Hockey Decor

Roo has a history in helping to beautify our home. (click to see old post The Rebounding Knickknack) His latest effort I call Hockey Decor. Shortly after purchasing his new hockey stick, he asked "mommy, do we have any of those things like you put swords up on for display?". (A reference to swords clear evidence that this child spent formative years in Japan.) Unclear of his intention, I explained that we didn't have a sword holder but instead produced two plastic easels on which to rest a picture or book. The next thing I knew, he was placing his hockey stick on prominent display in the living room. Thinking this won't last once his stick makes it downstairs to the garage for our now bi-weekly trips to the rink, I complimented him on his idea. Wednesday he carried his hockey gear through the garage and into the basement after returning home from hockey practice. Several hours later, I realized the stick had made it upstairs and once again claimed it's place of prominence. It's still there.

Minnesota in February

We just spent this past week in Minnesota visiting Ryan's parents and his sister Tonya. Friends in New Jersey looked puzzled as we shared our plans to travel to the tundra during the week long break from school. Yes, it's cold here and yes, there is a lot of snow. But somehow it felt refreshing. (I'm sure if I was living here and in the midst of possibly one of the snowiest seasons ever, I'd use a different word than "refreshing"). It snowed after we arrived and like good Minnesotans we didn't let a moderate storm stomp out our plans. We drove Roo to one of the "top 10 places in America to skate".

The Depot, an old train station in downtown Minneapolis that's been reborn as an ice rink attached to a hotel with a water slide.

A no show by the Zamboni driver left the ice a bit too "shredded", as Roo likes to say, but we had fun. The weekdays began and Ryan headed into the Minneapolis office to catch up with colleagues, and I left Roo at his Grandparents and headed up north to a Dwelling in the Woods. My own hermitage with a wood burning stove,

situated amongst the pine and birch, provided three nights of secluded warmth. I built my very first fire.

Two books, two movies, and several catnaps later, I woke to a 0 degree F morning (minus 17 celsius) and headed back to the twin cities. Roo had fun days with his grandparents which included building a snow fort

and climbing through the tunnels at the Children’s Museum.

We’re back in Jersey, the snow is gone, and Roo’s busy discovering his toys tonight.

Valentine

Roo's valentine shows clearly what has been our families frequent seasonal recreation, ice skating.

In this depiction, Roo is wearing his hockey helmet with the cage, Daddy is helmetless, and I am wearing a white helmet. Daddy is holding my hand because he's teaching me how to skate.

Snow Day II

Today is another snow day; Roo is home from school. By 10:30am he was out enjoying the powder.

Exhausted from shoveling to create a sledding hill down the steps of the deck, I convinced Roo to have a go on cross country skiis in the backyard. He and Ryan went last weekend for the first time. Get this...Roo is wearing my ski boots! He's destined to have big feet like his Dad.

No prepared path made skiing a bit difficult. We both agreed Daddy needs to make a path with his skiis once he's home from work. There is plenty enough snow!

MLK Day

After viewing this video to help explain why Roo was off of school Monday,

we kept busy for most of the day. He painted an alligator that he received from a Florida friend many months ago.

And he constructed penalty boxes for his hockey guys.

In the afternoon we met friends for ice skating. And of course, no day home from school is complete without a movie, and yesterday it was Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for about the fifth time. Today school is two hours late due to the sleety ice and snow that fell from the sky last night. Needless to say, Roo is happy for some extra time off of school.

Antarctica

This story came home from school yesterday:

Your Trip to Antarctica

1. Why do you want to go to Antarctica?

Roo's response:

"I wont to go becuse I wont to see en pegwin."

Translation:

I want to go because I want to see a penguin.

2. Who will go with you?

"I wont Callum and Lucy and my thamlee."

I want Callum and Lucy and my family.

3. What will you eat when you are there?

"I wid eat snow and fish."

I would eat snow and fish.

4. Where will you stay when you are there?

"I wil stay in a sintist lavtoree."

I will stay in a scientist laboratory.

5. How will you get there?

"I will get there in a eyrplane."

I will get there in an airplane.

6. What will you see? And what will you do?

"I wil see sum pegwin and have a snowbolfit with my Dad."

I will see some penguins and have a snow ball fight with my Dad.

Snow Day

It's a snow day here, and Roo is off of school enjoying a lazy day at home. His friend in Connecticut is also home from school because of the snow, so what better activity than a Skype playdate! Both fans of Star Wars, they had fun catching up on a bonanza of all things Star Wars from Santa.

Ice skating

The outside is white here, calling us to the ice for a little winter fun. For Roo's second time on skates (the first being when he was 2 1/2 at the Minneapolis Depot rink) he did well, making progress in just 1 hour of skating.

I on the other hand think I may be suffering from a concussion due to my head slamming into the ice on one unfortunate attempt to stray from the side board. Thank you to the two kind young men, whoever you are, for helping me off the ice and retrieving my glasses. Next time I'm wearing a helmet!

MIM

Ryan and I enjoyed a visit to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Yes, Roo was with us but I'm hesitant to include him in the "enjoyed" category since this was his position for most of the exhibits featuring sound through the headsets:

Of course we sought out the section on Japan,

and Tajikistan for Uncle Brant,

and I took a photo of the bagpipes for Aunt Bonnie.

Roo was more engaged once we made our way to the experiment lab,

but to be truthful, there was little he hadn't seen or played before. While I thought the focus was heavy on the indigenous, and the hip hop and country sections were pathetically small, all in all, it's a lovely museum for adults and children old enough to have an interest in musical history. While Roo likes moving and grooving and sings often, including his own compositions, watching an African tribal dance to the sounds of the djembe do not yet hold his attentions.

AZ Museum of Natural History

The day after the big game, we met up with the friends from school Roo was hoping to spot at the game. Our chosen venue, The Arizona Museum of Natural History. The boys were elated to see one another as us parents spent our time chatting and following them through the many exhibits and back again once, twice or more. Captivated less by the dinosaur bones, it was the real old fashioned jail and the mining cave that monopolized their attentions. We did sit for the movie and learned of a very interesting hypothesis formulated by paleontologist Jack Horner. His findings have led him to conclude that the feared T-Rex was likely NOT a predator as previously suspected. More likely, he was a scavenger, not killing, but scaring predators away from their kill with his odoriferous, ugly, loud self. The T-Rex had small front arms that were probably useless, especially if he fell to the ground chasing prey. This observation and his leg bone ratios (femur & tibia) suggests he was a walker, not a runner. Apparently it's a tough sell since society along with the scientific community is leery to picture the T-Rex as anything but a tyrant. Maybe years from now when our grandchildren are reading this post (I keep a printed copy of everything instead of a journal or scrap book) they'll say, "how silly, people thought the T-Rex was a predator".

College Football Game

[Written by Ryan] During our vacation in Arizona, Roo and I went to the Insight Bowl at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The Insight Bowl featured the Iowa Hawkeyes against the University of Missouri Tigers (aka Mizzou). I have to confess I had never heard of the term “Mizzou”, but based upon the number of Mizzou fans staying at our hotel I was quickly educated. Given my natural leaning towards supporting a fellow Big Ten team, we felt as though we were behind enemy lines - - even having the opportunity to see from a distance the Tiger pep rally in a roped off section of the hotel parking lot, complete with a speech by the Missouri governor. There were no Hawks fans to be found. While at the hotel, Roo would whisper that he was a Hawks fan for this game, but we kept it our little secret.

This was Roo’s first football game; Darla and I spent several days before the game answering many, many questions about all things football. I’m afraid this game may have skewed his perspectives of what a typical college football game entails. Before the start of the game, three people parachuted into the stadium out of the dark sky and fireworks lit up the sky. For a 6 year-old, he was relatively engaged in following the game, particularly given the view from our cheap seats, which were about 5 rows from the top of the upper deck. A friend from Roo’s school was also at the game, and Roo was frustrated that he could not find him in the crowd of ~53,000 people.

The game started at 8PM so we headed back to the hotel at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Roo fell asleep in the car and I listened to the game on the radio. A turnover late in the game brought the Hawks a victory, which we enjoyed as our little secret.

Cowboy Up!

While the northeast is being hit with a blizzard, we're still comfortably holed up in (former) cowboy country. I couldn't resist including some classic American tunes, for which you'll have to double click on the photo to read.

(Johnny Cash for those unfamiliar with the tragic ballad about young Bill)

Christmas

Last night after a delay at our connecting airport, we arrived in warm Phoenix Arizona. In our quest for a steakhouse, Roo became car sick, vomiting without warning, and thus unpresentable for any restaurant. At our hotel, Ryan brought out to the car a white hotel robe for Roo to cover his dirtied clothes. We made fun out of it, commenting how much he looked like a Jedi in the robe. Needless we had Christmas dinner in our room and watched Tim Allen in Santa Claus 2, only to succumb to sleep before the end. Did he ever find a Mrs. Claus? We'll never know.

Well, here we are, at a lovely resort. It is bound to be a good holiday, as long as we keep the driving to a minimum!



May your day be merry and bright! Happy Christmas Day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Arizona

The Tudors

I’ve finished watching the fourth and final season of the television series “The Tudors”, the story of King Henry VIII and his six wives. Although a good lesson in European history, the show provides plenty of entertainment. Complete with romance, betrayal, and war, it offers much that is pleasing to the eye. Opulent dress, glittering jewels, rich textiles, succulent food and most of all, gorgeous people! (note of caution: there are also disturbing scenes in and around the Tower) However, the last point, gorgeous people, I found to be a frustrating disconnect when I researched further on the lives of these historic figures. Sure, no one would probably watch the show if Lady Mary looked liked the Lady Mary depicted in her portraits, and it’s doubtful the real Charles Brandon could hold a candle to the actor Henry Cavill. Certainly, “what is beauty” in Western civilizations continues to evolve and historians report that Henry was a hottie in his day. However, I’d argue the message of his tyranny is harder to extract when he and everyone around him is of excessive natural beauty. For example, it is easier to extract a future “Bloody Mary” from this:

than from this:

Unlike some faithful viewers, I’m glad Showtime ended the series of the Tudor family at this juncture. I’d likely not make it through depictions of the “Marian Terrors”. Regardless, I’m more equipped than before for a future visit to London and the historic sites occupied during the lives of Henry VIII, his friends, and enemies.

Gingerbread House

As an adult I'm somewhat bothered by the Grimm elements in the classic German fairy tale Hansel & Gretel such as famine, parental abandonment, and a cannibalistic woman, to name a few. As a child I remember enjoying the story. I contribute this to the one image that remains in my head, the fabulous gingerbread house the evil woman has constructed to lure the hungry Hansel and Gretel into her lair. My mind recalls images of abundant color, sensual sweetness, and sheltered warmth amongst the wet, damp cold of snow. I can't remember ever seeing an actual gingerbread house (graham cracker, yes, gingerbread, no), and I've never succumbed to the temptation of the DIY home kits available everywhere this time of year. Needless to say, when I saw the real deal at Cafe Beethoven last week I couldn't resist returning this week to add yet more confection to the collection to enjoy this holiday season.

Cookie Exchange

Today's cookie exchange will likely add a few pounds to my already burdened frame. Thank goodness for the "monthly unlimited" special at Powerflow yoga to carry me through half of December and into January!

7 Fahrenheit / Minus 14 Celsius

We're in Minnesota for American Thanksgiving, and despite the frigid temp, the sunshine on the bright blanket of white lured Roo outdoors this morning for a go in the snow. It's been awhile since we've seen snow and even longer since we've been in a climate this cold. Remaining positive, I'll use the words "refreshing" and "invigorating" to describe the experience.

Front Tooth

Today at school an older classmate coached Roo to "try pulling it out". At pick up today he proudly presented to me his front tooth in a little plastic bag.

Daria Music

Thursday and Friday was a day off of school for New Jersey children. Our outing yesterday was a trip to the Madison Public Library for Daria's World Music Jam. She encouraged the children to use her array of instruments from around the world which included a Peruvian rattle made of goat toenails, a shekere from Africa which is a hollow gourd covered with a net of beading, and drums that varied in material and tone. Roo enthusiastically took his turn on several items with the Latina American cajon (a wooden box with a hole that is played like a drum with your hands) occupying the majority of his interest. Her website gives instructions on how to make some of the instruments with household materials. Check it out!

Halloween

Roo started the evening as Batman, but quickly concluded that the mask hindered his ability to see, opting for the fire fighter's suit that has reflective stripes. While only a few people came to our door, Roo managed to come home with a hefty loot, choosing a red lolly for his first indulgence.