Earthquake!

I interupt this blogging absence to report that I experienced my first earthquake this morning.

(The dots are where people reported feeling tremors.)


It woke us up at about 5am this morning--a whopping 3.6. I know it's piddly compared to those on the West coast, but it doesn't take much to excite us Easterners. Blizzards, hurricanes, earthquakes--see all that the DC area has to offer?

Eat Your Heart Out

An update is sorely needed, but to tide you over until I manage to get my act together, here is a scrumptious June recipe that I think you need to try. Why has it taken me 32 years to realize that chocolate strawberry shortcake would trump the yellow kind?
It would make a scrumptious Father's Day dessert...here you go.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Strawberry-Shortcakes-238533

I think I rolled my cakes out a little too thin, but it gave us extra shortcakes, which went next door to our neighbors so Brian and I could withstand the temptation of a second helping. So I guess you could say that's the reduced-fat version. I also didn't use the part of the recipe for the strawberries--we just like ours with cream and lightly sugared berries.

You won't be sorry!

An update will hopefully come in the next couple of days...


PS- there was a flurry of excitement in the Bowcut household yesterday when 2 mystery boxes of pirate booty showed up at our door.
Every flavor you can imagine--I didn't know they made it in so many flavors. It's our 3 month supply. The girls think we struck pirate booty oil--and request it for every meal. Who knew that p. booty could bring so much happiness to two little girls?
(The mystery was solved when Brian informed me we had dinner the other night with the East Coast sales representative for Pirate Booty on Saturday. I suppose I missed that part of the conversation.)

Word to My Mother--on Mother's Day

This year my Mom turned 60. She is a high school principal and has worked within the same county public school system for about 25 years. Her close friends from different points throughout her career, held a birthday brunch for her several months ago, and I was flattered that I was invited to attend. I had probably been introduced to some of the women at some point in the past, but didn’t know them well. I enjoyed getting to know them, and I could see why they were all friends with my Mom—they were very smart, successful, funny and personable. Not surprisingly, and not that I minded, the conversation often turned towards past times of working together—funny anecdotes and challenging experiences. They shared their professional journeys and obstacles they overcame to hold the positions they hold today. Some of them shared obstalces such as inappropriate advances from male superiors or co-workers and how they handled sexual harassment in a time where they had little power to combat it. Even though sexual harassment was part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, sexual harassment litigation didn’t take off until the late 80’s, and not really part of the social consciousness until the 90’s.

That afternoon with my Mom’s friends enabled me to see my Mom in a new light. It hit me that it was my mother’s generation who was responsible for some of the social change that we take for granted today. I had always viewed my mother as a pioneer—one who was thrust back into the workforce after my parents’ divorce, and who built a successful career and earning her doctorate while balancing the demands of four children, and then three more when she and my stepfather blended their families. But I had never even considered how historical and social events would have affected and perhaps impeded her.

Later, as I was recalling my thoughts about this to her, she talked about other types of social change. How she spent most of her childhood in Long Island, New York, but her parents would often drive the family down to Florida to visit relatives there. She remembers her father preparing her and her brothers about how blacks are treated and how they should be sure to use the designated “white” bathroom while in the South. She recalled driving down I-95 down to Florida and seeing shack after shack built alongside the highway where blacks would live. She recounted how concerned her parents were about buying their home in a place where she and her brothers could attend the “white” schools (even though schools were integrated, there was still self-segregation). And how when her parents were readying their house to sell before moving to Utah, they worried that a black family would want to buy it, which would bring down the home values of their neighbors’ homes. Why had I not ever known this? I always knew that my Grandparents had a spark of racism—it’s generational, of course. And then I thought about how my Mom has worked tirelessly throughout her life to educate children, black and white. And to elevate the performance, test scores and self-confidence of many disadvantaged minorities. She works closely with minority communities to address problems their youth are facing and how to help them succeed. She loves her students intently--regardless of their background or ethnicity.

It's clear my mom left the biases and preconceived notions that pervaded her upbringing and has been a force for change. I’m honored she is my mother and hope that I can be a similar force for positive social change for my daughters.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you.

Sidekick

Batman had Robin

Sherlock had Dr. Watson

Peter Pan had Tink

Lucy had Ethel

just like....

Ella has Sam

Every day their little lives become increasingly interdependent.

I see it when Ella reads books to Sam.

When Sam insists on being present and involved in E-V-E-R-Y one of Ella's violin practices.

Or when Ella talks emphatically using hand gestures and Sam stands beside her copying the same gestures.

And the giggling and singing to each other after lights out.

Or when I wake up at 4am to Ella standing at the side of my bed to tell me she had a bad dream. And then see Sam standing right there next to her.

Dynamic Duo

Thick as Thieves

Two Peas in a Pod

Or just simply SISTERS.

PS- Jen, aren't they SO darling in their dresses? I adore them.

PPS-Happy Happy Birthday to my favorite mother-in-law, Rhonda. She's one of the most thoughtful, talented and skilled people I know. Hope your day was fabulous!

Fairy

Sometimes you just need a little fairy magic to get the kitchen cleaned up.

Thanks, fairy Sam.

Practice makes...pandemonium

This past weekend Ella (and I) attended the 40th Annual SAGWA Violin Festival at the recommendation of her teacher. She attended classes on Saturday and then performed in the concert on Sunday. She got to perform in the beautiful Strathmore Music Center and played with about 500 other violinists. It was kind of cool.

(You can see her better if you enlarge the pics--she's towards the front in the green dress.)

But the coolness was outweighed by how lllllllooooooonnnnnngggggg the concert was. I almost stood up in my seat and screamed at the top of my lungs in front of the thousand people in attendance:

STOP THE MADNESS. WHY ARE WE MAKING OUR CHILDREN SIT HERE FOR THREE AND A HALF HOURS???

AND EXPECT THEM TO BE WELL-BEHAVED?

WE ARE TAKING THE FUN OUT OF MUSIC.

I couldn't even sit there well-behaved.

Thank goodness I brought books for me and Ella to read. I texted. I sneaked snacks. I took my shoes off. Ella kept puffing her chest out, and fake singing with the music, pretending to be an opera singer. And Ella kept poking Booker, the boy next to her (whose name we practiced saying many times last year, because Ella kept pronouncing it "Booger".) We left and returned to our seats in what I now realize was all the wrong places in the concert.

Our concert etiquette was so unrefined. You'd never know I was an Oberlin grad.

I did not care.

Thank goodness my daughter still wants to play the violin after that painful, Sunday afternoon.

However, Ella did great in both her classes and concert. She is progressing beautifully and I'm proud of how far she has come in just a year and a half.

But let me give you a glimpse into what our daily practices entail. Picture keeping a 6.5-year old on task throughout a 30-minute practice each day.

Now picture keeping her on task with a maniac 2.5 year old having meltdowns and running around:

Note: Nursing, wiggly infant was not pictured.

Some day Ella's playing will sound angelic and I will think it was all worth it.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Spring Brings...

Basketball Camp

A much needed activity to endure a week and a half of spring break. My eyebrows raised a little when I saw the 12-year old AAU girls basketball players at the camp and everyone started out the day running suicides. But Ella's tough. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

Spring Picnics

Actually, nice weather to wait in while you're waiting for your girlfriends to come rescue you after your van breaks down, which has 4 young children inside because you're trying to help a girlfriend who just had a baby. But then she has to come fetch her own kids so that's not being that helpful after all, is it? And thank goodness for friends who have minivans well stocked with treats and potato chips to appease any 2-year olds who freak out when they see their not-so-trusty minivan is being left behind in the parking garage. Who knew that a 2-year old could love their vehicle so much? Oh, what a day that was.

Park Days

Bicycle helmets are Samantha's new accessory. I don't have pictures to attest to this, but they look particularly smashing when worn with only a pair of underwear on. (Yes--I said underwear--Samantha is potty trained!!!! Yippee!)

Dog Walks

I'll let you in on a little parenting secret. Don't ever buy a dog. Why would you buy a dog when you already have little chillins to feed, bathe and direct to the potty? Sanity Parenting 101 indicates that you should buy a house next to someone who owns a dog. Then when your children beg and plead for a dog, you send them next door for their dog fix, and then they come home happy and tired of the dog. And the dog hair and bad breath stay next door and not in your house. I am becoming more and more anti-pet the older I get and the more children I accumulate. I was checking books out at the library and the librarian asked me how many children I had. To be polite, I asked her how many she had. A daugter and two sons. The daughter being human and the sons being feline in nature. Cats do not equal offspring. I get a little heated on this topic. Hmmm...I feel a spin-off post forming.

Outdoor Picture Attempts

The girls had to be photographed in their Easter dresses. This was the best I could do. I know kids can be difficult to photograph, but I think mine take the cake. I'm not sure if it's harder to keep Sam from screaming or Ella from talking when trying to take pictures.

Cherry Blossoms

After being somewhat underwhelmed at the cherry blossoms on the mall last year, I decided it was not worth the effort to metro downtown with the whole family. So a much better cherry blossom outing was in the Kenwood neighborhood in Bethesda. We went on Easter morning and it was glorious. Perfect weather, the air was so fragrant and we loved oodling over all the big, beautiful houses.



It might be a little dorky to dress my three girls in matching dresses, but I bought these awhile ago and they all fit now and I couldn't resist. There will come a time when they'll refuse, so I may as well do it while I can.

Lucy-licious. She might be the mellowist, happiest baby around. Mmm, mmm, scrumptious.

How picturesque is that?

Easter Egg Hunts

The annual Bowcut-Kirwan Easter egg hunt was held in our back yard. My children have Jenn Kirwan to thank for showing their mother how a proper easter egg hunt is conducted. It consists of approximately 200 filled eggs. Of course your share doesn't ALL fit into your basket, so periodic dumping of your basket contents into plastic bags is required to store your loot while you go for a refill. You'd think this would keep them occupied for awhile, but you'd be surprised how fast 4 pairs of legs can seek out all those eggs. Maybe 15 minutes? Fortunately, the Kirwans are faster than the Bowcuts, minimizing our take-home stash.

A Belated (because that's the Bowcut way right now) Welcome to Spring!