A couple of new layouts

I'm addicted to sketches and have RSS feeds to several sketch blogs. Love love love them. It is like a fun little challenge to me to take a sketch and make it work with my photos. These are all from our February Disneyworld trip. I'm trying to get caught up but things have been busy busy busy lately.

Here is one from Sketchy Thursdays -- sketch 10.1

This one is from Lita's Embracing Imperfection blog - sketch #4

Lita's sketch 8

Lita's sketch 7

This one is from 52 sketches 52 weeks -- sketch #39

And finally this is from the October PageMaps (the 5th sketch on the page)

Newark Days - wrap up!

What a busy weekend -- I know we aren't done but tomorrow is MINE!

Our town has a yearly celebration of its birthday (I guess). Thursday night was $1 ride night at the carnival and Noah's cub scout pack wanted the boys to go in uniform to kinda "drum up business". I took Noah for about an hour while Hana was in dance (she's not a ride girl anyway). We ran into one of Noah's pals while we were there and they went on a few rides together. He was so happy!

Next...Friday! Hana's dance studio was the opening act for like 20 different performances this weekend. I had to have her at the dance studio at 3:30 in hair, make-up and costume. One of her recital dances was chosen for the hour long performance. It was her hip hop routine "I'm a Little Teapot". There were about 15-20 kids in it before and only 6 came back to do the show for Newark Days. I was impressed she remembered the routine since she hadn't done it since early June. She made me proud. She had a smile on her face the entire time. Great stage presence.

Don and Noah watching the show -- Handsome, huh?

Taking her bow "for all the fans"...oh the Diva runs strong with this one.

Today - Saturday - Both Hana and Noah (and Don!) have been going to parade practice every Friday since school started. Today they walked (Noah rode on the float) in the parade for the school. The school won 1st place for their float and they won Best in Class. Awesome!

The theme of Newark Days this year was Celebrating the Arts. So the school float was in the theme of Van Gogh with lots of sunflowers and copies of his art. Kids were dressed in big puffy white shirts and berets. Some dancers. Some gypsys (not sure why...). It was really beautiful. I sat with some friends to watch AND...get this...I brought Lily (our dog). Lily had a grand time sniffing things. She only barked one time -- at some person dressed up on a float in a chicken costume. Go figure.

How stinkin' cute is he? I just want to eat him up!

Here you can just barely see Noah (click on the photo to enlarge). He is on the float sitting under the eagle mascot and holding a piece of artwork. Don is walking behind him a few steps in a blue t-shirt and "a dirty old hat".

My gorgeous girl looking perfectly refreshed after walking over a mile.


Newark Days concludes tomorrow. But we are supposed to get hit with a heat wave starting tomorrow so I think we will be staying home. I think we have celebrated our community enough for one weekend. Go Newark!

First Day of School 2009-10

Here they are! My 1st grader and my 4th grader (that one hurt to type a little bit).

Noah with his teacher Mrs. Felix. She looped her whole class from last year. I'm thrilled. Everyone knows what to expect (except the few new additions due to class size going up from budget cuts -- from 20 in K to 3 up to 27) and they can just get going. Sweet class, too. Great teacher for Noah as well. Noah keeps telling me that 1st grade is "AWESOME!" Can't ask for more than that, right?

Hana and her teacher Mr. Brose. She kept her fingers, toes and eyes crossed all summer that she would get him. He's the popular 4th grade teacher. She's loving it so far. No complaints equals happy me!

The Tale of a Foot

Here is what started it. Noah...successfully riding his two wheeler! Woo hoo! Enter proud dad going out to buy a bike of his own so he could ride side by side with his son. Enter same dad who exercised poor judgement and put his son on the bar in front of his seat on the new bike (by the way...new bike still has the paper in the wheels...THAT new!). Poor son got his foot caught in

spokes of the bike wheel.

Here is the son after a visit to the Urgent Care where he was splinted and we were told he could not put weight on his foot all weekend -- had to carry him and sponge baths til Monday when he saw the orthopedist.

After Monday's visit...Doctor removed the splint and put on a hard cast. Verdict: not broken or fractured. Very swollen. Possibly sprained. Doctor was more worried about the skin near the bone so the cast was to prevent further damage.

First day of school with his extra "school supply". When he came home he said that, "100 people asked me about my cast and I had to say, 'bike accident' 'bike accident' 'bike accident' 'bike accident' 'bike accident'. It was killing me!"

Today...we went to get the cast removed. Here he is standing outside the clinic.

Noah's dirty toes. Still cute though.

Putting on a brave face. He was nervous about the saw and freaked out when the guy told him it was noisy.

After removing the cast and wrappings. I was standing on the other side and saw a small scab and though, "Oh that isn't so bad." Then Hana and Noah made a big stinkin' deal about the other side. I leaned over and almost fainted when I saw this... (didn't help that I got a big whiff of the unwashed foot either...)

My brave boy amidst the gauze and wrappings.

And one more from a slightly different angle...just for my mom. (Love you mom! If I have to have the "Ow! Ow! Ow! Poor baby!" feelings so do you.)

Doctor wrote a note for no PE for two weeks ... yeah right. Apparently Noah had a fit because he couldn't do the activity for PE right today. He likes PE. He's supposed to cover that ginormous scab with a bandaid, sock and regular shoes. Yeah sure. No tub baths for at least another week...UGH!!!! That is killing me! Oh Donald...

Don broke Noah!

So in my last blog entry I posted videos of Noah riding his bike by himself. Today Don decided that since Noah is doing so well with bike riding that he needed a bike to ride along with his son. He took the kids out with him to go buy a bike (I was at work -- started back yesterday). When they came home there was much excitement about Daddy's new bike. Don in his infinite "I-have-a-Ph.D.-but-no-common-sense" wisdom decided it was alright to put Noah on the bar of the bike in front of his seat and let him ride that way. You guessed it...Noah's little foot got caught in the spokes of the bike. Apparently there is a deep cut (that I absolutely do not want to see) and Noah was in great pain. Don said he was hysterical and shaking from the pain of his injury.

I got home a bit before 4:30 and arrived to an empty house. Front door wide open and screen not locked. TV and lights on. Dog outside. Backdoor not locked. Checked my phone for a message. They had been at Urgent Care since 3:30.

They took an x-ray and didn't see any break. However, when Don got back here with the kids the phone rang -- it was the doctor who treated Noah. She said the radiologist looked at the x-ray a second time and said there was a lot of swelling and he couldn't be sure if there was a hairline fracture or not. Doctor asked us to come back and get a splint put on Noah's leg.

Bottom line...you can see the photos...Don is at Noah's beck and call for the entire weekend or until they see the Orthopedist. We have an appointment for Wednesday but they are hoping they can get us squeezed in some time on Monday so if it is not fractured and he doesn't need the splint it can be taken off. Noah can't walk on the splint or get it wet. He must be carried everywhere. Let's hope Don's upper body can take all the lifting and carrying.

Noah on two wheels -- no stopping him now!

This was Don's summer project. I reminded him today that he has been slacking on the project. Noah has been soooooo close to riding a two wheeler by himself. FINALLY!!!! Today was success! Now Don just needs to work with Noah on getting started without a push from Daddy.

Closing performances - Willy Wonka Jr.

Willy Wonka Jr. is all done. Saturday night was the final performance. Today is strike (when they take down all the sets and clean up) and then will follow with a strike party. Hana already has her sights set on the next audition. Don and Noah came yesterday afternoon to the matinee to watch -- Don's first time (with me interpreting...don't get me started...I'm working on the theater budgeting to hire an interpreter and marketing it better so more deaf people/children might come and justify the expense) and Noah's second time. After the show, Noah presented our Oompa Loompa with a bouquet of roses that he selected when he and Daddy went to buy some flowers for our starlet.

Here she is ready to receive her public...

Here she is with the Director and Choreographer Bryant Cash-Welch. He was soooo awesome with the kids. At every show he wore his own Oompa Loompa costume and during the final show last night he came on stage with the Oompas a few times and danced and acted along with them.

Me and my beautiful girl

My beautiful family

More updates to come as Hana works up to the next audition(s)....