Days That Don't Make the News

Very recently, the neighborhood from which I graduated high school made the news.  Not the good news, the bad, hyped-up, speculative news.

Yesterday, I had to run some errands near the neighborhood, and I happened to drive right past the crowd of people -- demonstrators and counter-demonstrators and police.  There was shouting, but no huge drama, and the community seemed cohesive and joined in solidarity against racism and the misrepresentation of events in the media.

The strange thing is that, over 20 years ago when my husband and I were attending the very high school that all this commotion was taking place directly near by, there was an event that occurred between two students of differing races, which turned into an all-school brawl, and resulted in a brief school closure and a similar media labeling -- "racism," "riots," "community upheaval."  News teams camped outside for days, but we in the community were bewildered -- it was a fight, a big nasty fight, but it wasn't a racist thing until the media made it one.

Today, on the same street, south by a few miles, there was a church-organized community Back-to-school Block Party.  My older three kids and their friends performed twice and taught and entertained the attending children in between performances -- juggling, balancing, and other fun stuff.

News crews?  Where were you today?

Beautiful baby.

Mr. Cellophane

Rola-bola!

Bigger Rola-bola!

Double-decker Rola-bola!

Super-size Rola-bola!

Volunteer-from-the-audience's mother looked slightly concerned at this

Crowd was small but enthralled

Multiple Rola-bolas!

Volunteerism can be scary.

Wanny vastly prefers watching them on DVD.  Live performances are scary.

A skit, not a real lion

Sharing popcorn

A good day out but so hot!

Ta-Da!

Now for your and my mutual enjoyment, some pictures taken by the group while they were practicing.  

I liked this picture, with Roks as the junior member of the group.

I like seeing him develop his strength and skills.

 

But my mamma-heart did a bit of a double-step when I saw this picture, taken outside, on the driveway.  Had to put the ix-nay on this un-fay. 

Mothers' Day 2011

Deb and I had many adventures! We went to Amish country with Miss Rose and E, visited our grandmothers, and braved the rainy weather to see sights around the town as much as we could in a short time. But the day before Mothers Day, Deb and E had to go home to the other babies and Larry.

My kids and Daddy anticipated that it would be a sad Mothers Day for me, and they did everything they could to make it happier.

In the morning, I was encouraged to stay in bed for a while and read. When I was called to breakfast, all these gorgeous smiling faces greeted me.

Some very-much appreciated gifts had been bought! A tablecloth I had wished for, and this pretty petunia plant, and a bird-decorated ironwork hanger to hang it from. And some gorgeous handmade cards from my gorgeous, thoughtful children.

The kids had made baked oatmeal, fresh strawberries, orange juice and coffee, and there was probably other delicious stuff too, but I have a really bad memory, even for things that I really appreciate.

Early that afternoon, a praying mantis somewhere became a mommy. We had seen this funny thing in the japanese maple, and thought it was some kind of cocoon, so I was surprised when I walked out in the yard, to see this wet-tissue-looking mass hanging from the "cocoon."

When I went closer and saw what it was, wow -- it was so fascinating watching the teeny tiny praying mantises squeezing out like little worms, and then unfolding their antennae and legs, one by one by one. It was very methodical and machinelike and lifelike all at the same time. All the children came out and watched, and the neighbor kids came and had a look too.

When Deb and I were up in Amish country, we did some spring yard-saleing at whatever interesting sales we came across as we were driving around. We picked up such a lot of cool stuff, books and music and clothes and crystal candy jars -- but of course, the item that really got the baby girls going was the Easy Bake Oven.

I think I have wanted an Easy Bake Oven, myself, for, like, forever. I mean, how fun are they!

On Mothers Day, we spent the afternoon baking little cakes with Gater and Bert. We found that ten minutes per cake is a very long time to wait when you are two or four years old. But wait they did.

Our first cake was such a bright pink, and it tasted pretty much like cooked playdough. I learned since then that it is a better idea to just throw the ingredients together myself. I've been cooking a long time, lol.

But anyway, Gater very much enjoyed serving teeny tiny wedges of cake to everyone in the family. Ellie wanted some too but Gater was very adamant that the cake was *not* for doggies.

Wannie was sold on the cake for sure.

Gater thought it was pretty good. She immediately wanted to make more, in different colors.

Miss Rose enjoyed the cake too, just as much as anyone can enjoy cake with the color and aroma of playdough.

This is to remind us of why we should wash out-door-babies' hands before they eat. Oh well, call it natural vaccination. She survived. She even liked it.

This centerpiece is brought to you by Roks. He made all those flowers, all by himself, which is quite a big undertaking for a six-year-old boy. I was pretty impressed and I asked him where he got the great idea for those flowers. He was too embarrassed to tell me! Which made me all the more curious, because I could not imagine why he would be embarrassed -- was he looking at something he shouldn't have? Well, he finally admitted that he learned how to make the flowers from that "whiny baby show", Caillou! LOL

Roks also made the beeswax candles. He had made four hand-dipped candles, and gave them to his most favorite people. One for the pastor, one for Mrs. F, and two for me. He is such a sweetie, and has such a creative spark.

So that was my Mothers Day this year, and it was not too sad after all. It was a very good day.

Gater Bakes Cupcakes

Gater turned into a little big-girl last year, and all of a sudden she was really interested in doing big-girl stuff.

One day, she got up and wanted to make cupcakes. Pink cupcakes, naturally!

These were pink strawberry cupcakes.

She did great, and they were delicious! When the cakes came out of the oven, we iced them with white icing and beautiful sprinkles. And then I forgot to get a picture. But you can imagine. By the way, the boys do not mind cakes that are pink. They don't mind the pinkness at all.

All Sorts of Sports

The kids organized a sports day with their friends on Saturday.

A soccer field was built, teams were organized, and everyone showed up ready to play.

The kids designed their own team logos, and painted shirts and hats. I don't know all the games they played, but I do know that soccer and cornhole were part of the day's events, and more sports were played across the street.

Stats were kept carefully and filming was important.

Apart from the fact that they could have used a referee to defuse arguments on play calls and rules, they had a great time.

Even when they weren't playing sports.

Big Kids' Fish Pond

WIP Wednesday is brought to you by Miss Rose and Joman.
This is their Koi pond, which they designed, dug and built themselves. Their young friend (and helpful advisor/digger) across the street had built one at his house, with encouragement from another friend up the road who had built one and raises fish there.

That's peer pressure for ya. :-)

This picture was taken on the first day I ever saw the pond. I had no idea that when they said they were building a fish pond, that they meant a 7x4 foot, 36" deep, lined pond with all the trimmings, plus a planned (and now mostly dug) garden area surrounding it.

The pond is now home to three happy orange-and-white Koi, and the kids plan to purchase some butterfly Koi when the weather plans to stay warm.

Thanks kids, for sharing your WIP, and thanks, Deb, for the blog idea. :-)