Really Need The Happy Today

I really, really, really needed a good laugh today. The past couple of weeks have been a wee bit rough (the 6th anniversary of my dad's death, Cynthia's dad died, one of Frank's co-workers died, Katherine's grandfather passed away, a lovely woman I've known for a long time was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer - in other words, lots of sadness).

Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry never fail to cheer me up. Hope they make you laugh, too.

A Still Life By A Busy Boy

Evan came home with this from school the other day and I fell in love with it. I love the graphic quality of his heavy black crayon lines. This seems very German Expressionistic to me - reminds me of one of my favorite painters, Max Beckmann. Maybe it's because of the freshness and exuberance and energy in the lines - the drawing is unencumbered by pretension (I don't know what artistic pretense a 7-year-old can have anyway).

Whatever. Enough "art speak". I love this drawing by my boy.

Codename: Applesauce!

The Aquabats' Super Rad! has been raging through my mind for about a week now. I just can't get enough of this song - it's so happy and bouncy and goofy.

Of all the Aquabats videos on You Tube, this was the one that offered the best combination of sound and picture quality. It's an amalgam of live concert footage and the band's actual video for this song and you can ignore the first minute.

Flynn loves the little dog dressed up as a super hero. We've watched this many times just for the brief glimpses of the "cute little puppy."

A Call to Action

Last night was my last official act as president of our preschool's Board of Directors - the last meeting of the school year. I've really loved my time, all 4 years of it, with our preschool and my family and I will miss it.

Usually, I leave the kinder at home with either their dad or a babysitter. This time neither were available as Frank's working 14-hour days until his game's done and the babysitter went home for the summer so I had to take Evan and Flynn with me.

On the way there Evan says, "So, you talk about nothing?"

Me: What do you mean?

Evan: What do you do at these meetings?

Me: We discuss the business of the school.

Evan: That sounds pretty boring. There should be more action.

Flynn: Yeah. More action, like karate.

My Little Artiste

Stacy, a friend of mine since our college days at EIU, is a fantastic artist/actor/singer and all-around cool chick. Her site, Oliveloaf Design, showcases not only her work but artwork that inspires her.

Her featured artist for today is my daughter, Flynn.

Thanks, Stacy!

Say No More

One Bad-Ass Mutha

The kids' karate school held a "Mommy & Me" class this morning in honor of the Mother's Day weekend. I didn't hit the gym this morning mainly because I just felt so tired and a bit out of sorts - this weekend does it to me every year. I needed distraction - to keep busy otherwise I'd focus on why this particular weekend is so crummy (for clarification see my May 9 post).

So we went.

And we had a blast.

The kids and their instructor showed me how to punch and kick and I'll tell you that 30 seconds squatting in a middle stance while throwing punches is one heckuva quad workout. Remember wall sits during P.E. class? Yeah, it's like that only with no wall.

Evan and Flynn each broke a plastic board using a side kick (they use them in class - the boards snap together kind of like Legos).

Then it was my turn.

Only the moms used a palm heel strike and broke a real piece of wood.

I went first and broke that board like it was an egg. Uh-huh. That's right. My kids looked at me, jaws gaping, and I could almost hear their thoughts, "Holy crap! Did you just see what Mommy did? We better be good."

This is my board:Not too shabby for a mom with no karate experience. For now.

I start classes on Monday with Flynn and continue with each child, which means I'll have tae kwondo lessons four days a week. For free (the school's policy is that if 2 members are attending classes, the rest of the family can participate free of charge). Master N also gave the moms free uniforms.

Oh, and we were given a flower, a cute little petunia to kill, I mean plant. Who am I trying to kid? I have a total black thumb. That poor little flower will be dead and in the garbage within a week.

But I can break a board with my bare hand.

Happy Mother's Day!