What a bizarre day
First, Ed McMahon passes away on Tuesday. And today Farrah Fawcett AND Michael Jackson. Two ultimate icons from my childhood are gone.
Ed had been sick for a long time. It's sort of been expected and we've all be wondering what's gonna happen on the Telethon this year because Ed was clearly too ill to be there for the show. And now that he's passed, the Telethon won't be the same. Between his mispronouncing most of the names of the sponsors (how does an announcer get away with that?) or spitting a tooth out of his mouth on the air (yes that happened too), he had such an iconic voice and that immediately identifiable. It won't be the same.
Farrah Fawcett - Sure there was the poster and the hair. I remember the movie "The Burning Bed" and watching "Charlie's Angels". I remember her strange interview with David Letterman. She was instantly recognizable and it's just a very sad way that she died, even though she fought hard until the very end.
Michael Jackson - this is the most bizarre thing in a very long time. Cardiac arrest at 50. He's always been very strange. I worked on a few shows with him. I had zero contact, and stayed very far away but he did perform on several "American Music Awards" that I worked on and I did one of the Motown specials back in the day. Immensely talented and equally strange. This is one of those "where were you when you found out" moments like 9/11, Challenger explosion and events like when JFK or Princess Diana died. G texted me earlier in the day that MJ was taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest. I didn't know he died until about 4:30P, checked Facebook and saw all these wall and status posts saying "Michael RIP". Clicked over to CNN and said "holy shit". I've never seen news coverage like this. I guess it's to be expected. MJ was one of the all time biggest selling artists in history and his death is completely out of left field.
I'm not being very eloquent about all of this but it's all certainly disconcerting. Everyone was in shock today. Words can't describe how strange today was.
Six Months and Soccer
M and H are six months old. Can you believe it? I sure can't. They're quite adorable if I say so myself and generally they're good girls. What are they doing these days, you may ask? Well, H decided to find her voice today and was quite the little screecher. Generally, that's M's domain but H was chattering away. Basically, they're happy girls with lots of smiles. They're mostly sleeping better. H is a great little sleeper. I start the bedtime routine around 7:15P and she's easy to get to sleep and she basically stays asleep until morning. They've been waking aroud 6AM which isn't my finest hour but she's getting a good 11 hours in a row. Wish I could do that. M, on the other hand, is channeling her big sister's sleep habits. As soon as I get H down, I work on putting M to sleep and she wants no part of it. It's not unusual that she's still awake in the 9PM hour. It's killing me and for those who ask why I'm up so late, that's why. When it takes 2 hours to get three kids to bed, only then am I able to get on the computer for the first time in the day. It's been suggested that we let M cry it out and she's certainly at the age where that would be appropriate but there's another person in the room so we can't let her scream endlessly or there will be two kids screaming, which has happened and it a joyous time all around. Both are lousy nappers and it's certainly not for lack of trying. And they're both clearly teething so that adds yet another fun element to their disposition at any given time.
Today we pulled out the "circles of fun". M is physically much stronger so she's able to be in it and have a little bit of fun. H's not there yet but she will be. We go to the doctor tomorrow for their 6 month check up. I'm looking forward to see how their weight gain is coming along. They're definitely fattening up and are getting those rolls on their thighs.
M enjoying the circle of fun.
Look, we're 6 months old!
Hey look, what's this?
It crinkles and makes noise
I wanna try too
Soccer. C survived her first, and probably only, soccer season. We signed her up and wanted her to understand the commitment to the team plus perhaps run around a little bit. She complained a little at the beginning but overall enjoyed the experience. She probably won't do it again but she did complete the season. She certainly understood the rules and all the concepts Coach J was telling her. She's the first to correct when we give her wrong information. She actually can kick the ball well and hard, she was just a little lazy when it came to running and keeping up with the ball. But to her defense, it was a co-ed team and some of the boys are just more aggresive to get "in there" with the ball. C ended up playing goalkeeper a bunch which she actually enjoyed. Okay, probably because it required minimal running around but she wasn't a bad goalie either.
This looks impressive doesn't it? The teams were 5-6 year olds but there weren't enough kids on the last day so a few older brothers played.
Hanging with her good friend S. They were on the same team, except for that last day with the lack of players.
Hanging in the goal.
Goalie kick
C's big accomplishment was the trophy at the end of the season. She's so proud of it as she should be. I hope she always keeps it as a momento. I personally never won a trophy growing up (probably because I did nothing sports related) so I think her trophy is pretty darn cool. And she was clearly proud of herself.
My 400th post
I won't give a list of 400 things because that would take too long. I'm not sure I have 400 of many things in my life. I have 400 friends on Facebook. I have well over 400 books on the bookshelf. More than 400 scrapbook items on my floor (don't ask). I'm sure I have 400 things to do with not enough hours in the day.
I feel like I have 400 pictures to post so let's get today's photo journal started. C is now a 1st grader. Holy shit, how did that happen? She had her "step up" ceremony last Thursday. That's when each grade officially gets the blessing from the Head of School that they've completed all the requirements of their grade and can "step up" to the next grade level. The kindergarten class performed their evergreen version of "It's a Small World" in about 9 languages - English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, Yiddish, Afrikaans, and sign language. I'm probably forgetting one. The kids were so excited.
At one point, the Head of School Mrs. W. asked the kids what they loved best about kindergarten. C went up to the mic and said "Spending every day with my teacher." C had such an amazing teacher with Mrs. L. What an inspiring teacher. Full of enthusiasm, her love for art and creativity, she really managed to keep C so excited about school. At the moment, C says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up and that's 100% because of what an amazing person Mrs. L is. And she's become a good friend to me too which makes me happy to know that she'll always be in C's life. But I digress, the step up ceremony was very nice and even a little sad. There are a lot of changes happening at the school and a lot of our friends are leaving for various reasons so this was the last time, a lot of us will be together. I'm not worried about my close friends who are leaving, because they'll always be my close friends. But for some of the others who are moving on, it's sad for the kids who don't fully get the reasons why adults make these decisions.
Anyway, we have a 1st grader. It's crazy and amazing to watch every single day. C is so smart and clever. She's a tremendous reader, well above her age level. She likes math. She loves art. It's amazing to watch her change and grow every day. She's such a big girl. I'm such a proud, and very lucky, mom.
C and the wonderful Mrs. L.
The K class performing
Telling the school that the best part of kindergarten was her teacher
C and her 3rd grade buddy reader. They became good buds. You know, the one thing that's amazing about going to a Jewish day school is that the kids are taught values and just because you're the "big kid", it's still cool to friends with a "little kid". We've seen C's buddy reader from last year (when she was in 5th grade and C was in TK) several times this year. Her name is also C and each and every time, it's the coolest thing to see Big C come running to hug Little C. She wants to see her and see how she's doing. There's no "just a little kid that I have to put up with" attitude. That's something that the school teaches these kids. I felt the same when I see and hear C talk about her buddy reader from this year. There's a true bond and a real friendship on both sides and that's awesome.
And a little bonus picture. Last week, the school had "Shabbat Under the Stars". A last celebration at a local park to celebrate a great school year. It's always fun and here's Mrs. L having a little cuddle with M. They had a great time hanging out together.
Tomorrow's entry - soccer and M&H's 6th month birthday. Another holy shit. The girls are 6 months old.
Hello, is this thing on?
I've been overwhelmed with end of school crap, yearbook dramas, and just life in general with not enough hours in the day. So my pledge, goal, promise to myself is to blog every day for the next few days to get the backlog of photos I've been meaning to share up for the world to see. Okay, I realize that I've lost all hope to have people read my blog anymore so it's really just to entertain myself so when/if I ever get around to scrapbooking, I might have a fighting chance to jog my memory. So let's work backwards to cover the past 2-3 weeks.
It was an historic day in the life of Miss C. After 6 years, 2 months and 7 days, we had our first haircut. This has been the source of MUCH drama over the past few months. Sheer terror in anticipation and partly our own laziness for not just doing it. But with camp starting tomorrow, it was time once and for all. I called yesterday to a place in the neighborhood and made the appointment. This morning, C was all cranky and a real PITA all because she was nervous about getting her hair finally cut. So we finally loaded everyone in the car, drove to the place and they were closed. What? G called the number and the answering machine said they were "closed for Father's Day." WTF. Why the hell did they take my appointment plus they had my name and number and could've called me. G left a nasty message which was well deserved. I just left a lousy review on the website where I found this place. Anyway, I remembered another place in Studio City that was open on Sundays so we called and went over there. Not the most geographically desirable but it turned out to be well worth the drive.
After all the anticipation, once we got there, C was totally cool. Okay, having a lollipop to start probably helped but it was one of the classic stress over the unknown situations. Once she saw the place, what it was, how kid friendly it was, it was all good. We sat down with our hairdresser M and figured out how much to cut off. Then M made a braid of the length to cut off and off it went. C was totally fine and I think even enjoyed the pampering. Then M did the haircut to trim everything up and then blow dried C's hair. C then picked two clips to put in her hair and glitter. It doesn't get better than glitter being sprinkled in your hair. When all was said and done, C's hair looks fantastic. She LOVES the length and how light her head feels. Before she went to sleep, she even said to me how it's weird when you're nervous doing something new and then when you do it, it's not bad. And of course, getting a balloon is always a bonus.
So here's the before, during and after photo album.
Yup, hair pretty much down to her behind.
The moment we've all been waiting for...
The hair styling
Checking it out in the mirror
Flipping our new shoulder length hair
C and her hairdresser M
Ta-da!! Clips and glitter included
Showing off
How stinking cute does she look now? She loves her short hair and she's really gonna love how much easier it is to take care of, comb through after a shower and just how much nicer it'll be in the heat of the summer. Yee-ha! We got a haircut and survived!
Tune in tomorrow for more pictures and catching up.
