Proud Mama

Today Connor's YMCA preschool class took a field trip to Marilac Mannor, a retirement home, to sing carols for the residents. I was so proud! He sang beautifully, in a nice, loud voice that I could hear from across the room. The residents were loving it. It was one of those moments that I will remember. Unfortunately, our camera is out of order, so I couldn't get any pictures. I tried taking one of him later in the day, but he was having none of that. Too bad, because he looked adorable in his red sweater.

For The Birds

Dylan's Cub Scout den is working toward their Wolf badges. One of the requirements is woodworking, so they made bird houses at last week's den meeting. The plans called for the whole thing to be constructed from a singe pine board, and they got to use several methods of construction, including using a measuring tape, saw, drill, hammer, and screwdriver. The boys had a really good time, as thir faces show in the photo with their finished products. Dylan is looking forward to painting it and mounting it outside next spring.


He also earned another badge, the Bobcat badge, in which the boys learn the Cub Scout promise, salute, handshake and motto. His Cubmaster presented Dylan his Bobcat badge that night, too.

I'm so glad that Dylan enjoys scouting because it's something I have many fond memories of scouting myself.

Jack Frost Spikes, er, Strikes

The last few days have been foggy and cold - apparently perfect conditions for some pretty cool frost to form. Everywhere I looked, everything was frosted with amazing ice crystals. The photo of berries above was taken in Mandan, and the one below was taken at the University of Mary. I got them off the KFYR website.


Today, the sun finally came out, so the frost is gone now. I liked walking in a winter wonderland for awhile, but it's nice to have the sun back again.

More From 1989

Here's another shot from 1989. I've been raiding my old photo albums for pictures, and I found some pretty good ones. This is Linda McDonald, me, and Brad taken at Double Ditch north of town. Linda is a friend of Rachel's from England who came for an extended visit that summer. She looks terrific in this shot. I'm looking quite the clown in my rolled up red sweatpants and duck shoes from 7th grade, and Brad doesn't look a day over 12. (His actual age here: 21!). Very funny.

Happy Belated Anniversary, Toni & Steve

I missed the 16th wedding anniversary of my friends, Toni & Steve, back around the Thanksgiving holiday. They got married on a cold, snowy night in a little country church near Detroit Lakes, MN, back in 1990. This picture is from 1989. Great picture.

They live in Michigan now, and we don't see each other as often as I'd like. We were able to meet up in Fargo last spring, but those visits are always too short.

Happy 16th anniversary, Toni & Steve. I'm thinking of you (even if I am a little late).

Josie's battle

My cousin Deb, her husband Jay, and their four children live in Minneapolis. The youngest, Josie, has a very rare auto-immune disease called dermatomyositis. As I understand it, it attacks the skin and muscles. The cause is unknown, and there is no cure.

Jay has kept a blog of news about Josie since she was diagnosed about a year and a half ago. I check it every day and it is heartbreaking! Things took a serious turn for the worse about four months ago, and Josie has been hospitalized ever since. It's hard to go on with my everyday life here, knowing that part of my family is suffering so terribly. Thankfully, they have a good support network of family and friends to help.

Their church is hosting a spaghetti supper benefit this Saturday, December 9. It looks like a big shindig with lots to do for the whole family, and all for a good cause. Click here for the website.

A local TV station picked up the story. You can see the piece here.

HEARTBREAKING

Live From Paris

Yesterday Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer from Oasis played an acoustic show at a small Paris venue, and msn broadcast it live. It aired at 3:00 pm my time, so I was able to watch most of it (had to dash out in the middle to pick up the boys from school). It was really good! The performance was top notch, natch, and the production value was very good, too. I was impressed with the camera work, the quality of the picture and sound, and the almost total lack of delay. It even looked decent in full-screen mode.

Here's a clip from the show, a song called "Talk Tonight". Casual listeners will likely not know the song because it was originally released as a b-side. They were famous for using some of their best material as b-sides, and this is a prime example. Excellent song. I especially like the little guitar lick at the end of each line in the chorus.

[The clip is on MSN, so you'll have to sit through a 30 second ad before the video begins. This clip hasn't made it to YouTube yet. Sorry.]

During the show, Gem also played keyboards on a couple of songs, and they were accompanied by Terry Kirkbride on percussion. He works very hard because he's drenched in sweat by the end of the set.

They boys watched some of it with me, and here was a funny little exchange between them:
Dylan: These songs don't sound the same.
Connor: (In his best "Well, duh" voice) They're different versions.

Happy Birthday Chase

Today is Chase's third birthday!

Click here to visit the blog that Susan keeps for him.

Happy Thanksgiving

Brad's dad, Al, made the Tribune today in a photo of the crew at United Tribes getting ready for their annual Thanksgiving meal. That's him in the center with the cute hat. He supposedly retired years ago but they apparently can't do without him, so he works a few hours most days. The best part is he only does what he wants to do.

Things I'm thankful for:
My wonderful husband, my family, my friends, my health, music, dancing & hugs from my boys.

Performance Season Begins

Saturday was the start of my Just For Kix performance season. I had three groups performing at the Centahna Showcase at Century High School, my alma mater. My preschool dancers, the Tiny Kix, even made it into the Tribune's photo spread (above). Some were nervous, as was I, but it's nice to have that first one under our belts. All my dancers were well behaved and danced beautifully. Best of all, they had fun!

Stop The Clocks

Oasis released a new album today, a best-of collection called Stop The Clocks. I doubt I'll buy it because it doesn't contain anything I don't already have. Interestingly, there were also two other big releases today: a best-of by U2 (U218) and the soundtrack to Love, the Beatles-inspired Cirque du Soleil. There has been quite some debate about which will top the charts in Britain, but it's probably not even a blip on the American radar.

What I'm really waiting for is the DVD release of Lord Don't Slow Me Down, slated for early next year. It's a documentary of their 10 month world tour, which ended in March. Here's the trailer, set to a great new Oasis song.

There's a really good Oasis blog that collects and posts All Things Oasis, of which there has been loads lately because the band has been doing a lot of promotional appearances. I check it every night to get my daily Oasis fix.

Saturday At The Silver

Saturday was Girls' Night Out for my neighbors, Megan & Denise, and me. Denise's cousin, Nicole, was also along. Being 10 years our junior, she provided lots of entertainment. We went out to see Rift at the Silver Dollar in Mandan and had a great time. If you follow this link, you may even find photographic evidence.

It was a much needed break from a steady stream of hectic-ness and busy-ness in my life lately, which explains the lack of recent entries here. Hopefully the upcoming long weekend will provide a brief respite.

Pink - My New Favorite Color

We caught Pink's performance of her song "Who Knew?" this summer on Letterman. I've really come to appreciate her talent. This is an incredibly sad and beautiful song, and she just belts it. Gives me goosebumps. Also, she's looking so classy in this performance. Love the dress, shoes and hair.

Here's the clip from Letterman:


The drummer is Mark Schulman. Brad met him about five years ago when Eckroth brought in Mark as a clinician. Since then, they've stayed in touch. When he came through town with Cher in 2003, Brad arranged for a private lesson with Mark. It was supposed to be an hour long, but Mark ended up spending most of the afternoon with Brad in our basement. He couldn't get tickets to the Cher show for us, but he lined up something even better: a pass for Brad to sit in on the sound check.

Mark's got Brad's dream job - touring with big names as a freelance musician. Fun!

Budding Writer

Connor is finally taking an interest in academics. We get a lot of use out of our MagnaDoodles, as shown here. Brad wrote the top line, then Connor traced it and wrote his own line below that. Then he signed his name.

Cute!

Happy Halloween

Here's a shot of our three jack-o-lanterns. There was supposed to be a fourth one, but it had gone bad, so we didn't cut into it. We invested in a new pumpkin carving tool that was invented by a North Dakotan. It closely resembles a beater from a hand mixer, and it attaches to an electric drill. Once I got the hang of it, it worked really well. Good old ND ingenuity.

Here's a shot of the window decorations that Brad and Connor made. Note the SNOW outside. Bummer weather for the kids on Halloween. The cold kept our trick-or-treating to a minimum, but the boys ended up with plenty of candy anyway. It's amazing how a child's face lights up at the sight of a big bowl of candy.

Spooghetti!

Tonight was the Spooghetti Supper at Northridge. It's a big fundraiser for the PTO, and since the kids can no longer wear their costumes to school on Halloween, it's their opportunity to show off their costumes for their friends. We brought along lots of family members, for a total of 10 in our party.

This year the boys went as Harry Potter and a little wizard. Dylan had been growing his hair out, so that worked right into his costume. Everyone was amazed at how much he resembled the character.

Connor was supposed to go as Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig, but the costume I ordered online NEVER ARRIVED. He was devastated at first, but after I found this wizard costume, he felt much better

F/F

[Sorry for all the inside jokes in this entry, but Shari and Dawn are two of my primary readers. I don't mean to be rude or exclusive, but this one's really for them.]

Shari and her landlord, Dawn, were in Bismarck last weekend. How nice it was to see them! We exchanged recipes and tossed back a few margaritas. Well, Dawn and I did, anyway. Shari was sipping something sophisticated and amber-colored while Brad dozed in and out on the couch. ("Kabobs!")


We were honored that they chose to spend an entire evening with us.


Dylan was thrilled to have someone with whom he could play two-player Lego Star Wars, and Shari, being the video game junkie that she is, happily obliged.



Shari-we've come so far from the days of Mr. Bubble. Hurry back now, y'hear?

Shades of Indigo

I used to be a real Indigo Girls fan. Fanatic, actually. I spent lots of money on CD's, guitar books, clothes, bumper stickers, posters. I even had an Indigo Girls license plate, although most people thought it read "North Dakota Go Girl". I had Amy and Emily sign a photo of myself with my license plate:

Funny!

We traveled east to see them play four times in the 90's: twice in Fargo, once at the Northrop in St. Paul, and once at the Shakopee, MN, stop of the inaugural Lilith Fair tour in 1997. Here's a great shot of Shari and me at that show:

Anyway, after Dylan was born, I sort of lost touch with much of my music, including Indigo Girls. I did manage to buy their new releases, but I dropped my fan club membership and stopped being totally obsessive. Then this week I stumbled onto their website and discovered that they have a new CD out. The online samples were really good, so I ran out and bought it. It's terrific! My favorite song is "Rock and Roll Heaven's Gage" with guest vocals by Pink. So cool!

I doubt that they'll oust Oasis from the top of my playlist, but it's nice to be back.

Class of 1872

The second-graders at Northridge have been studying pioneer life for the last few weeks. Their pioneer unit culminated in a graduation ceremony today, which parents could attend. For the duration of this unit, they have been known by their pioneer names - Dylan was George Baker, Jr.

They showed a Powerpoint presentation of a Pioneer ABC's book that they made.

They also had made vegetable people for a county fair-style contest. Dylan won "Most Creative" for his R2D2 made from a potato, carrots and celery.

White October

This was the scene today. The snow was that heavy, wet kind that is perfect for making snowmen, which the kids did later. We ended up with several inches by the end of the day.

CRAZY.