Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel california
Any time of year, you can find it here...

The Bride and Groom to be

Pat and Chase (Chase also helped Uncle bandage his scars - but when you have over a hundred it is quite the process).

Two cute boys.

Jessie and Abbie - only eat the purples!

James helped Jessie with her Hawaiian studies homework project.


And for the record, we did play Quidditch - and a few bruises later (thanks to Madam Pomfrey for the healing) - we ended the game in a heated tie. So, Bertie Botts for all!

The Jump Janger

"Watch me sink my hands into the blanket like a lion sinking his teeth into a wildebeest." This is a direct and precise quote from James - can you believe him...this is quite the simile...

He invented the "Jump Janger" today - which is basically the same thing children have done for ages...piling pillows and blankets and jumping into them. At my Grandma's House we piled at the bottom of the stairs - it was always fun! And today it proved to fill two solid hours of good fun...so, if anyone's desperate - Jump Janger is brilliant.

Backyard Quidditch

James got a snitch for Easter and when we were playing in the backyard he found the longest-straightest stick ever - a perfect broom stick. So, one plus two equals a Nimbus 2000 and hence our own version of backyard Quidditch.

The rules:
1. The Seeker must close his eyes while the golden snitch is hidden somewhere in the backyard.
2. The Seeker then "flies" around the backyard looking for the snitch...
3. The other two players throw dodge-ball weight "bludgers" at him, trying to distract him from his finding.
4. Once the snitch is found, we rotate who is the one and only Seeker.

Here's James finding the snitch and flying the Nimbus 2000...

And here's Chase waiting while the snitch is hidden and flying on his less dangerous broomstick; the noodle makes an excellent Firebolt...

Considering that it was only James, Chase, and I - I have lofty ideas for expanding the game when all my siblings descend on Northern California in the next three weeks - Ben and Pat will be perfect Beaters. Be warned - because we will be playing Quidditch on a much grander scale.

March Trampoline Madness

The Madness has spilled into the backyard. Today the brackets were drawn and destiny was on the line. Those who follow seater-war eagerly anticipated this famed competition. Here's how it looked...

Games of note:

Ben vs. Ridi - proved to be one of the most exciting games of all - to have such giants meet in such an early round gave early hype to the contest. But, Ben's pattented spin seater proved to be triumphant.

Josh vs. C (the wild card - meaning Chase or Catherine) - Catherine sadly lasted one jump remembering too late that nylons have poor trampoline grip.

James vs. Ben - James was able to power jump Ben all of the way off the trampoline.

Mimi vs. Josh - the handshake to begin the match included a kiss - but was it legal?!

Roy vs. Ben - Ben never laughed harder.

Angie vs. Josh - the longest match of the day - both were red and sweating by the time Angie finally triumphed.

The Championship Handshake

Go James!

Number Nine won the entire tournament!

Chase held his own, and stayed smiling...

even after this!

Mr. Potato

Chase had a rough morning. He cried on and off for nearly two hours (two hours being the amount of time to wash and dry Blankey Blue). In order to distract him I suggested playing cars, finger puppets, and even taking a shower - but he was not taking the bait. The only thing he wanted was his blue...until out of the blue he said "potato."

"Do you want a potato, Chase?"

"Yes, tato, taaatooo!"

Well, I am wise enough to know that Chase had been in the fridge earlier, had probably seen the potatoes I had gotten at Draeger's, and wanted food as a distraction to ease his pain. But, instead of baking that potato for a mid-morning snack - I tried something off-the-wall (something to hopefully get Chase smiling and clean)...

I went and got the raw potato and with potato in hand asked Chase, "Did you want the potato to take a shower with you?" without giving him time to respond I turned and asked the potato,

"Would you, Mr. Potato, like to take a shower and wash your body and draw pictures of buses in the steam and splash in the water with Chase?"

I am grateful to report that the potato said yes to me and that Chase quickly dried his tears. What a happy shower - Mr. Potato may be joining us again (I know that James has already requested his company during his bath tonight).

Here is a picture with Chase gently holding Mr. Potato - who is wrapped in his own wash cloth.

Red Letter Day

Yesterday was the kick-off of Red Week. In an attempt to teach Chase his colors - I am repeating something I did with younger James...

For breakfast we had strawberries and raspberries in milk.
For lunch we had red jello, apples, and jam sandwiches.
For dinner we had pizza with tomato sauce and tomatoes on top.

We played with red model magic.
We painted red mixed-medium masterpieces.

On our drive we shouted out every red thing we saw - red lights, stop signs, red Hummers, red signs, painted curbs, and the cherry on top - a blazing red fire truck.

As we read, we hunted for red on each page - a Where's Waldoish with the color red.

You get the picture - its just a way to say the word "red," over and over until Chase really gets it - its easy and fairly preparation free. I'll eventually do it with all of the colors (but for a week it'll be red), and move onto shapes, and numbers - we have a "Circle" Day, etc. The model works for anything.

In fact, it even works with abstract concepts. If you start looking for kindness, you'll find yourself surrounded by it - I've really been aware of it lately - the same way the red brake lights seemed to light up the world in a new and brighter way than I ever noticed before.

Starry Night

James named his cookie art - Starry Night - and said, "Doesn't it look like a starry night?" I asked him how he thought of the name. He replied, "I didn't, the guy with his ear cut off did." Anyhow, here are the two - for comparison. I think he's right - it does indeed look like Van Gogh's Starry Night - or just a starry night.

Tangent 1 - I remember taking a road trip down to see the Van Gogh exhibit when it came to the Getty. There were insane crowds - but they provided a good chance to be "accidentally pushed" inches away from the canvas to really admire his brush strokes.

Tangent 2 - The cookie art resulted from a desperate situation. I started making cookies (which I do every other dayish). But, this time, I was an egg short. In an attempt to make it work, I used the last egg and then an egg-amount of water (whatever that is). The dough was great. The cookies were very flat. So, I decided that decorating the pancake cookies would be the perfect way to mask the mess up.

Tangent 3 - I took a Native American Lit class - and for our final project we went to Seven Mile Canyon looking for petroglyphs and trying to experience what we read. That night as we camped, one of the girls played Starry Night on her guitar and sang. I have never heard anything so beautiful. Josh Groban does have a nice version - it just seems more befitting to a solo guitar under the stars.

Tangent 4 - "Look, the star is out..." We used to plagiarize the movie Madagascar, because there are no visible stars in Manhattan. But, I love the stars and am glad to see them here. I find myself captivated on a dark night.

Stupendous Man

This "mysterious masked man" is none other than Stupdendous Man! Do you see the resemblance to my own James - it looks like him, but its not.

James literally loves Calvin and Hobbes more than anything else. He will read the entire collection of comics for hours at a time. The only sound you will hear coming from the bedroom is hysterical laughter - hysterical! Its my favorite sound in the entire world -- what is your favorite sound?