tapping at the keyboard

Up-cycling furniture - preschool project

2012-01-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

The preschool project

as part of a school fundraising auction, the auction committee is offering "class crafts" in which we take older, donated, furniture and "personalize it" often with finger prints

This is what I have been given to work with:

I *love* this rocker and I sorely want to keep it myself

this is actually a well made stool, but that red paint...

somebody started sanding the top but the legs are a bit messy

and then this little rocker which isn't quite as nice as the first but it'll do

and a table that my husband has hidden from me. really, I can't find it.

Pink Birthdays

2012-01-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

My "MLyons" turned 7 at the beginning of the month

I bought flowers to decorate for her birthday and told my boys, "when you are at an age where it matters you need to remember: girls should always have flowers on their birthday. That shouldn't be their present, but you should always try to have flowers, even if you have to pick dandelions on the roadside." which is true.

MLyons took them up to her room after her birthday dinner and kept them by her bed. I rescued the Italian Rooster pitcher I use as a vase as soon as I'd taken that photo. My brother bought it for me years ago.

sparkly pink birthday shoes

I posted about my 40th birthday a few weeks ago, and I said one of the presents from my mother was a collection (8) of plates

and here they are:

and on the back they say this:

okay, that is upside down... it says: W (little M) Guerin & Co Limoges, France for Dulin & Martin

they are lovely and I've tried to google them to get an idea of age but I cannot find them.
Perhaps some of you vintage, antique loving gals can help me out?

Linking to Pink Saturday

Wiped out!

2012-01-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

Wow! And it has all started off with a *bang*

I fell last week Monday, I was running at 5:30 AM (very dark out) with my dog and was blinded by a lone car's headlights and stepped off the path and hit my right ankle and my leg buckled and down I went. My palms and opposite knee are still recovering from the fall but I twisted or sprained my ankle or something and it is sore and weak and gets all swollen- BAH!

Friday I was limping around doing laundry and trying to pack everybody up- and we didn't get it all done in time- so Saturday we were up very early to drive to the mountains for ski practice.

And Friday as I was limping around wondering why on earth I was doing this I happened upon Kat's door:

old ski magazine images

that is Megan McJames top right

goal setting

And so I am reminded - this is my dream child who loves to ski. And off we go. Limp or no limp. And then I see via Kiley on twitter that Chelsea has hurt herself in the Downhill and I know she'd give anything right now to just have a bum ankle. Here is hoping her rehab goes quickly.

later: I forgot to mention that meeting Megan McJames looks like it might be a pivotal moment in my daughter's life. It kind of clicked in Kat's head "people do this" people grow up and instead of being teachers or accountants or doctors or engineers, they ski. Kat has been researching ski academies the last few weeks, and really thinking about what it would mean to leave her hometown and go away for high school. I'm not sure I can afford it, but it is really interesting watching her brain grab hold of the concept.

I am stressing a bit about time. We are at a new preschool this year for Bitsy and they are doing an auction, I told the girl in charge I'd do the class crafts as I did them in the past for our old preschool. I have 5 to do before the end of February. Which means I need to get cracking! So hopefully my next posts will all be about upcycling old pieces of children's furniture for the auction.

Shopping - Itaewon Market, Seoul

2012-01-09T19:01:00.001-05:00

Dayton's

JJ's Custom Tailor & Shirts

Itaewon Market - it is a very touristy sort of place, but it is quite fun.
There are many kinds of shops and restaurants, but Tim's favorites are the tailors. Tim decided to try out three different tailors and pick his favorite (why I'm not sure. I don't expect to be traveling back to Korea for 5 or 6 years...)
He decided that he like Dayton's suit the best, but JJ's shirts the best. JJ cut his suit in a very European, close fitting, style. Of course now that Tim has been vegan for 6 months and is super trim, that isn't so bad. I bought a leather Jacket at Dayton's, it is quite spiffy.

Fashion - Seoul April 2011

2012-01-07T06:37:00.000-05:00

I love the clothes. They are more than just city clothes - I mean, they are city clothes and so they are dressier than maybe other places but every city has its own vibe and the clothes here are fabulous.

What do I see?
The men dress up! Prints- they'll wear a striped suit, with a shirt that has a light checkerboard pattern, with a vest that has maybe stripes that pick up colors from both, and then maybe a tie- and the suits aren't cut boxy. They are cut slim, So the jacket shows off the shoulders, sits on a slim waist and the entire effect is fabulous.
The women. Oh my goodness - heels, heels, heels. How on earth do they walk in those heels all day? And short skirts, or short shorts, with tights or leggings underneath, and then a jacket - like a dress jacket over it all. Often the skirt is so short that the jacket covers it, so that sometimes they look like all they are wearing is the jacket. And scarves! And glitter! And LABELS - I have never seen so many Chanel jackets, and Louis Vuitton bags, and Christian Louboutin shoes on actual people (as opposed to a store rack or something) and of course there are also the knock-offs but there are plenty of originals too. Wowee!
And CUTE- everybody is cute. The girls are cute, the men are cute, nobody is afraid to be cute. Very interesting-

lots of the girls have pink, pink phones with charms and lipgloss hanging off of them

I was trying to nonchalantly take a picture of a little girl in line and she ducked out of my line of vision just as I photographed! Instead you get a not very good photo of a woman in a wonderful black outfit.

Still not a fabulous photo, but here she is. In her high socks, and cute grey skirt and smashing red blazer. She looked darling.

she was touring the palace. I love that she is all in black with that fabulous coat and even better, check out the hat! And she is touring the palace in those heels!

The Palace

2012-01-06T06:13:00.000-05:00

4/20/2011

Which one? There are three...
I am not going to promise that I've got my facts straight, but I think we visited Gyeongbok Palace today. If I have the name correct, it was the primary residence of the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty.
When we first arrived, there was a changing of the guard ceremony.
It is hard now, to write about it because I've been walking around the city of Seoul for 10 hours or more- but at the time I was so excited to see the ceremony-
The Guards are in the most wonderful, colorful, traditional clothing- red, bright blue, peacock feathers on one of the hats, pheasant feathers on other hats, swords, bows & arrows, fabulously decorated drums, cymbals, and flags. So visually rich. I loved it!!!
The grounds of the palace are extensive. So many different pavilions. And again, so visually rich. They painted the structures green, red, blue, there are peonies and dragons and pheonixes that look like the Russian Fire Bird version. In the back is a spring that flows into a small pond that surrounds a lovely pavilion, there are blooming trees... it is overwhelming and I need more than one day to take it all in!
And then there is the museum to the side, with clothing, and furniture and artifacts and timelines and wow.
Awesome.
I hope to see it all again someday.

If ever you are in Seoul, you should go and visit.

Brothers

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

photo image by Cailin Yates, April 2010

From The Korean War Memorial, I believe it is called "Brothers" and as you can imagine might happen in a war within a country, it depicts two brothers fighting on opposite sides and finding each other on the battle field.

Korean War Memorial

2012-01-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

We spent two mornings at the Korean War Memorial. I have about a 3 hour tolerance for museums - the boys have about an hour.
Anyway - we spent one afternoon just walking around the outside of the Korean War Memorial - all kinds of tanks, airplanes, anti air guns- a replica of the ship that was sunk last year- and some beautiful monuments.

Another day we went inside- and the boys were sort of checking things out and a docent came up to talk to me. So we had a lovely discussion, she had been in Washington DC area with her family for a year. Her husband worked for NIST which I have to look up. What is NIST? She, like everybody, was shocked to hear that we had 5 kids. She thought the way I was interacting with my sons that I was a school teacher. Haha. So she wanted to know what brought us to Korea and I pointed out Dragon, "he was born here." As a general rule, people are thrilled that he is back in his "mother country" learning about Korea.

Tim wanted to take the hour long tour at 10AM and I mentioned that to the docent and she offered to give us our own private tour. Very sweet!
(Almost all the museums seem to have tours at some point in English. It is embarrassing how many people speak English and how easy it is to get around without speaking Korean.)

My Tiger in front of the War Drum of Korea - the Korean Tiger represents the strength and bravery of the Korean Army.

If you are ever in Korea and have a little time I highly recommend a visit to the Korean War Memorial Museum. You will be amazed at what you will learn. Tim and I kept saying "wow, I never learned that! I didn't know that! Did you know that?"

Even better Dragon absorbed it like a sponge. I have pictures of him laying on the benches pretending to be asleep and in general he acted a bit rude and bored, but when we returned home his 3rd grade teacher got him a map and a pointer and let him teach the class what he'd learned. He had it all down, she was highly impressed and assured me that he learned a lot of Korean history while he was traveling.

Dragon meets his foster mother

2012-01-04T06:26:00.000-05:00

On Monday April 18th, we returned to the Eastern Social Welfare Society. We had a second meeting with our new son to be and then we met Dragon's foster mother.

Requesting a meeting with a foster mother is a formal thing. You send in paperwork while you are in the United States and they encourage you to give them plenty of advanced notice. A meeting may or may not be arrange and a translator from the agency is on hand. For our meeting, the translator had been present for many foster mother reunions. He was very kind to Dragon and helped the conversation along a lot.

As soon as Dragon walked into the room his foster mother stood to hug him. She had him sit down next to her and she held his hand and looked him over. Dragon was shy and didn't know what to say, so I gave him the photo album we had made for her and he showed her the photos and told her about them. She remembered that Dragon had been sick as an infant, and she told the interpreter that she was glad to see he was so healthy. She said she had worried about him. She exclaimed several times over Dragon's height. Dragon is tall for an American 9 year old! He is very tall to be Korean. I guess many of the visits last only 30 minutes, ours lasted about an hour. She said if Dragon was ever in the country again and wanted to visit to please let the agency know to contact her. It was very, very sweet.

Dragon is wearing the sweatshirt she bought for him

Seoul Tower

2012-01-03T08:48:00.000-05:00

photos taken April 2011In Seoul, ROK

Seoul Korea: 4/14/2011

2012-01-02T09:01:00.000-05:00

Post from travel: We traveled to Seoul in April, 2011. We = myself, my husband and my two sons, ages 10 and 9 at the time.

Yikes. Crazy kids got up again at 4 AM. WHAT! Luckily we have the iPads to keep them busy a little while but it is ridiculous in my opinion. I honestly think Dragon does it on purpose so he'll get extra time with the electronics.
Anyway - we were in the lounge at 7 to eat and then off to the National Museum of Korea.
Wow.
The building itself it impressive, really beautiful. At first we thought about taking an audio tour but then decided to take a tour with a guide at 10:30 AM. So we had maybe 45 minutes on our own.
It must have been national school field trip day today. The place was overrun with school kids. Which was kind of fun. They all stared of course but every now and then one would get brave. Often that just meant saying "hello" but one boy asked me "where are you from?" And a three girls decided to corner Tiger and make him talk to them which was cute and funny. Tiger of course didn't know what to do with it but the girls were a hoot.
So the museum-
Beginning with prehistoric era- chipped rock hand axes and the like, the exhibit moves through time on the Korean Peninsula. Like most other places I've seen so far in Seoul, much of the museum is labeled in English as well as in Korean. Pretty easy to follow.
I was particularly interested in trying to put the timeline together in my own head. I have heard of the Silla kingdom quite a bit so it was helpful for me to put that into some sort of context and to see some of the many artifacts from the period both of Silla as one of the three kingdoms as well as when the Kingdom of Silla was strong and covered much of the Korean Peninsula.
I was also interested in the painting exhibits and the celadon collection. Both so gorgeous. I was excited to see the gift shop offered the museum catalog in English, which I purchased for 50,000 won.
We had lunch there at the museum and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.

Coming Clean

2012-01-01T15:58:00.000-05:00

May 1 2010

I will be posting this way later than the date due to unusual circumstances-

I'm a bit of a stress case lately, something I usually try to hide from my bloggy friends as I don't usually find it fun to read the rants. I mean, unless it is a particularly funny occasion and in that case - fire away. I love a good laugh. But anyway. In March, March 16th 2010, to be exact, we received a phone call from Colleen at Children's Home Society and Family Services. Due to unusual circumstances, a baby had been "flagged" if you will with our name. Because of the circumstances, we got first call. Now, just to be clear, we weren't looking for another baby. My sons always talk about that hypothetical little brother they've always wanted and he is just that, hypothetical. Bitsy just worked out all the big kid stuff on the toilet and I'm delighted to be done with the diaper bag, and the high chair, and to have flexibility over food and drink choices and so on...
I stood on the phone trying to talk to this woman but unable to- I couldn't breathe. Oh My! We have a BABY!!!
So. We've been in application process. We are almost done. It is killing me to have them call me, offer me this child, and then tell me I still have to be approved. AUGH!
And due to circumstances that have absolutely nothing to do with this baby, I can't even blog about it. So there you have it, my big secret.
Ahhhhhhhh

keyword search. seriously?

2011-12-30T21:21:00.002-05:00

Search Keywords

cailin mulhare yates, williamsburg, va, white pages

2007 honda odyssey rear window exploded

ash tree pics

ash tree tattoo

psoriasis face

science projects for 4th graders

"grand march" "skytop lodge" new years

army winter elite soccer camp shirt

cailin mulhare yates, williamsburg, va

homemade jessie costume

every now and then I check blog stats, and dude seriously? 4 hits on my name (maiden name no less) and town-just leave me a comment and ask me whatever it is you are trying to find out!

Birthday!

2011-12-30T11:16:00.002-05:00

Yes I am a December baby. My 40th Birthday was yesterday. So I went over to my mom's for our family tradition, waffles and ice cream. And despite the fact that she too is on the vegan diet that my husband is on, she made REAL waffles and had REAL ice cream.

if I could sing a clear high note I would and I'd insert it here.

Mom's table all set for my birthday
Sunflowers are special, I was born in Kansas

Mom was funny! "Why are you taking pictures of the table? It isn't even one of my pretty ones!" It is for my blog mommy, none of your design clients will see it! And it IS pretty!
Tim and 3 of the kids were off to ski training so it was me and the other three-

and then mom gave me my presents! First I opened the a piece of jewelry, it is a family heirloom. My mother's grandfather Eitelbach was a jeweler in New York City. I think he and his brother operated as the "Eitlebach brothers." There is mention of a Walter Eitlebach in the Jewelers' circular from 1917. And a Harry Eitelbach is mentioned as serving in the Army in the same publication. and continueed google search reveals that Walter Eitelbach was cataloged: 2. Jewelry and Precious Stones, Jewelers' Supplies and Tools Eitelbach, Walter, ft Co.. Inc., 182 Broadway
but it does not include the year. More searches show Walter Eitelbach being quoted in the Milwaukee Journal, Dec 1942, as president of the Jeweler's Security Alliance (don't you love that you can sit at home and google this stuff?!?) And finally I find Louis Eitelbach. I believe he was my great grandfather and Walter was his older brother. Apparently there are files on record at Selected Gedcom Records but I can't download them without specific software? Anybody know?
So for now, I'll stop there-

Louis Eitelbach's tie tack. It's like a mother's ring. I know the blue topaz represents my grandfather Howard Eitelbach who was also a December baby. I don't know who the pink stone (tourmaline?) diamonds and emeralds represent. It is beautiful!

My other present was a set of dishes, Limoges from France, that are too darling! She helped her friend (Aunt Kathy) clean out ther dad's house last summer and found these. They had been in Aunt Kathy's mom's antique store at some point! And they are so fabulous! After brunch with mom I was off to Richmond's Short Pump (about and hour drive) to meet my husband and the other kids so we could all have dinner together. I was worried about the plates being mistreated by children's feet so I left them at mother's until next week.

me & mommy

I drove up to Richmond and met them all in the parking lot of the Whole Foods near Short Pump, and then we looked around for a good place for dinner. M wanted Olive Garden but it wasn't open. The other Italian place couldn't seat us for 40 minutes and then we found a Plaza Azteca that looked like it was locally owned (which is weird, I thought they were a chain?) and it was very yummu. Mexican is always easy for vegetarians, and we just ask for our plates to come without cheese...

Dragon on a sugar high from the Sprite

So many sweet smiles. It was very cute that the kids did not want to miss my birthday :)

Scrapbook giveaway

2011-12-28T21:05:00.001-05:00

So you all know that I'm not one to over clutter my "ongoing self absorbed story of me" with giveaways and so on. But one of my favorite bloggers is having a giveaway. And she didn't even ask me to repost it or leave a spammy comment. So you know- I'm gonna have to give her a little love:

Check Out FarmChick:
It's a Small Town Life!
and her digital scrapbook giveaway

here

and here is a link to her photography book

I'm tempted to grab an image to get you to get on over there and check her out, but I will just encourage you to go on and click over.

Off to Practice

2011-12-28T16:26:00.000-05:00

Santa brought pole guards for Christmas! Yes! and a sweet POC hat.

Last year the family packed up on Dec 26th and drove to Wintergreen Virginia for ski team practice. This year there isn't any snow. Wintergreen has snow making capabilities but it has been ridiculously warm lately. So even with snowmaking only 2 runs are open. This leaves everybody less than enthusiastic. However this year Tim is a coach (he started coaching midseason last year) and so he has an obligation. And there is dry land training. So after the flu cleared the house, Tim and the kids spent yesterday prepping to head up to Wintergreen. We don't have our own place. We bum off a friend. And after the car was packed and everybody was ready to roll Tim received a text "so what are your plans now? please don't bring us the flu :( "
I looked at my husband and said, "you've just been disinvited." Tim was actually close to tears. He'd pushed so hard to get ready. He'd told the coaches he would be there on Wednesday to help out. I was already not going, with no snow we didn't need the toddler & preschooler going cabin crazy in someone else's place. Since I wasn't going Dragon wasn't either. Long story. I am sure I'll get to it.
So Tim decided he'd let everybody get some sleep and then at 3:00 AM he woke up the kids to drive to the mountains to make 6:45 practice.
We really need a place.
We really want one on the side of a mountain in Colorado or Utah.
Tiger really doesn't want to leave VA.
K gets older everyday.
We could never sell our house in today's market and get our money out of it.
UGH!
But how cool is it that my kids were in the basement yesterday tuning skis with their dad? And Wintergreen's home page reports that they are making snow overnight. YAY! Racing team gets out there an hour before they open up to anybody else. So hopefully they'll get some good turns in before they come home.

Tiger learning to tune his skis.

and a Merry Christmas it was

2011-12-26T18:03:00.003-05:00

Family Tradition

There was warfare. Winter Break means at least one good game of RISK

baking cookies for Santa

There was baking. MLyons is/was absolutely convinced we needed goodies to leave out for Santa, and "no dad, Santa isn't vegan." So she was provided with real eggs and real butter and she mixed up a batch of her (and my) favorite cookie. Toll House! YUM!

wrapping in the den

There was wrapping. Some years ago my husband and I started watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy every year around Christmas time. And then it became a tradition of wrapping presents and watching the trilogy which is kind of hard for me. "Oh shall we give this to MLyons or Bitsy?" to the sound of orcs being slain is just twisted.

Christmas Eve with Nana

As a we were often far away from extended family, so we opened all the gifts that had been sent on Christmas Eve. I am 14 years older than my nearest paternal cousin, for 14 yrs my dad's kids were the only grandkids and on my mom's side I only had 3 cousins. So we were pretty spoiled by the grandparents. My mom carries on the Christmas Eve tradition coming to our house to open gifts and the sleeping over to watch the "Santa" mayhem in the morning.

Christmas Day we eat waffles for breakfast and then send Nana off and get ready for dinner with Tim's parents. Tim and Tiger had a touch of stomach flu {another family tradition. We seem to get the flu every Christmas!} so they stayed behind this year. And the camera battery was dead so there isn't any visual proof that I went over. But I did!

Being "Social"

2011-12-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

When I started blogging itwas an experiment. It was supposed to help me with selling Arbonne. Eventually I stopped selling Arbonne but I kept blogging because it wasfun. I like it.

And then at the end of 2008my husband's business was suffering so I took what (little) I'd learned from myblogging experiment and tried to help him out with online marketing and asocial presence for his company. That lead to an actual job, and to my husband hiring a real marketing person to start up a "for realmarketing department."

In turn that lead to mefinding and "following" people who make a living teaching people howto use "social" in the digital age to market. My husband thinksI am great at it. I think he's a little biased. But it is somethingI enjoy doing.

Because I like doing it,I'm thinking about taking this year to really learn to help other people do it. Like my mom. She's an interior designer. She is a really goodone. Her business is getting more and more competitive as their are fewerand fewer clients with funds to hire an expert in her field. She needs touse the opportunities provided by the internet to find new clients and keep upwith old ones.

And I'm thinking of myfriend M and trying to help her too, with real estate. And then there are two more that come to mind.

And then today I stumbledupon this post:

Learn More About Social Media in Vegas

I am excited to be a media partnerof Social MediaStrategies Summit in Las Vegas. The conference will be heldbetween February 7 -9, 2012 and already boasts some of themost notable names in social media who will be speaking including Jeff Hayzlettand Peter Shankman. If you are at all serious about taking your understandingof social media to the next level you definitely want to attend.

and she's giving away one opportunity to attend.

I would like to attend the Social Media Strategies Summit because I enjoy using the internet to connect with partners and clients and want to learn to do it more efficiently. I also want to begin teaching others to use these resources to grow their businesses. And I think in the end I may have found something that I enjoy, and good at, and can make a living doing.

The contest is nearly over, the deadline is Dec 31st. I encourage you to stop by Mom Blog Magazine and enter.

last week Friday

2011-12-22T22:50:00.001-05:00

new couches, already protected with dog blankets

poinsettias everywhere!

ready for a party, thanks to local favorite "The Corner Pocket"

black balloons, in honor of my 40th

cleaning up on Saturday! Yummy!

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care

2011-12-15T22:24:00.001-05:00

Back from Colorado and into the swirl of things... Bitsy has had two Christmas Programs for me to watch, the house painting project finished today (!) We've been trying to decorate for the Company Holiday Party tomorrow and I'm fried... and waiting on laundry

Bitsy's godmother LeAnn made a crossed stitched stocking for K and one for Tiger years ago. LeAnn's son Patrick was on my husband's soccer team in Wisconsin when we were first married and we sort of adopted him as a little brother. So when we moved back east we'd fly him out to visit. He came a few times for Christmas break and one year his mother sent him with the stockings for K and Tiger... and then we added Dragon and LeAnn made another stocking. (she had no idea what she was getting into with this tradition...) And then MLyons, and then Bitsy and most recently the Little Hawk... I have come to believe we announce that we are expecting and LeAnn heads out to the store for another stocking pattern/kit.

Little Hawk's Stocking

Bitsy's Stocking

MLyons' Stocking

They are the first things we put out when we decorate. And the last things to come down. Aren't they amazing? Every year these beautiful stockings remind me how lucky I am; lucky in family and lucky in friends.

Happy Christmas!

More Megan

2011-12-15T18:55:00.002-05:00

So I did get my notes together and come up with something for "yahoo, voices" which used to be "associated content"

Megan in 2nd. Borrowed from Megan's Facebook Page

Skiing with Megan McJames

their comments:
Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we believe this content does not match something many people would likely search for online, so we are unable to offer an Upfront Payment.

upfront payment means Yahoo Voices pays me, any where from $2 to maybe $8 depending on expected popularity (except I've never gotten more than $4.50). I would just love to prove them wrong. So if you have a minute please click over. I really want to help Megan get her name out and get her sponsors lined up. Due to lack of funds Megan had to write a check for $20,000 to be on the ski team. Yes, you read that right. After qualifying to race on the United States Ski team, she wrote a check. She isn't getting paid to ski. She isn't the only athlete to find themselves in that position. Sponsors and Donors are hard to come by.

So if you like to ski, or if you enjoy the Winter Olympics, or if you are into it enough to like the World Cup, check out Megan. And check out the other US Skiers. And make some noise. Let them know you are behind them. Most of them have Facebook pages. Some of them have twitter pages.

Sure, times are tight. But these kids are chasing down their dreams. And that is really cool.

couple more photos from Copper

2011-12-13T09:51:00.003-05:00

cuties at Copper Mountain

best use of a kitchen pot rack

Packing Up

2011-12-10T10:48:00.001-05:00

Well, yesterday Tiger sprained his knee. So Tiger, Bitsy and the Little Hawk and I are all hanging out in the condo. I'm letting the T.V. run with Play House Disney so I can catch up with my blog land buddies and then its off to laundry and packing. It will be another 3 AM departure tomorrow.
(ugh)

Tiger getting X-Rayed

He got to come down in the sled with Ski Patrol. Yeesh. He said that was really fun. I wish I knew the name of the guys who brought him down. The x-ray didn't show any damage so the doctor decided he just sprained it good. He can't take weight on it, so he isn't skiing today. Bummer.

MLyons and Bitsy running around Copper Mtn

It has been a fun trip. Since Alan (one of the coaches) signed my kids into ski school and day care using his connections, Day Care was 1/2 what I expected. So I got to ski; Sat, Mon, Tues, and Thurs. Totally rocked. I skied with Shaun Goodwin who now owns Hope Alive Media (look it up and consider supporting the US Ski Team with Out of Bounds) but he used to coach the US Women's Ski Team. (no kidding. I skied with him!) So he gave me a couple of things to think about, I have a habit I need to change which will take time but once I get it I'll have way better control of my turns. Which means I should be able to edge my turns but stay on course, which has been a bit of challenge. I'm a great groomed steep skier, stick me on a course or in bumps or trees where I am told where to turn and I loose my confidence and my control.

With the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Bear. Bitsy is such the little poser.

Since I had Day Care at such a good rate Bitsy went to ski school a couple of extra days. That is crazy pricey but at the end of the week she was skiing green runs no problem and they said she was ready to take on some blues. Her turns were under control, she can make big, little and medium size turns, she can control her speed, get her skis on and off by herself and get up when she falls down. She is too short to be able to get onto a lift by herself for, like, ever (!) but that isn't her fault.

If only my skiing and Bitsy's skiing improved, I am thinking its been a successful trip west. But you should see my racers. They look awesome. Hopefully when we get home the temperature will be a bit more wintery and Wintergreen Resort can kick in the snow making.

Pink Saturday - Ornaments!

2011-12-10T01:20:00.001-05:00

I am writing this way in advance (it is actually January as I type) but I just uploaded pictures I took at my moms...

My mother has a fabulous Christmas tree. It has ornaments from each place we've lived, lots of places we've visited, fancy ornaments, not so fancy ornaments, and it is really a wonderful memory tree

so for Pink Saturday I start with these antiques that she displays in the kitchen in her little glasses- a fun little corner-

this is her tree:

I bought this ornament for her at a "Bazaar" in Bitburg Germany. Every year one of the airplane hangers was filled up with different vendores selling wares - all sorts of wonderful things would be in there.

this one is hard to see, it is an egg shell, carefully cut out and inside is photo that is very faded showing my mother, my father and myself nearly 1 year old. It is decorated with ribbon and beads.

linking up to Beverley's Pink Saturday

More Beaver Creek

2011-12-08T09:45:00.001-05:00

Heading Up to Watch the Women Race the Super G

two of my cuties watching the race

helmets, signed by the fastest women in skiing

World Cup Skiing at Beaver Creek

2011-12-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

Apparently there isn't snow in Europe this winter, at least, there isn't enough.
So where ever it was that the World Cup Women's Super G was supposed to be, it got canceled, and rescheduled for today, at Beaver Creek Colorado.
The guys have been racing there throughout the week, but my kids were training all week at Copper. Except today. Today was their day off. So we drove over to Beaver Creek. And *live* and *in person* watched a World Cup Event.
I was excited to see Kiley Staples race. Tim's company DataXstream is helping to sponsor her this season. (I wrote about his other skier, Megan McJames in an earlier post)
The course looked crazy hard and fast and Kiley finished further back than she'd hoped so she didn't get any World Cup points, but she looked good.
We also got to see Lindsey Vonn race (and win) which was awesome, she's a speed racer doing her thing and she rocks. The announcers are annoying because they say her name so many times you wonder if they are getting paid. But aside from the announcer ruining it - Lindsey did rock.
AND Julia Mancuso ran too. Okay, I only started following racing this season for obvious reason, but I think of Julia Mancuso as a technical racer so I was really excited to see that she was racing. She ran a gorgeous course. I love Julia.

MLyons and Tiger with Alice McKennis

Lindsey Vonn signing MLyons' helmet

I had taken the little two back to Copper as soon as the race ended. But Tim stuck around with the kids and they got helmets signed by US racers. Wicked Cool! MLyons also got one of Julia Mancuso's cards which she is very proud of. Julia signed everything "Jules" and Tim got her to sign my helmet too. Sweet! MLyons came back with all kinds of signatures. She had Jules, Vonn, Kiley Staples and Alice McKennis

Kind of an amazing day

Skiing in Copper

2011-12-06T03:01:00.001-05:00

Whoo Hoo
Got another day in! The little ones have done well with ski school and day care so far and I got another day of skiing in for myself. My husband is working as a coach on this trip so he is out at 8:30 AM with the racers and they are on the hill by 9. He has skied Sunday & Monday with "the little guys" so MLyons is with him. The team officially has places for 7 year olds. MLyons is 6 and there is some back and forth as to whether she will ski on the Wintergreen Development Team this year.
And then Alan took out the adults. Alan has been involved with Wintergreen skiing since the mid to late 1970s. I asked him the other day. I was shocked, 1970s seems so "early" for Southern Skiing. I mean, Wintergreen relies on the ability to make snow. He was hilarious with us though, he had us working on finding our edges. Drills that I personally need because Tim says I skid instead of turn. Alan kept saying "anybody can turn" I want you to do ... so first it was a run through brush gates while we were "scooting" our skis back and forth, sort of walking them, and it was interesting to see what that did to your balance. And then it was breaking turns down into a 1,2,3, exaggerated move again trying to see what that did to your balance. I was learning a lot but the pace was driving me nuts. There are some very slow parents. And then after lunch we actually went over to the greens over on Timberline and really slowed down the turns and that was where I felt like I got the sensation of finding and pushing my edges. My left leg is really "behind" and I think I'm going to have to go home and seriously get back into pilates and yoga and get my core and hips strong if I'm going to be able to ski the way I want to ski.
I get frustrated with that. I used to be fairly good. And then I had kids. And between the wear and tear on my body, and allowing myself to get out of shape, and just not having the opportunity to get on the mountain myself... I'm just not skiing the way I'd like to.
All my best childhood memories seem to involve ski trips. It was what my family did. And then I met a guy in Virginia who skied. And now it is what our family does. And I want to be able to ski into my 70s. So I need to get it together.
I also have got to get this altitude thing under control. Several of the racers have had to take breaks due to altitude issues. So I've been having water chugging contests with the kids in the morning. I chugged 5 glasses of water, one after another and wasn't much in the mood for coffee. BIG MISTAKE. By 2 PM I had a caffeine headache. So I made coffee at 4 PM and now I can't sleep. Aargh!

Megan McJames

2011-12-04T17:47:00.001-05:00

I've had some good days on the snow. There was the day we were supposed to take a rest day in April, (after 2 days of skiing, and we are flat landers people) and Vail got 30 inches. So we skied. And it was glorious.

There was the day in Brian Head Utah that my dad challenged me to a race, and I had him beat, flat out beat and then some lady was traversing across a narrow area and I couldn't time her passes and I yard-saled- lost my boot even- and my dad blew past me laughing.

Dating my husband and skiing...

The first day I took each of my kids skiing...

But yesterday was in its own grouping.

We got to ski with Megan McJames. In the previous post I'd said we were looking forward to meeting her. Her credits include being a World Cup skier, NorAm overall title in 2006, and she skied in the Olympics(!) She is a great girl. She comes across as very sweet and unassuming. She seems to be grateful and hopeful for the opportunities she has as a skier but not boastful and certainly not taking anything for granted. If you check the previous post you'll get a feel for what I mean in the video which I found at the Dream Share Project.

Megan McJames and two of my girls

It was particularly neat for my family that we were able to meet Megan because her personality was easy for us to relate to. And so my oldest child, in the blue hat there, really opened up a lot more than I expected and asked a bunch of questions. My daughter is 11 years younger than Megan and wanted to know about racing, and about the Winter Sport School that Megan went to in Park City and about boarding with a family and so on. And Megan was great. She was sweet (I keep saying sweet but honestly that is the perfect word for her) and she tried to really answer Kat's questions.

Tim, presenting Megan with her check from DataXstream LLC

We also enjoyed listening to her talk about baking this summer with her teammate and her ideas for baking more in the future. She bakes with Chelsea and they call themselves, "Sister Sweet Tooth" Chelsea blogs at Chelsea's Cookies. Sister Sweet Tooth can be found at the blog named, what else? Sister Sweet Tooth.

I'm still trying to understand the FIS site but if I have it correct you can follow Megan's racing season here and if I do have it correct she had two good races in Aspen last weekend in the Giant Slalom.

Now I've got to take this and pull it together into a presentable format and send it off to associated content. Because my part of the sponsorship is to help Megan with marketing. I am not sure what help I can offer, but I get the feeling that athletes pretty much have to market themselves, and with traveling, training and competing, that seems like a lot to keep up with. So hopefully I can add a little boost.

You can help. Find Megan McJames on facebook, and "like" her. Follow her blog at Megan McJames Wordpress. You can donate.

and if your interested this is a great article at Start Haus

anticipation

2011-12-03T19:46:00.000-05:00

so I'm writing this on Wednesday and I SHOULD be packing but I'm just really excited:

today we are supposed to have the opportunity to ski with Megan McJames

Megan is on the USA Alpine Ski Team.She went to the Olympics in Vancouver.She is skiing with my kids!My oldest, K, adores skiing. She is so stinking excited to meet an athlete that competes in our family sport. (I say that like, hah, we all race. No, we all ski. Some of them race. Not me. Only raced once, with Tiger on a parent/child course at Copper in 2008. I was 4 seconds slower than all the moms who were paying attention to times and places. Skiing is like swimming, every second is an eternity.)I believe Megan and Kiley (the two athletes DataXstream is helping sponsor this season) are still seeking donations to fulfill their $20,000 obligation of the year.Megan has a donate page on her blog. If you are into USA Skiing, and you have the ability to donate, large or small, I know she would appreciate it.

getting there...

2011-12-03T19:38:00.001-05:00

Written Friday, in flight:

As any parent will attest, there is nothing quite likeflying with children. As I follow (viablogs and other internet sources) parents with significantly more children thanI have, it is silly to make much of the number of children.

However I do have tosay that I have never had as nice as an experience as a mother, as I had thismorning at Richmond International Airport in Virginia.

Imagine, we woke the kids up at 3 AM this morning, drove tothe airport and arrived approximately 4:30 AM for a 5:50 flight throughPittsburgh. Upon arriving a porteroffered to help get our things in, oftenwe say no thank you but this morning it was worth the tip to get all our stuff(3 ski bags and 9 other bags plus two car seats) into the building. And then my husband disappeared to park the“bus.” All our check in information waswith Tim. I wasn’t even sure where wewere connecting or exactly what time we were leaving (yes this is how mymarriage operates and I have learned to live with it.) Eventually I called Tim because it had been awhile “I’ve gotten the bus stuck and I’m trying to figure it out” came a veryterse answer (as in he didn’t even say hello) so I paid the porter and told himwe would be a while as I can’t check in without the husband.

*I found out later as he related the story to some of thecoaches, he was so stuck that the police had to help him.*

So it was a little while – the kids are camped out in one ofthe sections of chairs and the two little ones are playing and the older onesare sort of spaced out. It is 4:40 AMafter all. And finally one of the womenworking the counter comes to ask me if those are my bags. “Yes” I answer. “well I had to ask because if they sit thereunattended I have to call the police.” Yeah, that isn’t news lady. I’min the building, if you think it would be better if I took the kids over thereand camped out in front of your line I can do that. Only I just think that and smile at her. “They are ours.” “Well are you going to check in?”

“I’m waiting for my husband who is parking the car.”

She walks away.

About 10 minutes later a gentleman walks over, “ma’am whichflight are you on?” I hate this. “Um, I’m not exactly sure, our finaldestination is Denver.” So are you onthe 5:30 through Charlotte? No, wearen’t going through Charlotte. I doknow that. “So you are on the 5:50through Pittsburg?” Probably. “Well ma’am that is a lot of bags and we aregetting to that time…”

And just then the husband walks through the door.

Whew.

And so the bags get checked in and we get our passes andhead towards security. Upon reachingsecurity I remind the kids that the TSA Officer will need to ask them eachtheir names. So she asks Bitsy first andBitsy won’t answer, so she asks Dragon what is Bitsy’s name. Dragon says “Izzy” which of course isnot on a printed ticket as it isn’t herlegal name. So the officer asks Dragonwhat is “Izzy” short for and the kid doesn’t know… So K comes to therescue. And in the middle of this aflight crew comes zipping through and one of them has her pass in a plasticsleeve and the TSA officer requests that she remove the pass so that the littlelight can shine on it like it is supposed to. The Crew member throws her stuff to the side and gets all huffy. The TSA officer doesn’t skip a beat. “Ma’am you may speak to my superior if youwould like, I must request that you remover your badge from the plasticsleeve.” And in the next breath asksMLyons what her name is. It is discovered that we don’t have a boardingpass for MLyons. So the husband grabshis boarding pass, hands off his computer backpack and roll on bag filled with “crazydiet approved” snacks to Dragon and takes of with MLyons. I am standing there with K, 13 Tiger, 11,Dragon 9, Bitsy 5, and Little Hawk 2 and two bags full of electronics (we areYateses) and however other many bags and jackets. And immediately I have help. There are TSA adgents helping pull outcomputers and helping get kids jackets into bins and helping push thingsthrough and sweetly directing the small children and older children throughsecurity and then once cleared helping us move bins to benches and corralchildren and seriously I could have cried. It is 5 AM and I haven’t had coffee yet and these kind souls are gettingme through what could have been (and has been at other times in the past) afrustrating process.

So a shout out to TSA in Richmond. THANK YOU! You made my day. And as a travelerwho fully remembers 9/11 thank you for making crew members follow the securityprocedures. Yes they are a pain, but Istill want to feel as safe as possible.

It was a bit of a rush from the first flight to the secondand in making our way to the second gate I lost sight of Tiger. Tim was at the gate showing boarding passes(I mentioned we were rushed?) and I can’t find Tiger. I did find him in a minute, he’s walkedpassed the gate, but there was that one second scare and all around me men arecounting my kids and shaking their heads.

[It reminds me of “No Biking in the House without a Helmet”when they were on a flight (with 9 kids) and someone asked one of the boys thename of their organization and the boy answered with the family name… and atthe end of the flight the man stood up and shook her husband’s hand “sir, Ijust want to shake your hand.”]

Currently it is 8:54 AM and I am on my second flight. Thehusband, God love him, travels enough to receive an upgrade to firstclass. And so he gave it to me. Bitsy and I are sitting in first class whereI was given my coffe before we took off, and we are now sipping orange juicesand waiting on our complimentary French toast. It is Bitsy’s first first class experience. She had a moment on the ground while we werewaiting to taxi, she is tired, hungry and still more of a toddler than a littlekid, and she wanted her breakfast NOW. And I said “Bitsy, you are in aprincess seat. If you are going to actlike that you can go sit in the back with daddy where there isn’t any juice andI can bring up a different princess.” She got it. Immediately. And that was that.

It is a 4 hour plane ride. After about the 3rd hour, we'd played on the ipad, watched movies, played finger games, gone to the bathroom a bizillion times, spilt our orange juice, she notices a door.

"Mommy, what is behind that door?"

"Oh, the pilots baby. They are flying the plane."

Big black eyes look at me with concern, "but Mommy. I don't like pirates!"

It is 9:28 PM. I’m inthe condo with Bitsy and Little Hawk. EPIC MOM FAIL! I did not packdiapers, wipes and pull ups because we were crammed for space. After arriving at Denver Airport we stoppedat Walmart, Costco and Whole Foods and I did not think to BUY these items atany of those stores. Little Hawk issupposed to go to day care tomorrow and I cannot pack him a proper diaperbag! MLyons is going to pee the bedtonight. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

We're off

2011-12-01T21:42:00.001-05:00

well, nearly

Today there was much ado about packing... I think I have everything for everybody. Except toothbrushes, because the youngest keeps running off with them all so I think we may just buy a batch of new upon arrival.

The husband has put all the bags into the mini-bus. Yes, he finally bought me a mercedes... bus. Seriously, it seats 12 and has a high ceiling and ridiculous bounce and takes up two parking places. But I digress. And after all the packing his employee/friend Blake came over and helped move the living room couch into my bedroom, rollup the rug, move the antique armoire inherited from my mother away from the wall, the two Korean table/chests out of the front hall and roll up the front rug because the house is being painted while we are away. Brilliant, we are all gone and it needs to be done. Not brilliant, I come home and within 6 days host the company holiday party *in my home* I shall need to unpack 8 people's things, ski gear, and decorate, all within 6 days.

The Christmas Party has been my job for the last few years with some delegation but I've had a heavy hand. This year my husband has a new assistant and the invite list has been a bit tricky. I am not sure exactly where the list she has came from, it looks like it merged my other evite account with my business account. In addition to old college roommates, and old babysitters, there is a woman that used to date my husband's business partner on the list of invitees. Um...? So it may be interesting.

but anyway, I'm off to guzzle some water, set my alarm and try to sleep before my 3 AM wake up call. Yes I did say 3 AM. Welcome to the world of traveling with Tim Yates.

little video feed, getting into it

2011-11-30T15:32:00.001-05:00

getting excited

Ski Team- getting ready

2011-11-29T21:00:00.000-05:00

and the skis are all labeled and zipped up in ski bags

Tim is prepping for the Wintergreen Racing Team's preseason training. The ski season has actually started, but it is raining in Virginia and it doesn't usually get cold enough to make snow until Christmas, sometimes it is after New Years. So we fly west to get some time on the mountain... This year there are even more racers going than in the past so Tim is helping Coach. And I'm going to be "Team Yates" team mom and help keep it all together... but anyway...

A month or so ago I shared a quick post, Tim's company DataXstream was helping support two of the USA Alpine Athletes. One is Kiley Staples. And I just found a pretty cool article that explains rather succinctly who she is and why we should watch her. So here ya go: Kiley Staples : ASPEN, Colo. — "Kiley Staples possesses a golden pass so powerful it just might help the promising U.S. ski racer jump start her career again.

By virtue of capturing the Nor-Am overall title last season, Staples gains automatic entry into every World Cup event in 2011-12." more

Virginia History & a book from Bradburn and Coombs

2011-11-29T10:13:00.001-05:00

They were kind enough to sign it for me

Recently (before Thanksgiving) I was able to go to Richmond with my friend Susan and attend a book launch party for Douglas Bradburn and John Coombs. Bradburn and Coombs were there to discuss their recent book "Early Modern Virginia, Reconsidering the Old Dominion."

Susan and I had a great time.

First, Susan is good company and we talked and caught up the hour ride to the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Second, Susan's area is Early Virginia History. I don't know exactly what she studied but I do know that she has a Master's Degree in History and she portrays Martha Washington for Mount Vernon. She grew up in Williamsburg, she portrayed a colonial woman for Colonial Williamsburg prior to taking on Martha Washington, she has been all over a variety of plantations learning and studying... and so she knows this stuff.

I don't. I am clueless. But Doug Bradburn is married to a fellow Mount Holyoke College alum and now Facebook buddy, so I went.

When we arrived the speaking part of the evening had begun, Doug and John were taking questions. They were hilarious. Susan likened them to the two Muppet gentlemen in the theater, (who critique the shows) I don't know if you know what I mean? (I found a youtube, its down at the bottom)

In addition to being funny, they were interesting. The idea was to question how Virginia History is generally perceived, to attempt to change the questions, to change the lectures which trickles down and changes what the average student learns.

My interpretation (and like I said, I'm fairly clueless so if you are a history buff or good gosh a bonafide historian, go find the book and read it yourself!) is that Virginia is traditionally compared to Massachusetts and in the comparison Virginia comes out lacking. Massachusetts is seen as orderly, pious, well governed and Virginia is a disorderly wilderness with wild men running about drinking. (I was never taught that in any history class btw) And this series of essays is to take a look at Virginia and examine what was really going on in its early history as a colony.

To date I've only read the introduction and the first essay, by Bradburn "The Eschatological Origins of the English Empire." As I do not run in academic circles it is a bit slow going for me and I have to reread things, look things up, and keep the dictionary handy. However, it is interesting. I had never heard that part of the marketing of the Virginia Company was church related, that the Anglican Church saw the empire as a means to keep the Catholic Spaniards from taking over the "new world." I find that particularly interesting because in everything I was ever taught about Spanish expansion, the church figures prominently, and so it would make sense that the Anglican Church was also doing its part to save the world. But it wasn't something I'd heard before.

I plan to take the book with me on an upcoming vacation and attempt to make more headway. As I live here in Williamsburg, the colonial capital, it is interesting to read about the history and add it to what I see around me.
Statler & Waldorf - Signing off by beautifulcynic

The China Study

2011-11-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

I wrote in August that my husband had read a CNN article, that lead to reading Dr. Esseltyn's book that read to reading The China Study. (going vegan post here)

And since then, we've been a mostly vegetarian household and my husband has been very strict in his diet following Dr. Esseltyn's diet with small variations when he eats out (I think he chooses not to worry about oils being cooked in foods when he eats out.)
But for a time my husband's sense of urgency was comparable to that of a missionary and it was a little hard to take. So I did make a comment here or there, or the eye roll, and I did apologize to my friends when they came to my son's birthday party and received a lecture on nutrition.

But now I am reading The China Study and I do see why my husband feels the need to speak out.

There is a ton of information in the book and I'm not quite done yet. But I can share the following highlights:

1. Protein intake is associated with higher cancer risk:
In India an experiment involving liver cancer and protein consumption in rats showed that rats exposed to AF (aflatoxin) and then fed diets containing 20% protein developed liver cancer but rats exposed to AF and then fed diets contained only 5% protein did not develop liver cancer.
page 36,37 and the study is Madhaven TV and Gopalen C, "The effect of dietary protein on carcinogenesis of aflatoxin" Arch. Path. 85 1968 133-137

{Aflatoxin, a fungus produced toxin, called "the most potent chemical carcinogen ever discovered"}

The India paper, along with Dr. Campbell's observations in the Philippines led to more studies regarding AF and protein intake.

Further on page 54 Dr. Campbell states "Foci development was almost entirely dependent on how much protein was consumed, regardless of how much aflatoxin was consumed"

2. Not all protein is alike. David Schulsinger did a study showing "gluten, the protein of wheat, did not produce the same results as casein, even when fed at the 20% level." pg. 59

3. Genetics only determine 2-3% of total cancer risk pg. 71

4. One of the strongest predictors of "Western Disease" was blood cholesterol pg. 77

5. Fat and breast cancer appear to be related. Pg 87 the finds in Chinas showed that reducing fat from 24% to 6% was associated with lower breast cancer risk. Pg. 84 findings by Ken Carroll, University of Western Ontario, show impressive relationship between fat and breast cancer.

that is only the first 90 pages of the book.

Chapter 5 is about hearts, heart health and heart disease.
"One study published in 1959 compared the coronary heart disease death rates in twenty different countries"
The study showed 1955, death rate in the United States duet heart disease: 700,000. Finland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand followed the US with the United Kingdom coming in 6th at 450,000. Japan, France and Portugal had just over 100,000 and Yugoslavia had under 100,000.

What I think is interesting is that people have been comparing heart health by country since the 1950s. In 1946 a doctor in Los Angeles did a study with heart patients and diet, 50 patients continued eating normally and 50 began eating an altered diet. 8 years later 12 of the first 50 were alive and 28 of the second 50 (those who altered their diets) were alive. This information is old. If you ask most adults they'll tell you not to eat certain foods to be healthy. However almost all of them will tell you that you need milk, and you need meat, and you need animal protein.

My neighbor was talking to Tim about all of this and decided to do some reading. She is married to my doctor. She kept saying to him, "is this true?" and he kept saying "yes." "So why aren't you telling people not to eat this?" she asked and he answered "I'm happy if I can get my patients not to eat meat lovers pizza every night with a 6 pack of beer. They'd never put a vegan diet into practice."

I'm only 1/2 way through the book. But I've stopped giving my husband a hard time for wanting the kids to be vegan. I don't know if this will be a lifestyle change that takes hold, but it may be. My husband is down to his college weight and running 8 minute miles in the morning. He feels pretty good. I don't think he really wants to go back to the diet he used to eat. Me, I sneak of cookie every chance I get, but I have to admit, I feel pretty good too.

because sometimes it is ugly

2011-11-27T21:42:00.001-05:00

Dragon

what do I do with Dragon? He is only 9.

He's come pretty far actually. His teacher called him "responsible" and "a leader" and the kid whose name she tells the substitute that they can "count on."

He is also still the kid who compulsively lies, steals, and demands to be first.

This evening I was sitting up in Tiger & Little Hawk's room. Little Hawk can be restless at bed time and I don't think it is fair to leave Tiger in charge. So I sit there until Little Hawk falls asleep. In the room next door there was some weird clunking around. And then the dog was making noise and so finally I went in to check it out. Dragon says from his bed "the dog keeps walking around my bed." Uh, huh. And why would that be? "What do you have under your bed that the dog wants?" I asked. Dragon dove under the bed to find out. I noticed his backpack at the end of the bed and took a peek, 1/2 a loaf of Ezekiel bread and several packets of spreadable cheese from my husband's MREs, two boxes of pretzels and a granola bar. "What is this for?" He comes up with some bogus story. I ask him what else is in his room. And eventually, underneath the bean bag by his bed, we uncover a sandwich of ezekiel bread and cheese spread.

I am not handling this calmly. I am sure I must have starved in some other life because the fact that this kid hoards family food up in his room is always a hot button for me. It really pisses me off.

Besides. cockroaches. Need I say more?

And so after some screaming and yelling and hollering I send him off to find his dad and I go and read the best blog on the planet:

The Accidental Advocate

where I am reminded that: I AM HIS MOM
it is MY JOB to look for the gold. To love him where he is, not where I want him to be.

and so, after a bit of wine, and some online therapy, I trudge back upstairs.

"I am really angry. But I am your mom, and I will always be your mom."

and damn it, we will get through this.

Abundance, and Pink Peacock

2011-11-26T10:35:00.001-05:00

Some time ago I tried to use Pink Saturday as a means to challenge myself to pink collages. And for a short time I really did try to get at least one out there once a week, and then of course life took over. And some of that is that there is always so much to do, and my husband doesn't understand my need to "make a mess" before I get about the job of cleaning. He isn't a jerk or anti art, he just doesn't get it. And there is always so much to do. But this morning he is away looking at property in Wintergreen VA (yes!) and so I am playing.

I've been thinking a lot the last few weeks about "abundance"
and living with abundance and living in abundance

And I think it is about focus. Because I know people who have so much and they feel that they need so much more. And then I remember being 18 years old, on a church trip to Haiti. There were people in the street, standing in the foulest smelling mud I have ever smelled, rejoicing because they were blessed. They were blessed to have a job and they were grateful, they were blessed to have health and they were grateful, they were blessed to have children and they were grateful. I learned a lot on that trip. I find that I allow myself to be refocused, to need, to want, to feel desperately that I have to try harder, work harder, have better... and really I just need to live in my blessings and be grateful.

And so, I am attempting to focus daily, to live in my blessings.

And I wonder, what does abundance mean to you?

VJCL

2011-11-23T11:32:00.001-05:00

That stands for the Virginia Junior Classics League. They had a conference in Richmond Sunday and Monday this week and I was there as a chaperone with my daughter's Jr. High School. My daughter is lucky enough to attend a school that offers Latin- she took "Latin for Word Power" in 6th grade, Latin I in 7th and now Latin II in 8th. Last year we didn't attend the VJCL conference. This year I sort of pushed her into it.

I am so glad I did!

It was really neat to see a conference with High School Students conducting the majority of opening assembly, voting, organizing, older college students now part of the SCL back to help out and basically 1600 "nerds" getting together to celebrate various aspects of what is "classics."

There were competitions, in oral presentation, in arts, dramatic presentation.

The 20th Legion was there. They are re enactors, much like those in Colonial Williamsburg that our group is so familiar with, who re enact from the period of the Roman Empire. They offered several lectures, on medicine and engineering, on military, and on the women and crafts which focused on spinning and weaving. I attended the women's craft talk and really learned a lot about spinning, as well as "fullers" the people who did the washing of the clothes. It was an industry, much like dry cleaning is today, one that relied on slave labor, and the elaborate set up is fascinating.

As a chaperone I was asked to volunteer twice, once for the judging of arts and crafts and once at the dance. Why is there ALWAYS a dance? Judging arts and crafts was very interesting as I got to see the many, many different categories, how things were judged (some of that was completely subjective) and of course the submissions. Submissions ranged from nearly professional to "something someone slapped together on the bus."

My daughter's teacher repeatedly encouraged the kids to participate in the crafts contest and as my daughter's mentor enjoys needlepoint, she decided to give it a go. After a bit of research she settled on an image she found on line: cave canem (interesting the photo can be bought from a variety of sources)

Instead of beware of dog, she settled on "knowledge is power" and wanted the words in the middle of a circle with similar flora and fauna motif to the mosaic.

But she ran out of time and the design organically modified itself to:

She finished the needlepoint the night before we were to get on the bus, and then as she was sewing the pillow together (it was to be a pillow to sit in the rocker she likes to study in) my sewing machine's needle broke! Horror! At 11 o'clock at night! So she finished it by hand stitching on the bus.

She didn't quite finish it though, and while the judges were impressed with the piece they did not feel they could over look it not being done, and so she was awarded 3rd place instead of 1st.

Best & Worst

2011-11-15T21:05:00.001-05:00

Last week I participated in A Baker's Dozen best & worst Wednesday - it was fun and as I haven't sat down to blog much this week I thought I'd sort of "best and worst" my way up to date:

current biggest worst: the lense on my camera is in for repair
best: it is repairable, it is the worst thing I can complain about all week, and they are hoping to have it back to me before the family trip in December.

next on my worst list: my computer is down. It is the one with all my photos on it. So this blog is photo less unless there are some random ones on this computer.
best: I'm married to a computer geek. There is more than one computer in the house. I can still blog

worst: some insane person wants to know what I do all day and why I do not respond to their phone calls, emails in a "timely" manner.
best: I posted nearly everything I did today on Facebook (I refrained from including things like "dishes" "laundry" and "sweeping the kitchen") and my friends have added cute and funny remarks.

best: on Sunday I got the kids dressed in their Christmas Sweaters and took photos on my iphone for Christmas Cards.
worst: Tiger has a gorgeous sweater and we couldn't find it.

best: Sunday was Tiger's birthday
worst: he wasn't feeling well and we had to cancel his birthday party

tomorrow there are parent teacher conferences. I see both Dragon & Tiger's teachers. Dragon is having his best year ever and I'm really happy for him and for his teacher. Tiger is having a difficult year. He is very stressed about school. He complains that if he doesn't get his morning work done he gets a "check" but that the school news is on, and sometimes he does tech support for that, and the reading paper takes him too long. So he doesn't get his homework written down. So even though he always gets his homework done, he gets corrected for not writing it down in his planner. Tiger is dyslexic, in addition to having difficulty with reading and spelling, he has processing symptoms. It literally takes him longer to do things. Sally Shaywitz talks about this in her book "Overcoming Dyslexia" they have done MRIs studying how the brain works and they can see that the brain literally takes longer to process information in dyslexics. They can see that dyslexics use different parts of the brain than non dyslexics do.

Tiger has an IEP. It says that during instruction and during assesment he cannot be rushed, he must be given as much time as he needs. So, I will be bringing in his IEP tomorrow and discussing that with his teacher.

1st grader's Starburst Survey (or what geeks do with Halloween candy)

2011-11-10T17:33:00.001-05:00

She said, "Mom I want to do an experiment."
Okay, what's the experiment?
"I want to know what kind of Nerds people like best." When we checked the Halloween Candy someone had over tapped the Nerd supply and there were only two boxes left. But there were lots of free floating Starbursts at the bottom of the bag.
So we pulled out all the Starbursts and she had enough of 4 different flavors to survey 3 people.

The flavors were:
Cherry Mango, Cherry Chew, Strawberry Chew and Watermelon Chew.
Being an ambitious 6 year old she wanted to know which flavor was 1st, which was 2nd, which was 3rd and which was last.

Her 5th grader brother reminded her, "You need a Hypothesis. What is your guess for which flavor will be the most liked?"

She hypothesized that Cherry Mango would be most popular.

We decided to give each "place" a number value. 1st place equaled 4 points, 2nd place equaled 3 points, 3rd place equaled 2 points and last place received one point.

She's tallying up her results now...

The most points a flavor could receive was 12, Watermelon won with 11, Cherry Mango received 9, Strawberry received 6 and Cherry received 4.

Not bad for a self run project by a 6 year old!

Just stuff

2011-11-09T18:25:00.002-05:00

it was foggy this morning, very foggy

best thing about the bus, it picks up the kids at the end of my driveway *score*
worst thing, my worst memories of school are all bus related. Too much time with too many kids unattended, and they aren't all nice.

out for a walk with little Hawk & the dog, love this mailbox

best thing about a foggy day, it burned off to a beautiful sun shiny day
worst thing, not really fog related, but, I was supposed to be on a field trip with my preschooler and had to miss it because Tiger & Dragon were home sick today.

spent the afternoon driving to Va Beach to see a lawyer. Best thing, because it was sunny there wasn't any traffic going and only a little bottleneck on the way home.
Worst thing it took me forever to find their office because the "Bank of America" landmark they gave me isn't Bank of America anymore.

I'm loving the tree colors this week!

Best thing about hiring a lawyer, it'll get done right. Worst thing, ridiculous fees.

I was listening to talk radio on the drive down. It is interesting how many people were paying attention to state elections yesterday and what they think that means nationwide. It is also interesting how many people are paying attention to what is happening in Italy (really, the third largest economy in Europe?)

I'm joining the Baker's Dozen for Best and Worst Wednesdays
and the Southern Day Dreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

On Teenagers and Hermit Crabs

2011-11-06T20:23:00.000-05:00

MLyons came home from the beach this August with hermit crabs and astoundingly they had been doing fairly well. Occasionally someone would remember to be sure that their sponges had enough water and someone might remember to feed them and often enough it was MLyons. At some point the cage got moved out of the kitchen and into MLyon's room. I didn't move it. I don't know if MLyons did, or if Tim did or if Tim's personal assistant (who spends two days at our house) did it. I noticed the move, and was worried but I remember to check on them once in a while and they seemed okay. About 2 weeks ago I noticed the cage was missing. I meant to ask but the kids were at school. This evening K asked me to proof read a paper for her and it probably wasn't the best night, I'm fighting a cold, I'm PMSing, it is bed time. I asked where the hermit crabs were. In the hallway, they kept waking her up.
me: How long?
K: I don't know.
me: Great - so you stuck them out there to starve to death?

Yes I said that.

I checked on said hermit crabs. One had crawled completely out of its shell and dried up, a little petrified hermit crab. The other hadn't left the shell. Both are dead.

I stormed into my daughter's room. She was in the bathroom so I stormed in there. I meet attitude. This pushes me in the wrong direction.

"I am livid. I am livid that you - because of your selfishness - something that was living is dead. Yes, inconsequential as a hermit crab may be, they were alive and now they are dead."

Yes. I said that.

To the girl who 45 minutes ago was so angry with her 5 year old sister for clogging up a dime store perfume bottle with a starburst.

And O.M.G. Did I really just do that? That was so me, acting like my mom. I know my daughter and I know that she is a sweet and sensitive girl who is most likely upset about the situation - and yes it is her fault but I just had a full blown bitch session because she didn't give me the emotional reaction that I thought the situation warranted. So because she isn't wracked with guilt I've got to *make her feel guilty*?

I remember that from my own teenager years, that when forced into a corner I had an amazing ability to feign indifference because sure I was upset, but not because my mother tried to make me upset, but because I was a normal human being with normal emotions. But now that my mom had made it about her, no way in hell was I going to admit that I was upset.

So back into my daughter's room I go.

Me; I am sorry. I am upset that you didn't put them back in the kitchen or someplace where we could have taken care of them. But I remember being a teenager and even if I was upset once my mother decided to act the way I just acted it became important not to show my emotions. I know you are a decent kid and you probably feel badly about the situation. I know that once I freaked out on you that you couldn't show that you felt bad because then it became about my freak out session not about the hermit crabs. So I'm sorry.

K: Your remember that from being a teenager?

Me: yeah.

I need a drink.

Pink & Blue POC and a little bling

2011-11-05T06:29:00.000-04:00

Some where there is snow. And if you are in Massachusetts you are probably thinking, 'yeah, here, good riddance!' But my family is getting out our winter gear, trying it on, checking to see if we have everything. Because my family skis. Tim bought new POC helmets for K and MLyons. K's is the pink one, MLyons is turquoise (M's favorite color) which means it is a Julia Mancuso helmet. Julia's helmet comes with a few rhinestones so that you can make yourself a tiara.

How cute it that picture?

and so the "tiara" got the girls going...

just the day before we'd celebrated Bitsy's Birthday and I had bought some stick-on bling for Bitsy's friends to make treasure boxes. I bought them at Michael's in the scrapbooking section, scrapbookers take their craft very seriously so I figured the bling would be good and sticky. Hopefully it stays but I'm guessing it hasn't been tested against gates.

I posted that last one on Julia Mancuso's Facebook page and she very graciously replied

Julia Mancuso awesome! thx for sharing

which was kind of cool. The more I read about Julia the more I like her.

I am going to link my pretty pink and blue up to Beverly's Pink Saturday

Tim's Birthday & Pink Gorilla Gram

2011-11-01T16:34:00.000-04:00

My husband turned 41 today

he is recently vegan, so he made banana waffles to fit his diet (my family tradition is waffles and ice cream for breakfast on your birthday)
and I am making him an ice box mousse pie a la "The Engine 2 Diet"
and not knowing what to get him for his birthday I got a few of his friends to help me organize a little surprise at the office

Thanks to First Class Balloons in Richmond Virginia for making this happen!

Birthday!

2011-10-29T00:31:00.003-04:00

Happy Pink Saturday!

Berkeley Bulldogs Field Hockey - W00T

2011-10-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

Go Bulldogs!

I am so impressed! My oldest, K, has had a great season with the Berkeley Bulldogs this fall. She had fun last year too, but this year has been a whole 'bother ball game. This year the team is being coached by Quan Nim. Quan used to coach at William & Mary and she is a cofounder of Focus Field Hockey, which is an independent group of Field Hockey Players. Quan has taken our girls very far in such a short time.

It was announced last week that they had made it to districts and last night we had the team over for their "pre game dinner" - crazy fun!

front door

Bitsy and MLyons getting their Bulldog on!

I cheated of course. We ordered dinner from a local restaurant, Maurizio's. Lasagna for the team, and spaghetti with "no meat" for us. Plus dinner rolls and salad and I baked Engine 2 Diet brownies. Oh to die for!

The girls had a blast, they pretty much demolished dinner and then disappeared into the basement to play rock band until nearly 8 o'clock. By the time they'd all gone to bed last night they had posted tons of photos to Facebook, emailed or Facebooked me to say "Thank You" - very sweet. They were a blast to have over.

Today we played Page Middle School - which is all very confusing because Page Middle School was destroyed by a tornado (I think) and so they are sort of doubling up over at Peasley Middle School. But I found it and got to watch a little bit of the first half and then 10 minutes of the second and then they called the game. It was 7-0 Page and it was over.

I've never seen such a wildly happy bunch of girls after loosing a game. They were cheering and they grabbed the assistant coach to throw Gatorade on her (I think she grabbed the cooler at the last second and dumped it on the goalie!) and normally they all disperse after the game but today they all wanted to ride the bus back to their school together and they were ROWDY!

Awesome Season!

Megan McJames

2011-10-25T22:04:00.001-04:00

Previously I posted a little something about "Out of Bounds" an album you can download to support members of the USA Women's Alpine team, and in that post I mentioned that my husband's company is supporting two of those athletes this season. One is Kiley Staples, I mentioned that, I wasn't sure who the other was. Tim actually made it home from work tonight before I was asleep and was able to tell me that the other athlete is Megan McJames.
And I'm totally excited because she's a blogger. So here is her link, you can go check her out. And wow, it looks like the season has started!

Homemade Jessie Costume

2011-10-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

My Kids have unshakeable faith in my ability to produce Halloween Costumes. It is sweet, but sometimes I feel the pressure just a bit. Last year my MLyons wanted to be Jessie from the Toy Story Movies, but she didn't like the look of the shiny, one piece, costume in the catalog. It didn't look Jessie to her. And so, I decided to make her a Jessie Costume. Luckily I was headed to Nevada so I stopped in a Sheplers while I was out there (a little more common in 'Vegas than in Williamsburg.) I picked up a white rodeo styled shirt, a belt and a pair of wranglers and I lucked out because they were all on sale. Once home I went to the local fabric store for some dye and red trim. I also picked up some costume fabric that could be "cow hide" or "Dalmatian fur" or "pony."

Rodeo Shirt, Red Trim & Yellow Dye

Wrangler Jeans and some fake fur

I followed the directions on the dye and painted it on the cuffs, and the whatever you call that top part of the shirt. A yoke? A collar? Use gloves, dye can be a total mess if you aren't careful. Then I used fabric glue and glued the red trim. After it was dry I hand stitched it in a few spots just to give it a little extra hold.

The costume fabric I just sewed straight onto the jeans. In pictures the Jessie doll's pants are just sort of attached like that so I followed the pictures. Luckily we have a good supply of cowboy boots. I spent my early childhood years in Oklahoma on a farm and simply think every kid ought to have a pair of boots to stomp around in.

I was able to find a Jessie hat online (after much searching) and it arrived the day before Halloween. Here she is, finished product! Her long hair is braided down the back with a yellow ribbon tied around the end. Lucky kid, she won first prize in the Halloween contest.

Autumn in Williamsburg

2011-10-23T21:41:00.001-04:00

Governor's Palace, Williamsburg Virginia

Fall is beautiful in Williamsburg. We are lucky have many crisp days with clear blue sky setting off our unique landscape. And then the foliage starts to turn and we have glorious oranges and reds too.

Wishing you a Happy Fall from Williamsburg.

Linking up to Blue Monday

4th grade science project: bubble gum

2011-10-21T22:02:00.000-04:00

Last year I wrote about Tiger's science project with the mentos and coca-cola here.
It seems to have been well received as it has become my most frequently visited blog post.

This year Dragon is in 4th grade and we haven't gotten to the part of the year where he creates a science project, but in class they discussed a bubble gum project that sounded fun. So we decided to give it a try at home:

the question: which kind of bubble gum makes the biggest bubble?

We went to the local CVS and picked out 4 kinds of bubble gum.

We invited two friends from MLyon's 1st grade over to help us. With Tiger, Dragon & MLyons that made 5 different scientist helping with the project.
Next step, make a guess (hypothesis) as to what you think will be the answer to the question. Tiger & Dragon guessed that the Hubba Bubba Max would make the biggest bubbles. C. L. and MLyons guessed that the Bubble Gum Tape would make the biggest bubbles.

We started with the Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape, everybody received a piece roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. It was decided that this was not enough gum to make a bubble with. So they each received another piece. We measured bubbles with string.

Then we tried the Hubba Bubba Max. This is bubble gum, big easy bubbles. Interestingly 1/2 of them like the taste of the tape better than the taste of the Max.

Then we tried the Orbitz. Nobody liked the taste. They all decided it tasted like medicine. And nobody could blow bubbles. Not even with two pieces in their mouth.

Last we tried the Trident Layers. "WOW! This tastes awesome!" Exclaimed L. A few small bubbles were blown but not many.

keeping track, we cut the measuring string and taped it flat

Conclusion: It was decided that the Max is best for blowing bubbles. Our scientists were able to blow more bubbles, and bigger bubbles with the Hubba Bubba Max than with any of the other kinds of gum that we tried.

USA SKI TEAM - Women's Alpine

2011-10-20T15:12:00.002-04:00

So while I'm on a "pray for snow" kick...

My husband's company is helping sponsor two athletes on the USA SKI TEAM this year. One is Kiley Staples. I am actually not sure who the other is... but in the spirit of supporting the girls I wanted to share a fundraiser with you:

Five professional athletes need help to continue pursuing their dreams.Alpine skiers Megan McJames, Kiley Staples, Hailey Duke, Brooke Wales and Julia Ford. Proceeds from the sale of the album "Out of Bounds" will help support these Athletes.

Alpine Support offered by Hope Alive Media

Ski Teaser from Summit Real Estate

2011-10-19T14:55:00.003-04:00

in my email yesterday:

Happy Tuesday Morning to YOU!

Ready or not, here it comes! A-Basin opened last week - after only being closed for 100 days!!!! Keystone opens November 4 and Breck the week after.

Here's the scoop on Keystone (that's yours truly - Allison - with my daughter Mackenna- skiing in the ad!)

Pre-Ski Season Ski exercises..... ;)

Visit your local butcher and pay $30 to sit in the walk-in freeze for a half an hour. Afterwards, burn two $50 dollar bills to warm up.
Soak your gloves and store them in the freezer after every use.
Fasten a small, wide rubber band around the top half of your head before you go to bed each night.
If you wear glasses, begin wearing them with glue smeared on the lenses.
Throw away a hundred-dollar bill now.
Find the nearest ice rink and walk across the ice 20 times in your ski boots carrying two pairs of skis, accessory bag and poles. Pretend you are looking for your car. Sporadically drop things.
Place a small but angular pebble in your shoes, line them with crushed ice, and then tighten a C-clamp around your toes.
Buy a new pair of gloves and immediately throw one away.
Secure one of your ankles to a bedpost and ask a friend to run into you at high speed.
Go to McDonald’s and insist on paying $13.50 for a hamburger. Be sure you are in the longest line.
Clip a lift ticket to the zipper of your jacket and ride a motorcycle fast enough to make the ticket lacerate your face.
Drive slowly for five hours- anywhere- as long as it’s in a snowstorm and you’re following an 18-wheeler.
Fill a blender with ice, hit the pulse button and let the spray blast your face. Leave the ice on your face until it melts. Let it drip into your clothes.
Dress up in as many clothes as you can and then proceed to take them off because you have to go to the bathroom.
Slam your thumb in a car door. Don’t go see a doctor.
Repeat all of the above every Saturday and Sunday until it’s time for the real thing.

See you on the slopes!

If you aren't a skier all of the above is likely to keep you home this winter. (and that'll keep you from clogging up my lifeline !Ha!) But if you are a skier, this just makes you antsy in anticipation. I had contacted Summit Real Estate a few years ago when living in Summit County (right there next to Keystone, or Breckenridge, or even Copper) looked like an option. *sigh* and then we were thrown a curveball, and have been waiting it out. Ski season won't hit here for maybe 2 1/2, 3 months and then it will be over 2 months later. So this makes me look in the mirror and ask "why? do I live in Virginia again? why?"

Magnetic Nail Polish

2011-10-18T21:24:00.000-04:00

Vogue, October 2011

Okay, I just spent 5 minutes on google trying "Vogue Nail Polish" "Vogue Laws of Attraction" "Vogue Magnetic Nail Polish" and can't find a link to this article and so... go find a magazine.

I love this image. I love the metallic nails and all the big bracelets (not so much the fork and the key stuck to the magnet but for photography purposes, yes, they work)

This photo prompted a wonderful discussion with my 13 year old daughter. Am I too old to wear metallic nail polish and enough metal to protect my arm from being blistered by a bow (as in bow and arrow) not that I am likely to shoot one any time soon. And my daughter answered, "do it mom! it would be so cool!"

And randomly the topic came up again with MY mom, who is actually pretty young, she turns 60 in the coming months. And she looked at me and said "really? your self image is old?"

Which made me feel silly, but um yeah. I feel pretty old. I mean, I'm 40 in 2 months. And I'm exhausted - and frumpy. Which is why I get Vogue to begin with. It pushes me out of my "stained t-shirt and dirty jeans" mode and forces me to do my hair and have my face waxed and dig until I find a clean, if wrinkled, t shirt.

And so - I have googled "trafalgar square nails inc use" and it seems Amazon sells it. YES! And I admit, $16 nail polish is likely a lot less than 6 inches worth of bracelets- but I'm going to feel so snazzy!

Thor - the movie. really?

2011-10-16T13:54:00.001-04:00

Needed a diversion last night to slow my brain down so I could sleep, so we opted for a movie and watched "Thor"

I'm so disappointed.

It had great "tomato" ratings and like 4 stars.
maybe I'm not a comic book person?
but come on!
Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, and for crying out loud Kenneth Branagh and THAT was the best they could do? (I will leave Chris Hemsworth out of this because I don't know anything about him.)
I'm completely disappointed.
Thor, wether its a comic book story or not, is such rich material of legend and lightening and thunder and the Nordic culture... I was hoping for so much more. This was shallow and obvious. Kenneth Branagh "shallow?" But it was, sigh.

Despite being disappointed, I did think that the "watcher" (Heimdall) was well played. His voice, costume, ember eyes, character - he was well done. I googled it to find out who played it and apparently casting Idris Elba as Heimdall was controversial. Fans of Thor say that Heimdall was known as the "whitest of gods" and all I can think is seriously? One it is called "artistic license" and two Idris was fabulous and I wish his character had a bigger role.

The set design was lovely as well. And of course they probably blew the entire budget on special effects.

But honestly, I can't believe we paid $5 to rent it from iTunes, I wish we had waited for it to be on Netflix so it could have been free. And Natalie Portman! Did she loose a bet? Owe someone a favor? My husband thinks it is hilariously funny that I am so disappointed in her for being in this movie but that character could have been played by any pretty face, and Natalie is such a good actress. Maybe she just wanted a break from all her serious roles, but
okay. I'll let it go now.

2011-10-15T06:22:00.002-04:00

ever wonder who is reading your blog? I do. And so sometimes I check the stats page provided by blogger... and it has a traffic sources page. Do you ever check that? And I see Yahoo images, and click on the link back and see a picture of three coca cola bottles lined up for Tiger's 4th grade science project. And of course the yahoo photo, which is my photo, says image may be subject to copy right but really? do people listen? I'm guessing that image has shown up once or twice without anybody citing where they found it...

And then there are links that are worrisome. They link back to places that make no sense to me and I have no idea why they are associated with my blog. Or how someone would find my blog after visiting one of those places. Some of them are disturbing even.

and I guess that is the trouble with blogging. You don't know what people will do with it once it is out there.

Pink Post Card Collages

2011-10-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

Pink Saturdays...
I have been trying. Really. I have.
Today is Sunday the 9th, and yesterday I was driving Tiger to Richmond to play in a tournament. I was up at 6:30 to get him, Bitsy and Little Hawk into the car... we had a 9:10 game which mean we need to be on the field at 8:30 for warm ups... and then we had a 3:30 game so we got home late-ish though while Bitsy and Little Hawk were in the bath I did do some collage work. Actually Friday during the day I tried to do some collage work with Bitsy but didn't finish...

So I"m posting them here, a week later, and they aren't much. I have to say... I have these ideas about Gaia (I've been reading Riodan again) and although my Gaia is more the yoga one instead of the evil earth/dirt mound that he describes, I can't quite get her to sit still and show up on the page.

instead I ended up being seduced by paint:

do you see the circles of glossy paint? the rich out of the can color and the glossy ness of it, its like brand new lipstick, or nail polish... if I didn't have to worry about a kids budget my entire bathroom would be full of brand new lipsticks and nail polishes, I love the richness...

instead the sand pulled me in the direction of sand castles and fairy tales and little girl's day dreams... the little bottles say "believe" and "fairy dust" how sweet!

last week I tried to pull off a little collage and found myself wrapped up in images from the west elm catalog...

how wonderfully cozy is that? ahh... one day I shall have a house with a room full of books and comfy reading spots and fabulous tea cups...

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Orange Day & Shampoo

2011-10-13T22:09:00.001-04:00

Orange day Fiasco?

Yesterday -

in the morning between putting elementary school children onto the bus and buckling preschool children into the car - I like a cup of coffee and some "me" time - which means 5 to 20 minutes (depending on the morning) of Facebook and blogging and maybe if I'm feeling really productive actually checking the twitter & email for work...

And I must have gotten into it yesterday because time got away from me and I realized suddenly that I was going to be late with the preschoolers and that mattered because I had duty as Mother's Day Out "mommy helper" and we were out of juice. Oh dear.

It was orange day in Bitsy's class and off I went to find a bow to go along with the pink and orange dress she was sporting:

How totally pleased with herself is she?

note the bow. Bitsy does like accessories... see? She added a bracelet too (okay its a hair tie but she decided today it was a bracelet)

And we finish up the hair and I grab a shirt to get little Hawk dressed and oh dear... He has decided to shampoo...

I take a big breath and I'm thinking OMG! but really, at least he didn't drink it right? And it is my fault for leaving the shampoo out by the tub. But I've got 10 minutes to be there and I've got to do something about this mess. I start towards the tub and realize, "I need a picture so I can blog about this later" (demented?) and then realize that in 10 minutes I cannot get the little Hawk cleaned and dressed, drive Bitsy to preschool, stop and get juice, and drive to Mother's Day Out. Nope, not gonna happen.

So... I call over to my husband's office. His personal assistant (who actually got promoted and I am not sure she is still his personal assistant anymore...) spends part of her week at my house "um, C, can you come over and take Bitsy to school please? Little Hawk just shampooed himself and I need to clean him up and dress him..." She giggles and says "I'm on my way!"

Thank goodness!

We get to Mother's Day Out at 9:35. (35 minutes late)

And the rest of the day is actually a good day

Vegetable Chili

2011-10-13T21:26:00.000-04:00

This is an old recipe out of the book "Eating Well! When You Just Can't Eat the Way You Used To" by Jane Weston Wilson

I used to make it in Wisconsin a lot. This week I used the actual recipe as inspiration and sort of made up my own- with a mixed bean base and some roasted egg plant thrown into the mix. I omitted the butter and oil of course to keep it Esselstyn Friendly.

Vegetable Chili

1 TBS butter
1 TBS oil
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
3 medium size garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 carrots peeled and cut, 1 inch thick pieces
5 celery stalks, cut 1 inch thick pieces
4 ounces green beans trimmed & halved
1 large sweet red pepper, sliced to 1/2 inch side slices & halved
1 large sweet green pepper, sliced to 1/2 inch slices & halved
2 medium yellow onions, peeled & cut lengthwise into 1/2 thick slices
1 can (16 oz) tomatoes, keep liquid
1 medium zucchini trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 medium yellow squash, 1/2 inch slices
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans
1 can (8 oz) was beans

heat butter & oil and sauté seasonings 1 minute, then add garlic and sauté 2 to minutes

add carrots, celery, green beans, reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, 10 minutes

add peppers, onions, 1 cup tomatoes & cook covered, 10 minutes

add zucchini, yellow squash, and remaining tomatoes & liquid and cook 5 minutes

add kidney beans, wax beans and cook covered 5 minutes

serve hot or cool and either freeze or refrigerate

popcorn, boyscouts, helpin' out

2011-10-11T16:40:00.000-04:00

my nephew's scout troop is raising funds through popcorn sales. If you enjoy popcorn and don't have a local scout to support, please consider helping Blaine.

http://www.trails-end.com/estore/scouts/email_referral.jsp?id=16567495

catching up, catching my breath

2011-10-10T18:47:00.000-04:00

This post is for M - who won't read it because she's too busy and one day she'll do a Cailin's blog catch up (and just how cool is it that she does that? and then she tells me?!) but it won't be till Christmas and there will be way to much to catch up with by then

Anyway-

This weekend was great. We had sun and decently warm weather. I was able to drive up to the soccer tournament in Richmond without incident, I took Bitsy and little Hawk as Tim had "work around the house" {note, when dad's watch soccer they do that, watch soccer. When mum's watch soccer they show up with the entire brood, drinks, snacks, diapers, toys, etc. Its a full Bedouin expedition.}
Tiger's game was at 9 which meant we were there by 8:30 - AM. Tiger's first half was awesome, the kid can run, and as he plays midfield he does a lot of running. He had some wonderful break aways up the side and I was very proud. His second 1/2 was alright but not stellar. Then we had a long break and a game at 3:30. The team caught lunch together at a pizza joint- coach came along which should have been nice but it was a little odd. He tends to keep his distance from the parents, I don't know if he is just a quiet guy or if over the years he has found that is a better way to handle things. I could imagine that getting friendly with parents and then cutting their son at the next tryout could be a little dicey. I had a caesar salad and fully enjoyed the "cheat" - oil based salad dressing - I couldn't shove it in my mouth fast enough!

Our second game was better. The boys were hot, and on their game. It was fun to watch them play together as a team and work the ball. The boys have learned in previous tournaments that number of goals can be a deciding factor so they won, 7 to 1. I felt sorry for the other goalie, but as I've said, they've learned to show no mercy.

Sunday, we were back up bright and early. We'd made it to second place and had to play at 8:30 AM which meant arrival at the field at 7:45. GOOD GRIEF!

The game was something else. Their coach was something else, and they had this red headed kid on the team that was insane and our side was ready to start a betting pool, which one would have a heart attack first. The coach never shut up and he never said anything useful "get rid of it" "out" and "please play soccer" are prime examples of what he was yelling from the side. Oh and then there was some poor kid named Michael "run Michael" "Michael why are you walking?" "Michael now you are moping" - RF's dad on our side was ready to adopt Michael and take him home. He kept muttering "again with the Michael, leave Michael alone!" I wish we could say we won. But they got a lucky goal in the last 2 minutes of the game and beat us 2 to 1. Our boys played great, they played better than great, they played their hearts out. It was a tough game. From the get go the ref let them know he wasn't calling fouls unless they were really obvious, two boys coming in fast shoulder to shoulder and one goes flying "play on." Tiger does just fine under those conditions. He is my son after all.

But he took the cake when we were walking to the car after the game and he said, "um mom? I think somebody bit me"

WHAT? There is no biting is soccer. He showed me his arm. It does look like a bite.

Who? He grinned, "I don't know. I went for the ball and the other guy fell and then I felt my arm hurt and looked down and it was a kid in black but we were still tied and I had the ball so I wasn't going to worry about it. It kind of hurts though."

And then about 30 minutes later, "mom, it hurts a lot."

So... we washed it out really good with peroxide just in case, you know, like if the kid has rabies or something.

And yes M, I know, I said I'd send the email and get the girls together but here is the thing:

I've become a car mom. really. I mean I have had a minivan ever since Isabel crushed my volvo (I loved my volvo) but now I live in it.
at 8 AM the big kids get on the bus, at 9 AM I drop off Bitsy at school, on Mondays & Wednesdays I drive Little Hawk on over to his playgroup, we are back in the car to pick up Bitsy at noon, and then there is ballet at 1:30 on Mondays and on Tuesdays we drive to gymnastics at 1, and on Mondays and Wednesdays we drive to the field hockey game at 4:30 (but today we get a break) and then Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays we drive Tiger to soccer at 5:30 and on Mondays we take Dragon to TaeKwonDo at 6, Wednesdays and Fridays I have someone to drive Tiger & Dragon to Taekwondo so its an easy night. But Thursday is solid too - because M has ballet at 4:30. block it out. I live in the car.
Try eating vegan on this timeline. It is insane. I fall into bed absolutely fried at 10 PM and don't even mention laundry.

Monday Morning, Coffee & a Book - The Son of Neptune

2011-10-10T08:33:00.000-04:00

last week I was shopping for something at Walmart and on a whim decided to see if they had the newly released book, The Son of Neptune. I knew it had been released because I'd gotten an email about it from one of the book chains, Barnes & Nobles maybe? Walmart did have it, so I picked it up, $13 and change at Walmart, the email had offered it for $11

ANYWAY-

I'd picked up my son's copy of "The Lost Hero" this summer and I'd loved it. I like Riordan's writing style, a lot. I am usually a book snob and there are plenty of books that I pick up and cannot finish. (for example: one of my daughter's friends really likes T.A. Barron, I've tried to read them and I can't.) I love that Riodan plays off of classics, and reinterprets them but keeps the classic characters true to their nature. The stories make sense from that perspective. I love that his characters are complicated, they contradict themselves and Riodan knows it, calls them on it and lets them be human (or not) and work it out and deal with the consequences. So I had put down The Lost Hero and immediately googled the series to see if the next one was out... and found that it wasn't but would be soon. And then the emails came and so I was on the lookout-

I spent all day Thursday reading. I took Bitsy and the Little Hawk up to the plantation and let them picnic and I read. Glorious.

And I loved the book.

(I was delighted to see Percy again, I was also more than happy to willingly comply with the need to hate Octavian. Seriously - he brutalizes Teddy Bears. And I have a soft spot for Hazel. I hope the next book is nice to her.)

And I can't believe I have to wait a whole year for the next one.

Oh, and I DID let my son take it to school today so he could start reading it. *grin*

Good Morning America revisits The Princess Bride

2011-10-07T09:46:00.001-04:00

my friend shared this with me early this morning, it totally made my day.
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/movies-26594261/famous-lines-princess-bride-cast-still-hears-26848715.html

unfortunately I cannot figure out how to imbed the clip. I think you have to go to yahoo to see it. Which is stupid. But it is worth it.

Stuffed Pumpkin

2011-10-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

I first fell in love with sugar pumpkins as a food in Sante Fe at Cafe Pasqual's. I ordered "Sugar Pumpkins Filled with Vegetable Stew in Chipotle Cream Sauce." We ate at Cafe Pasqual's every night of our visit to Santa Fe after that, a violation of my personal rule that one must eat at as many local (non chain) places as possible when visiting new locations. And we bought the cook book: "Cooking With Cafe Pasqual's"by Katherine Kagel which I highly recommend... (unless you are vegan. then you have to modify everything. but I bought it way back before Tim radically altered the household diet)

This week I did not make my favorite pumpkin recipe. Instead I substituted pumpkin for acorn squash in a recipe called: Stuffed Acorn Squash out of the book "Recipes for Life" by Rhonda J Malkmus.

Modified Recipe:

Serves 2 to 4 people depending on the size of the serving

stuffing:
1/2 cup raisins
onion
2 apples
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup celery
1-2 tsp sage
1 1/2 cup cubed whole grain bread, slightly toasted

cook pumpkin (preheat 350, cut off top like you are making a jack o lantern, scoop out seeds) put pumping in a roasting pan and fill the pumpkin to 2/3 full with water. Add water outside pumpkin, pumpkin should sit in 1 inch of water. Cover and bake for 60 minutes or until flesh is tender.

In water, sauté onion for 3 minutes, add celery and garlic and cook until tender, add apples and cook another 3-5 minutes. Transfer to large mixing bowl and mix bread, sage and raisins. Stuff pumpkin with stuffing mixture and return to oven for about 10 minutes. Serve with rice.

2011-10-05T04:30:00.000-04:00

building, taken over by vines

just there, on the side of the road in the orchard

Bentley Manor Inn, Williamsburg

2011-10-04T22:25:00.000-04:00

Williamsburg has a selection of charming bed & breakfast inns. I love that Rte 60 and Jamestown Rd are generously dotted with them. The colonial style buildings with cottage gardens add a charm and a certain quaintness to this ever evolving town.

On Monday Bitsy takes ballet and I was out walking in the area while she was in class and came upon Bentley Manor Inn. It is tucked into a bit of a neighborhood, just off of Rte 60 but not actually on the road, so it is quieter. And yet it backs right up to college property, so if a guest was visiting a student, or attending a football or basketball game they'd be in close proximity.

And they had the front door open, with just the glass door keeping the cold out, and the little light on just inside. Isn't it inviting?

I found myself charmed and went off to look them up. Bentley Manor Inn (click on that link there to get to the home page) On the web site they have photos of all the rooms, as well as rates of course, and there is even a link for last minute rate deals. If I were a William & Mary Alum looking to visit Williamsburg and catch a football game, I'd check this place out. I'm currently trying to come up with an excuse for why I need to stay here for an overnight. Can you here the wheels turning in my head? I'd love to for my Anniversary, but that is during ski season and my love with have our young ones up at Wintergreen. I'm sure I'll think of something.

I'm linking this to A Southern Day Dreamer's Outdoor Wednesday link-up

"solo"

2011-10-03T21:06:00.002-04:00

Waiting, patient as ever. This dog is my guardian angel on earth. He was calm as a puppy and has grown up to be 105 lbs of sweet, gentleness covered in soft touchable fur. He loves a good walk, adores to wrestle, thinks hide and seek is an awesome game but is just as happy sitting at my feet providing me with the gentle calming rhythm of his breathing. He pulled me through a horribly difficult time two years ago. And here he is last weekend hanging out in the car.