Puppeteers-in-Training

Last week, one of the moms at school presented a "Three Bears" puppet show to the kids, letting them help and also examine all the various puppets, including some extra marionettes and shadow puppets. Sis was overjoyed because she got to be the little bear in the production, which in a sweet twist, was the part I played in a dress-up version of the play when I was in preschool! (Of course, Bud was disappointed not to have a part). Since then, Bud and Sis have been obsessed with puppets, using their stuffed critters hanging by necklaces from tinkertoys as marionettes like the ones we saw in "The Snow Maiden" puppet show. Today, we decorated the hand-puppet forms the mom gave each of the children: Sis made hers a pink bunny on one side (with felt ears to attach later) and little bear, of course, on the other; Bud made a penguin and a boy on his. And then they put on a puppet show for me, using the blanket-draped piano bench as the stage. I was thinking of making a foam-core puppet theater (such as the one I made at the museum once, with removable wax paper shield for shadow puppets!) because I think there will be many more puppet shows, and puppets, in our near future. Fun!

Hair Day

The kiddos love to "do" my hair, which includes pulling out the basket of hair clips and bands that I have leftover from the days when my hair was much longer. Still, even at shoulder-length, the kids are able to tie my hair up in all sorts of styles. Right now, I have a headband and two extra barrettes. Last week, they managed 14 separate barrettes! All to make me, in their words, "look pretty and fancy."

Painting Under the Table

I was the guest parent at school today, there to teach a lesson on Michelangelo. Now, that Italian Renaissance man would not be my first choice to share with 4 year olds, if only because of the issues of nudity and religion (which can be hot-button issues in schools), but the art project that the teachers wanted to try was too much fun to pass up: they put butcher paper on the underside of a table and the children crawled underneath it, lay on their backs, and drew (we weren't crazy enough to try actual, drippy paint). Just like Michelangelo did for 4 years to create paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

And it was quite a success, though I doubt they'll remember his name! They loved trying to draw "upside-down" but most didn't stay for long, saying it was too hard to draw shapes (triangles and rectangles like the divisions in the Sistine Chapel), as well as figures and animals (inspired by that snake in the scene of Adam and Eve). Bodies, in addition to the process itself, were our main theme today as we explored how Michelangelo depicted the human form, for example his strong, powerful Sibyls (some of the only clothed, non-biblical figures in the whole darned thing and thus some of the only ones I could easily talk about. I mean, really, do you want to show them God and have to answer questions about whether he looks like that or not? My kids would be asking "who is God?" Just don't want to go there in a short presentation!). We also looked at some of his sculptures--the Pieta and David (but only pictured from the waist up in my book). And compared them to the Sibyls--powerful muscles, drapery, color vs. marble, paint vs. sculpture. We even had a piece of Carrara marble so they could feel how hard it was. To wrap up, we played a quick version of "statue come alive," with the children taking turns "sculpting" their partners into various poses.

I tried not to overload them with facts or art historical terms, so we didn't really talk about fresco or the biblical stories or Pope Julius II or the Italian Renaissance. I tried to give an idea of the scale of the ceiling, how long it was, how high off the ground it was, how long it took, how alone he was, how hard it was. I think they got that. They can learn the rest of it later. That's what my colleagues' Art History 101 classes are for!

The Saints Go Kickin' In!

I'm so excited that the New Orleans Saints will be going to their first Super Bowl. That means I might watch more than the commercials . . . .

A Museum Educator's Worst Nightmare

The NYTimes Arts Beat reports:

On Friday afternoon a woman taking an adult education class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance and fell into “The Actor,” a rare Rose PeriodPicasso, tearing the canvas about six inches along its lower right-hand corner.

My own unfortunate gallery experience (though not nearly that unfortunate)with a Picasso involved an upset seeing-eye dog at the AIC who defecated in front of The Old Guitarist! I'm glad I'm not the woman, the educator, or the guard (not their faults, per se, but still no good).

Sports Sympathies

My sympathies are extended to Mama Teacher's family, particularly her husband, whose beloved Jets lost this evening. Sure, you'll be glad to let the boys get haircuts now (it's a superstitious sports family), but watching your team in the Super Bowl would have been better.

Mules, Mujadara, Music, and Mmmmm

At the Nature Center, we petted a chinchilla, avoided all the pea hens, cowered at the clucking chickens, lavished love on the giant rabbits (even introducing the white one to Amy the bunny and the beige one to Tango the penguin), laughed at the otters, chased the huge farmyard cats, eyed the boas and pythons warily, and smiled at the llamas, donkeys (okay, they weren't mules), sheep, goats, and various cows. We also skipped rocks on the ice of the pond, marveling at the distances of sticks, bark, and acorns.

Then we had lunch at a local Middle Eastern place, one of the best we've encountered here (in Chicago, we lived around the corner from four great ones (Cousin's, Reza's, Andie's, and the Olive Tree!) and so go into withdrawl frequently for various Mediterranean dishes). We ordered a little bit of everything, not sure what the kid would like, even though we billed it all as "Silk Road food": lentil soup, mujadara (lentils and rice with fried onions), "plain" rice (with noodles, a lot like rice a roni), chicken kebab, chicken shwarma, kefte kebab, and a platter with hummus, baba ganoush, dolmades, tabbouleh, pita, tahini, and garlic dip--most of it sprinkled with sumac. YUM! Bud liked the shredded chicken shwarma mixed in with the plain rice, while Sis liked either chicken as long as it was still in the wrap, sans all sauce. Their favorite part? The mango nectar drink. It was a wonderful change from our usual fare, which is mostly Italian or Chinese. And each time we go, we swear we'll go more often.

Then we went to the concert, which focused on percussion instruments. I knew it was perfect for Bud and Sis as we entered the hall and saw the djembe and doumbek drums, marimba, and gongs. Then the percussionist came in waving one of those plastic ribbed tubes that whistle when spun. That got everyone's attention! He and the trumpet player then spent the next 45 minutes talking about beat/pulse, rhythm, vibrations, melody, rounds, fanfares, and the like, in a very entertaining and age-appropriate way. Bud and Sis sat on the floor with Mama and were mesmerized, clapping and singing along, even getting to place their hands inside the drums to "feel" the sounds. But their favorite part, after the marching along to the snare drums, was playing the instruments themselves: drumming on the two drums, using the mallets on the marimba, even fingering the valves of the trumpet while he blew. It's the second time we've been to the children's symphony concerts and we can't wait to go see the whole orchestra when they turn 6 (and can go for free with an adult!).

We made a last stop at the cupcake shop on the way home for gigantic cupcakes. Bud, of course, wanted strawberry, which they fortunately had, in a normal size. But Sis got a chocolate one that was huge! It was disappointing, though, because the cake turned out to be vanilla and her little face fell. So, of course, we fetched a full on chocolate one, which she devoured, getting so much chocolate on her face that the table across the room thought she was so cute. Mama's tiramisu cupcake was a great idea but disappointing, probably because they didn't/couldn't include the alcohol! I got a peanut butter/chocolate combo that was outstanding, perhaps for the nostalgia factor, as the pb frosting reminded me of the pb cake I would get in elementary school.

All in all a great day, except it's Sunday and we usually do these outings on Saturday, so I keep thinking that tomorrow is a family day, too.

Happy Birthday, Lambeth!

The kids, who just learned it was your birthday, are singing the Imagination Movers' birthday song for you

"H-A-double P-Y

'Cos it's your birthday!

Birthday, birthday,

Everybody say 'birthday!'"

We're sending love and birthday wishes your way!

Mourning for Myself

Remember Me

To the living, I am gone.
To the sorrowful, I will never return.
To the angry, I was cheated.
But to the happy, I am at peace.
And to the faithful, I have never left.
I can not speak, but I can listen.
I can not be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore,
Gazing at a beautiful sea…remember me.
As you look in awe at a mighty forest
And its grand majesty...remember me.
As you glance at a flower and admire its
Simplicity...remember me.
Remember me in your heart, your thoughts,
And your memories of the times we loved,
The times we cried, the times we fought,
The times we laughed.
For if you always think of me,
I will never have gone.

---Debbie Ann Walters

I always cry at funerals and today, where I was only on a nodding acquaintance with the deceased, was no exception. Even though I was not mourning the loss of his presence in my life, specifically, I was recognizing his death, honoring his memory, celebrating his life, companioning his survivors, by attending his funeral. I think it's important to attend the services for my fellow congregants--a sign of respect, of connection, of community--even if I don't know them well.

So, yesterday in anticipation, the kids and I baked double-chocolate chip cookies (though they didn't know why I needed half of them), and I took the overflowing platter with me this afternoon to grace the funerary table, along with numerous other church offerings.

But I forgot my tissues. I always seem to, until the moment I'm sitting there and the funeral starts and my tears begin to flow. I cry at the beauty of the music, the inspiration of the readings, the grief of the family, the memories of the eulogy, the touching reflections of the attendees (UUs often invite family and friends to speak spontaneously about the deceased, thus UU funerals can be 1 1/2+ hours sometimes. We are a wordy bunch). Today;s memorial service (in truth, not an actual funeral) was especially touching, as it included my favorite hymn (#21, "For the Beauty of the Earth", UU-style with the "Source of all" instead of "Lord above"), several bagpipe pieces such as "Amazing Grace," a military tribute with a gun salute and "Taps" and the whole presentation of the flag, a violin-piano rendition of "Ashokan Farewell," even Dvorak's Largo, often called "Going Home," from the New World Symphony.

Perhaps morbidly, I find myself considering, not what happens after death, about which I'm not too concerned as I don't think we can ever know, or even the possibilities of my own death (the fact of which I am certain, the details of which will be a mystery until they reveal themselves), but my own funeral--live music sounds wonderful but I like my favorite Indigo Girls and showtunes, too, so which one (hmmm, a CD of my favorite songs playing as people arrive--and give them all a copy)? And which hymns? And which readings? I like a huge reception afterwards with lots of food, so should it be held in time for lunch? Potluck not just catered, for the homey touch--and share those recipes! Of course, most of this doesn't really matter to me--funerals are for the living more than the dead--for the contemplation of both death and life, ours and theirs, before and after--and so I leave most of the decisions up to my survivors (I've tried to make some choices and have filled out the church form numerous times, never being able to decide. Just cremate me, have a get together, and eat a lot. I leave the rest to whomever. And no, I don't think this is imminent, but I like to be prepared, even partially). And I try not to think of the funerals I'll probably have a hand in planning. Or, heaven forbid, funerals I don't ever want to have to attend, mainly those of my children. Much less the actual deaths at the focus of the grieving. It's actually safer and more comforting to think on the specifics of my service. But all of it crosses my mind, if even briefly, during the span of the ceremony. So, the tears. For the deceased, his survivors, my friends and family, me.

And so I end with a reading from today, from a poem by Bessie Stanley (not Ralph Waldo Emerson):

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

-=-=-=-=-=

Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 salt

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon instant espresso-coffee powder

3/4 cup hot water

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Mocha glaze (optional)

1 preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 12 cup bundt pan.

2 on sheet of waxed paper, stir together flour, baking soda,baking powder and salt.

3 In 2 cup measuring cup, mix cocoa, espresso-coffee powder and hot water until blended, set aside.

4 In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat the sugar,oil,egg whites, and whole egg until blended. Increase speed to high beat until creamy, about 2 min. Reduce speed to low, beat in cocoa mixture, chocolate, & vanilla. Add flour mixture alternating with buttermilk, beat just until combined, escraping bowl occasionally .

5 Pour batter into prepared pan. bake 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean,Cool in pan on wire rack 10 min..invert into wire rack.

6 meanwhile prepare Mocha Glaze. Place cake on cake plate, pour

glaze over top of cooled cake letting it run down the sides

Mocha Glaze......in medium bowl, combine 1/4 teaspoon instant espresso -coffee, add 2 tablespoons hot water, stir until dissolved. Stir in 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup,2 tablespoons orange liqueur until blended,stir in 1 cup confectioners sugar until smooth.

*** Before I poured the glaze on, I make little perforations with a wooden skewer all over the cake, I made a simple syrup poured Grand Marnier to it and poured it on the cake, let it stand for 20 minutes and then I poured the glaze on, and some orange zest.****

Hope you like it again.

Freaky Friday

Today at the doctor's office, I took along a Dr. Seuss compendium with several stories we hadn't read. Turns out they were all written by Seuss (under the pen name Theo. LeSieg, his real name Geisel spelled backwards), but illustrated by others, making them, I suppose, part of the lesser canon. I mean, do you know Would You Rather be a Bullfrog? or I am Not Going to Get Up Today or Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! (or is it just me?).

Anyway, one of the stories was Wacky Wednesday. And it is about a child who wakes up and notices his shoe on the wall. As he goes about his day, he finds several more wacky things--and readers do too as they search each page to find all the wacky things--upside-down pictures, miscolored flags, baby carriages without wheels, a worm chasing a bird, a plane flying backwards--all the way up to 20 wacky things on the last page. Bud and Sis had a field day searching for all the oddities, only not locating the few that had to do with misspellings and reading (they can't know, for example, that "schoul" is wrong and that the picture labelled "George Washington" is actually of Lincoln because they a). can't read and b). don't know their presidents yet). We've now read the book three times, which inspired them to try to make our house wacky. Feeling this could get out of hand, I encouraged them to draw wacky house pictures instead. And so using our Emberley books, we created houses with upside-down furniture, oceans in the basement, dragons on the bed, chairs on top of tables, etc. Though, I did let them leave a cat toy outside on the front step to see if Mama noticed it was out of place.

We're declared tomorrow "Silly Saturday" and will probably read the book again and make even more pictures. I might even let them eat their lunch under the kitchen table and wear their clothes backwards. I imagine we can get pretty silly . . . . you gotta love Seuss!

Yum, Yum, Yum Yogurt

I had Greek, with rose petal jam.

Bud had plain, with defrosted strawberries.

Mama had Greek, with orange marmalade.

And Sis had chocolate yogurt, which you have to stir.

Grand Conspiracy, Part 2

In detailing the Grand Conspiracy the other day, I forgot one key component: don't actually educate the children . . . so they'll vote Republican.

And actually believe that corporations (big money, lobbyists, special interest groups, call it what you will) involved in politics is good for democracy.

And healthcare for those who can't afford it is a bad idea.

(I don't mean to say that all Republicans are idiots; some are just heartless.)

Not All Clear

Sis's ears are not clear and she had a low-grade fever after school today. The ear infection is either a). the same one holding on or b). a whole new one. We have a Rx in case she gets worse and have been told to

• saline her nose every hour
• place her in a steamy bathroom 2x a day
• bathe her with olive oil (for her dry skin)
• give her COD LIVER OIL everyday
• as well as garlic mulein ear drops 2x a day
• keep the house around 62F at night

Wish us luck and a speedy recovery so she can go to school on Monday.

Helping Haiti

One of the benefits of not watching broadcast television or subscribing to a daily paper is that I have absolute control over the information Bud and Sis have gleaned about the earthquake in Haiti. They know there was one, only learning about it about a week later so that they would understand all the adult references to the tragedy. And they know that people were hurt and that the Haitians need help, particularly with food and shelter and medicine. I want their knowledge of the tragedy to be age appropriate (I can't even fathom the death and devastation)--I don't want them to be scared or worried or overwhelmed. But I do want them to help, so I found today's post at Motherlode extremely useful and inspiring and will think on what we can do as a family.

Getting Ready for the New Year

The Year of the Tiger, Mama's own year, is fast approaching, on Valentine's Day. And we're thinking about getting ready. As I've written before, we celebrate Chinese New Year in several ways--most importantly with Mama's family, but also at school and sometimes with our playgroup.

For school, a Vietnamese friend of mine (for whom I try really hard to call it Asian or Lunar New Year. She calls it Tet) and I will read a children's book, perhaps The Great Race, a children's book about the establishment of the Chinese Zodiac, and then do a craft--maybe a lantern, but perhaps some kind of tiger mask--with a tiger dance, maybe.

We've been trying to connect the kids to their Chinese roots beyond take-out meals and "Ni Hao, Kai Lan." And though Chinese lessons are on hold for awhile, they are not completely out of the picture as we try to keep up with the vocabulary we did learn. Our library of Chinese tales--Red Butterfly, Ruby's Wish, etc--is growing slowly, as is our CD collection of music. And then we try to go to things, like the Warriors and the Silk Road exhibitions and the Chinese Theater Works performance, that explore and celebrate Chinese culture. Thankfully, at least once a year, at New Year's, American culture (hmm, that sounds so unified and homogeneous!) embraces Chinese tradition and we find it very easy to discuss and discover China. Which means I just might be making the scallion pancakes featured in Family Fun this month!

Personally, I'm boning up on my understanding of Chinese cultural traditions. Mama bought a book entitled The Moon Year, which is a reprint of a 1927 account of Chinese rituals, both special and everyday, written by two Westerners living there, before many of the "old ways" were suppressed by the Communists. It's fascinating reading, even if you get a strong sense of Western prejudice against Chinese religion ("superstitions") and a fascination with the "exotic" over the everyday (they love to detail what seem to be obscure rituals involving splattering chicken blood). We've also learned a lot from Every Grain of Rice: A Taste of Our Chinese Childhood in America by Ellen Leung Blonder, though we haven't actually cooked any of the recipes. I also found the book I'd seen in Houston at the Terra Cotta warriors exhibition, The Good Luck Life by Rosemary Wong, a recounting of Chinese-American traditions, which focuses on holidays and special occasions. (I'm thinking about getting the children's equivalent of this book, with activities and tales, Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragonboats by Nina Simonds.) And for fun--though, the stories can't actually be described that way--there is always Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston, both of which I've picked up recently.

Of course, as Ar-ma pointed out, because her family is a mixture of Chinese heritage and Thai upbringing, no book exactly fits their family's beliefs or behaviors. But the books help me understand and then explain Chinese culture to both the kids and people who ask me. As the mom of two half-Chinese kids, I've become something of a resource for non-Chinese people in our community, which is both exciting (to learn and to explain) and awkward (since I'm not Chinese). Interestingly, the kids don't realize I'm not Chinese, though I explain that my ancestral roots are European (and a melange at that). And, oddly, I know more about Chinese history, art, architecture, and religions than Mama does, though my knowledge is academic and hers is experiential. But she is Chinese and will be able to connect with the kids on certain issues in a way I can't. Basically, we're all trying to figure out how to be a bi-racial,multi-cultural family. And this time of year, with red and firecrackers and dragons everywhere, becomes the highpoint of our efforts.

Our Thursday Night Family Broadway Revue

Shall we dance?

Somewhere.

Into the woods?

At the end of the day?

Tonight?

Out tonight.

Follow me . . . .

all I ask of you.

I can't say no.

Some enchanted evening--

Out of my dreams!

I could have danced all night.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

-=-=-=-=-=-

King and I

West Side Story

Into the Woods

Les Miserables

West Side Story

Rent

Camelot

Phantom of the Opera

Oklahoma

South Pacific

Oklahoma

My Fair Lady

Oklahoma

C is for Cookie!

I could've just inserted these at the end of my long post on last weekend's NVC workshop, but, as Miss D's cookies are so good, I wanted to spotlight them here. Thanks for sending them along, Miss D!

Pignoli (Pine Nut) Cookies

1-1/2 lb. almond paste

1/2 lb. pignolis

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

Mix sugar and eggs. Add paste. Chill in freezer one hour. Grease cookie sheet. Make small (1 tsp.) balls and roll in pignolis.

Bake in 325 oven for 15-20 minutes.

You can also roll the balls, make a thumbprint and put pignolis, or slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, jam, etc. in the center.

Just as good and far less expensive than the pignolis!!

Four Burners and a Microwave

Back left: Moroccan-inspired chickpea stew with my leftover collard greens tossed in

Front left: whole wheat couscous for the stew

Back right: wide egg noodles

Front right: "stroganoff," mainly ground turkey, mushrooms, onions, and sour-cream gravy (tonight, onion soup mix with water thickened by cornstarch and sour cream)

Microwave: frozen corn

Dinner.

Better Than Expected

Today didn't turn out nearly as bad as the very early morning coughs seemed to predict. In fact, besides my feeling a bit more rundown than usual, everything seems fine. And so, I went to my workout today and then grocery shopping (after doing some leisure reading at the coffee shop). And tomorrow, the kids will go to school.

Knock on wood, of course.

My New Lexus

I've been playing on the Lexus of treadmills at my workout place these last few days, the Gait Trainer 2 by Biodex, which is intended to help rehabilitate people but can also be used as a plain old treadmill. Except there is nothing plain about it: my favorite part is the heart rate monitor---through the handles!!! I love to watch my heart rate change. In fact, the whole screen, with it's faux track to indicate my "laps," other measurements such as calories burned, distance traveled, and miles per hour, all in neat-to-read digital format, makes it fun to "play." In fact, just being on it has me doubling my workout time without really noticing, mainly because I get so bored on the regular treadmill, even with my music headset. But this thing is great. Almost makes me want to go back to the gym everyday!