Journey to pointe
I always knew Pumpkin Girl would be a dancer. Well, not always, but I knew early on.
By the time she was almost two, she didn’t walk – she flitted, like a fairy. I enrolled her and myself into a “mom and me” creative movement class. She didn’t like it. She did look cute, though.
When she was 5 we tried again, with a ballet-tap combo class. At the last moment she didn’t want to go. It was time for class and her eyes were filling with tears. Miss Renee, her teacher, bent down to her level and asked if she wanted to have fun. Pumpkin said yes and Miss Renee said they were going to have lots of fun, then took her hand and led her into the classroom.
Soon it was clear that she was made to dance.
The road has not always been easy for her. We had her switch studios after we’d been here for a year to a school with ballet as its primary focus. She struggled learning new terms and unlearning some bad habits. She even cried almost every day of her summer classes.
In time she learned to love her new studio.
Over the last 6 years, Pumpkin Girl has been growing in grace and skill. When she dances, her face lights up and it is clear that there is no place in the world she would rather be.
This past summer we waited and waited for an important email to arrive from her ballet studio. We were on vacation when it came, about to get in an elevator.
When we got out, we stepped to the side to read the email on my phone. It was the news she’d been hoping for: she had been selected to start pre-pointe classes over the summer and go en pointe this Fall.
And here we are. After many hours of training, the moment every little aspiring ballerina can only hope will happen for her…
A Letter to Pipsqueak
…who won’t sleep.
My dearest, sweetest Pipsqueak,
Mommy and Daddy love you so very much. Your chubby cheeks, your happy smile, the way you yell “Daddy!” when you hear the garage door opening. We love to hold you, play ball with you, help you pet the “meows”.
But you know what we don’t love? The way you won’t sleep at night.
Really, dude, what’s the deal? We’ve been through many a baby. Some slept better than others. But you, my little friend are a Bad Sleeper. And we’re old now. We need our rest. Do you see the gray hairs on my head? They are from lack of sleep. Really.
What do you think you are missing at night? I’ll tell you what – SLEEP! Look over at us. We’re sleeping. Boo and Pumpkin and Bip…all sleeping. Even the cats. Are sleeping, is what they are.
You have a warm, cozy bed. You have people who love you. Your belly is full and your diaper is dry. Just sleep. Please. For the love of all that is good and right in the world, please sleep.
Love,
Your mom and dad, who haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 1 year, 5 months and 24 days. Not that we’re counting.
P.S. Here’s a picture of you doing that sleep thing once. See how cute you look? I’d love to see that again.
Lego Star Wars Birthday – The Party
The day of the party arrived! Jedi robes hung near the door and lightsabers were ready. We played the Star Wars Main Theme as the guests arrived and donned their robes. They gathered in the living room until everyone arrived. I gave a short briefing on the upcoming Jedi Training Academy and introduced their Jedi Masters, Obi Boo Kenobi and Pumpkin Secura.
First up, the Jedi Reaction Course. A Jedi must be quick witted and physically fit, ready face any obstacle or climate. First, they raced across the lava of Mustafar. I used a cheap, vinyl tablecloth with peices of cardboard taped on it.
Bip negotiates the lava of Mustafar while Master Pumpkin Secura looks on. Ignore my dead backyard. We’re having a drought.
The next challenge was to enter the Cloud City by way of the ladder, then slide to safety. Here they met Obi Boo at the Death Star and shot the three Storm Troopers with a Nerf gun.
Obi-Boo prepares to help a young Padawan shoot the Storm Troopers. Please to be noting how lush the lawn looks here. (Note: the Storm Trooper pictures were supposed to be hanging down from our deck, but it was too windy that day. We attached them to the back of a bench instead. Typical. No wind for days. DAYS! Then it decided to gust for the party.)
Setting the gun down, they moved on to Hoth where they mounted their TaunTaun. They navigated through a series of cones to reach safety before the rebel base closed its doors for the night.
Each young Padawn went through the course once on their own, then we let them go again and again until they were worn out. Then we had a water break. Background music: Tie Fighter Battle from Episode IV.
Basic Lightsaber Training was an exercise in spontaneity. For me, that is! The idea was to keep balloons off the ground with their lightsabers. Once they’d mastered that, or got bored, they would bat the balloons back and forth with a buddy. Then we’d have a relay race, keeping the balloons off the ground and passing it to a team mate. What really happened was that the wind got involved and blew the balloons everywhere, like into the creek and the neighbors’ yards. It was actually pretty hysterical. At some point we ditched the plan and just whacked those balloons until they either blew off or popped. (No pictures for this as my photographer went to the Dark Side.)
Advanced Lightsaber Training was all about combat training. Obi Boo and Pumpkin Secura taught basic dueling moves and then Padawans practiced on Pumpkin.
Suddenly a disturbance was felt in the Force (music: The Imperial March) and who should arrive but Darth Phil! Each young Padawan had the opportunity use his skill to battle Darth Phil multiple times. The Jedi Masters called out each move in sequence to help them remember. Have you seen the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland or WDW? It was just like that. Finally Darth Phil was defeated and left to plot evil for another day.
Next was Safe Handling of Thermal Detonators. Just your basic hot potato game using a funny ball. The music for this was the Cantina Song from Episode IV.
To wrap things up the Padawans were given a “final exam”. We played Bingo using the cards I downloaded for free here: Lego Star Wars Bingo.
After food, gifts and cupcakes we finished with a graduation ceremony. Obi-Boo and Pumpkin Secura lined up the Padawans and marched them up to the deck, once around the fire pit, then had them line up. They formed an arch with their lightsabers for the new Jedi Knights pass under as their name was called. We used “the Throne Room” from Episode IV for the music.
As the Jedi Knights got their goody bags and left for their home galaxies we played the End Title in the background.
And there you have it! Much fun was had by all.
And in case you missed it, see how I planned this whole party here: Lego Star Wars Birthday – The Plan.
PS. Sorry about the inconsistent photo editing. I’m still trying to figure which look I like best and I edited these pictures on different days.
Lego Star Wars Birthday – The Plan
In a fit of maternal generosity, I agree to let Bip have his very first friend birthday party.
Have I told you I’m an introvert? And though I like people and love my kids, they just plain wear me out? Alas, Bip finally has friends of his own and he asked for a party. I couldn’t say no. I wanted to. But I didn’t.
He requested a Lego Star Wars theme.
I’d love to be one of those moms who can create a super cool themed party with coordinating everything and homemade food and cakes and all that. As I scoured the Internet looking for party ideas, I became increasingly intimidated and discouraged. Plus, everything looked so expensive! So I got a grip on the reality of what *I* am capable of doing and played to my strengths. I like Star Wars. I like to craft. I like to do graphic design stuff. And I’m a bit of a goofball. (But you knew that last part, right?)
So here’s how I got it done.
I bought this invitation here: Princess and the Peas
Yes, I could have done this myself, but by the time I remembered I needed to create, print and send the invites out, I was out of time. (Get it cheaper by starting extra early and creating the invite yourself. Even cheaper if you print them at home.)
I made these light sabers out of fun noodles. Fun noodles!
There are instructions all over the Internet, but I’ll tell you how to do them right now. Buy fun noodles. Cut them in half with a serrated knife (measure first!!). Use silver, not grey, duct tape to make a handle. Use electrical tape to embellish. Three things to note. 1)cover the bottom of the handle first because it doesn’t turn out very neatly and then you can cover that bit up when you start wrapping the handle. 2)Buy the silver duct tape at WalMart. Look in the craft section. 3)Use electrical tape for the black because duct tape is really hard to cut into the small pieces you need. (Cost: Fun noodles $2 each, they yield 2 sabers. Electrical tap $3. Duct tape $5. Total: $10 to make 4)
I’m not generally a fan of party favors, so if we’re going to give them out I want them to be worth while. I made the toppers myself, added a sheet of stickers, a Star Wars Pez, and a Lego Star Wars bottle cap key chain that I made myself.
(Cost: Pez $2 each. Stickers $1.50 for 4 sheets. Cellophane treat bags $2.50 for a pack. Bag toppers I printed at home on card stock. I had the keychain supplies already because we’re going to be selling them in our shop. But small kits are available all over the place and finished ones are available on Etsy.)
For games we went through a Jedi Training Academy. We had an obstacle course, basic light saber training, advanced light saber training, safe thermal detonator handling and a final exam. More on those in another post. (Cost for a vinyl table cloth as part of the obstacle course $2. I used things we already had for the rest of the games.)
I’ve seen a lot of clever ideas for food – Yoda Soda, Han Burgers, Wookie Cookies, bottles of water spray painted gold like C3PO. And the cakes, oh the cakes! A three dimensional R2 D2. Multi-layer cakes with fondant Lego figures. Very impressive. But yeah, not going to happen here. We ordered pizza, had water and Capri Suns, and bought cupcakes from the store. Half of them had stars on them. For the other half, I made toppers out of toothpicks, leftover stickers and card stock. Sounds way more like MacGiver than it was, but the boys really liked them. (Cost: Cupcakes $10, plus pizza and drinks.Get it cheaper by making your own cupcakes. I don’t include the drinks in the cost because we buy Capri Suns in bulk at Sam’s Club and just pulled from our stash. Also, pizza’s vary by brand and toppings, so I don’t include the price.)
Bip’s cupcake was topped with a Darth Vader holding a red candle as his Lightsaber. Also a big hit. And you know what? We had very little left-over food and I didn’t send the boys home all revved up on sugar.
To set the mood we played various songs from the Star Wars soundtrack. Different activities had different songs. I had an index card that told which song (and track number) went with which game and I kept it with the CD player. (Cost: $.99 for each track. We only needed to buy one more, since we already had several from our Star Wars Halloween.Get it cheaper by asking friends if they already have the music and then borrow their iPod.)
And finally, for graduation, I made these Jedi Training Certificates using Photoshop and the Force. I had them printed as 5x7s and I wrote the boys’ names in the yellow box with a black sharpie.
(Cost: $21 as part of all the printing I had done for the party. Get it cheaper by printing them yourself.)
Total cost for the party, not including pizza and drinks $40.50 and I could have taken that down by half by just doing more of the printing myself.
Next time I’ll show you how the whole party played out. No surprise, it was a HUGE hit!
Birthday Bip
Our funny man Bip turned 7 last Friday. Seven. Wow. Where did that time go?
We took him to IHOP, his favorite restaurant, for his free birthday meal.
Just for fun, here’s Boo with his Monster Cheeseburger, made with real monsters. He’s taller than me now.
It turns out that since we were there on his actual birthday, Bip got a free sundae, too! We were already paying our bill when we found this out, so they packed it up in a kids’ drink cup for him. Thanks, IHOP!!
And Happy 7th Birthday, Bip! You bring us joy every day.
Running Away
The Sunday before last I ran away. Yes, Easter Sunday.
It had been a tough week around here. We’ve been really busy and my children had pushed and pushed and pushed and the night before, things had come to a head over the state of their bedrooms. It just pushed me to the edge. Then after church, they just pushed me over. I left. Changed out of my Easter finery, got in the car and drove. Cranked up the radio, rocked out to INXS. Me and mom jeans, driving my 11 year old minivan. Oh yeah, that’s just the way I roll. I even grabbed some knitting on the way out.
I ended up going to the mall, but it was closed, dang conservative, Christian town. I went to McDonalds, because I am such a rock star, see earlier paragraph re: minivan and mom jeans. I had a big ol’ Coke, which I had given up for Lent. It was cold and sweet and everything I deserve out of life. Then I went to WalMart – don’t hate my diva life- and bought bins for my daughter’s room. And a salad bowl. I know, I know!
I shushed a kid in church,too. It was the final blessing and he was just talking and talking and talking. Then when he started saying “she told me to shut up, she told me to shut up!” I turned around and told him that mass is almost over, he could wait a couple of more minutes.
Do. Not. Mess. With. Me. I will take you down.
(I got an apology from both the dad and the boy after mass, which is more than I got from my own children when I came home. I have since forgiven them and they treated me very well for at least 2 hours. Sometimes a mom just needs a break.)
The Twenty-Ninth
I don’t actually have a whole lot to say today, but the opportunity to post on this particular date is too rare to pass up. Â So hello, how are you? Â I am fine.
Did you ever write letters like that when you were little? Â Once upon a time I had a school assignment to write a letter and mail it. Â I wrote to my cousin who is 3 months older than me. Â We became steadfast penpals and best friends. Â For the first couple of years, though, our letters were pretty much all, “Dear Annie, how are you? Â I am fine. Â What did you do in school today? Â I had a math test. Â Do you like math? It rained today. Â I am running out of room, so goodbye.”
I wasn’t always the riveting writer than I am today.
I was thinking of my cousin Annie today because I learned that Davy Jones of the Monkees had died.  We loved the Monkees, my cousin Annie and I.  Sometimes she’d come and stay with my poor lonely, only child self for a week over the summer.  Both my parents worked so we’d be at home watching TV pretty much all the livelong day.  The reruns of “The Monkees” were our favorite.  One year, she actually  brought her tape of a Monkees album with her and we’d dance around my room, singing Monkees songs at the top of our lungs.
I might have to head over to iTunes and download me some Monkees Tunes like the rest of the world, so I can once again sing them at the top of my lungs. Â It’s probably more fun when you’re 16 and home alone with your goofy cousin-turned-best-friend than say, home with a bunch of kids that are depending on you for an education, and I don’t mean of the pop icon variety. Â Oh well, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.
And speaking of which! Â The next time Leap Day rolls around, assuming that the world doesn’t end this December, Pipsqueak will be 5, Bip will be 11, Pumpkin Girl will be 15 and Boo will be 17. Â And driving! Driving, I tell you! Wonder if he’ll be blasting some Monkees tunes in his car?
Quilt Love
Pipsqueak is fortunate to have some awesome quilters in his life. My friend Shanti made him this beautiful quilt and I just had to share some pictures.
And it’s got a fun Eric Carle print on the back.
My mommy has the best friends!
His godmother made him a cute quilt, too. I’ll share pictures of that one next.
Finishing
I had a post all written up last week and I just needed to take some pictures. But it wasn’t my best writing and I kind of felt like I was phoning it in, so I didn’t publish it. Then a friend of mine died.
It wasn’t unexpected. She’d been fighting cancer for 3 years and had just entered hospice care. Still…it hurt. Sandy (not Falling Like Rain Sandy) was one of my many e-maginary friends – people I’ve met through various internet forums. She was a fellow homeschooling mom of two boys, 9 and 11 years old. She was also a knitter. After she died I spent some time looking at her Ravelry (an online knit and crochet community) profile. I recognized a few of her finished projects as being gifts that she made for others while she was going through chemo. She was just that kind of a person.
I also looked through her queue of projects she had wanted to make. It was sad, seeing the hope for the future there in a line of anticipated projects. Who were they going to be for? Feeling rather morose, I looked at my own Ravelry queue and got even sadder looking at the projects I’ve never started. Sweet baby projects that I’d intended for Pipsqueak who grew too fast, as babies tend to do, and now it is too late for those sweaters and hats. Hope and loss, life and death.
I got to thinking Sandy leaving her children and what sorts of things she wished she had the time to do with them. I thought about leaving my own children – but I just couldn’t go there. I did think about the many things I’ve promised to with or for them. I thought about how Sandy was just one year older than I am. I’m sure she once thought she had all the time in the world. So I declared 2012 to be the Year of the Finished Project. Home projects, craft projects, projects for the children. I’m not going to stress myself out with deadlines, but I am going to keep a running list of things I want to do.
Most importantly, I’m going to do them.