Life On The Planet

The Good Old Days

(Butterfly and Tiger in the Ingalls dugout barn.)

Tonight was Church.

Tomorrow rehearsal.

Friday, Butterfly and Tiger have a performance.

Saturday, Tiger has rehearsal, and THEN we have...

Sal's Eagle Court of Honor!

One day I'll miss being this busy.

SNAFU

After an exciting, whirlwind visit to the Promised Land (Louisiana), real life has landed with a thud on my doorstep.

Today will be busy.

Butterfly has physical therapy. She hyper-extended her elbow. Ligaments were altered. Ouch.

Sal needs new Scout shorts, and needs to drop off his Eagle Scout paperwork.

I have to write a letter of recommendation for him. I hate writing letters of recommendation, but I'm sort of obligated here.

Butterfly needs a new bathing suit. Really, she does.

And then there is the usual laundry and cleaning. Oh, yeah! And school work, too!

Complicating matters - eminent flooding in Memphis. Maybe I should take care of the going to Memphis part of the list first.

Kids! To the van!!!!

 

The Boys' Room (La Deuxième Partie)

Tiger was green, I tell you - positively green, with envy over Sal's shelves.

"When?" he wailed. "When shall I get MY shelves, Father?"

(Or something like that.)

Not being one to like to favor one son over the other, The C.F.O. was honor bound to finish Tiger's shelves, and tout suite!

(My evil master plan is unfolding nicely, don't you think?)

And, of course, the entertainment section needed doing, as well.

(Rubbing hands together. Chortling fiendishly.)

Voila!

Tiger's shelves and the entertainment center!

I could cry I'm so happy. All of that stuff is either off the floor or out of my living room.

I. am. happy.

Tiger has room for books, and on top...

and photos, and puzzles, and small barnyard animals...

and, naturally, more books.

La troisième partie when we he finishes the rest!

The Boys' Room

Last year the boys built a bed for themselves.

And it was good.

But a bed wasn't all they needed. Most of their furniture was hand-me-down, which is good, too. Unless it is falling apart.

For the last year I've been asking The C.F.O. to build shelves. And more shelves. And more shelves...

Well, you get the idea.

Due to his lack of response, I wasn't sure he had gotten the message.

So I dumped the boys' clothes on the floor in the living room and kicked the dresser to the curb.

Being wise in all things, The C.F.O. deduced that NOW was the time to build the shelves.

He built Sal's first.

Isn't it pretty?

There is a place for everything.
See? Sal can even store books on top!

But wait! There's more.

And you will see it tomorrow!

Aren't you excited?

Run For the Roses

Butterfly used to live in a world of horses. They were on her walls. They were on her blankets. She had burlap curtains for heaven's sake. She was a horse loving girl.

She still loves horses, but her taste in decor has gradually changed. Slowly but surely, Rob Pattinson and Taylor Lautner have replaced Arabians and Palominos. And she is completely over the burlap.

She wants roses. Pink is the new Appaloosa.

After wailing and sobbing about my little girl growing up, I did what I had to do.

I shopped.

I found this quilt at Target.

It goes with her existing dust ruffle. It has ROSES. It's kismet.

I love dust ruffles. Not only do they finish the bed, but they also hide all of the junk under her bed. (And boy, does she have junk under her bed.)

Pink sheets are found on sale. ON SALE. (Do they frown upon happy dancing in the aisles at Target? Too late!)

Having spent all I was planning to spend on pre-made, I headed to JoAnn's. Fabric for bedspread, curtains and fuzzy pillow were found.

I have coupons. Hear me roar.

I used quilt binding to trim the spread.

Here is what we found for curtains. They are my next project.

And for the fuzzy pillow...

You like? I sure do. Her bedding material is very soft.

I still have to find material for her canopy.

When I get it all finished, I'll give you a peek.

And then a week later she will be pleading for black and white geometric patterns.

Honestly, there's no keeping up with the kid!

(Photography by Butterfly!)

The Sultan Has a Home

I am tired. How is it possible to sit in a theater all day and come home this tired? In any case, here is the palace.

I'm pretty proud of those kids.

If it's Tuesday, it Must Be Washington (Isn't that how the joke goes?)

It's not Tuesday? I guess I'm still in Mississippi. Theater camp is kicking my tail. And then AFTER camp every day we have rehearsal for Bye Bye Birdie, which both Butterfly and Tiger were cast in, until eight. (But it NEVER ends at eight!) So, we are there from nine thirty in the morning until we drop.

Sal has contacted his mother. He LIVES!!!!  (I'm so glad.) The C.F.O. is enjoying his temporary bachelorhood, I think. He has nightly dibs on the remote. What's not to love?

Time to hit the hay.

Tomorrow is same song, second verse...

Planetary Notes: 10-17-09

*Mulan rehearsals. Mulan, Mulan, Mulan. It's what were doing.

*Mulan costumes. (See above.)

*My root canal is scheduled for Wednesday. I can hardly wait.

*The cat has food.

*The front toilet is broken.

*The rabbit hutch has been winterized.

That's it, folks. I'm out of time. Have a good one.

I Am

at my Mother's. Eating her food. Watching her television. Playing with her computer.

Oh, yeah. And those funny people I live with are here, too. It's good because if they weren't here, I'd miss them. It's bad because I have to share Mom's divine chocolate chip cookies. It's always a toss up!

Tomorrow we go to the farm. You remember the farm, don't you? Aunt Sis lives there.

She makes cookies, too.

I am happy.

Pied Piper & Weekend Rehash

After seven weeks of hard work, Butterfly's play is over. Pied Piper, The Musical was a success. Naturally, Butterfly did a fine job (no bias here). In fact, the entire cast was wonderful.

Their shining moment came in the middle of disaster. The fountain in the middle of the set overflowed during the Friday night show. Several boys in the cast took wooden prop buckets, brooms and mops and, never breaking character, cleaned the entire thing up during a song and dance number. NO ONE NOTICED! Not even the director! Dances choreographed to include dancing around the fountain were re-choreographed on the fly by the cast. Not shabby for an all child cast!

It was an exhausting weekend for Butterfly; she nearly fell asleep in church Sunday. However, it was a fun weekend, so in the end it was worth all of the effort.

I woke up yesterday morning with the realization that I had nothing ready for Easter. We spent the day shopping and getting hair cuts. I would like to say that shopping with three children is a pleasant experience, but I don't like to lie.

Today it's back to the grindstone. School work and house cleaning are the only things on the agenda. How delightfully dull that sounds!