sister Amy and my sister-in-law Sue homeschooled their gaggle of kids for a length of time. During this period they would do group field trips. Between the two of them they have 11 kids, so we're not talking a simple "let's take our 2.5 kids to the zoo today" field trip. We're talking "everybody squeeze in, 3 kids per seat belt/one half of a PBJ per kid and split the juice box with a buddy/Yes, walking through a random free church cemetery counts as history" sort of field trip.

So Brooke shared a field trip memory from those days:

Brooke: OMG, the Philly trip reminds me of my childhood, when Amy took us all to the NBC Studio for a field trip.

Me: That's a cool field trip, Bonnie and I should look that one up.

Brooke: I was mad at her for the entire day, because she stopped at the McD's in Newtown Square, backed her grey van into a lightpost and I spilled milk all over my pants and she wouldn't let me change. She didn't have time to go home.

Brooke: I'm over it now, but I was really mad at her back then. LOL!

Brooke: It was a fun field trip, though...


Classic Amy. What you have to know though, is that Amy would have done the same thing had she spilled milk all over her pants. She'd just brush it off and keep on truckin'....

Monday, September 28, 2009

Monday Mornings With Zachary

Today's two-part video was taken after Zach's classes last Thursday. He participates in the World Changers Homeschool Association's co-op on Thursdays, taking the Pre-K classes. He takes a science class and a "preschool whimsy" class. After classes, he's got this outrageous affect where he acts like he should be wearing a smoking jacket and smoking a pipe because he's so educated, cerebral and adult. It's quite funny.




Sunday, September 27, 2009

Ava's Fashions




I loved this sweater. I believe it was a Children's Place find, paired with floral appliqued thrift store jeans and an Old Navy white long sleeved tee. The sweater had a chunky, hand knit quality, and was the prettiest sky blue. You can't see in the photos, but it was also hooded.


These photos were taken at the Pennsburg train station. Once every few years they open that line up and let the train run through again. In fact, they're doing it again this year. It's a nice little 2 hour round trip ride to Emmaus or Vera Cruz.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Dancing With The Toddlers




Today a 3 year old Ava will demonstrate balletic positions.



First position



Second position



Third position



Fourth position



Fifth position



Ava demonstrates point...


....and flex.



demi-plie


and releve.


Now you too can dance like a toddler.

Friday, September 25, 2009

DJ Jazzy Shmoozizzle In Da Howwwse!



Tomorrow night is my first DJing job at Big Apple Ranch in Manhattan. It will also be my second DJing job ever. But no worries. Throw me into any situation that involves public performance, even if I've never done it before in my life, and I will rise to the occasion. I get that from my mother, who is the queen of throwing together a show from nothing.


Remember the plastic bag fashion show??

Thursday, September 24, 2009

I Wish I Could Make A Wish




Tonight I'll be dancing with Richard, Solomon and Elaine Hedrick at a Make-A-Wish Foundation charity event in NYC, at La Venue.

It's been some work getting the details all ironed out, but as I love to say to Solomon, it's for the children...his favorite kind of children. Dying ones. (He loves them most because they're quiet and skinny.)


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Dog's Life

Ava: I wish I could be a dog...

Me: Why?

Ava: So I could eat whenever I wanted to.


(This is also her reason for wanting to be an adult. I guess her biggest dream in life is not having to ask if she can have something to eat.)

Monday, September 21, 2009

Monday Mornings With Zachary

Watch Zach and Ava clean up his room while he chats about his first sleepover and his ER visit.


Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ava's Fashions




This dress was a thrift store find. The pastel polka dots and grosgrain ribbon straps just killed me. The crinoline underneath was the icing on the cake. Pink pearls and pink patent open toed wedges added the perfect Mad Men-esque touch.




Saturday, September 19, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

It's Miller Time

Tomorrow Richard and I are getting coaching from Sam and Denise Miller, highly innovative dancers from Virginia. They'll be hanging out at Montana West in Quakertown, PA on Sunday night if you want to see them live!






Thursday, September 17, 2009

Creative Spam

This one could make me laugh all day long...

"Turbines for your meat jet!"

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

My Blog Post, Who Is So Funny

I shall now give you a quick run down of some of the funnier moments of When The Levees Broke.

It started with a gentleman listing his family members who lived in the house with him..."My gramma, which is 81. My sister, which is 43. My cousin, which is 27..." Which??? Really??

Then you've got your wanna be journalist guy, who probably didn't get beyond fourth grade, talking about the horrific living conditions he experienced in the Superdome in the days after the hurricane...."You got sewers backing up, so people got shit and piss all over 'em....you got women with they periods comin' down on 'em..."

Women with they periods comin' down on 'em. Someone actually said that. With a straight face.

Women with they periods comin' down on 'em.

Another highlight was the Rev. Al Sharpton describing one of his visits to speak with the victims waiting in the Superdome. He said it was terrible that these folk had lost their home and their families, and now had to lose their dignity. He said it was "like pouring salt in their wombs."

SALT IN THEIR WOMBS......SALT IN THEIR WOMBS!!!!!!!! I had to pause the video and do some improv for Eric, miming how painful salt in your womb would be, and wondering aloud the myriad ways that one might pour salt into someone else's womb.

You had the public school teacher telling us about how so few children were coming to school now that everyone had left town, but that the reason for all the violence was a lack of education. That it was vicious cycle. A cycle that never resolves. She said it was like a dog wagging it's tail.

Oh yes, a dog wagging it's tail. You know, cause wagging's just so futile. What's the point.

Eric got a couple of good laughs in, too. There was the woman who told us that she'd never leave New Orleans, because generation after generation of her family had lived there. Her great great great great grandparents had lived there.

Eric says, "Um, I'm pretty sure your great great great great grandparents didn't live there. Unless your great great great great grandparents were Cherokee Indians (and from the looks of her, they weren't), you have no idea how young our country is".

He also liked the guy who was talking about the Army guys who came in to save everyone, and how they were carrying AK 47s. Eric scoffed, "Really?? The US Army soldiers were carrying RUSSIAN guns? How about an M-16, dummy..."

But my longest laugh was at the older woman who decided to sing us a song that her mother used to sing to her. A song that got her through the terror of Katrina. She closed her eyes, and sang this song slowly with so much expression:

"Wathe in the water.......Wathe in the water, children......wathe, wathe, wathe in the water...."


You have to watch this film for that moment alone. You just can't believe it's happening. A hurricane that wipes out a city, yes. But someone truly believing that you can wathe in water, never in a million years.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

When The Levees Broke, or Whiny Entitled Americans

I'm a huge documentary fan. Whenever I have some time to kill, I check out HBO's documentaries On Demand. The other night I watched Spike Lee's "When The Levees Broke". I have so much to say about it I can hardly contain myself.

Before I regale you with all the funny moments from the film (yes, there are hysterical moments in the documentary about Hurricane Katrina, to me anyway), I will give you my personal opinion on this catastrophe and the aftermath.

Hurricane Katrina, horrifying situation. Obviously. Goes without saying. But I'm saying it, so that you cannot say I'm cold and dead inside.

But folks, weather happens. Hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, tsunamis, all happen. They always have, and always will. You can't stop it. Try as you might, you can't hold back the wind or the rain. If you believe in creation, Man will never beat God. If you believe in the Big Bang, Man will never beat evolution and Mother Nature. You can't have the expectation that the U.S. Government, or the military, or NASA, will ever be able to eliminate the threat of weather. Even before global warming, catastrophic weather occurred.

This documentary is full of people whining. Whining out how they were treated during and after the storm. I can't understand it one little bit.

Here's how it plays out: the mandatory evacuation is ordered. Yes, there wasn't much time to evacuate, and some folk didn't have transportation (except their legs, but I digress...), but there was warning. A lot of folks said their attitude was, "We've weathered many a hurricane, we'll weather this one". Which is a perfectly justifiable attitude. But when you take that route, you are ONE HUNDRED percent responsible for what happens to you.

New Orleans had never issued a mandatory evacuation before, so this was new territory. There's so much to consider in making a decision like that. If you issue that order, and the storm passes over or dies out before landfall, you would get TONS of crap. If you don't issue the evacuation and everyone dies, you'd get TONS of crap. So basically, you don't want to have to be the one making that call, because you know that no matter what, you're going to be covered in shit when it's all over.

But Mayor Nagin issued the order, and that die was cast. I'm sure many lives were saved due to that order.

For the folks who didn't leave the city, nature's fury was unleashed. As the media had reported it would be. The storm itself wasn't that bad, there in New Orleans. I don't think it ever reached category 5 once it made landfall. The trouble came when the levees broke. Major flooding occurred in those neighborhoods, flooding that killed many people. Those who made it to their rooftops had to wait it out until a boat came by.

The folks who hadn't left town, but wanted to leave their houses before the storm hit and move to higher ground, went to the Superdome. The Superdome is in downtown Louisiana, surrounded by high rise office buildings and hotels and restaurants.

That's right, I said surrounded by office buildings and hotels and restaurants. That were empty. Because of the mandatory evacuation. Herein lies one of my greatest frustrations. These folk that were at the Superdome for 5 days post-Katrina, whining about how no one was coming, how they had no food or water, how they had nowhere to go to the bathroom....were within walking distance of hundreds of buildings.

How many high rise office buildings do you know that don't have vending machines? How many restaurants do you know that don't have food?

These people's lack of self-preservation skill was driving me INSANE while watching this film. They were all just sitting around, waiting for Superman to fly in and save them. The sense of entitlement was palpable. They were all expending their energy shouting angrily at the media cameras, "Where is the National Guard??? Why is no one helping us?? No one cares about the Black Man!!!"

And yet there they all continued to lay, day after day. Not helping themselves.

Don't get me wrong, there was something COMPLETELY fishy going on in Washington, DC. The power struggle between the governor of Louisiana and the president seemed ridiculous. She didn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the box, and as for Bush, well...one brain cell plus one brain cell does not a catastrophe solve.

But whether or not the government should have done more, and faster, what you do FOR YOURSELF doesn't change ! When you're on fire, do you stand there until the fire department comes by with a hose? Even if you've called 911 and you know the firemen are on their way, you still stop, drop, and roll. But not these folk.

Once the National Guard made it into town, the compaints just got worse. Complaints of the chaos and the lack of sensitivity...People, there was just a major hurricane! Your entire city was just decimated! THERE'S GOING TO BE CHAOS! It's inevitable.

Then the complaints about being shipped off to different states. Complaints about how long it took to get FEMA trailers and checks...hello, it's the federal government! Do they do anything quickly?

What do you think people did before the Dept. Of Homeland Security? Before FEMA? When a catastrophe struck in ages gone by, people took care of themselves. They were grateful that they had survived, and they picked themselves up and moved on.

Should the levees have held? Sure. In a perfect world, everything would work perfectly and nothing would ever break. And unicorns would fly out of my butt and candy corn would grow on trees. But this is why insurance companies exist. Because we don't live in a perfect world.

Yes, it would be nice if someone helped you. But you can't expect people to help you. People aren't required to help you. You can only control yourself. Instead of whining about how no one's helping you, why don't YOU go help someone?

I'm amazed that humans have lasted this long. In the game of Survival Of The Fittest, Louisianians would have lost out.

In my personal opinion, the media made it worse. Every major network had cameramen down there, interviewing the poor neglected victims. If those folk had been truly neglected, they may have gotten up and found some water. Put a camera in someone's face, work them up with a few well placed comments like, "How do you feel that the government seems to have forgotten you?", and you place ideas into their heads.

Sure, you can't know for sure what you would do in a situation like this until it happens to you. But it's not in my nature one little bit to sit around and wait for someone to take care of me or my children. I can do it better than anyone else can anyway.

My main point in this rant is this: take care of yourself. Period.



I've completely re-irritated myself, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to share the comedic portions of When The Levees Broke. But don't take any of this to mean that this film isn't worth watching. It's actually well worth your time, very thought provoking (obviously!).

Monday, September 14, 2009

Monday Mornings With Zachary

Another "I can't sleep" moment, from last night. Find out why. If you watch until the end, you can see me do what I didn't think I ever could, scare Zachary....

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Ava's Fashions




Seersucker. There's really no need to say more than that. But I will.

So many things about this outfit made it a favorite. Seersucker, as I've already mentioned, the quintessential baby summer fabric. Pink seersucker, to make it even better. And seersucker in a onesie form, so that fat baby legs can be seen in all their splendor.

The crowning glory of the outfit is the fluttery stand-up sleeve. When you have a baby without hair, it's imperative to have something up around the face to detract. Ruffles, high necks, puffed sleeves, any of those are good for adding a little "something" when hair is not present.





Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Things We Do For Family...




Just what every 8 months pregnant woman wants to do....attend a Mary Kay party! As if being over 230 pounds isn't shameful enough, I had to remove all my makeup in front of a group of people and put new makeup on, in hideous shades. And why do I ever let myself be in a picture with my oldest niece Bonnie?? Even in funky Mary Kay colors she looks like a movie star...



(more nieces, Brianne and Ashley, and my sister-in-law Sue in the background)




This is why I am determined to crush her in fantasy football this weekend. Being that gorgeous is a sin, and deserves to be punished.

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Child's Dictionary




The other day Eric and I were talking while the kids were in the room, and Eric said the word "private". Colson shouted out, "Oooooooooo! You said a bad word!!!". Eric asked why private was a bad word. Colson gave an embarrassed grin and, while waving his hands over his crotch area dramatically, said, "Private means UNAVAILABLE!!".



Then Zach yells from the other side of the room, "AND inappropriate!!"

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Creative Spam

This spammer is a rhyming poet..


"Super solution for night revolution! Girls will never see your motor stalling."

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Baby Scientist




The other day Eric and Zach were talking about when Eric was a little boy. At one point Eric said, in response to a question, "Colson wasn't born yet".

Zach says, "No Dad, you mean he wasn't INVENTED yet".

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

This Is Your Captain Speaking

I love the dashboard of my Honda Odyssey, especially at night. Eric loves it too. It's full of softly glowing blue, green and red lights. We say it looks like the instrument panel of an airplane.

When Eric gets in at night to drive, he asks me what our altitude is and then he yells out, "Flaps!"




It makes me laugh so hard...I actually laughed out loud while typing it.

....again, lost in translation maybe?

Monday, September 7, 2009

Monday Mornings With Zachary

Hear about Zach's harrowing fall down the staircase! He also tells what he's learned in school so far this year.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Ava's Fashions





This was a thrift store find. The pale blue tulle skirt paired with the blue tank and tulle edged shrug was so Ava. Loose waves and silver jeweled t-strap sandals accented the romantic bohemian feel of the outfit.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Cause And Effect



Today I will explain what I see as the main difference between solo dancing and couples dancing.

I will use line dancing as my example of individual dancing, but any of the dance forms apply, when they are danced solo; ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop. Couples dancing can be any form, ballroom, latin, swing, country, etc, basically any form of dancing where two people are dancing together.

The concept that separates solo dancing from couples dancing is cause and effect. When two people are dancing together, every movement must be either a cause or an effect. If cause and effect is not displayed, then you are just two people who happen to be solo dancing at the same time.

Without cause and effect, couples dancing has no point and will be difficult for an audience to read/understand.

As a follower, you need to ask yourself during every step you take, "Why am I doing this?". If the answer is, "because the leader led me to do this", then you're on the right track. If your answer is, "because I know this step comes after that step in the pattern", then you're not allowing your movements to be "caused".

As a leader, you need to ask yourself during every step you take, "What do I want the follower to do, and am I translating that want to her in a clear manner?". If you are, then you are on the right track. But if you are thinking, "She will take a step here because that's the way this pattern goes", you are not "effecting" her movement.

As dancers, this is often difficult because we know so many patterns. It's easy to forget to lead or follow when you're executing a pattern that you've done a million times in your life. But as a follower, you must dance as if you don't know the pattern, and as a leader you must lead as if your partner doesn't know the pattern.

This is also difficult when dancing choreographed routines. As a follower, when you know what movement is coming next, it's very easy to just execute it yourself, without waiting for the proper "cause". But in doing so, you set off a chain reaction. You've thrown your partner off of his timing and balance, and you've robbed from him the ability to execute the next movement at his best, because he has to then rush to catch up with you.

Even when dancing "shine" patterns (which are patterns that are danced without touching each other) you should show cause and effect. Some simple examples: If you want your partner to move backwards, you should move towards him/her; if you want your partner to come towards you, you should reach your arms out towards him/her and pull your hands into yourself, etc. etc.

Here are a couple of great examples of cause and effect in action. Every movement of the leaders causes an effect in the followers.



Cause and effect is a very understandable concept to people. Displaying it in your dancing will draw the audience's eye to you and make a pleasing picture for them.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hand In Hand



We went out to eat over the weekend, and the kids were given applesauce with their meals. Ava and Cole were commenting on how there is no drink that "goes good" with applesauce. Cole said that milk tastes awful with applesauce, Ava said water doesn't taste good with applesauce.

Eric said to them, "You know what drink goes great with applesauce? Apple juice!!".

Then he said, "Applesauce and apple juice go together like peas and peas!".



I laughed for 5 minutes....

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Child Labor





This past Saturday, Eric and the kids and I were walking around downtown Stone Harbor after dinner. We decided to get ice cream, and as we walked across the street to the ice cream parlor, we saw some street musicians sitting on a bench playing guitars and singing. It was two guys, both with guitars, and they were playing Jason Mraz type songs. They had an open guitar case on the ground in front of them, filled with coins and dollars.

Colson was mesmerized. We decided to go in and get our ice cream, then come back out to sit on the benches in front of the street performers and listen for awhile.

After we sat down and had been listening to the guys for about 5 minutes, Colson called me over. I sat next to him and he whispered in my ear.

"Mom, when we get back home, can we put our piano in the back of Dad's truck, and drive it up into town in East Greenville? And then Dad can put it on the sidewalk and I can play music and get money? When we do it, I want to play all day, and I can put a bucket on the ground in front of me."

I whispered back that considering our piano is a baby grand, that might not work. I told him if he had a keyboard he could do it. He was satisfied and went back to listening. We sat there for a good 30 minutes. I told the guys that my son wanted to become a street musician when we got home, thanks to them. Colson asked me for money to give to them, and then we left.

Driving home the next night, Colson was discussing what songs he would play when he did his street musician gig. He said to Ava, "I know Faith of our Fathers by memory, but it's not long enough..." I told him he could play it twice, or play it really slowly. He wasn't so sure. He said he thought he needed to learn a lot more songs really quickly, and some longer ones, so he could play all day and make a lot of money.

I don't know whether to be excited that Colson wants to work to earn money, or depressed about his wanting to be a musician.

I need to find some street open heart surgery performers real fast.....

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Creative Spam




Sometimes I look through the email subject lines in my Gmail spam folder. Every so often I come across one that just makes me laugh. Usually it's the ones for viagra type pills or man-part enlargement tools. I love how spammers try to find new ways to say words that they can't say. Here is today's creative spam email subject line:


"Insurance against shameful half-mast!!!"