Big Balls!

Aunt Laura has a friend who works on the hilarious ABC show Wipeout. So today, Boylee, Daddy and I got to go out to the set and watch them shoot. It was so fabulous! We saw the contestants try to jump across the big balls! We saw people fall into the mud! We saw people fall into the water! We saw people fall off pedestals! In general, we saw a lot of falling! And as funny as it is on TV, it was even funnier in real life.

(That's a stock photo, not one from the shoot today.)

Boylee laughed and laughed, and I did too.

Quote of the Day

Boylee: "Aunt Laura burps like Shrek."

The Very Last One

Alas, Papa's final term is coming to an end. This means no more All Access for any of us! (Though Boylee pointed out many times that his credential says "All Access," but mine, and Daddy's, only said "G" on the top. We don't really know what the difference was between G and All Access, but Boylee appreciated the distinction.

The other highlights:
This was Boylee's favorite musical number. It was really awesome to see it in person.



And he really liked this, too. In fact, he was moved to tears by it. He doesn't really have any idea about all those dead folks, but the way she sang it. And it helped that he was sitting in the front row when he saw it (at rehearsal).

Academy Awards Weekend!

This is a big weekend, not only because of the Oscars, but because it means a lot of family is in town. When we went to Papa's hotel room, we saw Aunt Laura (aka Aunt Best), Uncle Sol, Aunt Kristina, Cousin Uriel, Aunt Chloe and Uncle Toby, Cousin Babi, Cousin Dominique and baby Laila, Papa and Noni and believe it or not, several more people including some in-laws we had never met.

There were a lot of highlights, but here is one: Boylee went right for Papa's massive hotel tub and asked to take a bath. Then he wandered around in a hotel bathrobe.


More updates later...but if you are watching the show tonight, Boylee's favorite part (from watching the rehearsals) is a Bollywood musical number with two songs from Slumdog Millionaire and one song from Wall-E. It's very, very cool, and Boylee got to watch all the dancers, drummers, singers and saris from the front row.

The Celebration

Yes, I forgot my camera.

But the kids drew self-portraits of themselves at age 100, made a 100th day crown with 100 stickers, made constructions out of 100 blocks, and helped themselves to ten each of ten different snacks. A fun time was had by all. I'll post Boylee's self-portrait after he brings it home.

100

This is what we ended up making. The big one has 50 pieces. The little ones each have 25. Tomorrow is the celebration!

100th Day of School

Ever since day 1, Boylee's class has been counting the days of school. And Thursday is the 100th day. (Then the school year is more than half over; only 80 days left.)

On that day, each kid needs to bring in 100 of something to celebrate the 100th day. Suggestions from the teacher included 100 beads on a necklace, or 100 pieces of hair/yarn glued to a self-portrait.

We had two ideas...the first involved cars. And though we have a lot of cars, I had gotten rid of at least 50% of them about a year ago. So I didn't know if we had 100 left.

We had enough, but Boylee decided this is not what he wanted to bring to school. Stay tuned to see what he chose...

Pre-V-Day

I forgot my camera, so no shots of Boylee's kindergarten valentine's day party...or of the "love party" back at his preschool, or of the playdate we had afterwards. It was a busy day.

It's a Transformers Toothbrush

And it sings a Transformers song. The cool thing is that just vibrates in a certain way, and when Boylee presses the brush against his teeth or gums, the vibration is translated into sound in his ear. Very odd, but enjoyable. For him.

Modeling

The other day I sewed Boylee a pair of pants. (Um, yes, they turned out a little too narrow and a little too short, but it's because he loved that particular fabric and I only had a scrap and I used every inch I had but that's just how they turned out!)

Anyway I asked him to try the pants on to see if they fit and here are the poses he struck for me:


That second one is a classic Daddy pose.

Not About Boylee

I can't think of anything to say about Boylee today, so here's something different.

Have you heard about the funny things Google has captured on film while making their street view maps? Here's an example.

Well the other day I was googling around and look what I found... if you go to maps.google.com and put in our home address ...and then you click on street view... and then you navigate along the street in front of our house...here's what you see.

Yep, that's our garage opening.


Yep, that's someone going up our front stairs.


Yep, that's me. (Click on it to get a larger look.)

Okay, not quite as thrilling as a street fight or someone passed out drunk, but I'm still sort of amazed by it.

Quick Update

For those who may have wondered -- yes, Boylee is still freeloading at the cafeteria. I have no idea how it's working, since they never seem to send me a bill anymore. But today he told me he enjoyed the cafe's barbecued chicken. I didn't ask for the details.

Is it the Economy?

ANOTHER kid has left Boylee's class. Apparently her family moved. That's the 5th kid!

The upside is now we're down to 18 students. A private school-sized class, without the tuition.

One Effect of the Budget Cuts

Starting today, the cafeteria will only offer two selections at lunchtime, down from three. Stay tuned for Boylee's reaction. I think this week he's going to choose to eat in the cafeteria on Thursday, which is cheese pizza day. I try to steer him away from meat-related entrees. I just can't stomach the idea of cafeteria beef.

Quote of the Day

Boylee just patted me on the tush and said, "I'm proud of your butt. He's a big, strong man."

Vacation Photos

Here's a blast from the recent past... On our way up to Bolinas we discovered some snow along the Grapevine and we just had to pull over. (Partly because Isaac had informed me that he would kill himself if he didn't get a chance to go to the snow within three months. I'm not really sure where the killing himself part came from, but I'm not too concerned.)

Daddy was dressed inappropriately -- in shorts and sandals. Boylee wasn't dressed too warmly, but I did manage to rummage around in his suitcase and find some warm clothes that I'd packed in anticipation of Bolinas.



I had jeans and a sweater on, but I got cold quickly and didn't feel like rummaging around my own suitcase, so I sought the shelter of the car. Then the boys attacked!



Even Boylee got cold after about 20 minutes, so the next time we visit snow we need to be better prepared. But he couldn't have been happier -- we might just have been at a rest stop off a busy highway, but Boylee was satisfied and hasn't made any further threats to kill himself.

Adjusting

According to Boylee's teacher, all of the kids have been a bit blah this week. I've noticed that Boylee has been vehement about not wanting to go to school for the past few days, but he hasn't been able to communicate why. And he's seemed fine once we got to school. But Mrs. Richards thinks it's a delayed reaction to the abrupt loss of four classroom friends. One left before the holiday, and three left suddenly during the holiday break, with no chance for anyone to say goodbye. She says she's going to plan some extra fun activities to cheer everyone up, and also do some icebreaker-type activities -- though the kids who remain all know each other, of course, she says it's necessary in order to rejigger classroom relationships.

Not Out of the Woods

From the LA Times

A steep dip in school spending has been jointly endorsed. Some of the $3.9 billion in cuts to kindergarten-through-12th-grade education would be offset by declining enrollment in some districts, but there will also be many direct effects in the classroom.

The area of school spending that will be hit hardest is funding for textbooks, which would be cut by $417 million. The loss of that money would make some schools unable to update their textbooks, and some districts unable to supply books to every student.

More than $277 million would be cut from a program to fund long overdue maintenance in school buildings, including some scheduled "emergency repairs." Plans by many districts to fix leaky roofs, cracked sidewalks and broken heating systems would have to be put off another year.

Money for the neediest students would be cut, as would programs to further the professional development and training of teachers. Nearly $110 million set aside for districts to preserve art and music programs would also be on the chopping bock.

State funding to train faculty in how to best teach math and reading skills would also be reduced, as would subsidies available to districts that provide after-school child care. And a program initiated to get high-speed Internet access in every district is endangered. Some schools are still using dial-up technology.

The education reductions erode "the foundation schools are built upon," said Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist for hundreds of school districts.

Breaking News

"Due to the lack of clear information from Sacramento, the need for stability at schools in the second semester, and the high level of interest in a retirement incentive program, there will be no mid-year teacher layoffs."
- Superintendent Ramon Cortines

Quote of the Day

Mama (reading from Boylee's homework): Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a famous speech. He said that he had a dream. He dreamed of freedom and equality in America. He hoped that one day people of all races would live together in peace. Boylee, do you think his dream will come true?

Boylee: It already has!