I give Silas the camera sometimes...

...and I am never disappointed. He likes to contribute to music day by taking pictures...blurry movement pictures or 20 in a row of Mabels fur. Here are just a few of his latest!



















I love his faces and his feet all over my camera. Such a great way to see into his mind!

Peace Day at SDCCS

Love it.

Thank you Again Stewart and Colbert

HILARIOUS and GREAT!!!!
check it out!

Mac's First Real Haircut!

Mama just can't manage the mane anymore. Especially since it is getting CURLY!
So this is my pottery student, Lauren, doing her magic. Mac wanted it thinned and the
curls to come out...but got to also see it flat-ironed in the process!

A Story for Feee!

So, Silas and I were playing with the felt board, telling eachother stories. When Silas jumped up and said he had a great idea. A GREAT IDEA! We should make a story movie for Finley. He would be the cameraman. So this one is for you Feee!

8th Grade, 4th Grade and Second Year of Pre-School

And they're off...


If the pictures are any indication of how this year will go...I have a feeling we will be in constant
motion.
.

summer 2010 is over. (here is where I complain a little.)

I am completely sad that summer is over. I want more sun, more beach, more reading, more tomatoes, more kids at home.
I completely reject making THREE lunches every morning and out the door by 7:30.
I am not looking forward to the carpool or the after school lessons or volunteering anywhere.
I don't like to be so bossy, "everybody up, everybody brushed and do you have your homework" ...etc.
I can not believe that three months can go by so quickly. I feel like I did as a kid and really every year since. Summer is easier.
I am not ready for halloween costumes, stuffing and christmas shopping and wrapping.
I do not want to sign my name up on anymore school party potluck lists.

I realize I need to get motivated and being that I am mostly a positive person I know I'll come around in a day or two. But right now I am sad sad sad.
Emmett definitely takes after me in this area.
He says he's really good at summer. I am excellent at summer.
As Mac told me today we have 283 days until summer 2011, starting tomorrow.
She is bummed that she has to go to bed so early. Silas is not entirely sure what the end of summer even means since he has 3 days of preschool year round...but he emphatically agrees anyway. I have infected the whole house. I know it's wrong to get the kids in on it but I just can't keep my mouth shut about how much it stinks that we have to get up so early and that our free time is limited to little pockets of time on the weekend.

And we don't even get a real autumn here. No leaves or brisk air. No fall fashions. Just dying garden and too much work to do.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! sniffle sniffle. nonononononononNO!
this sucks!!!! waaaaaaaa. boohoo.

Sigh.

Good night and see you tomorrow for the more cheerful back-to-school picture-post!

Mac and Emmett Rock Hotel California

I love it! Mac makes the song sound so haunting and sweet...

...Emmett Rips!

We had a really great time at this student showcase. There were all ages performing and everyone was really enthusiastic and supportive. My favorite way to spend a day.
The awesome bass player is Gethin. Super nice kid and just look at him...he looks like Matt and Craig at 14!

Happy Birthday Papa!

...a little home party with delicious nana made cake, some sweet
presents, including a BANJO POLICE shirt from Meg and Crys
and new a hat...
and a truly great beanbag guitar and amp made by emmett.


You have navigated a pretty miserable year and things are looking
up. We love you Matt! Happy Birthday!
And here's Matt stylin' with his posse and some Diggable Planet.
(This cracks me up.)

Could you blog me some FEEEEEE???!!!!

We miss you, miss you, miss you Finley. I mean really. Could you just talk a little into the camera. Even if you just say, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" or "I need some quiet time!"
or "I love you Aunt Sugar Cookie!" That works too!!! We talk about you every single day because
Cousin Power is the Best!!

Even the Chickens MISS YOU!!!!

AFRICAN DANCE AT WORLD BEAT CENTER

Calling all dancers or lovers of crazy awesome movement or just a really incredible workout.
No dance experience necessary...really! The others in the class are just winging it and having a great time. Come one come all.
mon, tues, wed, thurs, or fri 10:30-12:00. (I can only go monday and friday!)
It looks kinda like this video. The real dancing starts around 1 minute 44 seconds!

I Have A Dream

Subtle

Mac wanted animal friendly back-to-school shoes so we went to
the ALL VEGAN store on Park Blvd. While I watched Ry and Silas
run through the store Mac and Emmett decided they wanted back-to-school
t-shirts also. These are two of their less subtle picks. (definitely click to enlarge!)

run on sentence with lots of dot-dot-dots.............

I keep having conversations with complete strangers about how technology is taking over...and one about how I discover a new song, download it and then it disappears in my IPOD shuffle within an hour....about how book stores are loud now with music blasting and coffee shops are quiet with everyone on their computers...about how everything is different from the month before...
I am sure it has always been this way...old farts talking about how things are changing too fast but even the teenagers in my life are saying stuff like that...surely I didn't talk about the good old days when I was 13??
I hope this phenomenon isn't exponential or we will be loving and hating and living and dying in a blink. Ok, I am taking it too far....too fast....
Check out the chart. You will probably have to click to enlarge and clarify because that hasn't been worked out by the little scientists in my computer yet.
And while I am at it. Below is another cool and completely unrelated chart I found on Matt's facebook that I thought was worth spreading...(and forgetting, right!)...

All You Need is Love

Imagine getting married on the cliffs overlooking the ocean at Scripps Pier and when the ceremony is over you look down to see a sandy beach covered in hearts of all sizes with children running around them! Well, that's what happened!




This was so much fun for all of us. We made maybe 15-20 hearts
with the help of two other girls. Mac was right when she said that
bride and groom will never forget it...we are quite sure the photographer
and wedding party took a lot of pictures! We will never forget it either.

Vacation 2010

the beautiful cabin. I love this place! Mac was attacked by mosquitos but managed to have fun anyway... and Emmett learned to play the harmonica and played guitar ALL DAY every day we were there!
Silas took about 1,000 pictures. He was very contented with the camera and here is one of his
"my hand and you" shots (below).



Meg and Crys are two of the kindest people I know! And hilarious
and so fun to jam with! I have just never met anyone like them.
Interested and interesting and up for anything!!!


And then we left Idyllwild (a slightly buggy yet nippy 85 degrees) to venture down to Palm Springs, 119 degrees where you can HEAR the heat and we got to experience Darrin's Place and the Infamous TRIP!!!!
Ok , this is Darrin's house. (below) Our camera ran out of battery while we
were there so I only got a few pictures but WOW what an amazing house!
A Mid-Century Modern paradise! And the POOL! And BOCCE!
The kids were in heaven! (Thank you so much Darrin and Dan for
sharing your house with us! Click on the pictures for a clearer bigger view!;)

The only inside house picture I took but check it out!
Really great Art everywhere too!

And Johnny and George's condo was wonderful as always! It is a feast for the eyes with the amazing view and decor. The history of the place (architect Albert Frey!) is inspiring and it's the perfect place to soak up the Palms Springs vibe.
Love you guys. Thank you so much!! We feel completely lucky everytime we walk in the door!


And then we went to White Water just 20 minutes from Johnny and George's house.
This is the river paradise I have always been looking for in Southern California.
I really can't believe it. In August the water was waste high in places. Tadpoles and frogs
and an entire herd of big-horned sheep went by.

Brother Sister Day 2010

They've got eachother!

New Creations

Chris Reilly made this really beautiful sculpture of Hanaman out of
epoxy clay, drift wood, wax, glass beaded paint and I am sure
some other magic I don't know about. He gave
it to us as a trade for shards from broken pots from the studio. I think
I definitely made out in the deal. We love it!

And here are some new lidded cups that I made on July 28, 2010.
between 10:00 and 12:00...thinking of the wonder of creation.

And here's a little bit of Silas because he is sosososososo funny
and really into the Beatles and I wanted to share him!

Thinking of You...

...Caline, Jono and Natanya...

Sending love and all that is good!

We Love You Bebe!

What a great visit! Thank you for coming and being with us.
All of us were able to spend very special time with you.
Silas would like you to come back on Friday and Emmett will be happy
to Trump you in Monopoly again and again! ;)
See you soon at the flower house!

Summer Shows!

Mac spent the last two weeks at junior theatre camp where they did a fun, shorter production of Grease...Mac was "Frenchie" where she had good opportunity to show off her NY accent, like Aunt Rose, though I didn't get any good video of that, doll.
And Silas' preschool performed a wonderful play from the African story "Abyoyo"...Silas' very first show and he loved it!