So close...yet so far away......

Emma:  So are those kids NEVER going to get adopted? (Referring to the kids we were with on Saturday)

Me: No.  I don't think so.

Emma: Why?

Me: Well, a few reasons.  First of all, once a kid is over the age of about 4, they usually don't get adopted.   People prefer the babies and little kids.  Second, some of those kids may still have parents who are involved in their lives, but just can't take care of them.

Emma:  Because they don't have enough money?

Me:  Yes, or maybe other reasons.

Emma:  But the parents still love them?

Me: Often times yes. 

Emma: You're never going to do that to me are you?

Me:  What? Give you up???  NO!

Emma:  Never, EVER?

Me: Nope

Emma:  I have one more question:  Do we HAVE to eat leftovers?

Home Schooling

Ok - so we are watching Finneas and Ferb (the all time greatest kids cartoon - the only thing that can draw all THREE Claflins including ME to the couch in front of the TV on Saturday morning.)

The episode? "Chronicles of Meap," my favorite.

We're watching as Candace rides a bicycle into space with Meap on the handlebars. I see my teaching moment.

Me: Emma - this is an allusion. Do you know what an allusion is?

Emma: (without turning from tv) No...........

Me: An allusion is when one piece of literature or art references another piece of literature or art. So right now when Candace is riding her bike into space with Meap it is ALLUDING to a movie called ET from the mid 80's when I was kid. In the movie a boy rides in the sky with his little alien called ET.

Emma: (without turning from tv) oh

Me: Also - the part where Finneas and Ferb think that the bad guy, Mitch, is Meap's father is allusion to another series of 80's movies - ones that you are very familiar with. You know.......? Star Wars? Only here Mitch is NOT Meap's father - he is really just Meap's Mortal Enemy. And that is bordering on irony, because it isn't what you or the other characters expect and it keeps complicating the plot. That's what makes this cartoon so funny and great. Don't you think?

Emma: (without turning from tv) Plus Meap is really cute.

Me: Right.

I guess we'll try again later.

Carol Comments on the Olympic Pairs Final

Where do I begin? First - CONGRATULATIONS SHEN AND ZHAO!!!!! I have followed your story for 18 years. You are amazing, and I am so happy for you.

Now - on to the juicy stuff -

1) Music - ok - how many times did YOU hear Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherazade last night? TWO - One American pair and one Chinese pair skated to the exact same cut of the music. (And it was also someone's short program music) Did you know this was the music from one of Michele Kwan's signature routines. I mean - are they selling Costco packs of skating music? Is it that hard to pick out new music? And why don't the commentators point this out. And why didn't they point out that in Scheherazade the princess gets beheaded? That would make an exciting interpretation for a pairs routine? No?

2) Did you hear Scott Hamilton cry when Shen and Zhao won the gold?

3) More music - how WEIRD was it that a RUSSIAN pair tried to skate to the same music as CANADIANS David Sale and Jamie Peltier did in Salt Lake as a tribute? Dont' forget - that was the pairs judging debaucle where the Russians won, but it looked the Canadians should have won, and then the Canadians were ALSO given gold medals. And to make it worse than weird the Russian Pair massacred their routine last night. Did you SEE Jamie and David in the stands afterward? HILARIOUS

4) Just an fyi (because I'm assuming you find all this as compelling as I do): Sandra Bezic is a Canadian Pairs skater from the 70s and one of the world's most renowned and sought after coreographers. She has coreographed more Olympic routines than you can imgaine. (Which makes it interesting that even she scoffed at the Canadians Dave and Dubison's high scores after the short program - even Sandra knows the judging is at times ridiculous).

5) More about Davison and Dube. On night one we learned that they had a terrible accident in side by side camel spins where he sliced her face almost in 1/2 requiring 80 stitches. One night TWO they skated to "They Way We Were" because they used to be an "off ice pair" and now have broken up. So???????? We all want to know - did they break up BEFORE or AFTER he re-arranged her face? Morbid I know - but a girl wonders. Hey - maybe THEY should have skated to Scheherazade.

6) More about music - one of the other Chinese pairs got a points deduction because their music was over the time limit of the short program - WHY DIDN"T WE HEAR ABOUT THAT?

7) Injuries - Did you see the Russian pair who is not really not really Russian Yuki Kavaguchi? She was injured - her trick shoulder CAME OUT OF THE SOCKET. If you were watching it was gross. And THEN she popped it back in and KEPT SKATING!!!! That girl is super tough. WHY DIDN'T THE COMMENTATORS COMMENT ON THAT? INTERVIEW HER ABOUT?

8) Catch foot and the code of points. I mean seriously. The code of points awards bonuses when you include a "catch foot sequence or pose" in many of the tricks. This is where the skater holds the bottom of their blade. Unfortunately the code of points doesn't seem to discern how it's done - so you can look like a middle aged man trying to tie your shoe and still get the points. So many of the most athletic and graceful people in the world looked ridiculous last night - but they got their bonus points. And the code of points doesn't put a limit on how many times you can do it, so many of the pairs were frantically grabbing their skate blades at every chance possible. Even Dick Button - who HATES the new rule - couldn't fault them. They are there to win.

9) Pairs spins and the code of points - obviously the authors had something in mind when they wrote the part about skaters facing each other - one spinning forward and one backward with one plane of the body outside the circle. But what it actually looks like - it looks like both skaters are trying to take a leak over the same fire hydrant in a small space on a cold night.

10) Commentators - The reason I am writing this OH SO LONG blog post is that the commentators WEREN'T covering this stuff. I miss Dick Button. Poor old guy. But when Sandra said, "Oh how embarrassing" after a fall by one of the pairs....I thought - there is a glimmer of hope that skating commentating could return to what it once was.

The San Fernando Valley: It's my hell hole and I love it.

I wish I had taken my camera along for my run this morning. (Since I didn't have any of my own, I took a few off the web.) It wasn't a very good run and my energy would have been better spent capturing the images that make The Valley what it is:

- The soccer players at Winnetka park, a flurry of brightly colored jerseys and activity. Coolers, and blankets, families watching, little boys playing with the ball and doing drills in their dads' shadows waiting for their day on the field. The radios playing a mix of mariachi and narcocorridos. The guys on their bikes, just chillin' behind the baseball dugouts.

- Lawns all brown and dry due to the drought watering restrictions lending an extra grittiness to everything.

- The bright blue, cloudless sky.

- The low slung bungalow houses that sit against the flat blue sky and give the valley its signature mid-century look

- The street corner where cars roll in an out, presumably to score some drugs, and the guy with his slicked back hair, his coke nail, his lap dog, his cell phone and his bling.

- The shopping carts that are like modern day, mettalic tumbleweeds, rolling haplessly across the asphalt desert.

- The random trash that ends up ground into parkways and gutters - today - a black bra in a pile of dried up leaves and receipts.

- a little garden, overflowing with tomatoes and herbs and squash, hiding behind a tall, tall vine covered fence - evidence of someone taking great care (and maybe breaking the 2x's / week watering allowance)

and my favorite:

- a little old man - walking down the middle of Chase street - he was wearing shiny, new cowboy boots, perfectly creased pants, an immaculate, brand-new looking black long sleeved, western shirt with white rope trim that matched his shock white hair in a perfect buzz cut and a bolo tie. He was so fresh and perfectly groomed that he leapt out of his dirty, dusty, gritty surroundings like a glossy 3-D cut out from a greeting card. He was so spritely I thought he might just jump up and click his heels. When he saw me he did a little jig to imitate my running stride, laughed and called out, "It's a pleasure to see you young lady." I wanted to ask him where he was going and why and find out his story, but I had to get home.

Prayer mobile

(It's supposed to be mobile like a mobile over a crib, but Emma pronounces it Prayermobile - as in bookmobile or automobile.)

Last year I wrote about Emma's lack luster prayer life. Well, I finally decided I wasn't seeing enough growth and that I needed to do something pro-active and constructive about it. God inspired me with the following project:

Prayer mobile

Step 1) Dig out all the old project and gift scraps of paper you can find. Empty the Trader Joe's oatmeal that nobody likes (not even you if you're being honest) to use the canister and compile some basic crafting supplies - glue, scissors, tape, clothespins, yarn, twine etc. Use something pointy (like a meat thermometer) to poke 4 holes towards the bottom of the oatmeal canister and 2 towards the top.

Step 2) Look up Revelation 5:8 with your kiddo. Read and discuss about perfume and incense and heaven. Type and print and cut out the verse.

Step 3) Cover the oatmeal cannister with paper of choice. When glue has dried, affix the verse.

Step 4) Go to the mall and ask for a perfume sample. (Look how lovely our Lily Pulitzer sample matched! Serendipity) This step is unnecessary if you have perfume at home, but since I own none and use very few things with a scent, this was necessary. Plus it's fun for little girls to have their OWN perfume.

Step 5) Discuss the four aspects of prayer with your kiddo: confession, praise, requests, and thanksgiving. Make a small placard representing each aspect of prayer. Thread the yarn through the poked holes, tie on the clothes and clip in the placards .

Step 6) Incorporate the prayermobile into your prayer times with your little one. I intended to be writing something to clip to each aspect card, but that hasn't happened yet since we've been out of town and had guests for the last 2 weeks. Then when you pray again later, you can remove the old cards and store them inside the oatmeal canister.


I haven't used this as systematically as I had hoped yet, but it has already been SO beneficial. It helped me realize that Emma was SHY and embarrassed about praying and that modeling our prayers weren't enough. She also needs some direct instruction of how to pray and what to pray for and about. This silly little craft has given us a platform for expanding our expectations of her without making the situation a simple obedience, response, discipline issue.

We have a long, long way to go as we teach her about prayer, but this is a fantastic and effective start and I intend to keep using it.

snow day(s)

Last Sunday we had a snow day.


This was met with enthusiasm by some more than others.


There was enough to build a mini snow man.


And have a mini snowball fight (but really the picture below is about my new picnic table).

And it all made me think of a snow day in Kansas December 2005

sick days - addendum

It's also important during sick days
* to NEVER get out of your pajamas (even if you are not the sick one).
* to have enough Kleenex boxes (see picture #2 in the entry below).
They are handy as building blocks and of course necessary for excessive nose blowing. And if you should run out and have to make an emergency trip to Publix during cold and flu season on a Sunday night, you will discover that the only Kleenex boxes left have Hannah Montana on them. That is a circumstance you absolutely must avoid.

What I failed to take pictures of was:
1) Emma screaming and crying
2) Mommy screaming and crying
3) Mommy in her jammies
4) Mommy deciding that food network is educational, so sure - we'll watch 3 hours in a row together (after 2 hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).

So - none of that made it on the blog. But, I did find this picture......



While Daddy doesn't scream and cry, he does get fed up.