Fine Arts & Fine Artists

This past month Abra had ballroom dance lessons in her school PE class, and so the kids had a dance recital the other night. It was very short, and so I actually missed the opportunity to get picture of the kids dancing, but here is a shot of some of the dancers: Katie, Abra, Caroline, and Maddie:


Then the other day when we had snow and Nelson was at the window chattering at the birds outside (like this:


), Thalia pulled out her sketchbook and drawing pencils and sketched a pretty darned impressive picture of him:


She then followed it up with a crayon drawing of all four of our cats:


(the dancing panda is actually on the other side of the piece of paper she used to draw this one.)

Her Aunt Pauli had a role in this one -- you might notice that those cats look like Ed Emberley cats, and sure enough that's where Thalia learned to draw cats, from the Ed Emberley drawing book Aunt Pauli sent the girls last year.

(If you are looking for a drawing book for kids, I can't recommend Ed Emberley's books enough. We had them as kids, and the girls love them...)

Random Picture Dump and Stream of Consciousness Thoughts

Sorry, folks, I just haven't been in blog writing mode recently. Maybe it has something to do with my football teams being pummeled week in and week out, maybe it has to do with busy times at work, maybe it just has to do with being out and out lazy.

So in the meantime, until I get motivated to write more, here are a few pictures:

Thalia and Nelson, watching TV:


Pearl, who just, by sheer coincidence, happened to be walking by the stove while there was a leftover chicken nugget lying around. She swears she had no idea that it was up there.


OK, what the hey, I've started a blog post, so here's what else is on my mind:

• Coming home from Target yesterday we were listening to (what else?) the Rolling Stones. "Let it Bleed" came on. Abra piped up "there's a Glee version of this song!" uh, really? Now I don't know the first thing about Glee, other than it seems like some up-with-people pop soap opera thingie. And I can't imagine them doing "Let it Bleed". So we went back and forth on this for a while, and finally worked out that Abra was thinking of "Lean on Me", not "Let It Bleed". Too bad -- I was looking forward to seeng how are they were going to work in lines such as "oh that jaded, faded, junkie nurse // what pleasant company!".

• Wacko is in desperate need of a haircut, but has gotten too old to deal with the groomer. So the poor dog is going to have to deal with Brenna and I being his groomer. Pictures when we're done, but I am reminded of my kindergarten picture, where my father literally had given me a bowl haircut the day before.... The good news out of this is that as near as I can tell, the grooming clippers are close enough to the ones the haircut place uses on me, so when I'm done with the dog, I'll just start in on myself.

• RichRod.... sigh. Yeah, it's time, Michigan, time to let him go. I'm fine with the progress made on the offense, but watching the defense take backwards steps each year has gotten me at the end of my rope. I'd live with a coaching change on defense, but we've already had that, and still things go worse. I'm not going to beat this issue to death -- volumes are being written online right now about this (and here's one I mostly agree with). But suffice to say: while I'm not a card carrying member of Ann Arbor Torch & Pitchfork, I'm going to advocate cutting our losses on this one.

• The Redskins -- was there anyone on God's green Earth that didn't know the Redskins were gonna lose to the Vikings last weekend once Minnesota got rid of Brad Childress?

• Thursday Lebron comes back to Cleveland. This is going to be interesting, to say the least. I'm not above enjoying watching the Heat struggle so far this season.

OK, that's it for now. Hopefully next time I'll be more interesting....

What Time Is It?

In school, Thalia is learning about telling time from analog clocks. So she had a homework assignment tonight to write out the time based on the clock hands that the teacher drew on the clock. She has to write it two ways, the digital time, and the time using words. Like this:

Sure. Easy enough. Look at the clock, write the time. But, uh, what if the big hand is at the 6 and the little hand is pointing right at a number? That can't be!


Yep, Thalia, that's right -- that doesn't make sense. Well, that's a one-time mistake on the homework, right? Surely it couldn't happen again--


No, that doesn't make sense either!

So I thought about getting her to make a "best guess" at the time on the clock, but you know -- she's absolutely right, those clocks don't make sense. So I signed off on her answers. They look good to me!

Heh, it's a good thing her teachers love her....

School Picture Day

OK, here we go with the obligatory school pictures.

Abra, 3rd grade.


(Dear School Photographer: when posing kids wearing glasses, you might try a little harder not to have the lights reflecting off the lenses, you know? a slight tilt of the head is all it takes. ok, thanks, bye....)

And Thalia, 1st grade:


That one turned out really well, I thought. For once Thalia does not have her "death rictus" smile that she often uses for posed pictures.....

Halloween 2010

So this year the girls were a gypsy (Abra) and a little black cat (Thalia). The fun kicked off on Friday, when they had a Halloween Parade at the school. Here's Thalia getting ready for the parade:


and then Abra coming out with her friend Maddy:


Here are the kids parading down the street:


Then on Saturday, Thalia and I made a scarecrow. Thalia was a bit skeptical about my scarecrow making credentials, but in the end it turned out pretty well! We put a plastic pumpkin on his head, and filled it with lights, and then draped chili pepper lights around him (why? why not!?!). And we topped it off with a "Psycho Killer" baseball cap -- one that previously belonged to none other than Tommy Lee (thanks, of course, to Ant Cat for that one!) -- what could be scarier than that?

Thalia poses with the scarecrow:


And here he is all lit up:


And then tonight it was time to get ready for Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. Brenna applied the whiskers to the little black cat (love that tail!).


And here they are all ready to go!

So off the girls went, first to their Halloween parties, then trick or treating with Brenna. They got quite the haul. I stayed home and manned the candy station with Mr Scarecrow and the pumpkins:

Thalia Counts

So Thalia was working diligently on something last night and this morning. She just finished it, and handed it to me. I think it says volumes about this child.





I mean for goodness' sake, she wrote out all the numbers from 1 to 1000. All of them. I'm amazed not by the counting, but by the determination and will. When she sets her mind to something, by God, she's going to do it.

I have a feeling that it's stuff like this I need to save for the documentary that's going to be written about her life in 50 years......

Doll Surgery

So Abra has been asking to get her American Girl doll's ears pierced. Now, you can pay to ship the doll to the American Girl store, and pay another $25 to have them pierce the doll's ears for you.... or you can get out your power drill. Hmmm, pay money or use power tool? Not a difficult choice. So Abra carefully marked Nataly's ears...


... and then Dad pulled out the power drill!

The fun part of this is that you don't just drill through the ear, you drill right down into the skull. Driller Killer!

But everything worked out just fine, and Nataly is borrowing Ivy's earrings until she can get a pair of her own.


(Does anyone but me remember the Velvet Underground's song "The Gift"? Yeah, I kept thinking about poor Waldo Jeffers as I did this...)

Early Halloween Project

So the girls appear to be working on an early craft project for Halloween. Last night I found this hidden behind the cats' scratching post.

Now, I must say that, uh, the "craft supplies" they have used are an interesting choice, but I guess you use the things you have that are in abundant supply....


and you open it up and find....


hmm, those ghosts in our house must be drinking a lot of beer....

Wedding Dress Voting!

Next month my dear sister Cat will be getting married, and she and my bro-in-law-to-be Drew have asked Abra and Thalia to be in the wedding. Which of course means that the girls have to dress up in something nicer than the usual "homeless urchins selling newspapers on the street" look that they often seem to sport.

So Brenna took them out shopping on Sunday, and they came home with two options. Well, Abra did. Thalia has her dress picked out. So the question is do the girls kind of match each other, like this:


or does Abra go for a different look, like this:

(Abra looks like she's ready to run the elementary school library in that one -- taking after her Yiayia and her cousin Deby.....)

So everyone gets to vote -- Cat gets a vote, Drew gets a vote*, and everybody else gets an advisory vote.

(My first question was, of course, "well, how much did each one cost?", but it turns out there is no difference in price, so that was of no help in the decision-making process.....)

Oh, and did you notice those glasses on Abra? Yep, new glasses -- here they are, very cute...



* Drew, my man, while you get a vote, of course, be prepared that husbands lose a lot of 1-1 votes....

A New Season Begins

As I wait for Michigan football to start this weekend, I am reminded about the string of luck my sports teams have had of late:

• Fall 2009: Michigan football starts 4-0, ends 0-7.

• March 2010: Michigan basketball struggles through the season but is poised to knock top ranked OSU out of the Big 10 tournament. Leading by two with 2.2 seconds left, Michigan opts not to defend the desperation half court heave by OSU, which of course goes in as the buzzer sounds.

• April 2010: After skating to the best record in hockey, the Washington Capitals claim a 3-1 playoff lead over the Montreal Canadiens, only to lose three straight and be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

• May 2010: After claiming the best record in the NBA and delivering the Celtics their worst home loss in playoff history, the Cleveland Cavaliers go into the tank, get eliminated from the playoffs, and lose LeBron James to the Miami Heat.

• August 2010: The Washington Nationals shelve their franchise pitcher with Tommy John surgery, ending him for both this season and next.

What fresh hell will Michigan send me to this season, I wonder....

Another Picture Dump

OK, here's a random dump of pictures from Summer 2010. Enjoy and, as always, click on the pictures to embiggen.....

First, earlier this summer we went strawberry picking, and here are the girls with their haul:


Then the other day, I got a bit fed up with all the toys, doll clothes, and whatever strewn all over the floor in the girls' room. So I hollered that they need to clean their room and in particular GET ALL THAT STUFF PICKED UP OFF THE FLOOR!! So, here was Thalia's response:


Which, I have to admit, accomplished exactly what I had asked. I have no idea where her poor doll is going to sleep, though.

Then Thalia went out and spent all her saved-up allowance money on a new piggybank:

She explained to me that it would help her save money. Hmmm.

And then it just can't be a picture dump without silly cat pictures. Here's Healy helping to load the dishwasher:


And Healy and Pearl fighting over a ribbon:

- Gimme that!
- No! It's mine!

And then finally here is Nelson bravely defending all of us during a particularly loud thunderstorm this summer:

(Nelson is the black thing barely sticking out from under the couch.....)

Bathroom Before and After

Ok, here's this weekend's little project -- fixing up the half bathroom a bit. It desperately needed some storage space, and I've never been a fan of the pedestal sink -- that sink is too big for such a little bathroom. Plus, the faucet on that sink is terminally drippy, no matter how often I've tried to repair it. It's gotten to the point where Abra tells me I'm hurting the Earth by not fixing the drip (I'm actually a bit more bothered about the drip hurting my wallet...).

So the sink comes out, and a small vanity goes in. Also, an etagere goes over the toilet. Nothing fancy, just a quick update of the bathroom.

Here's the "before" picture:


And here's the "after" picture:


And, uh, ok, a new toilet seat cover is on the shopping list now, too....

Oh, and I finally got fed up with that stupid switch for the reading lamp by my chair. It was one of the little wheelie in-line thingies:


and it was very flaky. So I threw it out and spliced in this great big pushbutton switch that looks like it was left over from one of the Apollo missions:

Now that's a man's switch! Much better....

Bathroom redecorating follies

Today's activities:

1) go to home depot in the morning to get replacement switch for lamp.
2) notice that bathroom vanities are on sale.
3) come back home, try to install switch. fail (don't ask....).
4) discuss vanities with wife. decide to get one.
5) go back to home depot, stare at vanities for a while, pick one out.
6) wrestle vanity into car, drive home, wrestle vanity into bathroom.
7) realize vanity is 1/2" too tall to fit.
8) wrestle vanity back into car.
9) go back to home depot, wrestle vanity out of car and take to return line.
10) realize i have brought the wrong receipt. talk guy into reimbursing my credit card anyway.
11) find smaller vanity, last one in stock. purchase.
12) wrestle vanity into car.
13) drive to target to find an etagere.
14) find etagere. last one in stock. purchase.
15) wrestle etagere into car, drive home.
16) wrestle vanity out of car and into house.
17) wrestle etagere out of car and into house.
18) have wife make me a vodka tonic.

i can't wait for the next two steps:

19) find out vanity is too small, and
20) find out etagere is missing one bolt critical to assembly.

and i still never fixed that lamp switch....

Thalia's Summer Writings

Just thought I'd share some of the writings of #2 this summer. As always, just click on an image to see a bigger (more readable) version....

In June, she and her sister went to "Circle Sampler Camp", which is a week long day camp where each day they go to different places in University Circle -- the Art Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Historical Society, the Botanical Gardens, etc. They loved it, and kept a journal of what they did each day. Here's Thalia's journal:



Very nice, let's see what they did on Day 1:



Oh my. I certainly hope they didn't push the little old lady down the stairs.

Anyway, on to other writings. I came home one evening and found this on the table, a song that she had written out:



And it goes on to page 2:



I think what sticks in my head about this is the image of her sitting at the table and determinedly printing her words, all of them, carefully and neatly, onto the page. I think if you want to learn what makes Thalia tick, it's that example. That's our girl.

But perhaps what makes my heart want to burst the most is this little booklet she made for me for Father's Day (sorry for the different background levels, the scanner didn't pick things up quite right...):

(my favorite color is grey....)

I think this little booklet is going to be saved, oh, just about forever. Thanks, honey....