On Self-Sufficiency

I asked the kids to get themselves ready to run a few errands with me today.  A mere three hours later, my eldest had taken a full shower, was coiffed and ready to go.  My youngest was also dressed and ready making sure to wear his plastic fake monster teeth, an inside out long sleeve hoodie he's outgrown with the hood up, matching blue socks under flip flops, and plaid shorts.  Great job kids, thanks for getting yourselves ready. Yes, we went into the store like this, luckily he tired of the teeth.

"This Is My Ninjit-Suit"

I took the kids to see the TMNT movie in the park downtown last Friday.  To the disappointment of the people in the lawn chairs behind us, Jack rolled, kicked, ran and did somersaults for 90 minutes. I'm not even sure he actually saw any of the movie.

Thick Days

These are the thick days of mid July filled with humid sunscreen and stinging bug spray.  Every cool pool of water has tiny feet begging to sneak in, though the well worn swim suits, sun faded, stretched from chlorine and slightly grayed on the underside from lake mud are at home on the floor of the front hallway.  Left over fireworks and grilled beer soaked meats waft through the neighborhood replacing the tiger lilies and lilacs sweet redolence. There is barely time for the free waterpark ticket, the theme park coupon, the ten hour air conditioned sleep and the last canoe trip.  Back to school supplies loom in frigid grocery store aisles.

sky 2

sky

My Kid Sings

Link Storm Saturday

Saturday morning, it was overcast and beautiful for sitting at Sinnissippi Rose Gardens to paint watercolor roses with 317 Studio & Gallery.  When the air is thick and humid you can push paint around for a long time before it dries on your paper, it's perfect.  After class I meandered down to Rockford Vintage Market where we sat down over Vintage 501's hand cut french fries and heard Swingbilly RFD playing an earnest rendition of Folsom Prison Blues before stopping by Toad Hall's booth and picking up some superman comics for the kid and a Rockford Cabinet Company T-shirt from Bygone Brand's Booth.  Then we made a run for it through the light rain to the car and over to the Bee's Knees General Store, Yolo's Cupcake Shop, Salvanged by Sonya's & RAD. I ended up my day of local fun at Culture Shock looking to hear King of the Demons play some all ages goodness.

The Best Iced Cream I've Made Yet

Whipped Cream
Milk
Coco powder
Powdered Sugar
Brown sugar
Salt

Sunflower Update

I built a cage, they snuck in under to eat seeds and sproutlings.

Skateboard

Taping Hot-wheels to his toy-box lid.
#JackNeedsaSkateboard

Something At My Sunflower Sprouts

I put them in the dirt and it took three nights for something to come buy and eat them. I'll plant more, I want these flowers this year and last year I gave up too easily.  I'm off the get chicken wire.

My Ten Year Anniversary Is Coming up

Aug 11, 2015 Bombadee's Garden will be ten years old.  Ten years of posts, links, rants, photos, artwork, bad poetry, videos, books, lists, and comments.  I feel like there should be some sort of celebration.  Maybe cake, dancing and a top ten or something...or a bottom ten (haha!) I'll have to think about what such an events warrants.  Maybe I'll finally update my Blogger Profile Picture...

Sonflowers

I tried all last summer to grow giant sunflowers next to the deck.  I wanted the flower faces to be at eye level during midsummer dinners so we could watch the birds fly in and eat the seeds.  But some asshole from the neighborhood wildlife community kept creeping by in the middle of the night and digging up the seeds for a late night snacks. After loosing another row of seeds this spring I planted some in an egg carton in the house.  Every day I put the seedlings outside for a day of sun and then I bring them back in at dusk to keep them safe. They're a few inches high now and I think I have to put them in the dirt or watch them suffer from not enough root room.  I'm going to try to devise a screen or some sort so they don't get bitten off at the base and munched late in the night.  It makes me anxious.  It's scary to send my sprouts out into the backyard...  Imagine when I have to send my actual children out into the world!

The End of Preschool

He's going to be five.  I went to his preschool graduation today where he won an award for being among the top ten kids who've had the most books read to them over the last month.  Jack likes the same books over and over.

He likes:
I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato
In the Night Kitchen
Ahoy Pirate Pete
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Go Dog Go
Any Curious George
Any Sponge Bob
Roli Poli Oli
No David

I know most of these by heart, so does he.

It was an emotional graduation as it was a very tough year.  Jack will freely tell you he doesn't like school.  When I drop him off the teacher has to peel him off my hip or my leg and tell him he has to stay and he buries his face in his hands and sobs while I try to get out of the room as fast as possible.  It really puts anything I do while he's at school under a big wet cloud.  When I pick him up, he's happy, playing and smiling and runs up ready to go.  I ask him if school was fun and he says yes.  Sometimes I ask why he doesn't like school and he says he just misses me and being home.  I ask him if he played with any one and he always says "I just played by myself."  I know other kids like him and are happy to see him, as I drop him off and pick him up every day and I see their reactions.  The kids even recognize me now as "Jack's mom" - so he is not ignored or disliked, he just doesn't feel he has any pals at school and he doesn't look forward to it. Repeat this day 180 times.  So to see him today, march up and get a medal and wear his square hat and sit with his class was a joy and a relief.

I was relieved that soon I won't have to watch him bury his face in his hands anymore. I was relieved that they won't have to peel him off my leg anymore.  I was proud we made it - he and me. I have a box of Valentines he makes for me at school.  They each have a heart and say "Mom" & "Jack" on them, sometimes "Ella" is in there too. On particularly hard days, he'd make two for me at school.    This awful school year where we read together and worked on a little homework together and were separated fr a few hours each day and we lived.  We made it. He's taller.  He can write my name and his. He can speak better.  He can do his own seat-belt.  He knows the days of the week. He has life experiences that don't have me in them now.

I hope Kindergarten is better. I keep wondering what the drop off routine will be.  Will I have to walk him all the way to class? Will he like it? Will it be worse? Will he find a friend he likes? I have a good deal of anxiety about it.  I know there's nothing that I can do until next fall when we see how it will go. For now we just count down the last ten days of what I thought was the easiest part of a school career, but for Jack (and me) may have been the hardest.

How to Get Away with Everything

"Mom, you're my girl."

I don't know why...

The Addamses

Adult Wednesday Addams was a you tube hit that I liked.  I read today that the Addams Family Estate has sent Melissa Hunter a cease and desist and You Tube pulled all the videos.  Fans immediately re-posted them, so if you google Adult Wednesday Addams, you can still watch a host of these videos.  Some of the comments I read on Facebook regarding the quarrel:

M.N.  "Some people just don't understand publicity.  They wanna hoard their ideas and allow them to collect dust.  Ignorance and stubbornness are a toxic combination, yo.

H.R. "ridiculous... Others have posted season 1 and 2 but this isn't the first person to have their videos pulled for parody."

N.L. "This makes me very angry"

I'm appalled that people feel entitled to other's ideas like this.  I have great respect for the Addams Family and their Estate.  While I adore the Adult Wednesday Addams series, if the Addams Family feels the character is too true to the original version and isn't enough of a parody to be a departure then they are entitled to decide how the character is presented or not.  Perhaps the Addamses would prefer not to be exploited in fan-fiction like the Star Wars Empire or the Super Hero Complex because... well, I'd say they don't even need to give a reason, it's their right to decide.

While I understand once you send art out into the world it's hard to know how people will feel about it and who it will be shared and re-interpreted by, I stand with the cartoonist's family on this one, out of respect, adoration and some semblance of decorum and legality. Though I'd like to see more of the series - I understand why it's been locked down.  We are not entitled to be the voyeurs of Wednesday Addams or any other person in the family, fiction or non, just because we love it.

How Jack Yells It

Jack laying on the floor yelling "Emergency! Emergency COLD BREAD! COLD BREAD!"

grind

I recently almost had a list with everything crossed off of it.  It lasted about four minutes. Living at a break neck speed trying to stay in front of after school activities and homework and the odd jobs I take to make ends meet is aging me in a way I don't like.  I need a vacation, but then who will prepare for the vacation and really it would just feel like the same invigorating schedule in an unfamiliar place making it tougher to complete tasks.  It'd take a very long time to save up for the sort of vacation where people do things for you and bring you drinks while you lay on your back and look past your toes at blue waves crashing into the powder white sandcastles happy sun-screened children build.  Really I'd like to just save up enough to hire someone to come over here and help me get caught up on the day to day junk that piles up, then maybe I'd like to sleep in for two days in a row.  I need a clone or a robot or some extra money.

If you didn't get it the first time - now's your chance.

They went fast last time.  By the end of the summer we were desperately trying to hang onto five for our own bookshelves.  So here you are internets - The Toughskin Rhinoceros Wrangler Company 2015!  get one - or three :)