Proud Parents and Grandparents

I am all aglow from the events of the last week.

And not just because of the heat wave which engulfs us and is sending the kids home early today (the temperature in the classrooms is up over 100F, definitely no learning going on.)

No, I'm a very proud mom after a weekend of the school play, a horse show, and the sixth-grade award ceremony.

"It's Showtime!"
And best yet, all the grandparents and their uncle Goo were here to celebrate all of these with us.

The play, oh the play.  The kids--all the kids--were marvelous in Madagascar Jr., a musical retelling of the popular animated movie.  Bud played "Rico," the kung-fu fighting, sushi-loving penguin.  I loved watching him perform, from his slides onto the middle of the stage, his quick kung-fu moves, to his singing "Sea Shanty."  I really liked how he waddled and moved his head around like a real penguin. For me, he just lit up the stage.

Sis was a police officer, appearing mostly in the first few scenes and then the end, looking intimidating in her navy blue (real) police officer shirt and hat.  She does stern well and was believable with that walkie-talkie.  But oh, we had a shock to see her in eyeliner and blush.  She became a teenager right in front of us.  Kinda surprising.  But it all totally worked in the part.  And she didn't have to dance (which she does not like to do on stage.)

I was the snack coordinator again, meaning I oversaw the procurement and distribution of water and snacks to the cast during all three shows.  It's a bit of organizational work, but not much compared to people in charge of costumes, props, choreography, etc.  And we get to go backstage, which other parents not working do not.  I saw the show twice, checking the cafeteria before and after, and during intermission, and then worked the cafeteria snacks on Saturday.  It was pretty hot the last two performances, but we had enough water and watermelon, which is their favorite.  Mama, Gommie, and Pop also helped us out--fetching coolers and ice, helping bring in snacks.

After the show on Friday, we all headed to a local diner with much of the cast, loudly celebrating while wolfing down dinner.  Everyone was exhilarated and exhausted.  Saturday night, it was me, Mama, Gommie and our Beloved Babysitter and her boyfriend.  So special that they came!  She brought the kiddos flowers and then we all went to a diner together afterwards.  We love to see her and were interested to finally meet her chef boyfriend.

After Sunday's show, there was a cast party after the last performance.  The kids signed each other's t-shirts and posters between a chicken dinner and cake.  They also got the cast cards that audience members could leave for them.  We all wrote cards for Sis and Bud, and I also wrote cards to all my Girl Scouts and a few of the other cast members.  I just wanted them to know how much I really enjoyed the show and all their hard work.  It was a nice little party, after an amazing weekend.  And I couldn't be prouder.

Ride 'em, Horse Girl
In the midst of all that, Sis had a horse show on Saturday which we did not want to miss.  Even tired, she loves to ride "her" horse, Murphy.  So, Gommie, Pop, Mama, and I spent a hot day in the field watching those beautiful beasts and their composed riders.  Sis got a first place for jumping (because she made her diagonals correctly) and three third places for Walk-Trot-Canter equitation and pleasure (her dear Murphy was being a bit stubborn.)  I can't really tell what makes for a good ride; I just like watching.  Gommie was especially interested in how the whole horse show worked--the different events, the different commands ("the class is closed," "riders reverse at the wall," posting vs. half-seat, pleasure vs equitation--I understand it all, just barely.)  But we were all a bit relieved to get out of the heat after her events were over.  Still, I love watching her ride.  Almost as much as she loves horses!

Though, the kids did manage to go swimming with Gommie and Pop after eating some SmashBurgers!  And then it was off to the next performance . . . .  

And the Award Goes to  . . . .
It was a very hot night in the school auditorium, where I had been since Thursday (for the final dress rehearsal, I chaperoned with Gommie), but we were all happy to gather in our hot-weather finest for the celebration of the kids leaving elementary school.  I guess you could call it graduation or commencement, but they don't.  Sis wore her dress pants and white gauzy shirt, Bud was in a light blue Oxford--basic dress up clothes for them both (like for chorus or orchestra.)  We took a lot of pictures, in many combinations, getting a few great ones with grandparents and many of their school friends.  We didn't quite know what to expect from the ceremony, didn't really know what awards there were.  It started with a basic presentation of certificates for their involvement in the play, chorus, art, orchestra, etc., all of which were just passed out in an envelope.  We did know about the Presidential Awards, which the kids hoped to earn--the Gold award was for a 3.5 GPA and over 60 on various STAR tests.  I thought they qualified, but we didn't know until they were both called--the second set of twins to earn the Presidential Gold Award that night (the other set, in their class, also has two moms!)   They just beamed with pride and I was sniffly.  (I laughed that we should switch their last names so they could be called earlier in the round up!)  Then the Character Education Awards.  Someone had told Sis they thought she should get one--and she did!  Wow!  And then Bud won a prestigious Citizenship Award named after a local detective, that came with $100 (all the kids oohed and aahed)!  (He got it with another young lady, one of our friends and a former Girl Scout.)  Wow again!  So proud of them--academics and character!!!  Proud of all of our kids, especially their gifted-and-talented classmates and my Girl Scouts (current and former.)  It really was fun to celebrate them.  Which we did with more cake in the cafeteria, more pictures all over, and then a trip to the local ice cream shop with a bunch of their classmates.  I got a hot fudge sundae because I was proud of Mama and me, too.  Ma had even said we were good parents, which was a wonderful first.  My folks say it a lot, but it means so much each time; I was really glad that my dad made the trip, which was a last-minute decision.   And I'm glad they were all able to be with us, surrounding the kiddos with love and support during this exciting time.

And so now, they'll be home early because of the heat.  Gommie and Pop are off to who-knows-where, but we'll see them later.  The kids are essentially done with class--tomorrow is their 6th-grade picnic and then they have two half-days (hope the heat dismissal doesn't change that.)  Then they really are done!  Middle Schoolers!

It's all bittersweet.  I love their teachers and the supportive environment of the school.  They've had good times here and grown and learned so much.  I have, too.  But just as we moved from home to preschool, preschool to half-day kindergarten, half-day to full day, the small elementary school to the upper grades at the larger elementary school, we'll all be okay moving to middle school.  And I think, after a bit, we'll all be good, thanks to the love and support of family and community.

Treetop Adventures

Yesterday, Gommie took the kids to a rope course, which they'd been to on a GS family outing before.  They were so excited to try it again.  Gommie watched from below as they climbed, zipped, balanced, and navigated all the clips and tweezles, etc., sticking together as a team the whole time.  It was a beautiful day, with lots of sunshine and a stiff breeze, and Gommie enjoyed both watching and enjoying the outdoors.

Meanwhile, I stayed home alone and watched "The Fall," with Gillian Anderson sporting her British accent (she is bi-dialectal, having lived in both London and the midwest US as a child.)  And then I walked to the local deli down the street--just about half a city block--to get my lunch.  All.  By.  Myself.    So excited, so proud.  Best.  Lunch.  Ever.  So a pretty good day for us all.

Whew!

What a wonderful, exhausting, frustrating, fun first 24 hours.

• Kids' Service Team event.  The kids' service team is a great combo of community building and helping others.  We shared pizza, salad, and brownies at church, and then the kids made fleece blankets and the adults tried their hands at knitting.  Sis and a few of her friends joined us and we practiced casting on and knitting . . . and fixing our mistakes.  I learned a few new techniques--the one needle cast-on, how to prevent curling edges in an all-knit piece by dropping the first stitch of each row, how to rework dropped stitches with a crochet hook (over-under, over-under), and how to pull stitches off a needle and put them back on (very carefully, making sure stitches are facing the right way)--with the help of one of the experts.  It was all fun.  But now I have a scarf to finish!  
• Ice skating!
• Kung fu!
• Cookie booth--oh, the stories I could tell.  And so I will.  Of course, the GS cookie booth troubles started a couple of weeks ago when the store that had agreed to host several troops selling cookies changed their minds and we all had to scramble for new times and places and reschedule everybody!  Then today, we our people showed up at a different store, they said we weren't supposed to be there, though we had registered and our contact was on her way to smooth it over.  Well, don't mess with Cookie Moms!  And so we stayed put.  Until we had to move--our shifts were split between two stores because of the aforementioned schedule change.  THEN, a GS mom stationed at the store we'd just been at came over and harassed us for being at our store, saying we were competing with them and ruining their sales and that wasn't supposed to happen (though, there had been another troop at the store all morning--the troop of an older sister of one of our girls.) It happens every year.  EVERY Year.  Novice.  Again, don't mess with Cookie Moms!  But all of our girls worked their shifts, even in the cold, and we sold 40 cases of cookies, which is excellent.  We are very proud of our troop and very grateful to all of our volunteers.
• The VAGINA Monologues:  Our old church sponsored a fundraiser reading of the Eve Ensler play this evening and I went with a bunch of friends, who first gathered for dinner together.  Veggie lasagna, salad, garlic bread, flourless chocolate cake, and almond cake.  Yum!  And the show, oh, the show was amazing.  I'm ashamed to admit, as both a feminist and a lesbian, that I had never seen it.  But this production was perfect because I knew 95% of the cast, from old church and around town, and there they were saying things like vagina, cum, cunt, orgasm, hair, coochie snorcher, folds, clit, lips, wet, etc etc outloud in public!  And talking about rapes in Kosovo, female genital mutilation, repression, and even dry cotton tampons and cold duck lip specula!  We laughed riotously--at the Angry Vagina and the dominatrix who curated moans of her female clients (and demonstrated several of them, like the WASP moan and the exhausted Zen moan!)--and sighed at the "cellar" and "tulip" and lack of self-awareness (and cheered at the painful, glorious discovery of such), and choked up at the memories of violence.  It really was a wonderful evening.  So proud of the cast of wonderful, talented women, and of the UU church community that brought them together to benefit a women's outreach center nearby.  Well-done!  (It was also great to see so many old church friends, whom I miss often.  Took me awhile to hug my way out the door.  Haven't felt that much love and support and energy in a space, like that, since lesbian coffeehouse in Chicago.)
• I got home to discover that my BIL had been called back to work a hospital shift tonight.  He was with the kiddos and his sis for about an hour.  They were very sorry to see him go and quite subdued when I got home.  We know he'll try again soon and we'll have a good time and besides . . . . . 
• It looks like the weather is turning ugly earlier tomorrow than we expected, with anywhere from 1-6" coming (depending on whom you believe) plus ice, and so it is probably best that he won't be on the road tomorrow night.
• And so we'll see what tomorrow brings weather-wise, along with church, Soup Sunday, and the arts and crafts party.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Solo Almond Bundt Cake

Almond Glaze Topping
1 cup confectioners sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoon light cream

Cake
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3  eggs
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 can Solo Almond Cake and Pastry Filling or 1 jar of any other fruit filling
1⁄4 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze Topping (no chocolate on the one at church)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon buttermilk or low-fat milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond filling until blended. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. To make glaze, combine ingredients in small bowl, and stir until blended and smooth. Spoon or drizzle over top of cake. Let stand until glaze is set. Or top with fresh fruit and whipped cream!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Kidbits

Played Barbies with Sis tonight (yes, she has a couple.  From the in-laws.)  After dressing her blonde Barbie--named Lizzie--in a fabulous lamé outfit with purple kinky boots, she announced that it was time for the party!  A party to benefit the baby seals.  'Cos Lizzie has a doctorate--"but doesn't need to be called 'Dr.'"--and is also a wealthy philanthropist who arranges events to raise money and awareness of environmental issues and endangered animals. For $5 a ticket.  She also has a few dolphins.  And a monkey.  

All her friends came, in their skimpy dresses fit only for a red-light district--Charlotte, Julia, and my doll Violet, who owns a pizzeria, which she works at in a purple and silver lamé dress.  And brown leather kinky boots.  I added short pants for modesty.  (BTW, did Barbies always have such huge butts and hips?  Or is this the Kardashian model?  Velcro was busting out all over.)

Then they had a gymnastics competition, after taking off those kinky boots, because Lizzie is considering doing the Olympics.

Her mom told her she could.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Do You Hear the Penguins Sing?

It has been a remarkable summer for the Penguin and Bunny Theater Troupe.  They have presented, under the direction of Bud, both The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, with a very short run of The Battle of the Penguins and Bunnies and selections from Wicked.    The performances take place in our living room, in front of the blue backdrop of Bud's comforter.  For Les Miz, Bud was especially creative with the sets, utilizing small wooden chairs in different positions for the barricade, bridge, sewers, and "Master of the House" tavern. The boat on the lake from Phantom, in "Music of the Night" (my favorite scene), was used here as the death cart.  (The mirror scene in Phantom was also great.)   Mama loved Smeak as the flag bearer in "One Day More," while I loved the little groundhog as Eponine.  Tango, who appeared as the Phantom, is Valjean here.  We look forward to the next production, though there do not seem to be plans in the works for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The Penguin and Bunny Theater Troupe

Marius and Cosette sing a duet, with Eponine below

"One Day More," with Smeak waving the red flag

Summer Fun: Broadway!!

It was our Broadway weekend!  We were in the city to see Phantom of the Opera, last year's Christmas present.  We had Saturday night tickets instead of matinee because we wanted to see Sierra Boggess as Christine, having watched her on the Royal Albert Hall 25th anniversary Phantom performance.  We also waited til summer so we could see Norm Lewis, the first African-American Phantom on Broadway.  And was it worth the wait!  We loved the show.  Lewis was phenomenal--rich, warm voice that could also handle the high bits and his interpretation of both the needy and angry aspects of the Phantom was spot on.  I think I might have liked him better than the others I've seen (I saw Phantom in 1990 in London!  It is one of my very favorite shows.)  Bud, who can play some of the songs on the piano, was mesmerized by the music and the stagecraft, staring wide-eyed through the whole show.  Sis liked it, too, though she was sitting further from me so I couldn't watch her reactions.  Afterwards, we "stage-doored," which involves waiting, Sharpie marker and programs in hand, for autographs and pictures.  Sierra Boggess actually came out quite quickly and signed the kids' programs and stood for a picture with us and others before getting in her car.  Norm Lewis was later, after we talked to "Carlotta" and "Monsieur Fermin," but he graciously talked, signed, and stood for pictures with everyone.  Bud gushed, "You were awesome!" and Lewis fist-bumped him.  So cute.  Sis is quieter but he stooped to talk to her.  Such a thrill!  It's great to be able to take the kids to Broadway shows and other activities in the city.  I love the city; Mama, a native, does too.  It also reminds me of how Gommie took me to dozens of shows on tour in Houston, to museums, to historic sites, to festivals--it was such a gift of art, history, and culture, involvement in a broader sphere beyond suburbia; we try to do the same.  Thanks, Gommie!  Maybe next time you come to the northeast, you can take the kids to a show--they've mentioned Matilda!  

We did some of our other favorite things:  we ate at Sapporo's off Times Square--Japanese ramen shop (Bud likes the seafood Tokyo Ramen, I like the vegetable ramen, Sis gets the katsu and gyoza.  Mama got some spicy noodles.  And we love their egg and potato salad with this great dressing.); we went to the M&M store (so many new flavors--raspberry, coconut, I wish they had orange chocolate); and Juniors for cheesecake, egg creams, and breakfast the next morning.

And we stayed in our favorite place, with an incredible view of Times Square; I could even see my old street.  Hard to believe I moved to NYC 21 years ago, to 44th Street exactly 19 years ago.  Mercy, how the area has changed.  Mama and I talked about the old stores and restaurants--Phantom of Broadway (which was where Toys R Us is now; there's actually still a Phantom of Broadway down 43rd), the Virgin Megastore, the Sam Bok Korean grocery on 43rd, Fresco Tortilla, the Thai restaurant, the Greek diner--and people, like the man who danced salsa with a doll in the subway station, the Sons of Israel or something like that who would wear  robes like the Three Wise Men in a play and spouted identity politics and religion on the corner, the old couple who ran my local pizza place.  There were the Coca-Cola sign with the straw that went  up and down, the steaming Lipton cup of soup, the huge Cats billboard with just the eyes at Winter Garden.  I love my old stomping grounds, even though they are quite changed.

We'll actually go back in a few weeks to see another show.  And we'll hang out in Times Square again.

Breakfast at Our House

While the kids polished off the last of their loaves of soda bread, I had a piece of the whole wheat sourdough soda bread that I made yesterday.  It's good, but it's better with butter.

So we were all passing the butter around and it soon took on a weird shape.  And so we started intentionally to carve shapes, first a pyramid and then:

Voilà, the Eiffel Tower!

Mama said, "Wrong country."

-=-=-=-=-=-
Whole-Wheat Sourdough Soda Bread

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sourdough starter, fed or unfed
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted butter
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup milk

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a cast-iron skillet.
2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt.
3) In a separate bowl (or in a measuring cup), whisk together the starter, butter, honey, and milk. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The dough will be stiff; if it's too crumbly to squeeze together, add another tablespoon or two of milk.
4) Knead the dough a couple of times to make sure it's holding together.  Place ball of dough in skillet and slice top with a cross.
5) Bake the loaf for 40-60 minutes, until it's golden brown and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and brush top with melted butter, if desired.

adapted from King Arthur Flour

Frozen Fun

They played Frozen this evening, acting out the whole thing.  At one point, they were Christoff and his reindeer Sven.  Guess who was who?

Yep, Sis had the reins.  The beanbags were the sled, two jump ropes together were the reins, and Bud the reindeer had shoes on his hands.

Otherwise, Bud was Elsa and Sis was Anna, singing their respective songs.

Bud was also an amazing Olaf, doing great comedic gestures.

It was wonderful.

Continuing their current obsession, Sis read the whole movie novelization in one sitting, while Bud continued drawing his favorite characters.

And through it all, I perfected my skills with our new wireless SONOS music system (I had been pointing my phone at the system like a remote control to make it work; Mama laughed at me for being "so 20th century!)

Now I just wish it would snow!  They could make a great Olaf snowguy or an ice palace.

Expanding the Whovian Universe

The kids love "Doctor Who."

We watched two episodes last weekend and they begged for more this weekend.  Meanwhile, they played with my sonic screwdrivers, drew pictures of the TARDIS, and read the Who encyclopedia.  And, so, on Saturday night we watched "Blink," the episode with the scary Weeping Angels.  But it was a little too much.
Then Sunday morning after UU service, Sis and Bud played "Doctor Who" on the playground with the other kids.  They all talked about Daleks and Cybermen, Doctors 9, 10, and 11, the Face of Boe.  And they ran around playing a kind of Weeping Angels tag, only moving when their target wasn't looking.  It really was perfect, a happy/proud parenting moment for me and the sense of how right the UU church is for us.  And I think it purged them of Weeping Angel nightmares.

Of course, now when we go to London, they want to visit the Doctor Who store with its TARDIS.  They also want to see Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4 and the phone booth where he dialed into the Ministry of Magic.  So much for the Tower or Westminster Abbey or the British Museum--our trip to London this spring might be a fandom trip!

Under the (Almost) Full Moonlight

"Under the full moonlight, we dance
Spirits dance; we dance.
Joining hands, we dance.
Joining souls, rejoice!"

There was enough time and daylight after dinner for the kiddos to continue their playing outside, where they'd been in the hour leading up to dinner already.  Despite the increasing nip in the air, they wouldn't stop to put on long pants.

About 30 minutes later, Sis came running in the house, "Mom, there are BEANS on the plants!"  And she led me outside to see.  Sure enough, there were some beans on our much-ignored pole bean plants.  We also saw that the kale is finally growing, after repeat visits from the local wildlife (which begs the unvoiced question, "Where did the wildlife go?"

Once outside, I was invited to witness several performances--kung fu dances with found sticks as swords, acrobatics on the swings and rings and bar, and some odd slide maneuvers whereby they crawled up backwards, on their stomachs, in something called "the slug."

When they noticed the (almost) full moon rising, they began to dance and sing around the backyard, making up moon songs (one to the tune of "Over the Rainbow"); I sang the lyrics above, myself.  Above their shouts and calls, I could just make out the song of the cicada.  But they were too wild for reverie.  And probably too young.

We stayed out until I saw the first star, before the moon topped the treetops.  I love fall evenings.

Table for Two

While Mama and I lazily delayed getting out of bed Sunday, discussing the big breakfast we would make, the kids surprised us by setting up a restaurant downstairs.  There were even menus!  So I ordered trail mix and cheese and crackers, with iced tea, while Mama had peanut and crackers with water.  (Not exactly the pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs that we had dreamed of!)  We received prizes with our meal, little toys.  There was piano accompaniment.  And even a restaurant cat!  All for $2.  Plus tip. And we bought the discount membership.

They've been playing restaurant for years.  They have a huge assortment of plastic food and dishes and have many times converted the sofa table to a restaurant table.  On Sunday, there were cloth napkins and a tablecloth!  Sis even has an order pad she got from the nice man at the local gyro place; she uses it lovingly and sparingly.  One of my favorite versions is hibachi, where they chop lots of food and even bang the seasoning shaker cup over the meal.  I love that now they are using real food!

Of course, sometimes I wonder (or worry) that perhaps real restaurants play too big a role in our lives--we do so like to eat out.  But it's too late to change that and I'm not sure I want to that much.

What Have You Built with Pillows Lately?

“You never know when you’re going to build your last fort.”  I wonder if I've seen Sis and Bud's last?  Oh, I hope not.

Catching up on some light reading today and appreciated this article on pillow forts.

And I knew from experience that sheets make better roofs than blankets.

Sunset on Our Green Hour

It's become our post-school ritual to play outside for an hour after the kids get off the bus, from approximately 4-5 pm.  The kids have a picnic snack, practice their kung fu, climb bushes, run obstacle courses, play in their homemade branch shelter, "cook" with mud and berries, run up the slide, swing on the playset, perform musicals, "excavating" the boulders like archaeologists, really whatever they dream up.  I like playing with them, when they ask.  I like watching them play, while I walk back and forth deep in thought (or not).  I like our unstructured outdoor time, the perfect antidote to an 8-hour day at school.  After our hour, by dusk, we head inside for homework and dinner.  But today, there were no rays of light touching our yard when they got off the bus; it was dusk already.  By 5 pm, it looked like this:

Sure, it was extra-fun tonight to watch the moon rise before dinner, but soon, it'll look like this almost immediately after they get home.  And our happy, go-lucky, creative outdoor freeplay will be on hiatus until spring.

Just another reason I don't like "fall back."

Homemade Musicals

With Into The Woods stuck in their brains the way that musical can, Sis and Bud have been putting on their own shows in the backyard.  Call it "Into the Woodland Critters."  Bud is a friendly, kung-fu dancing fox.  Sis is a kind, berry-picking bunny.  They take turns singing solos, mainly based on the opening number of Into the Woods, or dancing, during which I'm supposed to hum their theme songs ("Peter Cottontail" for her; the Wicked Witch of the West theme for him?!).  Sometimes I get a walk-on as the slow hedgehog.

This new incorporation of music into play has carried over into other arenas.  They now chant words that touch their fancy, like "ham," or repeat everything I say in an operatic aria ("It's time for dinner."  "It's, it's it's, timmmmmeeeeee for-or-or-or din-ner!").

Bravo! Brava! Bravissimi!

Here Be Dragons!

This morning while waiting for the bus, we had fun "blowing smoke" with our breaths in the cool air.  Who blows smoke?  Dragons!  So Sis was Toothless (How To Train Your Dragon) and Bud was Norbert (Harry Potter), while I was Puff and Mama was Pete's dragon, Elliot.  I'm sure we looked crazy to the neighbors heading to work and to the bus driver picking them up as we stomped around the driveway blowing smoke and waving our arms flying.

Fantasia

We live in Fantasy Land here.

Sometimes, the stories come from movies, as when the kids play Jedis with their lightsabers or Ewoks outside in their large stick hut (complete with fire circle and swings-as-gliders).

Sometimes, the stories come from books, such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and playing wizards or building with Legos; Secrets of Droon and battling the evil Lord Spar; even the Disney fairy stories and imagining which talent they would have as they flit in and out of the Faerie Hut (previously the Ewok hut).

Sometimes, they just make up their own stories using elements from all of the above or none.

And there are so many other worlds they'll visit in books--Middle Earth, Redwall, Narnia, Oz, Wonderland, to name a few--plus any number of their own imaginings.

It's, well, fantastic!

Under the Basement Stairs

Our kiddos have a new favorite story: The Secrets of Droon. Recommended by Babysitter from her own childhood, the 40-book series follows three "Upper World" friends on their adventures in Middle-Earth-like Droon, the portal to which is in the basement. We've read and listened on CD to six of the books, which have also been recreated in Legos and acted out in dramatic play. Sis is, of course, the heroine Princess Keeah and Bud likes to be the wizard Galen Longbeard. I'm always the mom, once a cursed white falcon, named Queen Relna. I haven't followed all the books--I read the first two but Gommie and Pop heard the others in the car--and so am confused by Ninns and Groggles and evil Lord Spaar and the hidden entrance to the castle in the volcano. But, if you know Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, you can extrapolate and get along fine. Which is good because I'm not sure I can keep up for 34 more books!

Here at Hogwarts

Well, we've ushered in a new era: the era of Harry Potter.

Yep, even though the kids have neither read the books nor seen the movies, they are now completely absorbed with all things wizard. It started with mild curiosity about Harry Potter because of a mug I've drunk out of for years with Hagrid and the kids on it, the calendar and books I got for Christmas, the fact that Mama and I sent to see the movie, and especially the names of our cats, Albus and Hermione. But it exploded when they built the Hogwarts Castle out of Legos with Mama this weekend and have since been allowed to play with it.

And so they make up stories, knowing that the characters are magic and there are bad guys. In fact, I've explained it in Star Wars terms and have been struck by how superficially similar they are: Harry is Luke, Hermione is Leia, Ron is Han, Dumbledore is Obi-Wan, Voldemort is Vader, Death Eaters and Dementors are stormtroppers. The hero gets help from his friends to protect good and defeat evil while learning more about himself, his parents, and the past as well as experiencing devastating losses in the process, generally.

I've told them the colorful bits of the wizarding world, about owls and Quidditch, potions and the Cloak of Invisibility. But I'm trying not to share the "secrets" of the HP narrative because I don't want to ruin the books for them in advance (and I won't mention those here because at least one of my friends is still working her way through all the books!). The kids are free to make up their own stories based on what they know, which has had some funny results. For instance, in their HP world, Prof. Flitwick is a major character!

I realized this morning that Harry Potter has entered the canon of their play because the house is now different parts of the castle (the kitchen is the Great Hall, our room is Dumbledore's office) and we are now characters. I'm McGonagall, Sis is Harry (yes, she loves being the hero), and Bud is Hermione (who in this case is very interested in astronomy because the Lego castle has a telescope). We've just had Transfiguration class, where the students learned to transform themselves into animals (after learning how to change the colors of scarves and then change the scarves into small animals), and then we were attacked by some Dementors, whom we fought off with spells (which I am half remembering from the book, including "expelliarmus" and "transfiguro," which I made up). Right now, Harry is wandering around in his Cloak looking for the Sorcerer's Stone, a rainbow-colored kooshball, to help us defeat Voldemort.

Must get back to it because we're going to play Wizard's Checkers . . . .

Our Own Loquat Tree

There was a party in our backyard this weekend. And we found the evidence yesterday after school. Running around in the back and front, the kids noticed all sorts of footprints, mostly human but not all. Intrigued, we followed them around the yard, spotting different paths, different shapes. Exactly what kinds of animals had visited us? Sis thought black bear. Bud believes birds flew around but didn't land. After taking pictures of several of the tracks, we headed inside to our trusty computer and looked up different animal tracks. We eliminated black bear, as well as opossum, deer, fox, coyote. That left squirrel and raccoon, with very similar prints complete with claws but in two different sizes. And then there were the droppings. Not of any of those animals above, we checked. Turns out that it's proof of our resident bunny, whom Mama sees at night in the yard when she comes home. Sis was ecstatic. We called Mama; we called Pop. They wanted to call all of their school friends to report on the clues. Bud termed us "Bud, Sis, and Mommy the Great," after the Nate the Great books we like to read. The animals weren't the only ones who had a party.

out in the back by the grape stake fence
is a place where nature makes so much sense
all the creatures livin' in harmony
it's a wild wild party in the loquat tree

fuzzies and furries run walk or fly
havin' a feast beneath a clear blue sky
animals comin' from miles around
to bounce the branch and shake the loquat down

the squirrel and the sparrow and the mouse and the bee
all havin' a party in the loquat tree
eatin' all the yellow fruit they can see
it's a wild wild party in the loquat tree

--Indigo Girls, "Wild Wild Party in the Loquat Tree"

Urban Legend

We were playing Native American village yesterday in the cold and blustery, very November weather, inspired by our Mashantucket Pequot museum visit. Bud's already become quite a shot with his bow, sending arrows more than 25 feet. Luckily the arrows have little power and no tip so they won't hurt anyone, but we're still encouraging safety and aiming only at trees, bushes, or the ground. Sis was the medicine woman in the two-story wigwam (aka our playset fort). "It's a New York wigwam," she explained, "with a shop on the bottom and the house on the top." Plus, apparently, it has tv: when Bud went on his elk hunt, we stayed behind to watch on television! Very urban Indians, these, which is in keeping with our continued emphasis that Native Americans today don't live in wigwams and wear feathers all the time but are still very much present and living their culture. It's very present for us too, because as I type, here at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, the kids have headed outside into yet more cold to continue playing.