Picture Day

Yesterday the kids had cap and gown pictures taken. To avoid what happened last picture day when Theron's beautiful hairdo came unstuck before documentation, I got a few shots of him on the way into the school. Handsome! Theron loves his new clothes - he calls them his costume. He tried them on the night before and ran into the bathroom to strike a few poses.

Downtown Adventure

We're not such a hoity toity family. Our highlight of the weekend will undoubtedly be our trip to Clifton's Cafeteria downtown. An institution since 1931, seats 600, decorated like a redwood forest complete with a waterfall. Theron liked the orange drink, which he says gives you a "happily face". He was so happy he broke into a spontaneous modern dance to the Theme from the Odd Couple. The beans were extra beany and the jello extra fruity. I even enjoyed the carrot raisin salad that as a kid I thought was one of the most inedible dishes on earth (The MOST inedible was my babysitter's peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches which even their dog wouldn't eat. It was worth going hungry to throw them over the fence into the canyon). Anyway, a good time was had by all. We threw coins in the waterfall and made wishes for more fun ahead.

The day we've been waiting for finally arrived, with a big bonus. On our way to the ampitheater to see the Wiggles, who should we run into but Wolverine, Spiderman and the Goblin! As if it wasn't exciting enough just that Alan was able to join us! The Wolverine shakes their hands.
The boys try to get Spidey's attention. Theron is making Alan touch him first.
Spidey checks out their web shooters.
In case some of you are wondering, these are the Wiggles with their friends, Henry the Octopus, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, and Wags the Dog. It was an exciting show, we had great seats, and the boys danced their butts off. The red Wiggle (Murray? I can't remember) came out into the audience and walked right past us (Theron and I were on the aisle). Theron said , "It was a great thing". Near the end of the show they sang Twinkle Twinke and they turned down the lights and told the mommies and daddies to hold up their cell phones as stars which gave me the opportunity to see that we'd been there an hour, so there was hope it would be winding down soon. The boys were mostly good but as the show went on it was getting harder and harder to keep them from wrestling and karate chopping each other. Oh, speaking of which Chuck Norris was in the audience and the Wiggles sang Happy Birthday to him. Then on our way out we ended up behind the theater at the same time he and his family were coming out so we could have touched him, too.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Alan and Theron started crying - I deleted those pictures because he hates to see himself sad. I managed to get him to try a smile. Look, they both wore their Batman shirts today.

Today the restaurant continued to run. Here's the menu: While I was cleaning the kitchen today Theron came to ask if he could help. He said they sing a song in Dora's Super Silly Fiesta about helping your parents. So he got some spray and paper towels and he got to wipe everything in the kitchen lower than 4 feet high.

In case you haven't been around Theron in the last day you probably don't know that THE REAL TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ARE GOING TO BE IN THEATERS MARCH 23RD! That's MARCH 23RD! The REAL ones, with EYES and everything!

Today we all three went to the library. I was hoping to get Theron on one of the kid computers where he could play some games and I could do some reading, but we had to use a grown-up computer and I had a hard time finding easy games he could play on the web. We finally found something but I didn't really get anything done since I had to keep getting up to find out why his force field had failed. After the library we went to look at the school he will be going to next year. We told him where we were going and he said, "Yeah, baby!"

Theron built himself a pillow town, complete with a pool that was at first too cold, so he warmed it with his heat vision. Then it was too hot so he cooled it with his ice breath. After that he built a restaurant, seen below. Theron says this restaurant serves apples, bananas, and carrots. He said, "Chef Theron here, can I take your order?" He told us that all the food at this restaurant comes with a glass of milk. He also says there's a different place inside it with games and costumes. Oh yes and he says he has a lot of cheese, and hot water, and corn at the restaurant. He's reading this right now and telling me what to add.

This is the sign for the restaurant. Daddy says he knows it's a good place because it has a happy face.

You know it's cold when... It's 7 o'clock in the evening and Theron's still wearing a shirt and pants.

Birthday at last Ashley was finally well enough to celebrate Sunday night with 4 lbs of crab legs and angel food cake with strawberries (Theron had two helpings). In the future we have decided that 3 lbs is probably the family limit. My final gifts needed more tweaking and as usual and I can't and won't finish anything without Ashley's input, so the quilted subway map above needs a few things. I also made him a little sign with his initial out of old NY Metrocards. Since I didn't have any I put an ad on Craigslist and a nice woman sent me 42 right away, in the middle of a snowstorm, and she saved me from answering any of the other crazy replies I had to the ad asking for anything from $50 to a set of collectable "shooter" glasses.

Theron gave him some new books and a thermos.
Theron's doing great. Lately he's been jumping out of bed and putting on his shirt and socks, prerequisites to cartoon watching, without any prompting. He's been doing subtraction at school and he and daddy quiz on it at night before bed.

Happy Birthday, Ashley!
But poor Ash spent the day home sick. We will celebrate for real this weekend when he is feeling better with crab legs and strawberry angel food cake. In the meantime I gave him one gift - a cd of New York themed songs.

Here's Theron's picture of the day - Superman, Buzz Lightyear and Batman fight a robot.


Theron harassed us into going to the movies last weekend by repeatedly telling us that "The Bridge to Terabithia is now playing in theaters". So we went and Theron really liked it, but Ash and I couldn't believe how sad it was - we cried! I think if we'd known what it was really about we might not have gone.
Yay -all new Idol and Lost tonight!

The Story of Nellen the Mouse
His name is Nellen. I am small.

I live in a cage. I like being in a cage

I like nuts

Superman!

Happy Valentine's Day

Theron was very excited because today was a special day. The kindergarten class had a little party and the menu was decided democratically. Theron was thrilled that two of his suggestions - pizza and fruit punch - were voted in. He has been reminding me for two weeks to buy pizza cheese. Daddy and I made heart shaped sugar cookies using the set of cutters I bought during our Japanese dollar store bonanza. While it would have been fun to have Theron help it was a week night and it was just faster and more sanitary for us to do it. He was actually good all day and when I came to pick him up it there was a different child in the time out chair - whew. Theron gets that it is a day about love. He is making sure that I get the chocolate and he told me he loves me as big as space. I gave Ashley some blank cd-rw's, Ash gave me some Hello Kitty candy and a bottle of wine.

Things are fine. Ashley's jaw is still not right and it will require more attention, but he did feel it click a little more into place the other day, so it's not hopeless.
Theron's trying to earn a new game cartridge for his presumably educational V-Smile player. He's doing great with his reading and comprehension. I forgot to mention that last week we actually finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It doesn't have pictures, but we read 1/2 chapter a night and did the whole thing.
Boy, I hope we get into the science magnet. Tonight I heard Theron in his room say, "I'm not listening to you!" So I said "Who are you talking to?" and he said, "My video! It says everything that goes up must come down and that's NOT true!".
Lately in the car Theron and I have been listening to the Aimee Mann version of "One". Theron loves to sing "One is the loneliest number!" and we play it again and again and have discussions about why is one lonely and how about 11? So aside from listening to that one song over and over I did try to listen to the news yesterday and that's when Theron told me "Guess what, I can count to 100, 1, 2, 3...what comes after 49?..."

La, la, la...!!! Weekend of delight

Theron spent the weekend with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Richard. It all started Friday evening at Marie Callendar's in Valencia - our meeting point - where Theron ordered a cheeseburger, but more or less had nothing but a strawberry shake for dinner. Then he was off to Bakersfield for a weekend of video games and some Spiderman research with Grandpa.

Saturday Ash and I drove all the way to Torrance to hit the Japanese dollar store and Penzey's Spices. I am embarrassed to say how much we spent at the dollar store, and I almost couldn't even tell you what we bought - lots of spoons, tea, ummm..., crackers, Hello Kitty soda... I don't know. Penzey's is a great place. We've ordered from the catalog so we already love them, but in person you can smell everything and buy small amounts for amazingly reasonable prices.

On the way home I got another Christmas present from Ashley - a Huskavarna Husky Star with one-step button holer. It is sooo beautiful. I get to go to a class week after next to learn how to use it.

It was nice to have some time alone together but we actually spent a lot of it talking about Theron and how much we missed him.

We had a fun weekend just hanging around Echo Park. We drove around and imagined our dream home, up on a hill with a beautiful view and our own parking - we can fantasize, I guess. We stopped at the dollar store which is fun for everyone. Theron got some great stickers and he made us the picture above. On the back he wrote, "To my parents. Be happy". He actually didn't get in trouble for anything all day Sunday.

This last week has been pretty good all around, except for colds and sore throats (me and Ashley - Theron just keeps going full speed ahead). After a lot of talk about what to do about Theron's first grade year, since he will be done at his current school after kindergarden, Ashley looked into it and paid a visit to our public school only 4 blocks away. It turns out it is a science and math magnet, though the rest of the school has a very strong arts program. They have an artist in residence program, they work closely with LACMA, they teach performing arts, and the woman in the office told us that orchestra is part of the 1st grade curriculum, as well as computer science. Anyway, it was a good thing we checked when we did because the deadline for the magnet lottery is Friday. If he doesn't get in this time we'll just keep trying, but at least we know he'll be in a good place in the meantime. Theron's teacher says he loves science and she thinks this would be perfect for him. Well, just the other day Theron said to me, "Is it true that fire needs air to burn?" and I said yes, and he said, "So...Batman was right".

Saturday we spent 2 LONG hours at Chuck E Cheese. We hope maybe next time he goes Grandpa Flip can take him. Grandpa Flip? Don't eat the pizza, just play the games. I'll say one thing, that kid can not drive. But who knew that if you drive through someone's garage in Malibu all you have to do is flip off the balcony and you're back on the PCH? He's not a bad shot, though.

Tonight my sweet husband went out with a flashlight to find the cabbage that fell out of my grocery bag and rolled under someone's car. He let himself look like a crazy person on his hands and knees trying to find cabbage in the street.

Off to an okay start in the New Year

While Theron is still found in the time-out chair upon pickup at least one day a week, he is making some improvements. Twice last week he resisted the naughty temptation of his partner in crime and he was praised by the teacher. He feels good and very proud of himself. He said, "Maybe I'm a superhero who keeps learning".

Well, we know where all the people are now - they were all at The Grove, just like us, Saturday. We took Theron to see Charlotte's Web which was good, but too long. Dakota Fanning makes the cutest Fern.

Here's Theron with his new haircut, courtesy of Daddy.


Here's a picture Theron took with his camera, - that he loves so much.

New Years Traditions

Here's Theron taking a picture of the new year's mochis he made at school. They all got to take turns pounding the dough with what sounds like a large pestle. He got the camera for Christmas and he loves it, it seems he doesn't quite believe it is his.

Since we don't really go out anymore we do have a little tradition of a new year's eve seafood pig-out. Mussels and crab legs and shrimp and champagne. Yummy.
And finally, here's Theron and Sam, taken before Christmas the day Grandma took us to see Santa.

New Year

A Very Spidey Christmas and a Batty New Year

Well, we did it. All the dreams of being ultra prepared were not quite realized, but still things were much better than they could have been - most gift shopping was done a week in advance, big improvement. Ashley did try to go to Toys R Us the Saturday before and couldn't get any where near the place which was predictable, but elsewhere in town I was still asking where is everyone?! That Saturday, the 23rd, I went to Trader Joes, Gelsons, Ralphs, and CVS in less than 2 hours, had no trouble parking (there were TWO parking places right by the door at Trader Joes which NEVER happens) and there was only one person ahead of me in line at every place except CVS where there was no waiting.
I can't believe this happened, but we really didn't get many pictures of Christmas Day. Ashley took video this year and things happened so fast. Theron woke up later than expected, 7:30, but Ash and I had been up until midnight wrapping presents and making the living room presentable. We told him he had to wait until 8:30. So Theron sat on the bed watching the digital clock and announcing the minutes: "It's 8:07. It's 8:08..." So we got up. Theron had all his presents open in record time. In years past he would open one gift, then play with it, then open another and the whole process seemed endless. He was probably in his room watching new videos in about 15-20 minutes. Then we got ready to go to Grandpa Flip's, where there was more bounty. Also, Theron really love staying in hotels so when he heard Grandpa had reserved us a room he was extra excited. The next day we went to breakfast with Grandpa at Carrows and while waiting for Grandpa to meet us Ashley mentioned that the coffee was the worst he's ever had. So when the waitress came back to refill his cup Ashley was just barely able to get Theron to stop talking before he pipes up, "DADDY SAYS THAT'S THE WORST..."

These are pictures Theron took because he wanted Grandpa to see what our room looked like.

We had a happy and safe holiday and we are just happy to all be mostly healthy (Ashley's jaw is still not quite right) and together. We wish you all a happy new year and we look forward to hearing how everyone is doing.

The Real Santa and Where is Everybody?

Well, I suppose we've finished shopping though the chaos continues. Theron and I did make a batch of sugar cookies for Santa but we ate them all, they were delicious. Even Ashley, still on soft or liquid foods, figured out he could nibble them with his front teeth, so all gone.

Theron's Christmas pagent was last Friday night. He and his class sang Feliz Navidad and a Hillary Duff song about Santa Claus Lane, or something. Feliz Navidad had about 5 verses and apparently they are all exactly the same. After the show the kids went downstairs to get a gift from Santa and eat some food. There was absolutely nothing Ash could eat since he didn't want nacho cheese without chips. Theron declared that the Santa was good, but not real. He was Santa's helper.

The very next day he and I went to Bakersfield for a Santa party at the house of a friend of Grandma's. The kids put oatmeal and glitter outside to tempt the reindeer and Santa came in with a bag of gifts. Theron got a Spiderman video game and he was so amazed because he hadn't said he wanted a game but Santa knew. Theron says this was the real Santa.

Anyway, for all the advanced planning I suppose Christmas preps, at least in our house, will always take exactly as much time as you have, though I have been getting lucky. I took packages to the post office last week and there was only one person ahead of me. It was a business man paying in pennies, but they were almost done counting when I got there. Then I went to Target Sunday night and again, no one was there. I took my car in for a service and normally I am idling in the street at the end of a very long line but this time there was, again, only one person ahead of me. But the strangest one of all was my trip to Trader Joe's last night. I even parked around the block to avoid the usual havoc of the parking lot and when I got there the lot was half empty! Never. I have never seen that. Where is everyone?!

Santa's Helper

The Real Santa