Countdown to 6



Theron is well aware that his birthday is one month away and he makes his requests at every turn. When I get a minute I will update the sidebar of this page to list what's been purchased and what's been requested. Briefly, we got him the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van, a Spiderman thermos, some Spiderman figurines, - but I need to go check which ones. I think Grandma got a web shooter. He would probably like some Fantastic 4 gear, especially the Silver Surfer. (we finally saw the movie this weekend with ALAN and they had so much fun and were so good except for a small popcorn fight and Theron cried because he lost his sunglasses and Skittles). Oh, and he just asked for a Spiderman 3 toy that comes with the black ooze - which I'm sure will end up under his bed with hair on it.

Post Graduate Blues

Theron is having a bit of a hard week, but we're not going to talk about that. He's surely on the right track, he's just had some hard lessons to learn. Anyway... Here's my mannequin - the show opens tomorrow. Naomi did the paper hair.
Here's Naomi and Nick's horse mannequin. It looks even more impressive with no clothes. Nick's partner who is a photographer did a slide show of their work in progress. It's not wearing a hat because the nice old guy who blocks the hats for us couldn't come in until today. Even after 3 years at a western museum I had no idea that hats needed to be blocked or that people have their own signature block style. It makes sense but I did not know this. This guy did this for Gene when he was alive, too, and he loves it and he volunteers his time to do it.

Well, the weekend was very magical - we went to the Huntington Library and spent ALL DAY walking in the gardens.

Graduate Weekend We started the weekend in Santa Maria where Theron was excited to have belated birthday cake for me and Grandpa Flip. In spite of his generous servings there was actually some cake left over which we brought home. Sunday morning I was getting dressed for his graduation and I found the pink cake box in my closet. Which Theron told me is actually his closet since it's in his room. When I asked him why the cake was in the closet he said, "Mama - to save it for later". Then he omitted the implied eye-rolling that went along with that answer.

All the kids looked very cute. The ceremony was held inside the temple.

The big boys. 1st grade is going to be so sad without Alan.

Oh, no, it's June Very tiring week for everyone. Theron had two solid days of attitude adjustment but we think for the time being we are all on the same page. Today, Sunday, was actually very nice. Last weekend I took Theron to the nursery to pick out a new plant for the porch. This weekend he re-potted it.

Theron's been talking lately about being Toby Maguire. He thinks he can grow up to be him and he really wants to meet him. He understands very well how people play different roles on tv and in movies. He correctly identified Larry the Cable Guy as the voice of the tow truck in Cars. Tony Blair was being interviewed on NPR last week and Theron identified him as the Geico Lizard. And he thinks Grandpa Flip looks like Tom Selleck circa Magnum P.I.

Work Stuff

This is probably boring, but here is a work project I'm involved in. I've been working on an Annie Oakley (early television version) mannequin. My colleague, Naomi, is a master mannequin artiste. She can make our slab-of-foam forms look like real people. She has been my mentor. Here's my finished body laying on the table.
After padding out the form with batting and ethafoam to mimic muscle groups and bone features we cover the form with bathing suit spandex. I made my lady stirrup tights and a thong leotard. Then I made her do leg lifts and sing Let's Get Physical.
I'm most proud of the legs because I carved the knee myself without asking Naomi how to do it.
Here's the back, I love her calves.

Holiday Weekend

Saturday our friend Terri invited us over for dinner. Theron had fun playing with the dogs and he made Terri write down their names on a Post-it so that he could remember: Black - Korr, Brown - Bea. Here is Theron squeezing oranges that he and Terri chose from her tree - they are so extra juicy and sweet.

Saturday we got to visit with Kate and Pete and Liam and all the neighborhood kids came to play. Theron was amazed that Liam can talk now. Dragging him away was no picnic. He insisted on a drink before leaving and then all the kids wanted a drink so Kate, who is used to this, poured cups of milk and water for everyone. She also had out a beautiful plate of fruit and all those happy little faces had berry stains and milk moustaches. Theron griped all the way home about having to leave and declared that he would cry in his room when we got home.

40. Oh, well.

Lunch with Michael

Dinner with the boys

Theron's favorite drink - a Shirley Temple with extra cherries

Blythe joined us for cocktails (new dress by RJC)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Flip (Sunday) and Grandma Mary (today Monday)!

Grandma, We're sorry we keep missing you by phone!

Congratulations, Michael and Erik for 20 years. We went to their home Saturday for a celebration. Theron made lots of new friends, especially the pretty little girl who played chase with him. Look at these beautiful little faces.

Sunday Theron got to have yet another exciting excursion with Alan. We all went to Shrek the Third!

Ashley teaches his packing class for the Getty/UCLA Conservation students tomorrow and then the household can return to what passes for normal. He'll be great!

Back from Chicago

Ash is staying one extra day. We had a great time - saw a lot of old friends, got some good information, but we really missed the boy. Our hotel room was conveniently located to many things - 2 blocks away from the Art Institute, but other conveniences, not so much. We had to stand in the closet to get a cell phone signal (it was $1.25 just to pick up the phone, even for a collect call), and we were never able to get internet service. The hotel said they offered it for $7.50 a day, but only from the lobby. It was nice to be in a city, but we didn't feel like we loved it terribly. Anyway, above is me at the Field Museum. Terri and I spent an afternoon walking our legs off. The next day Ash and I got a behind the scenes tour of the conservation labs at the Art Institute by a friend of my boss's.
Theron and I got back from Bakersfield this afternoon and had Mike and Erik over for pizza. We miss Daddy. Get home safe.

Spiderman battles his foe, America's Next Top Mature Male Model.

All the Spideys are sad Natasha didn't win Model.

Most weekends we would be lounging around the house at 9 am looking for food, but yesterday we were at the Grove for the first showing of the day of Spiderman 3. Luckily we went early and got good seats because the theater was pretty much full for the 9:30 a.m. show. We were not disappointed. The critics can say what they will - we thought it was super fun and worth the wait! Theron thought the funniest part of the movie was when you see Spiderman's feet as he dumps out his boots after fighting Sandman. And because we're suckers, the next stop was Target to get Black Spiderman clothing. Theron's friend at school was wearing a t-shirt and pants Friday that he told him were purchased at Target and he even gave him directions, "you go in the store, turn right, and go to aisle 6". I could not find these clothes. However, we did find him a new suit (is this the 3rd one now?) that is reversible - normal Spiderman and black Spiderman. While an inside-out sock brings the morning goals of getting out of the house on time to a screeching halt, he had that suit entirely turned around to black and under his street clothes in record time. He tried to go out of the house like this today and I had to send him back in because it was going to be 80 degrees.

We all went to Griffith Park today to meet his friend Alan for pony and train rides. They had a blast and I kind of couldn't believe it because Theron doesn't even like to sit in those machines outside of groceries stores shaped like rockets, etc., if they're moving. Their favorite part of the whole event was when the horses they were on peed.

A Spidey Weekend

Well, Theron is completely out of his mind with excitement over the opening of Spiderman 3. I was hoping we could trick him into waiting a week for the crowds to die down a bit, but he's smarter than that. He even thought none of his friends would be at school today because they would be at the theater. So, anyway, we are going tomorrow morning for a 9:30 show at the Grove. Then, as if that weren't excitement enough we are meeting his little friend Alan at Griffith Park Sunday morning to ride the ponies and the train.

Tonight we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at Fred 62, a diner in Los Feliz. Kids get a menu coloring book and the three of us worked on it while waiting for the food.

Here's Theron at the library. We like to walk over on Saturdays, it's only 4 blocks away. Recently we checked out The Secret Garden and we're halfway through it now.
Where did the weekend go???

Last night I had magaritas with my friend, Mike, like a real human being. We ate some good appetizers and discussed how we both love Natasha on America's Next Top Model. I can't believe I didn't take our picture but I did snap this picture of a mural during my 40 minute-should have been 10 minute - ride home. The one chicken says "I'm hungry" and the other one one says, "Let's get falafel".

Mike and Erik will be celebrating their 20th anniversary next month! Mike and I (and Joan and Beth) will be celebrating a 40th birthday soon and we talked about that. Actually, a lot of people have been asking me about it and what plans I have. Well, I don't really. It seems like it should be big, but I don't know. When I do think about it I do my face exercises, which means these days I do them everyday. Probably I've been ready for this for a while. I have a bathing suit with a little skirt and everytime I'm in the drugstore I examine the home dermabrasion kits.

This is my contribution for our friend April's baby quilt. Everyone gets a little pack of the fabrics and creates something. There was no theme and I've been wanting to do something 3-D. I wanted the bud to fold up and down for something fun to do.

Ashley went to the doctor finally for his ear infection and found it was worse than he thought - the infection is so advanced he has possibly been sick for a very long time and between that and his wisdom teeth there may be some explanation for why he's been so down for so long. The doctor gave him a potent antibiotic that is guaranteed to kill everything from the neck up.

Haircut Day!

CSI Echo Park

Theron and I found this nest and two broken eggs on the porch this morning. Then Theron and I had a cyclical discussion about eggs, babies, where are the babies, what about the eggs, and on and on.

Theron says, "I look so cute".

It was wonderful and relaxing

We all read a lot

Back to real life, but we had fun...
Thank you to Joan and her family for the gift of their home

San Luis ObispoLunch by the creek Ashley takes our picture

Vacation, all we ever wanted...

We are comfortably settled down at the vacation house, otherwise known as Joan and John's home. This vacation was of course planned for the week after my allergy testing that showed I have a 50% chance of being allergic to the following items: eggs, pork, fish, shellfish. To confirm this I am to elimate all four things for 2 weeks and then begin adding them back in and watching for reaction. This will take place next week. Tonight we ate the biggest crab legs we ever imagined possible and we will definitely be eating mussels and the most delicious clam chowder anywhere.
In spite of the biting wind, Theron insisted on getting in the ocean. He's shown here in his new wetsuit. He was doing fine and then he suddenly took a tumble. Ashley rushed in to save him. Theron was fine, he just had sand all over him and in his mouth. Ashley's shoes were soaked, he lost a sock, and his cell phone might be dead. Oh, well. Those things can be fixed.

We feel very good and happy. We're just sad we couldn't coordinate to visit with Joan and her family on either side of our trips.

Last weekend, decorating Easter eggs.