Easter

What a crazy past week or so.

A week ago Saturday, we welcomed Santiago into our home. He is visiting us as an exchange student thru our montessori school.

The very next day Cody and I left for New Orleans.

We came back last Thursday evening and it has felt whirl-wind around here.

Saturday was a funeral for a fellow parent at our school. Naomi had breast cancer. Similar disease to Karen, a friend who past away two years ago this past October.

It was hard for me to get to know Naomi. I knew I was hesitant because of losing Karen. It just seemed too hard to fully see how amazing a human being is and then to have them leave.

The service was amazing. Janet (Naomi's partner for 14 years) and their two girls, Sophie & Sadie were amazing. I know from having seen Janet and reading her posts on their Caring Bridge site, that she is in great turmoil (dah), but she seemed also so comfortable. I think it was really a reflection on the support around her. It is amazing to get that vibe from someone. We certainly don't all walk around in life like that.

Their girls also seemed so comfortable and lovable. Sadie (the youngest) has always been so shy to me. When I was writing in the guest book she came up and started asking me about what the book was for. It was an amazing little moment with her being so open and NOT shy.

I actually had the fun task of getting the guest book. I was on my way to the church with ice when I got a call saying a guest book was needed. I really wanted to go to the Paper Source and buy a really beautiful book for Janet. If I knew that Costco had them in stock I would of gone there (Naomi had a big thing for Costco). It also reminded me of how Ann bought Gordon's urn at Costco. I also had to go pick up some table cloths at a party store. The party store had cheap guest books - my choices were wedding ones or solid colors. I bought a purple one for backup.

The Paper Source had some really beautiful floral ones. There was one that really reminded me of Sophie & Sadie. So I bought it and some pretty butterflies that had clips. When Sadie came up to me and asked about what the book was she also noticed the butterflies and asked about them and what they were for. It was great to be able to tell her I bought one for her and one for her sister. She was so thrilled and asked if I could clip the one she picked on the back of her dress. It was the cutest thing. She said the butterfly was going to follow her around.

It was an amazing service and wonderful to be a part of this extended community from the montessori school. Both girl's teachers attended, along with other teachers and many families.

The next day was of course Easter. Santiago probably had no idea if there would be baskets. He waited to eat the first night we had dinner until I realized he was waiting to pray. I told him that he could pray, but we didn't do it as a family. Saturday night we colored eggs. Graham and Santiago were at a friend's house from school. They also colored eggs - Graham said they made Ukrainian eggs.



Seby and Zane are wearing their "knight" costumes.



All the kids were excited to go look for their baskets. They found them in record time which means we have to get tricky next year when we hide them. The weather didn't go along with Easter - it just came too early! It snowed!

New Orleans Day Three

Today was our last day of working with our crew. We were thankful for finding this smaller group to work with. Genevieve Griffin & Justin Bhagat started OnSiteRelief.Com after spending a month volunteering in New Orleans last year. I believe this is the 11th week of being there in a house they leased for 12 weeks. Before Cody and I headed down their plan was to be finished when these 12 weeks were up, but once we arrived we heard from them that they have changed their plans and are now going to buy a house in New Orleans and keep doing volunteering for who knows how long. They and their crew are a dedicated group and we were thrilled to find such a grass roots group to work with.

I really wanted to let Cody see the aquarium, so we decided to talk to Genevieve about leaving early on our last day. We both had mixed feelings about doing that, but it was so much easier once we arrived and there were more helpers than the day before and less projects to deal with as well. It was obvious for both the painting inside and the siding outside that there were more than enough helpers. So, we applied some primer inside and then went outside to help with siding. We had one last meal with our crew and then took off to do some exploring of NOLA per Cody's wishes.

We first went back to the hotel for our much needed showers. Then we walked over to Papa & Clip Clop's hotel and we all took off for the aquarium. We decided to also buy tickets for the IMAX to see "Hurricane on the Bayou" - a most appropriate movie after our week. There was much we learned about the disappearing wetlands that surrounds NOLA. The aquarium wasn't the best one we have visited - but it was enjoyable.

Papa very eagerly climbed up into this tree house!



I really don't remember what animals lay behind the glass where Cody & Clip Clop are standing - but I just had to take a pic of them!



After the IMAX and aquarium we walked along the river walk towards a favorite spot - Cafe Du Monde! I loved all the balconies along the way and had to take a pic of one. We enjoyed our last plate of beignets and cafe au lait. Well Cody had a soda. We were so full from that we decided to walk back to our hotels and take a nap before dinner. Along our walk back we came across a wonderful knitting and needlepoint store. They had some beautiful yarns. I overheard the cashier telling a couple who were purchasing some items how tough it has been and so eagerly thanked them for their business. It worked on me and I felt I "needed" to buy some yarns to help support them. So now I have a bag full of yarn and no project to use them with. Maybe some of my knitting friends/family will be getting some ball of yarn? Or maybe I will donate them to the school where every class does lots of knitting.



Cody and I both were very glad that we took them time to go down for a a few days to help in New Orleans. It is hard to believe that it is 3 years after Katrina and still so much more needs to be done. I also wonder about so many other areas in the Gulf Coast that was hit and if they are getting the help they need as well. It was also nice to spend a few days with my oldest boy one-on-one. We both had a nice time together and I have to say what a joy it was to watch Cody helping in the work we needed to do and watch his reaction to what he was seeing in the 9th ward. He is has a very kind soul and I'm very proud that he was interested in doing this work during his spring break instead of doing something "fun." It seemed everyday when we left the work site he would comment to the crew "Thanks, I had fun" - really? He had fun? Well that is what he said everyday, so I guess it must be true. I thought he would enjoy because of his comments after doing community service projects at the Montessori school - same kinds of comments of how much fun he had doing whatever work it was. Makes a Momma proud. Well next year we are talking to the kids about doing a cruise, so I will have to look for a different time of year to do another volunteer project and this time add Graham to the mix.

Here are some more pics Cody took of the 9th ward



These were t-shirts with pictures of all the members of the family from this house that died in Katrina.



There were several house with "Do not demolish" spray painted on them.





This was right across from our downtown hotel. All that exposed to the elements!

New Orleans Day Two

Our second day of volunteer work brought us outside the house. Yeah! We were thrilled to be out in the sun and away from all the dust of sanding. We were "trained" in siding and quite enjoyed it. Of course we later realized that we also got some wicked sunburns on our necks from the sun. Papa & Clip Clop brought the crew lunch this day and it was fun to have them come see what work we were doing and to watch Clip Clop do her networking of all the folks there. This lady can make friends anywhere, anytime. It is fun to watch her do her thing!



We went again to look at more of the 9th ward after our day of work. It is just amazing at how much destruction Katrina and then Rita made down there. Here is an entire street where houses once stood.



The one thing Cody wanted to do was go to the local aquarium. Our first day we asked about it when we returned to the hotel and were told they were closed on Mondays. So today when we got back to the hotel for our showers we asked again and were told it closes at 4:30pm! We arrive back to the hotel at 4pm - so again no luck. Tomorrow we are going to try and get there! So, we got our showers and hooked up again with Papa & Clip Clop and did our usual walk over to the French Quarter. This day we made it to Cafe Du Monde and had the famous beignets (square french doughnuts covered with an insane amount of powdered sugar) and of course some cafe au lait.





There was an amazing band playing outside the cafe and it was great to sit and have this delicious treat and listen to great music. We ended up buying one of their CD's and of course a souvenir coffee mug! This evening took us to Acme Oyster Bar to have Cody experience having raw oysters. His favorite were the fried oysters and the charbroiled ones.

New Orleans Day One

Here is Cody on our first day of volunteering in New Orleans. This was a brutal day of sanding and mudding the walls of a kitchen and family room. We didn't wear hats, but we did have masks and goggles. We were covered with all the debris from sanding and it was thick in our hair. We were quite a sight when we got back to our hotel. I'm sure Cody had many thoughts this day of "what has my mother gotten me into?" - believe me I was having them too. We were both checking our watches almost every 20 minutes and couldn't wait for the end of the day to arrive. Luckily one of the other volunteers bought us all ice cream from the ice cream truck that came by as we were packing up all the tools. Cody and I then took our first drive around the 9th ward. The house we were working on was just into the 9th ward and at the time of Katrina had 18 feet of water, we drove into the lower 9th where they had 22 feet of water.

This house has tons of band-aids painted all over it.



Cody was a little startled to see this doll in the ground near the band-aid house



After our tour of the 9th ward we went back to our hotel and showered before we met up with my parents (Papa & Clip Clop) who came to New Orleans to meet us for the week. We walked around quite a bit in the French Quarter - avoiding Bourbon Street as it was St. Patrick's Day and very crazy and loud. We missed seeing the parade, but saw lots of the aftermath of it - the plastic bead necklaces were everywhere along with cabbage and potatoes!

Spring is coming!

So the kids and I came out of the garage the other day and I looked at the yard and thought "who the heck would of dumped grass clippings in our yard?" Of course a few seconds later I realized it was our GRASS - we just haven't seen it since we first got snow back in November. It was weird, and is still weird to keep seeing more and more of it as the snow melts. Don't worry we still have plenty of piles of snow here and there, but there have been a few days where we don't grab the big heavy winter coat when we go out!

Today (in less than an hour) we go pick up Santiago, our exchange student. He is 13 and coming to us from Chihuahua, Mexico. He and another friend who attend the same school are going to be here for three months. They attend one of the first Montessori schools in Mexico. We look forward to welcoming him into our already heavy male family.

Here is Seby (in the striped shirt) singing with a few classmates in a play they did this week. It was called Be Kind To Your Mother (Earth). It was all about recycling and pollution and how important it is for us to think about it daily and DO something about it daily. It was a very cute play.

You can't make this up...

My first "note home" with four boys, I'm very pleased. Of course these days it isn't a "note home" - it is an email.

Email from Zane's teacher to myself and two other parents:
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Hello,

I just wanted to let you know about an incident that happened on the playground today. N and Zane were brought in from recess by the playground supervisor because they had been fighting. After talking to N, Zane, B and L, I put together that there were two separate games going on: "Godzilla" and "House". Somehow the two games merged and well. . . let's just say that the two worlds collided. In the end, no one was very clear about how it started exactly, but they all agreed that it was N and Zane who were fighting and that B had just pushed a little bit.

Anyway, we had some serious discussions about appropriate and respectful play. I reminded them that we had had a discussion as a whole afternooner group not too long ago about not playing any kinds of games that involve attacking or pushing or hurting in any way, not even pretending. We had agreed as a whole group that the consequence would be that if someone engaged in this kind of inappropriate play, they would have to stay in from recess the next day. So, N, Zane and B will be staying in from recess tomorrow. I wanted to let you know in case they mentioned it to you at home tonight.

Peggy


My reply:
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Peggy, Beth & Andrea,

I have to say that this made me laugh quite a bit. Beth and I have been emailing all day about getting Noah & Zane together, so this is pretty timely?

To give some input on Zane's side I will share the following:
Zane has been "attacking" Sebastian in the last few months. By that I mean fist-fight attacking. We have talked to them both about it and have brought Graham & Cody into our talks as it was something they went thru around the same ages, Graham being the attacker. Graham stopped hitting Cody when Slade told Cody to hit Graham back. It wasn't my first choice, but it never came to that. Zane seemed shocked by the idea that Seby could hit him back, and it seemed to do the trick as it has stopped here at home, maybe he is trying to share it at school?

Thanks for the heads up, tonight when I asked Zane if he wanted to do a camp with Noah this summer his response was "yes, i love noah that would be fun" - nothing else. So I will ask him in the morning about it.

Sorry my kid was being a bully, but his middle name is Danger. (I couldn't resist pointing that out!)

-Michelle

Slade and I went to a costume party last night, can you guess who we are?

The theme of the party was movies.

We went as Nick & Nora Charles. You know, from The Thin Man movies. We had to tell everyone who we were and only a handful of folks knew the movies, they were in the 1930's. There were some pretty funny costumes.

This was the Shacknasty party I posted about a while back. We finally went. We usually buy tickets and then don't go. There were a lot of families from the school so it was fun. There was a lot of dancing and I'm glad that all the costume jewelry I bought didn't fall of me - clip earrings and all!