Housekeeping

A housekeeping post! All of the cute iPhone pictures I've taken over the past couple weeks that don't fit into any other post. Here's The Goose making a face for Papa Jim. 

 Here's Evan, The Goose and I looking out at the Hollywood Hills from the parking garage at Universal Citywalk.

 Here's our whole family looking at the same view, but I implore you to note that my butt looks much smaller in the other picture.

 This is what we were looking at -- the empty tank where they shoot water scenes, the Psycho house to the left, and the wreckage of a plane tucked away in the hills. Views like this, and seeing backdrops drive by on flatbed trucks, and (this is convoluted but stay with me, it's worth it) the realization that the woman that bought our house in South Orange, NJ replaced an actress in BatBoy on Broadway who eventually moved to LA, had twins, enrolled them in the same preschool as The Goose, and was at our new house in Burbank for Goose's birthday?  Los Angeles just charms the pants off of me when I let it.

 Arlo is taking skateboarding lessons at our local skatepark. His first lesson was mostly him falling, and he kept getting back on the board. I am so proud of him.

Speaking of being proud of Arlo, he was awarded an award for "Enormous Effort" at his elementary school. It was a big deal in the auditorium with our principal giving out the awards.

 Principal Sheri Taylor with the honored kindergarteners.

 My Arlo with his Daddy.


In other news, I am the worst Mama in the world. I don't even remember why The Goose was sobbing.

 Oscar made a test for me. I failed because I took a picture of it and tucked it away in his memory box instead of completing it. I remember when I was Oscar's age, I realized that my mom never had phonics and proceeded to make a bunch of phonics tests for her, I eventually realized that my mom had learned to read even without a Phonics curriculum but even today I think it might have helped her legendary (in our family) poor spelling and awful handwriting. Now I am the parent that always asks for spelling (while blogging!) and I need to remember to print when I send in notes to Oscar in his lunch.

 I made the mistake of drawing Oscar a comic strip of a fork and a spoon crabbing about the fact that Oscar doesn't like them, and uses his fingers instead. BOMB. Oscar met me at the end of school that day and said, Mom, please don;t ever do that again. So instead I pack clipped-out newspaper comic strips with his lunch. After a week or two I bought him a blank book to paste in his comics. This is how Bill Blackbeard started, right?

That's my paper, every morning. It kind of ticks me off that most of comics I can give him are of the Marmaduke level. The rest are too political or too adult. Thank God for Lio, which seems to be a mix of Calvin and Hobbes and some weird Italian horror movie.

 Eucalipus trees at our local playground. It smells divine.

 Coyote at Griffith Park. We went to the big playground there, and then decided to go investigate the old zoo, which is supposed to be haunted. We didn't even get out of the car; we were enthralled by this coyote.

 Make your own pizza night, Also family movie night. Oscar is being a good sport since he doesn't eat pizza.

The next couple pictures are from Art Day at Bret Harte, our elementary school. The PTA reaches out to parents who work in the arts and set up tables in the yard so the kids can interact during lunchtime. There was a great-uncle who animated Mister Magoo and some Disney shorts. He did page after page of Mickey heads and charmed every kid on the playground. There was also a mom who taught art and wrangled a bunch of kids to do pastels, and the results were lovely.

And then there was this guy.

 Evan brought a bunch of action figures in various steps of development, and I brought a couple graphic collections I'd designed. Evan also brought blank male and female figures that we copied, and the kids checked out the action figures and designed their own superheroes.

 That's Oscar doing Rainbow Man. 

 The older the kids got over the course of the afternoon, the less kids we got at the table (we saw barely any of Oscar's buddies; they were all out playing soccer) but the ones that came over got really interested in everything. Evan spent lots of time explaining the different levels of the making of action figures, and the both of us spent a lot of time talking about obscure DC superheroes.

 Our elementary school is like a U shape. At my back was the bottom part of the U. This is the playyard.

 Looking straight out at the yard.

 To the right of the yard. That's the cafeteria. Oscar eats lunch outside every single day. Today was actually a rainy day, and was the second time since August that they ate lunch inside (at their desks) and had their two (yes, TWO!) recesses inside instead of outside.

 Art day was from 11 to 1:30, lunch periods for the 1st grade to the fifth grade. Arlo's in 1/2 day kindergarten and spent most of Art Day under the table like this, except for a blissful 20 minutes when Oscar shepherded him out to the playground with the rest of the 3rd graders. 

 This day, Lucy wanted to have a formal breakfast. She got an awesome Princess outfit for her birthday from her friend Will, and didn't understand that we all weren't on board for a formal breakfast. Poor Goose.

 In and Out lunch. Arlo shows his Flying Dutchman.

 Lucy's birthday breakfast. Oatmeal, cocoa, fairies,

 Lucy's birthday was cold and rainy. We made a quick trip to the library up the street, and when we emerged, the rain had stopped, and the kids wanted to play I will never stop my kids from playing outside.

 The Goose's actual birthday, Monday. She had a celebration with Gretta and Papa Jim, her party on Saturday, and our family party on her actual birthday, It was a week + of celebration and she deserved every minute.

 We gave her the bike we won at the Playhouse auction a year ago.

 She loves it.

 Dance class. That's The Goose in the pink tights and black leotard. The teacher is a hardass, and I have realized that the more floofy you dress your kid for dance class, the worse they will behave, Lucy is enthralled by class and her teacher. I dress her in simple dance tights and leotards, position the boys right outside the door of the studio with iPads and DSes, and sit quietly in the class memorizing positions so we can practice the rest of the week. Lucy can't tell her right from her left and it was a riot watching her try to put her leg up on the barre  today, but she loves that dance class more than anything. I ordered her costume for the recital today and will post the cuteness.

 

Sunset over our favorite library.  The sky is bigger out here. It's more oppressive, but it also serves up glorious sunsets almost every day. Not too shabby.