We Like the Recess Monkey

A few highlights from our new favorite kids CD - Recess Monkey's The Final Funktier





Booster Seat is my personal favorite. It's a little hard to make out the lyrics from this film, but trust me. Totally nails the preschool age. Or check out this little sample. Or if you go here, you can listen to more cuts from Final Funktier as well as some from earlier CDs.

First Day of First Grade

It's the first day of school. The first day of first grade. The first full day of school. I miss you already. You were scared to go. Sometimes the unknown can be overwhelming. Last night you wanted to go to the park, but you were so tired from traveling and staying up late and scared about today so you curled up in the rocking chair in the kitchen and fell asleep. Then you got mad because it was too late to go to the park. You wanted to try out those new roller skates. You woke up, groggy and tired, and sat down on the floor with me, then fell asleep again. A minute later you popped up and demanded I take you to the park. I said no. It was too late. I had to make dinner. I made noodle soup and when it was ready I looked around for you and you had disappeared. I found you in your bed sound asleep; you hadn't even put on your jammies. I let you sleep. I missed you already.

September 5 is Cherpumple Pie Cake Day

My friend Tal sent me this link and now I've become obsessed with the Cherpumple Pie Cake. How can you not be obsessed with this? It's Cherpumple Pie Cake.

Anyway, Tal and I are baking our Cherpumple Pie Cakes - me in CA and Tal in Texas. Please join us. Make the cake and take a picture and let us know how it comes out! I'll post closer to the day so you can see the preparation and all that stuff. And I'll be inviting people over because I don't want to be alone with this baby. No! The Cherpumple Pie Cake must be shared.

Finding Inspiration, Drawing My Hand

Amelia Critchlow's Experimental Art e-course continues to inspire me. Especially now that I'm on deadline to get a first draft of a play done. One of the exercises we were given was to pick a concept and this has been driving pretty much all of the other exercises I've been working on. I've also been trying my hand at drawing. Today literally, when I did an drawing of the lines of my palm. I find the process of just making marks to be incredibly meditative. Not feeling compelled to make something necessarily, just to capture what's there and not worry about "right." I've also been collecting various images - both for source material for the play and for the e-course as well. Today I found these wonderful photos and graphic images by Brian Pirman.

Transparency

Hairy

Drought #1

Drought #2

Fly

Back

Xanadu

these and more images can be found here.

IMAGES by Brian Pirman |

Spoon Bread, Hush Puppies! Oh, My!

I love the Betty's Kitchen series on youtube. Here's a little video of a recent trip Betty and her husband, Rick, made to Berea, KY to have lunch at Boone Tavern. So envious.

First Week's Art Experiments

This is the first week of Amelia Critchlow's Experimental Art Course and we've been very productive. I took the class in the Spring, but was too busy to do many of the assignments. With school being out, this is the perfect time to try again and to involve the kids. We've sat down to work on the assignments each afternoon before dinner and just played around with the materials. It's been very calming for all of us. Everyone gets very focused and excited by what they or someone else at the table is doing. Here are some of our creations.

doodle #2, Carter

doodle #2, Elizabeth
food coloring with straws and paint brush

Carter was very quick to tell me where I went wrong with my doodle. I started brushing on the purple and Carter "Mom, you shouldn't have done that." I think he was right and it somehow doesn't sting as much when your kid tells you matter0of-factly that yes, indeed, you've gone too far.

doodle #2, Olivia

One of the great things about the course is that Amelia introduces interesting materials to use for our experiments. We didn't have to go out and buy any fancy art supplies. We've been using left over ceramic paints from a birthday party, poster paints, old pastels and chalk, colored markers, ink pens, pencil, eye make-up (which the kids loved because it's usually off limits and also the texture made it a fun material to play with), tea, dirt (we have a lot of that), old magazines, paper towels, and I even pulled out my old water color set from costume design class (a few were dried out, but were easily revived by breaking open the tube and adding water).

staining #1, Olivia
passionfruit tea, decaf chai - using drinking straws

painting #2, Marshall

staining #1, EHS
tazo decaf chai tea, tazo passionfruit tea, water color, collage, ink, paper towel, tea leaves - using paint brush, fingers, cotton, & drinking straws.

The kids approach these things with an admirable fearlessness. They don't over-think things. They just do. I'm learning from them and having great fun.

Animal Day at Ohlone Camp

Saw a coyote and got to pet Roger the bunny and Rocky the tortoise.

Held a Banana Slug (and kissed it).

Held a Tarantula (Hey!)