Our Corinne

When I am not eating stick pretzels, I like to look in the mirror and exhale as much as possible until snot runs down from my nose. It works every time.

I heart Nutella.

And I have to tell you, don't eat your "burgers."  They are nasty.

I found some markers and decorated the couch.  Again.

Tulle and cleats, y'all. That's how I roll at brother's flag football games.

And did I tell you I had to discipline the dog today?  I had to tell her, "Sugar, stop eating your bum; it is not a snack. That is nasty."

Look at my tattoo!  It lasted 3 weeks!  But you could only tell it was Rapunzel for 20 minutes!!

Peace out!

Corinne...

Dancing, standing up in a chair, until her toe hurt...

Field Day 2013, Yawl.

Maybe Next Year...

This one time, Henry got a skateboard for his birthday.

And Daddy was so excited.

And Henry said, "Maybe next year you could get ME a skateboard, Daddy."


Then Daddy got a Beatles Rock Band and played it like crazy.
Then it collected dust.
Then Henry got interested and started playing and playing. Then he WON against Daddy. So Daddy couldn't rest until balance was restored.

Maybe next year...

Color Wheel Table, and Then Some Chairs...

My friend found a table and 6 chairs at a garage sale. They weren't a good fit for her home so she gave them to us. GAVE them. So generous.

First they looked like this:

And the middle of the table was the most interesting:

Brian wanted to preserve the wood grain, but I kept itching and itching to paint it.  So I did:

And there was the question of the chairs. 

Henry and Svea used to really be interested in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Whereas I appreciate art and humor, especially in the form of comic books, and whereas I LOVE the idea of a male adolescent expressing himself through journal writing, I was not a huge fan of the level of sarcasm, practical jokes, and attention to the popularity hierarchy...but I guess that just means I am not a huge fan of puberty in general.

So I made this one:

Then I asked Henry who his favorite artist was and he looked at me like I had the cheese touch.
He said, "Lichtenstein."
I was shocked.
He said, "You know?  1960's pop art?"

Then he was too annoyed with my mommy-ness and had to leave the room.

So I made him this chair (not like Lichtenstein necessarily, but the colors DO pop):

I often have dreams about Magritte, so in ode to his The Son of Man, I made this one:

Corinne joined me in the painting and kept her's abstract. Then she put her vintage booster seat on top. Voila!

Only 2 more chairs to complete!!

Arkeolijests

Shout out to all our gold digger peeps!

I tried to explain, Jennie Ebeling, I really did.

Corinne and Groucho

Using Nutella for the 'stache instead of paint, and minus the cigar, of course.

Seasons

THIS, my friends, is why we will be playing SOCCER next season and NOT flag football.

(At Henry's final game, he kept drifting from his flag football field to watch the soccer game going on in the neighboring field).

Waning interest is one reason we won't do this again, but another is that I cannot tell you the name of one of these kids besides my own. Watching Henry play team sports is not only about the skills, teaching sportsmanship, healthy competition, etc.  It is also about building community and getting to know each other...and that did not happen this time.

Inhale, exhale.

There will be a new season... 

Cheese Balls

At Corinne's preschool, they eat a lot of snacks.
Snacks that I don't usually buy...like cheese balls.

So I asked the teachers if they would start saving the containers for me.  After washing the orange grease out of the many many many containers...I thought, What to do???

I also save empty toilet paper rolls. I don't ever do anything with them. I just save them.  ?!?!?!?!??!?

Then I remembered that one preschool teacher did a CRAFT out of empty TP rolls!! Perfect!!

So I painted the label, filled it up, and promptly returned it to the preschool.

Hooray!

Mind Craft Magic

We went to a MOST INSPIRING, terribly CREATIVE, over-my-head and out-of-my-league birthday party a few weeks ago.

Just a reminder, I've stated this before, but planning your child's birthday party can be a great opportunity for parents to dig up their own "issues" about their own childhood and maybe delve into unhealthy territory around "feeling properly celebrated, noticed and loved."
These parents at this particular party did not do that. I need to learn from them.

This family loves gaming, in particular, the game Mine Craft.
Since my brood is not as familiar with that game, they kept calling it "Mind Craft."  I like my kids' take on it.

So here's how the party went:

There was a pinata that they MADE in the form of one of the weird, floaty bad guys on Mine Craft:

There were crafts, like designing your own Battleship game:

There was instruction and time to play Battleship. There was a screen hung with a projector to play the Kinect. Or Kinnect? The black box thing that senses your movements and you change your body to fit through the wall that's coming at you?  Hunh?

There were snacks that included pretzels in the shape of torches, a Mine Craft cake, green brownies that were the building blocks I think?  Chips, salsa, cheese, etc.

This is a view from an INSIDE WINDOW that led into a portal they made on their front porch, fit with a tv and xbox thingie and 4 remotes. Yes, the kids could crawl in through the window to play video games with each other.

More move-your-body kinect stuff:

And the cake!!!
Happy Birthday!!





But here's the BEST PART.  The birthday boy's mom let us give him an African Albino Frog for his present (some friends of ours were moving out of state and this frog kept eating the other fish in their aquarium so they gave him to us and we bought him some food and frozen blood worms and promptly gave him right on over to the Mine Craft King.  Hooray for possessions just passing through and not sticking!!)

Henry named him Kidney, but he has since been renamed Gollum by his new owners. The resemblance is striking.

All that is to say, it was an amazing birthday party that honored the entire family (with a little extra attention for the birthday boy).  We were honored and inspired to be a part of it all!

Brother Snuggle

Day of the Dance Show, Y'all.

Yesterday was the big day.  It started with hair and make-up...

...then lunch with the grandmothers...Welcome to Moe's!

Then nervous giggling and elevators to get to the dressing room...

And lining up for the performance!!

I couldn't get a picture of them actually dancing, but they were AWESOME.  And I think we were the loudest parent section...way to go, Svea!

In all seriousness, one part of this whole shabang that we were looking forward to the MOST was what Henry was going to say about each dance.  Luckily, Brian was able to text me since I was in the balcony and he and Henry were downstairs:

Henry:  I know that girl. I know a lot of these people. Why do I know all these people? I am so bored. This is taking like an hour.

Henry:  Why aren't they ready to start yet? They've done like 100 dress rehearsals. Why do I see so many people I know here?

Henry: (when the elderly, kind of short lady came out to tell us about dance performance etiquette) Why is that shorty lady so happy to see us?  A bunch of people are being disrespectful while Shorty is talking.   She should yell.  It would work better.  I promise to be polite, Shorty!

Henry:  That was boring.

Henry: That's not them really snapping.

Henry:  What if her knee pops out?  I saw her butt when she was turning around over and over.

Henry: That one girl is doing karate instead of dancing.

It is AMAZING how three children can have such different experiences in the exact same venue.  

Corinne slept through the whole thing.  

She exhausted herself at the dress rehearsal the night before:

After Eight

To my left...



...and to my right.




Bliss, y'all.