Make yer own ying

Hoo boy, I’ve been busy. Enjoy some Chef Ood, recorded by his cool cousin.

Birth of a dwarf

Did I ever mention that we are dwarves, born from rocks?

The miracle of birth. And what do we call the baby now? Hrm.

Taken at City of Rocks over Labor Day

NaBloPoMo?

I  just had the craziest thought. What if I blogged again? What if I blogged every day in November and it was so awesome the whole world erupted in bright colors?

Stay tuned!

arcade fire euphonium!

When I was a kid I played the euphonium, an instrument about as well known as the hurdy gurdy. For reasons I cannot now explain, I got pretty good at it and went to college on euphonium scholarship, eventually dropping it and dropping out to pursue life as a loser.

Anyway.

My niece, Jo, turned me on to the music of The Arcade Fire this summer. I was looking at some video of them on youtube last night, when lo! what should appear in the lower right hand corner at 1:04? A euphonium! Playing Neon Bible!

At first I thought I should have become an indie rocker too, since I happen to have that skill. But then I remembered they also sometimes play the hurdy gurdy.

new hair, old camera

Stephanie wanted to see my sort of new look. Fear me.

Also pictured is one reason for my long blog absence. That stupid camera was really nice when I got it eight years ago, but now it won’t hold a charge for even 5 minutes (see, it is plugged in so I could take my own photo there.)

But another reason I’ve been gone so long, Steph, since you are the one who has been bugging me to come back, is that I think my tone has changed. Maybe you won’t like it. Read at your own risk.

s-Tood-ious

Despite appearances, I haven’t fallen off the end of the world. I’ve got a pinkie hold yet. We’re just cramming to finish homeschool for this year.

brb

and your mama dresses you funny

I asked Pi to get the baby dressed, and rather than choosing, you know, clothes, this is what she came up with:

“Oh please! Mr. Tiger, don’t eat me up, and I’ll give you my beautiful tie dyed bandana plus a little sass to boot.”

Not to be outdone, here is Ood a couple weeks ago

sporting manly pajama pants on his head, what else? The world looks to Ood when they are wondering what to wear–especially for fancy occasions like holidays.

Thumbing through these photos, I kept wondering where these people get their idea of what makes a legitimate outfit? Of course, this is what I dressed the baby in the day Ood chose a raccoon suit:

Nice tie dye, no? Especially with those clown socks, I think. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

:::

Pi is publishing her novella in her blog!!! Read the first chapter and a half here.

After Easter

Wondering what to do with all those boxes of peeps you hoarded under your bed so the kids wouldn’t find them? (C’mon! I know we’ve all got them!)

peep brûlée

Mmmmm, mmmm!

creative play

My children’s creative use of toys gives me a glimpse into the inner workings of their young minds.

Mr. Potato Head has hairy armpits.

toob

Would you look at this? A mainstream TV show depicting a family with four children and both a mother and father. Now there’s something you don’t see much.

As long as we are wasting time on YouTube, my little Star Wars fans loved this one!

I’ll post my own blog material tomorrow, though, k?

latest trends

Some of you have been wondering what to wear as the seasons begin to change. Naturally, we look to the avant-garde trend setters in the fashion world to let us know what is around the corner in style. Ood’s paparazzi recently spotted him wearing this:

Belts. Not just for waists anymore.

Choirfest

Tood is asleep now, but in a few minutes I’m going to wake him again to spoon some water into his lips and perhaps feed him a bite of yogurt. Just before I got up this morning he had to race to the bathroom for what would be the first of fourteen quadrillion hard purges. Poor guy. It’s not fun being sick.

Friday and Saturday the children’s choir Tood sings in hosted a big choirfest, which was a wonderful and exhausting festival for his and some visiting choirs. You can see they are wearing their various performance clothing in this photo of their final concert.

They are just getting on the risers here. Tood is easy to spot, because not only is he the cutest, he is also the smartest (and perhaps he is also the shortest.) They sang many fun songs, including a long scene scene from Ahmal and the Night Visitors with opera students from the university singing the lead parts, and an entire children’s opera The Emperor’s New Clothes, also with university cast playing the leads. I thought it was amazing they could put together such a polished program in only two days.

The choirs also sang a few songs individually.

I love the clear, beautiful sound of this children’s choir and always get choked up when they start to sing. Maybe it sounds like this when angelsl sing, at least I imagine. It is a good fit for Tood, and I am proud of him.