New Do.

It had been ages since Meagan had had a hair cut. As summer got off to a start, I made an appointment to get her hair cut and let Meg know that we'd be going to get her hair cut in a few weeks. With hair length well past her shoulders, she said "Okay...but only half an inch."

"Maybe a little more than half an inch." I said.

Much to my surprise, she had a major change of heart as she hopped into chair and told Kim, the hair dresser, to cut it just below her chin and some bangs please. Shocked at Meagan's sudden change of heart, we had to do some quick compromising and here's what we came up with:


Meagan walked out with a huge smile on her face so pleased with her bangs (something she has never had) and STRAIGHT hair (something she can only have when a professional or some good friend or auntie takes the time to blow out her curls and waves with a hair dryer and a heavy duty brush).

A True Fra-nesh-a-nal!

Believe it or not, I entered this photograph in a photography contest. But first, the story behind the photo:

This week Charlie went to rock climbing camp. That's right, rock climbing camp. We live in a rather small city that has grocery stores, a small shopping mall, a quaint downtown area, and a rock climbing gym! Both Meagan and James have participated in this camp in past summers. Charlie, since he was two, has been dying to join them. Finally, this year he made the age cut-off and was able to go. He LOVED it...we knew he would...he knew he would.

This kid learned to climb long before he could walk. When he was one, he would crawl over to the monkey bars at the park and climb way above my head if I didn't race to grab his ankle before he was out of reach. By age two he would climb the monkey bars only intended for the big kids. I'd get looks from other parents that I just had to learn to ignore. By age three, he broadened his horizons started scaling walls and ledges. Some time last summer, while watching James at rock climbing camp, Charlie said to me, " I don't NEED to go rock climbing camp because I'm already a fra-nesh-a-nal (read"professional") rock climber, but I still want to go to rock climbing camp."

This "fra-nesh-a-nal" often gets into trouble because of his skills. Earlier this year, I let him and his older brother go to the bathroom together in the men's restroom at a restaurant. I warned them to stay together and not to talk to anyone. Then I hovered in front of the door of the men's restroom. When the door swung open, I spotted Charlie standing on the sink counter helping himself to the paper towels and talking to a STRANGER who was washing his hands at the sink. When the boys came out of the restroom, I got on Charlie's case and said, "Why were you standing on the counter? And why were you talking to that man?" Charlie replied, "Mama, I had to climb up there to get the paper towels and that man asked if I needed some help so I had to tell him "No, I don't need help because I'm a fra-nesh-a-nal rock climber." At this, I could only stop scolding and burst into laughter.

So, I had hoped to catch more photos of Charlie with my new-to -me (thanks to my sister-in-law) fancy camera. But, this was the best I could do with my limited photography skills and a subject that climbs way too fast and high for me to capture on film.

In an effort to learn some photography skills, I attended our local photography club last night in hopes of bettering my nearly non-existant photography skills. As luck would have it, this first meeting of mine, was dedicated to a photography contest where everyone in the club submits up to three photos and everyone votes on the best entries. The winners' photographs are put on display at our local library and the winning photographs are printed in the paper. I figured I had nothing to lose and I was only going to learn by trying. So I snapped some shots at rock climbing camp, figured out how to get them from the camera to my computer and then printed them at Walgreens just in time to submit my entries with the other 36 (amazing!) entries. Several members of this club are professionals and the ones who aren't are still quite talented. So, I was just in it for the education.

After I put my photos on the display table, I took a seat and introduced myself to an older gentleman, Dallas, sitting next to me. Upon learning my name Dallas said, "Nice to meet you, Angie. How long have you been a professional photographer?" I laughed and said, "About 24 hours." I explained that my kind and generous sister-in-law is a professional photographer in San Diego and that she gave me the camera with which she started her business as she had outgrown its capabilities and that I was just joining this club to see what I could learn.

I did pick up a few tips and found everyone in the club to be very kind and helpful.

By the way, if you are wondering, I didn't win the contest. But, hey, not everyone can be a
FRA-NESH-A-NAL, you know!!!

School 's Out For Summer Time!

Ok...so school has been out for my kiddos since June 5th. We quickly jumped right into summer mode and I hope to highlight all the glories of this summer, but I simply must reflect on what a great school year these kids had. In just a few short weeks, we'll be packing up the backpacks and lunch boxes and heading back to school. Hard to believe! But before then, I want to tack down here a bit about their 2008-09 school year.

Ms. Jen, Ms. Cole, Meagan and James

Meagan (3rd grade) and James (1st grade) were in the same class this year. They go to a Montessori school where the kids are grouped for grades 1-3 and then for grades 4-6. This allowed these two to share a classroom. They had two dynamite teachers, Ms. Jen and Ms. Cole. Jeff and I both spent quite a few volunteer hours in the classroom and these teachers ran this class like a well-oiled machine. Any day at any hour one could walk in this room and find 30 kids genuinely engaged in their lessons--even if many of them were working on different lessons side-by-side. What's more, each child in this class seemed to have a real sense of belonging to a caring community. This tone was set and set early on by these two fantastic teachers.



Meagan loves school. She loves the sense of orderliness, and the facts she learns, and the relationships she builds. She is especially fond of math, getting so excited to learn long division with a few other kids in her class. She also loves to read, always with her nose in a book--as long as the book involves animals, especially horses. She is nervous and excited to be moving to upper pod, as it's called at their school.



Thiswas James' first year on this campus as the school on this campus starts at 1st grade. He was so excited to move to the "big kid school" and seemed to walk 2 inches taller from the first day of school on. James' reading just took off this year. He too is often found with his nose in a book these days. James is one of the most inquisitive people that I know, always asking questions and hypothesizing answers. His favorite part of school was doing and presenting research projects. He loves school and thrives on being a part of a caring classroom community.



It was great having them both in the same class. It made it very easy to help out in the classroom and to get to know all the kids in the class really quite well. I loved listening to the two of them recapping their days in their shared classroom over an after-school snack each day.



This fall, Meagan will move up to 4th grade in "upper pod" and James will be a 2nd grader in this same classroom he has grown to love.

Ms. Jen and Charlie celebrate Hawaiian Day on the last day of school.

This was Charlie's first year of school. He was involved in a little home-based preschool 2 mornings per week last school year, but this was the real thing. "Big Kid Preschool" every morning. He too attended the Montessori school, at the preschool campus. I worried a bit that Charlie might not mesh with the Montessori methds of self-directed focused learning like his sister and brother had. No worrying needed. He LOVES school. So many of the materials are hands-on materials and Charlie is a hands-on kind of kid. He loved solving puzzles and problems with manipulable objects. As he himself will tell you, he is the "puzzle master" (the kid does not lack self-confidence, that's for sure). We fully intended for this to be the first of a two-year preschool experience before moving onto Kindergarten (all in the same multi-age classroom). He qualifies for Kindergarten this year based on his age, but only by a few weeks. I, especially, was emphatic that he wait a year to start Kindergarten, giving him more time to mature and really be ready to start his many years of formal education. However, by March, it became clear that academically and otherwise, he was ready for the challenge of Kindergarten. To our surprise, Charlie started bringing home these little "readers" every night. He insisted on reading his book to each person in the family individually. We all obliged and were impressed with his newfound skill to read, really read! He also started to really grasp basic math concepts: adding and subtracting. Charlie loves a challenge and invites challenges all the time. He is often begging Jeff to give him spelling words or math problems like Jeff does with Meagan and James. So, our baby is off to Kindergarten this fall. He'll be in the same classroom as he was last year, with Ms. Jen as his lead teacher. She and her two assistants are wonderful and patient teachers. Charlie is so excited to be a kindergatener and go to school all day (as this means he will get to have a lunch box and recess on the playground). Me? I'm excited for him, but mostly I'm gonna miss the little guy!

What better way to celebrate the end of a great school year and kick-off the summer break than with ice cream cones!! (For the record, Meagan is holding my ice cream cone so I can snap this picture, not enjoying two cones while her brothers have one--they would have none of that!)

Chad

This is my little brother. I know he's bigger than me..but he's still my little brother. I used to be bigger than him. When we were kids we made up this game where we'd stand in the middle of a long tiled hallway of our home and lock fingers and then see who could push the other person to the end of the hallway. Whoever got their sibling's heels past the threshold of the carpet on either end of the hallway was declared the winner. We played it all the time and I won every single time....until the day I didn't. From then on Chad beat me every single time. I suppose that was the day my little brother became my big little brother. This photo of us is from just a few months ago. I love this photo of him so much and that we had it taken together, that I'm willing to post it even though it's not so great of me. He and his family, whom we all adore so much, came to visit for some snow play (see 2/5 post) and, though none of said it, to say "farewell for now". Last month he left for his third tour of duty in Iraq. Just like the other two times, I often have the sensation that there's just not quite enough air to breathe until I know he is home safe and sound. A month plus down, several to go. Come November he'll be home. Maybe at Thanksgiving, I'll challenge him to our old childhood game. And I'll lose again. I can hardly wait.

The Tanking Economy Hits Close to Home

The tanking economy just broke up this neighborhood pack of pals. Last summer, we finally had a young family move into a house that had been vacant for well over a year. We were thrilled. The boy, Mather (far left) and the girl, Astrid (next to her brother) were Meagan and James' (far right) ages and quickly became friends and allowed Charlie (center)to tag along with them everywhere they went. What's more, they had a sweet 13 year-old sister who would babysit for us on even a moment's notice. They spent the whole summer riding up and down our street and in and out of each other's houses. You always hope your kids will find good friends and these were good friends.

Once, shortly after the boys became fast pals, they were playing with a toy pirate ship and figurines down in the basement and I heard Mather announe, "Ok these are the pirates that will steal all the gold..." Then I could almost hear his moral reasoning churning in his mind and then he added, "...but they are only going to steal gold for the poor people." That's when I knew for sure I loved these kids being buds with our kids.

Our new neighbors had relocated here from New Hampshire and loved the sunny weather and great community and quickly got themselves connected to new friends, colleagues, and neighbors.

Then, about three weeks ago, while Mather helped us unload the car after a trip we had taken knowing that I'd let James run off and play as soon as this job was done (again, I love this kid!), Mather announced, "My dad got laid off." My heart sank and I froze in my tracks. I said, "Really, Mather?" He said, "Yeah...the economy is not so good." James, senisng the seriousness of this said, "What does 'laid off' mean?" I started to formulate my answer when Mather said, "It's not 'getting fired' but it's kind of the same because you don't get to have your job anymore."

About a week later, Mather announced they were moving back to New Hampshire. Mather's dad later explained that unlike the other higher level managers that were laid off from his lab, he was lucky in that he was able to arrange for a new career taking over his father's small business.

And last week, they packed up all their belongings from a home they had settled into so easily and quickly and headed back to New Hampshire.


The crazy thing is I've been trying to understand this tanking economy of ours... reading the papers, watching news conferences with President Obama, reading articles. I knew this tanking economy was wide spread and affecting everyone, us included. A few months ago, Jeff who follows our long term investments better than I do, came home and said, "Well, we lost half our retirement today."(Fortunately for us we're a ways off from retirement or sending our kids to college and hopefully have time to rebuild that nest egg). But, the biggest and most real blow of all was seeing that moving truck in front of our neighbor's house and watching my kids' pals all pile in the truck and wave a solemn good-bye.

The One-Tooth Wonder

Check out James and what we call his "egg-tooth"...that lone tooth in the front there. This was taken moments after he pulled out the tooth on the right. The tooth missing on the opposite side has been gone for a while. He knocked it out when he was four years old when he made too sharp a turn on his scooter. That event was followed by an emergency trip to the dentist and then to the ER to stitch up his lip. It was all worth it to him when the tooth fairy made her first visit to him that night...two years before his time. That "egg-tooth" is loose, so soon he'll be our "toothless wonder"...but until then I just get a real kick out of that one tooth of his. So does Jeff. James doesn't find it so funny though...especially when his dad says, "James, it's almost time for bed. Go brush your tooth."

MVP

James is nearing the end of his first season of basketball. I'm no sports fan, but I'm a HUGE fan of this player. James isn't one of those kids with a natural ability for sports, but he always gives it all he's got, and he is always so encouraging of his team mates and even his opponents. This earns him MVP in my book. A few weeks ago, the ball was passed to him and after lining himself up in front of the basket and taking a deep breath, he shot the ball and made his very first basket! At this point, I found myslef leaping out of the bleachers yelling, "Good Job, James!" A friend behind me laughed a bit and said, "Hmmm...I wonder who his mother is....?..." I am! And I couldn't be more proud.