(Every great artist does a self-portrait.)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The World According to Noie
When the party was wrapping up and everyone was cleaning up, I gave our friend Noie my camera and asked her to take some pictures. How delighted was I to get these great shots when I unloaded the camera?!
(Every great artist does a self-portrait.)
(Every great artist does a self-portrait.)
Celebrating Seven
About three weeks ago, in the middle of my busiest time at work and while my parents were still in Maine, Fin decided she wanted to have a birthday party... at their home with her friends from their church. The logical thing to do would be to say, "not this year". What I did was call my parents who enthusiastically endorsed the idea and then printed up some invitations at Walgreens the next day.
We headed out on Friday to my parents' home. Nancy kindly agreed to go with us to lend us another pair of hands and some SuperWoman muscle. Saturday was spent hanging out, shopping, and getting things ready for the party on Sunday. Everything was themed for dragons and Vikings, Fin's choice due to her current obsession with How to Train Your Dragon.
Fin and Nancy test out the "dragon feet".
After opening her many presents at home, she had to instruct Dad fully on the intricacies of Battle Force Five.
Dragon cookie manufacturing center. Nancy rolled and cut; Fin affixed chocolate chip eyes and sprinkled with lime green sugar.
Dad takes care of Rusty-adoring duties while Mom and Em play dominoes.
Fin thought it should be Rusty's party, too, complete with cat food cake.
The party was held at my parents' church after services. We were thrilled to also celebrate the church getting an amazing pastor (and the pastor getting an amazing church).
Fin insisted that a good party required a "FEAST!"
Some of the kids chowing down.
The kids had NO problems with the dragon feet and cruised easily on walkways, rough ground, linoleum. We nixed the stairs, though.
We had two craft projects. One was a make-your-own Viking helmet the kids really got into.
We also had scratch-off ships for kids to make Viking ship decorations. Our good friend, Winnie, showed us how it was done. Winnie was an art teacher. That's right, we had nothing but the best for this party.
Another essential element of a good party, according to Fin, was a dragon pinata. A couple of years ago, our friend, Elizabeth, had a pinata at her party and I think Fin has found it a missing element of her celebrations since.
Luckily we arranged the kids by height because the tallest kid was also a killer shot and busted that dragon into candy rain.
One little girl was there in almost the same dress as Fin. How funny, out of 9 kids. Really, Tea Collection, call us! Our kids will model for free merchandise!
The dragon bean-bag toss doubled as a photo op. Some were happier to be devoured by the dragon...
than others.
We wrapped up with a HTTYD cake and a very tired birthday girl who napped for two hours on the way home.
Tomorrow, on her actual birthday, we will have a quieter day with school cupcakes and a trip to the owl movie tomorrow night.
We had such a great time. I think it was everything she dreamed of for her first, real birthday party. Thanks to Mom and Dad for doing the food shopping and communications, to Nancy for her untiring work including getting the whole meal organized and on the table, and to MPC for hosting us and celebrating with us. It was wonderful!
We headed out on Friday to my parents' home. Nancy kindly agreed to go with us to lend us another pair of hands and some SuperWoman muscle. Saturday was spent hanging out, shopping, and getting things ready for the party on Sunday. Everything was themed for dragons and Vikings, Fin's choice due to her current obsession with How to Train Your Dragon.
Fin and Nancy test out the "dragon feet".
After opening her many presents at home, she had to instruct Dad fully on the intricacies of Battle Force Five.
Dragon cookie manufacturing center. Nancy rolled and cut; Fin affixed chocolate chip eyes and sprinkled with lime green sugar.
Dad takes care of Rusty-adoring duties while Mom and Em play dominoes.
Fin thought it should be Rusty's party, too, complete with cat food cake.
The party was held at my parents' church after services. We were thrilled to also celebrate the church getting an amazing pastor (and the pastor getting an amazing church).
Fin insisted that a good party required a "FEAST!"
Some of the kids chowing down.
The kids had NO problems with the dragon feet and cruised easily on walkways, rough ground, linoleum. We nixed the stairs, though.
We had two craft projects. One was a make-your-own Viking helmet the kids really got into.
We also had scratch-off ships for kids to make Viking ship decorations. Our good friend, Winnie, showed us how it was done. Winnie was an art teacher. That's right, we had nothing but the best for this party.
Another essential element of a good party, according to Fin, was a dragon pinata. A couple of years ago, our friend, Elizabeth, had a pinata at her party and I think Fin has found it a missing element of her celebrations since.
Luckily we arranged the kids by height because the tallest kid was also a killer shot and busted that dragon into candy rain.
One little girl was there in almost the same dress as Fin. How funny, out of 9 kids. Really, Tea Collection, call us! Our kids will model for free merchandise!
The dragon bean-bag toss doubled as a photo op. Some were happier to be devoured by the dragon...
than others.
We wrapped up with a HTTYD cake and a very tired birthday girl who napped for two hours on the way home.
Tomorrow, on her actual birthday, we will have a quieter day with school cupcakes and a trip to the owl movie tomorrow night.
We had such a great time. I think it was everything she dreamed of for her first, real birthday party. Thanks to Mom and Dad for doing the food shopping and communications, to Nancy for her untiring work including getting the whole meal organized and on the table, and to MPC for hosting us and celebrating with us. It was wonderful!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Random Thoughts from 24 Hours in Maine
I flew out Friday morning from Norfolk alone and flew out this morning from Portland with my daughter. It feels right and good to have her with me again. I think I fared well during the separation and she had a fabulous time with her grandparents.
I had lots of random thoughts over the past couple of days.
* A conversation between children is a long game of Telephone. The message that gets across is rarely the message intended. Fin was relaying a conversation she had with a young boy at the campground. He told her, "God died. I saw it in my church. People stuck nails in him until he died." Fin, having never heard the story from that particular, violent direction identified it as a tale of horror and thus countered him with, "Zombies will eat your brains. They live in old buildings, but they are scared of fire." I called my mom to inquire about the background of this little boy. She didn't know him, but rightly pointed out that his parents were probably much more alarmed by the information he returned home with than I was.
* Central Park viewed from the air is a wonder. The fact that anyone had the foresight to preserve that much green space in a flourishing city and subsequent generations protected it even with what I am sure were tempting offers, is astounding.
* I love to travel with Fin. She is a superb traveler and doesn't need entertaining, goes with the flow whenever schedules or plans change, and she enjoys staying at hotels and flying on airplanes. She actually behaves better when we travel than she does at home. I particularly like to fly with her. As soon as she settles in, she always pulls out the safety card and carefully looks over every picture. She practices the safety stance of head down, bracing against the seat in front of you. She inquires about the location of our oxygen masks. Then, she generally proceeds to take a nap. I love that. Kind of acknowledging we might crash, but we certainly need our rest. She usually wakes up for the refreshment cart, though. You don't know how long you will be drifting along using your seat cushion as a flotation device and you wouldn't want to get hungry.
* There are people who enjoy taking pictures of lighthouses and people who don't. I am one of the latter. I find lighthouse life fascinating and the wrecks they fail to prevent are, with the distance of time, entertaining. There was a man at the Portland Head Light selling photos he had taken in varying seasons and types of light and certain backgrounds of sail boats or foregrounds of blooming flowers. He seemed perfectly delighted to discuss what led up to each photographic experience. I think I would have been morosely driving over to the lighthouse droning like the Dunkin Donuts guy, "Time to shoot the lighthouse."
* Did you know you can fly with a cello if you pay for another passenger ticket? You can even fall asleep snuggling with it. No extra charge.
* I have often said that I was so lucky to get the perfect daughter for me. She fits me, but not so well that I am not daily challenged. It is nice to see that my parents seem to have gotten the perfect granddaughter for them. She shares interests with them both, she entertains them, she makes them proud, and, yes, she challenges them a bit, too.
I had lots of random thoughts over the past couple of days.
* A conversation between children is a long game of Telephone. The message that gets across is rarely the message intended. Fin was relaying a conversation she had with a young boy at the campground. He told her, "God died. I saw it in my church. People stuck nails in him until he died." Fin, having never heard the story from that particular, violent direction identified it as a tale of horror and thus countered him with, "Zombies will eat your brains. They live in old buildings, but they are scared of fire." I called my mom to inquire about the background of this little boy. She didn't know him, but rightly pointed out that his parents were probably much more alarmed by the information he returned home with than I was.
* Central Park viewed from the air is a wonder. The fact that anyone had the foresight to preserve that much green space in a flourishing city and subsequent generations protected it even with what I am sure were tempting offers, is astounding.
* I love to travel with Fin. She is a superb traveler and doesn't need entertaining, goes with the flow whenever schedules or plans change, and she enjoys staying at hotels and flying on airplanes. She actually behaves better when we travel than she does at home. I particularly like to fly with her. As soon as she settles in, she always pulls out the safety card and carefully looks over every picture. She practices the safety stance of head down, bracing against the seat in front of you. She inquires about the location of our oxygen masks. Then, she generally proceeds to take a nap. I love that. Kind of acknowledging we might crash, but we certainly need our rest. She usually wakes up for the refreshment cart, though. You don't know how long you will be drifting along using your seat cushion as a flotation device and you wouldn't want to get hungry.
* There are people who enjoy taking pictures of lighthouses and people who don't. I am one of the latter. I find lighthouse life fascinating and the wrecks they fail to prevent are, with the distance of time, entertaining. There was a man at the Portland Head Light selling photos he had taken in varying seasons and types of light and certain backgrounds of sail boats or foregrounds of blooming flowers. He seemed perfectly delighted to discuss what led up to each photographic experience. I think I would have been morosely driving over to the lighthouse droning like the Dunkin Donuts guy, "Time to shoot the lighthouse."
* Did you know you can fly with a cello if you pay for another passenger ticket? You can even fall asleep snuggling with it. No extra charge.
* I have often said that I was so lucky to get the perfect daughter for me. She fits me, but not so well that I am not daily challenged. It is nice to see that my parents seem to have gotten the perfect granddaughter for them. She shares interests with them both, she entertains them, she makes them proud, and, yes, she challenges them a bit, too.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
While in Maine
Fin...
swam
walked the cat
saw the sights
ate ice cream
played putt putt
worked on charming the grands
went to the horse races
made new friends
see-sawed
went for walks with Grandpa
journeyed to the far East
rang a lighthouse bell
danced with Mommy
danced with Grandpa
staged a lobster battle
wrote a story about giraffes
and then stayed in Maine. I miss my beautiful girl.
I go get her in nine days. But who's counting?
swam
walked the cat
saw the sights
ate ice cream
played putt putt
worked on charming the grands
went to the horse races
made new friends
see-sawed
went for walks with Grandpa
journeyed to the far East
rang a lighthouse bell
danced with Mommy
danced with Grandpa
staged a lobster battle
wrote a story about giraffes
and then stayed in Maine. I miss my beautiful girl.
I go get her in nine days. But who's counting?
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