laeroport

Recap #5 - good times

Tim and I have been to ONE concert in the last year.  One.  And it was fantastic.  Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

What a great show.  Steve Martin has always been a favorite of ours.  In 6th grade I had a 45 of King Tut.  My entire knowledge of his current banjo repatoire was acquired in one clip from last season's Austin City Limits.

When Tim saw that he would be at the historic Stiefel Theater in Salina, we threw caution to the wind and bought tickets.  Worth Every Penny.

The Steep Canyon Rangers - amazing.

Their fiddle player, Nicky Sanders -  phenomenal. Just listen to his work on Orange Blossom Special and you'll agree.

The CD we bought that night has not left the car stereo.  My kids know all the songs.  I love all the songs.  Driving to Topeka on Sunday, listening to Trail Mix, Yellow Backed Fly came on the radio  and it made me so happy that a.) my kids knew the song right off and 2.) they were excited about it.

Yes, we are dorks. Bluegrass banjo dorks.  And we're okay with that.

What are you listening to?

a list of randomness

*I love it when things just come together.  Last week the Happiness Project Challenge was to give proofs of love.  Well, nothing new here.  From February 1st through Valentine's Day, for as long as we've been married, I've left Tim little notes on his pillow or taped to the bathroom mirror.  Often they are inscribed with bad puns and taped to some little gift that was probably on the grocery list anyway.  This year has been no different. (And that signature: It's Lovi, not Lori.  In 1996 Tim and I spent a month traveling around India by train.  They post the reservations list on the outside of the carriages, so you can check which one you're in.  He was listed as Tin and I was listed as Lovi. We liked it.  We got a giggle out of it.  And it stuck.)  
 
 For today, I left a CD of not-so-sappy love songs in his car.  And now, I can't get "Time in a Bottle" out of my head, although I've been singing the original, not the Muppet version.  But really, who can resist Muppets?


* Last Saturday Eliot had another birthday party to attend, and I made yet another tote bag as a gift.  The birthday boy punched Eliot in the nose earlier in the week, so I wasn't very excited about making him something REALLY cool.  What was that about "give proofs of love"?  Uh, yeah.

 

* I'm on a mission to turn my kids into musical junkies.  This is nothing new, really.  Netflix is a great enabler.  Last week I introduced them to The Music Man.  This week:  Hello, Dolly!  It helped to sell Eliot on HD to know it was source material for Wall-E.  And this morning we had an in-depth discussion about how Wall-E rhymed with Dolly.  Hmmm.... interesting.



* It's Valentine central over here.  And all our project ideas came from Family Fun.  Aidin finished up her ipods yesterday.  Eliot still has to finish up his owls tonight.



* Tomorrow holds the school Valentine parties (I'm in charge of Aidin's) and the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics.  We are excited on all counts!

* There is a lot more rattling around in my head, but I'll spare you, for now..... :)
 

Tuesday, already....

Here's a little random collection of thoughts on this cold and blustery Tuesday.

• After years and years, I still think Automatic for the People is one of the best albums, ever.  And yes, it is an album, thankyouverymuch.
• It is 7 days again over on flickr.  I'll be over there enjoying the comment-fest.
• My parents will be home today.  They've been gone, mostly in Arizona with my grandma, since mid-January.  I'm looking forward to seeing them.
• Our friend Ben was in town over the weekend and made some time for Aidin.  She was beside herself with excitement.  And they were even matching.

• Aidin learned to waltz at a Girl Scout activity over the weekend and now wants to waltz all the time.  As if her Dancing with the Stars fascination needed fuel.....  Okay, I'm pretty hooked as well.

• We went to Wichita on Sunday to celebrate my niece Arya's first birthday.  oh.my.gosh.  Not only is she the cutest thing, but she is so very sweet. 

•  And I am lame, so she got nothing made by Aunt Lori.  But Aidin and I had a good time shopping for cute, frilly baby girl dresses.  And I lamented that my baby girl is no longer a baby girl.
• Eliot is a math whiz.  Did I mention he is only five?  He's working on Aidin's 2nd grade math homework.  Seriously.
• I made the March "Craft: along" pizza last night. I know Kelli called it the best pizza ever, but I give it  one and a half thumbs down.  Although that could have been due to operator error and my inability to translate a recipe from British.  But we ate it just the same.

Okay, I think that's enough for one Tuesday.  Hope your week is going well. 

And Paige, here's the link again for Charlie's Soap.

long weekend

Tim got to stay home with the kids yesterday.  Today it is my turn.  We have Eliot's conference this morning and then I'm looking forward to a day of laundry and playmobile and snuggling on the sofa with the cats.

  

My overnight camping training was canceled due to lack of trainees, so I won't be sleeping in a cinder-block cabin on a cement floor or a tent tonight, (yea!) but I am going to meet a lady at camp in the morning and give her the "readers digest condensed" version of training.  Just to dot the i's and cross the t's.  She spent a month backpacking through Colorado with her husband, so I think she's got the basics down.

And since my evening is suddenly free and I already had a baby sitter lined up, I'm going out to hear my husband's band play tonight.  They may even be wearing their shirts.

Happy weekend, friends!  See you in March.

what's your name?

If you've been reading here for long you know that my husband is a musician.  He plays upright bass in a bluegrass band called the WiseAcres.  They are as their name implies.

Last Wednesday they had a gig as the "house band" during a talent show of sorts.  And on the previous Saturday afternoon, Tim got the idea that they should have matching shirts with their names embroidered on them.  So Sunday he bought genuine western pearl snap shirts and the guys tried them on.  Sunday night I washed and dried them.  Monday I started to embroider.  My fingers were sore - and flying.

 

There are actually only 3 guys in their band, but they had two friends sit in with them.

  

I embroidered each one in a navy blue satin stitch and back stitched around them with a tan color.

They all liked them but afterward I realized that I put them right under where a guitar strap goes.  Ah well.  I have a feeling more embroidery of this sort is in my future.

Here's (Cliff's back side and) Tim and his shirt in action. 

 

And on an unrelated note, while tripping around the internet I found this picture of me, in action, belly dancing in a show last fall wearing the costume my mom and I made.  

  

I don't know if I should rejoice or panic when I find random pictures of me in unexpected places online.  But at least I didn't hate finding this one.

Ciao for now, friends!

Simply the Best

Okay, here's the best pictures I managed on my phone at the Tina Turner concert.  Gah!  She's amazing.

Thunderdome, in full movie costume and wig:

Proud Mary:

She's been doing the same Proud Mary routine for HOW many years?  And still with the same energy and intensity.

 

And for the encore, this giant walkway swung out of the stage - and put her right in front of us.  So cool.

  

This was the first night of her final tour.  I feel lucky to have been there. 

Pony up

Stick horses used to be my specialty the way tote bags and pencil rolls are now.  And although at 2, my nephew Trey probably isn't really ready for his yet, I made him one for his birthday anyway.

 

And he needed some new (read, not hand-me-downs from Eliot) duds, as well.

 

I have another stick horse to make for another little buddy.  His older sister has nearly worn hers out, and I think he wants in on the pony action.  Would anyone be interested in a tutorial?   

 

Happy Birthday, little guy! We are having so much fun watching you grow.

And Happy Birthday to Michelle as well.  Go tell her "hi" and write a blog post already! 

That's it for me.  I'm stepping away from the screen for a few days of R&R (actually cleaning, organizing and car shopping) with Tim.  They decided this morning that my car is a total loss after all.  And our 11 year anniversary is on Saturday - and 11 is steel.  Seems fitting that we're getting a new car, eh?  Oh, and we have a date tonight.

See you next week.

Mwwwah! ~L

A good weekend always goes too fast

Friday night:

• Girl at a campout.
• Boy at grandma's.
• Fresh peaches, apricots and cherries at a Friday evening farmer's market.
• Dinner al fresco, a stroll, and a Border's browse with Michelle.
• New music.

• Irreverent theater.  And laughing so hard my cheeks hurt.

 

Saturday:

• Pick-up the girl.
• Lawrence Farmer's Market in the rain, listening to Tim's band play, squashed under the tent to avoid the raindrops.

 

• Cinnamon rolls.
• Drive to Topeka.
• Score at the thrift store (sheets! pillow cases! books) and the used book store.
• The best cheese and potato soup (with bacon!) I've ever had.
• Cutting and pinning and fitting and pattern-making and sewing with my mom.

• Laughing (me and my parents) and sulking (Aidin).
• Pork chops on the patio.
• Needing a sweater on a July evening in Kansas.
• Homemade ice cream and warm brownies with the inlaws.
• Cousins playing.
• Stories being told.
• A 55 minute fireworks display thanks to the church behind Tim's brother & sister-in-law's house.
• Fighting sleep while looking at I Spy and reading a new book.
• More sewing.
• Sleeping on my parents' couch for the first time in many years.

Sunday:

• Waking up to the sound of my mom's sewing machine - and all the memories that evoked.
• More sewing.
• Driving back to Lawrence.
• Dropping off the kids and brushing my teeth.
• Middle eastern dance rehearsal.  Disaster with my stick dance.  Hoping that I don't whack someone come performance time.
• Tears of frustration.
• Costume consultation. 
• Family trip to see Wall-E and dinner out.
• Bath, brush, bed, books and the anticipation of the whole cycle starting again in the morning.
• Laundry.
• A few evening moments to myself.

How was your weekend? 

aftermath

I'm so very busy this week.  Tim is out every night getting ready for a show he's stage managing this weekend.  Plus his band is playing the Downtown Lawrence Farmer's Market on Saturday.

My job is hectic this week.  Dance rehearsals continue for me.  As does costume construction.  But I'd rather linger in the fun that was our Fourth (and third).

 

More pictures of our fun on flickr.  And don't worry, Michelle.  I didn't upload any of those horrible ones I took of the two of us. ;)

And I'm tenatively dipping my toe into this pool.  Not that I have the talent to really swim....

More tomorrow.

We've done it three years, it must be a tradition

This was the third year that Aidin made her dad a t-shirt for Father's Day.  You may remember last year's robot shirt.

I don't know why she thought he needed a dragon shirt, but I think it turned out fantastic.  She made a drawing, I cut the stencil and she painted it very carefully according to her drawing.  Awesome.

Eliot wanted to make one too, so with a little (lot) of help, he painted this shirt for Daddy, featuring Lolo, the upright bass.

Tim and Lolo will be busy this weekend, playing at the String Band Rendezvous on Friday night and at a wedding on Saturday.  

I'm totally sucked into the comment-fest that is 7 days over on flickr.  Just so you know where I am.  Happy Wednesday, everyone!