Will's Birthday : Crossing the Teen Threshold

Will turned thirteen today. Wow. In three years he will be eligible to drive. In five years he will (hopefully) be off to college. Right now he is still having a blast being a kid. He is loving his models, and wooden Japanese wooden sandals (geta). He enjoyed his birthday (combined with Easter) feast in his kimono and geta. Japanese has become one of his favorite course this year, and he has really become fascinated with the culture. He also received James Clavell's book Shogun, which apparently is recommended by his Japanese teacher.

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The van replacement!

How did I drive that thing for so long? I am trying to get all the required stickers and inspections etc. before I get a ticket.

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Will's Sakura Matsuri acquisition

Bill took Will to Sakura Matsuri, the Japan American Society's street festival. By all accounts it was GREAT. Bill bought Will a kimono as an early birthday present. He's wanted one for awhile. It is silk and beautiful and I hope he gives it to me when he outgrows it!

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Voila! I will wear it tomorrow...

This is my first try at entrelac and definitely the finished end if the scarf is more even than the beginning where I didn't know what I was doing. What a great way to show off variegated yarn! And make the pattern look more complicated than it really is. This good nearly 4 balls of Mochi and is very soft. I will have to hide it from Eva.

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Sarah Jarosz at (yes, hard to believe) Reston Community Center

On of our favorite CDs from 2010 was "Song Up In Her Head" from Sarah Jarosz.  I would describe it as contemporary bluegrass, but it goes beyond that and Sarah's new stuff, which we heard tonight ventures further beyond a neat roots label. 

The concert was fabulous, with Sarah accompanied by Alex Hargreaves on fiddle and Nathaniel Smith on Cello.  All of these folks are young (Sarah won't be 20 until May), but they are truly amazing musicians.  

The band was playing to a sold out and very enthusiastic audience, and they were obviously enjoying themselves.  All the band members hung out after the show and Eva was able to get Sarah's autograph.

Sarah has a new album (or as she says, record, which sounds funny coming from a 19 year old) coming out May 17.  It is called Follow Me Down, and she played a lot of it tonight. The music is great.  

Sarah will be back in the DC area in late May with gigs at Rams Head and Jammin Java.  

April Fool!

The kids realized mid-day that it was April Fool's Day. Unfortunately for Eva, she had school so Will and Lyra had extra time during the day to work some mischief as you can see.  Will also short-sheeted Eva's and Lyra's beds.  And Will did that silly trick on Lyra where he talked her into letting him put a glass of water on the back of each hand while she had them resting flat on the table.  After 2 minutes, she realized she couldn't go anywhere! She was so mad that she wanted to get him back.  Being only 5 and completely unsophisticated (and also not knowing how to short-sheet a bed), Lyra snuck into Will's room and then dragged him in to proudly show Will her April Fool's prank which was......a perfectly made bed! Silly Lyra! I will have to help Eva get Will back later tonight when she is home from her friends' house.  And I told Will if he played any April Fool's joke on me involving a rodent, bug or other creepy crawlie that he'd never get an allowance ever AGAIN.  I think I am safe until he has a steady job.

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Finally finished my basket!

And I cannot believe I made this!  I almost hate to put bread or muffins or yarn or anything in it because the little ornament in the center is so cute.  May have to make one more teeny weeny one! Except I am behind on knitting.  Must. Finish. Scarf. Before winter is over.  Maybe that is why it is still cold and yucky here on April Fool's Day....because Mother Nature is waiting for me to hurry up and finish the @(&$)#( scarf!  Hope to have pictures of that soon.

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@Starbucks inside @Safeway. No soul, no heart and bad coffee. No nearby alternative in Reston

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Clear Weather at Last

Almost to the end of vacation and finally the weather is clearing up.

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Lyra and Sydney

Aren't they sweet? Wish all the cousins lived closer!

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Caption Anyone? Will at the Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana

This is a contraption that makes 'steam rings', what in a less PC time we would call smoke rings. You let steam build up, then push the top down and (if you do it right) it emits a steam ring about 14" across. Will put his face right over the hole when he pushed down, with the effect shown in the photo. I hope the steam was non toxic.

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Molding a Unicorn Horn

This is shot looking into a machine that creates a water vortex.

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Kite Flying, Newport Beach

For vacation we are staying a block off the beach on Balboa Peninsula. The weather has been brisk and often cloudy and windy. One of the great kids activities has been kite flying on the beach. Eva, Will and Lyra have all been having a great time with their kites.

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Lyra jousts with the black knight!

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Side Street Cafe, Costa Mesa

We had a fantastic breakfast at Side Street Cafe this morning. We had been to this spot a few years back, and it it is still awesome. We found it the last time on the Chow Hound board, this time through Yelp. Yelp has quickly become my indispensable travel resource.

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How Foodie Kids Make Hamburgers

I have a reputation for making very good hamburgers. It all comes down to grinding the meat myself, and using appropriate meat - usually chuck. Of course the right helper is important too. There is no substitute for freshly ground meat in hamburgers. It is OK if the butcher does it, but the meat needs to be ground the same day the hamburgers are cooked.

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I didn't make it to CrossFit but Lyra did

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Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Lyra Intently Flying Her Kite

Lyra acquired her first kite recently, and she loves it. She was surprisingly patient when the wind did not cooperate, but needs to work on managing her kite string.

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Lyra's Belated Birthday Party

Poor Lyra is born on January 1 which means that her birthday will be forever celebrated with a hangover, holiday fatigue and probably no birthday party unless she plans it herself.  I could not muster energy to get any sort of party with friends together until February.  Everything was either booked or hugely expensive or just more work than I could manage. Lyra was NOT going to forget that she hadn't had a party either.  I held out hope for awhile but she considered her birthday not to have happened because she hadn't had a party with her friends.  Somehow the party with family did not count. 

I finally talked with the paint-your-own-pottery place in Old Town, Paint This, and they saved the birthday! They were GREAT.  I didn't have too much trouble scheduling, they saved out the pieces the kids were to paint, and I just brought in our food and everyone met us there. The kids painted little cupcake boxes that are just adorable. Except Will, he painted a box shaped like a tank to hold his Katana soldiers. The kids were ready to run after about an hour and a half and there's a school playground not too far away from there. I do believe this was the easiest birthday party I have ever organized! We kept it small...just five friends plus Lyra, Will and Eva...and I suppose that is one reason it was easy.

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Success!

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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It started off to be a great kite flying day

But I guess thus was bound to happen. Now Bill is going tonclimb the tree. I can't look.

Cathleen

www.phelpslore.wordpress.com
www.givingfullcircle.org
www.arlingtonchildrenschorus.org

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Check out my latest project!

Do I really need another artsy-craftsy thing to do? YES. Some of our knitting group is basket weaving....I'm making a Nantucket basket. I had no idea what a Nantucket basket was when I signed up for the class, I just did it because Cheryl and Hedy were doing it plus I did win a blue ribbon for the basket I wove at day camp when I was 9. Nantucket baskets have a wooden base, are woven over a mold ad often decorated with scrimshaw.

Here is my work in progress. Somehow, for as much as I bake, I have no nice basket for rolls or muffins so that's my progress. The cats are completely fascinated with that skinny little weaver and I hope the baskets survives his antics.  Cheryl is making a tall narrow basket with an ebony base and leather handles to hold a knitting project and hers is turning out beautifully.  Hedy is making a a very large round bowl shaped basket and already it is magnificent! We get started in the class, then take home materials and work on the baskets at home. By the time we run out or get stuck on something, it is time for the next class.

Hedy's neighbor, Hiromi Thurston, is teaching the classes.  She is lovely and such a patient teacher. Classes are Fridays in Crystal City or Tuesdays in Chevy Chase. Contact Hiromi for details!

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Valuable Advice for Boys of All Ages

These signs are in the mens' room in our Bangalore office. We have a twelve year old son and Cath thinks he and all his friends desperately need to learn this lesson.

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Sharing the Road: One of My Favorite Photos from Bangalore

I am just back from Melbourne and Bangalore and have a lot of photos to blog, not to mention a variety of other catch-up. Bang was a blur of very invigorating work, there is so much energy in our team there. I did get a few short photo opps.

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Perfect sledding snow!!

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Kids had fun in the snow tonight!

We get to break in Lyra's sled today for sure!

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Bras, Ducklings and Kangaroo - A Visit to Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne

Queen Victoria Market is a 'must visit' spot for any trip to Melbourne.  It is a huge indoor/outdoor market selling all manner of food and dry goods.  I say dry goods for lack of a better term to encompass clothing, kitchen wares, tools, linens, crafts and whatever else the vendors can fit in their trucks.  QV Market was founded in 1878 and is open five days a week, three weekdays and Saturday/Sunday.  Unlike the US where farm markets are usually a complement to the local grocery store, QV Market *is* the grocery store for many people in Melbourne. It is adjacent to the central business district, so it is easily accessible.

The food divides into indoor and outdoor, with the indoor halls selling meat, fish, fowl, cheese, bread, pasta, teas/coffees, wine, beer, oils etc. Outdoor vendors sell fruits and vegetables of all types, plus various livestock, flowers, eggs, honey and other things I don't remember.  .

I especially like the indoor food halls; they make me wish I had a kitchen here or that I could take meat on the 24hr flight home (and get it past the customs beagles).  I only know of a few butchers in metro Washington, DC and they generally have a limited selection.  There are more butchers at QV Market and they sell every cut of meat I have ever seen or heard of, and of course the meat sources go beyond the common beef, pork and lamb to include kangaroo and other exotics.  In addition to fresh meat, the cured meat is fantastic and diverse.   I loved the Polish sausage vendor, and bought a delicious garlic sausage that went perfectly with my pear cider.   For almost every kind of food I saw, there were at least a couple (and usually more) vendor stalls in competition.

The produce is good and diverse.  Temperate fruit from Tasmania and tropical fruit from the north are relatively close to Melbourne.  The huge ethnic diversity of Australia, and the almost universal interest in food and openness to new types of food creates an environment where food diversity thrives.

I visit QV market every time I come to Melbourne and find something new each time.

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This is why I run early and in the cold!

I know my photo doesn't do it justice but I had to try. The sunrise was magnificent and I forgot about the fact that it was 20 degrees out!

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CrossFit Fun!

I forgot my camera last time. Here's Lyra at her CrossFit class...she got to row on the erg and is under the mistaken impression that it is fun ( but that's what I'm paying for, right?). She did sit ups, learned some weight lifting moves (without weights of course) and got to do jumping pull ups on the ring. At the end, the kids played a variation on tag called "rats and cheese.". Everyone had a lot of fun and I think ( hope!!) Lyra will sleep well tonight.

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