corner view~silly

Many of you know that our comedic daughter is starring in a webshow.  An advice show.  But there is plenty of silly as well.  Just look and see.

Here are episodes five and six.

sometimes you just have to take a drive up a mountain

And breathe some cool fresh air laced with euchalyptus and tropical flowers.

And talk to your BFFs on the cell phone.

And take some pictures.

And then buy yourself a present.

So I did.

corner view~iconic

A symbol of strength and power.  The Eiffel Tower is massive.  To stand underneath it, you feel so small, and you are stunned at the amount of solid material it took to construct such a thing.

To ride to the top and see the city below the Eiffel Tower is a wonderful experience as well.  Because it is also a symbol of perspective.

And we could all use a little of that, in my opinion.

Me included. :)

surprise

This week we invited Teresa over for dinner.  We met Teresa in 2003 in a small park in Woodacre, California, when I was very pregnant with Shawn.  She became part of the family, babysitting for us when Shawn was a newborn, loving the kids to pieces, and helping us with a brief trip to Florida, where she lived with us while we considered moving there.  Eventually she came and lived with us in our current home, helping with childcare and the house.  We called her our tent daughter, because for a few months she slept in a tent in our back yard, until she found a more permanent place to live.  When Shawn began to talk he could not say her named so he called her Teeta.  The name stuck and we all still call her that. 

A few years ago, after our kids were older, Teresa moved away to take a job in an exotic spa.  But she recently moved back to our town.  So now we have someone in our life who has known our kids for the past eight years.

It is pretty special.

Teresa is open-hearted, fun loving, and very spontaneous.  It is one of the things I love most about her.

I, by nature, am not.  I am trying to become more that way.  But I am better off with someone like Teresa leading the way. 

So when she came for dinner this past week and mentioned that Sting was doing a small beachfront concert on a public beach down the road from us, we ate a quick meal and then hightailed it five minutes down to road where we and a few hundred other people who heard the same thing we did sat on towels in the dark waiting for something to happen.

And eventually it did.  Sting played for an hour, all old songs that we all love, and it was wonderful.  He told many stories and joked with the audience, and although the concert wasn't really for us, and the few hundred others sitting on the sand, it was okay that we were there, and no one minded that we crashed the party.

All in all, a wonderful surprise. 

I left a little early with the kids while Gary stayed til the end, as it was a school night.  When I got home I could still hear Sting singing from our porch.

Kinda nice, huh?

corner view~indispensable

acrylic painting, 1992

Creativity is indispensable.  Absolutely necessary.  That's what I see as I visit your blogs.  So many artists, expressing themselves in word and image.   

Sometimes for me creativity comes in the form of cooking, garden or house design, photography, painting furniture.  Years ago, in art school, it came in the form of ceramics, bookmaking, drawing, metal sculpture.

Sometimes creativity comes in the form of painting for the sake of the pure joy of painting.  It has been a long time since I painted.  Seven years I think.

I'll get back there.

Today I was talking to my husband about how appreciative I am that he supports me in my creative pursuits.  Perhaps it is because he himself is an artist, a songwriter.  He understands.  Perhaps it is because he likes what I make.  Perhaps it is because he appreciates the magic of paintings.  He will spend hours in an art gallery, sometimes longer than I will want to stay.

Whatever the reason I am lucky.

Because I live in a house where if I spend the day wearing ripped, paint splattered jeans, blaring music, making art, paint in my hair, losing track of time, oblivious to the rest of the cares of the world with a bit of a wild look in my eyes...

...well, my husband thinks it's the coolest thing in the world.

he's swimmin' in the rain!!

Or at least thinking about it!

It's so rare that we get rain where we live.  When I see the rain in September, I think, yippee!!

Either way, the weather is cool and it makes me want to cook and bake.

Gingersnaps anyone?

ask skylar

Two more episodes of our awesome girl's webshow have been released.  Here and here.  If your kids have any questions, be sure to have them ask Skylar! 

Have a great weekend, my friends!

corner view~change

After three years of home schooling the girls, all three of our kids are now going to school.  Today was the first day they all went.  We are getting the hang of things, gradually.  A new routine.  Homework time after school.  And getting used to new people, new teachers, new buildings, new schedules.

We are home from our summer trip, but not living at our house now.   We move back tomorrow!  Can't wait!!

Change is growthful.  Change is good.

we've landed

Our first day back.  The soft breeze greeted us at the airport, beckoning us onward toward our tiny seaside town.  We are renting a friend's charming cottage which is five minutes from our place, until we move back into our home this Thursday.

The kids have their school supplies out and ready to begin this week.  The girls start tomorrow, and our boy starts Tuesday.   Backpacks are lined at the door.  Outfits carefully chosen, folded on the ends of their beds.

There are large shade trees on this property.  It backs to open space, and is very peaceful and relaxing.   The kids have been exploring this lush yard, climbing trees, playing games, picking tropical fruit.  As I type, I hear a gentle random patter of some type of small nut falling from tree branches...like irregular, but more pronounced rain.  They drop onto the roof of our temporary home.  I don't mind the sound, to me it's nature to my ears, like birdsong.

corner view~passion

Anything that makes us jump for joy, or turn a cartwheel, is our passion.

In my case this includes my husband, my children, music, art, gardening, photography, writing, singing, swimming in the ocean, hiking in the woods, and yes, gymnastics.

happy birthday sky

 Sky and me at the Bean in Chicago, our reflection

It's hard to put into words the love of a mother.

You are such a blessing in our life.  When I see who you are becoming, I feel that I have done my job right.  It is truly an honor to be your mom.  I know that whatever you do in your life, you will be a success and you will do it with integrity.

Thank you for all of the joy, laughter, kindness, patience, and care you bring to our family.  Not to mention the apple pies!

We love you so much, Sky!!!!

corner view~tiny

Isn't it amazing how one seemingly "tiny" thing can change your life?

Like when my mom, in her early twenties, decided at the last minute to take a road trip with some friends, and it was there that she met my father?

Sometimes things may seem tiny, and insignificant at the time, but when we look back, we see how massive they actually were, and how they began a whole chain of events that led us to where we are.

...and a p.s. to those who haven't seen this, please visit my last post, and check out the link to my daughter Skylar's first show, "Ask Skylar."

ask skylar

Ok everybody, Sky's internet show "Ask Skylar" is up.  It turned out really well, and Sky wrote and created the theme song.  Here is the link to view Episode 1, where she introduces herself more in depth.

And this is Episode 2, which is the first show where she answers questions, and you will see the basic format of the show.

Let me know how you like it.  If you can share it with people in your neck of the woods that would be great.  The production team wants us to get it out there and see if it is popular and if kids and teens are drawn to this type of internet interaction.

Have a great weekend!

yamashiro farmers market

It has been a long and busy week in LA.  The girls are going to acting boot camp five hours a day, each girl goes three separate days a week.  Yesterday I cooked lunch at the camp for twenty kids, homemade marinara sauce and noodles, garlic bread, salad with mandarin oranges.  It was a lot of fun.  We are searching for a place back home to live for two months when we return.  We are keeping our active little boy as busy as possible, which involves visits to the parks, hikes, walks in the neighborhood, games, playing ball in our courtyard here.  We are getting the girls started in schoolwork online as much as possible.  Tomorrow Sky gets her hair cut and gets ready to film another six shows next week.  The show will be released to the public very soon.  We have seen it, it is great!  Both of the girls have taken dance classes at this really cool dance studio here.  We are also shopping, cooking, and generally finding our way around in a big city...having fun.

We have booked our flight home at the end of the month.  But for now we are trying to enjoy our time and the opportunities in this place that is so different from our home.

And so tonight, when we had no water due to a plumbing mix up so I couldn't cook, and we had to change plans at the last minute, we decided to meet our invited dinner guests at the farmer's market.  I was so happy to discover this place, way at the top of a hill overlooking the city.  There we met the girls' acting coach, and a bunch of families in town for boot camp for dinner.  And for a few hours, while we ate great food, listened to live music, talked and laughed, and the kids painted flower pots and danced and consumed all sorts of treats, I had a family here.

corner view~homeplace

I was born and raised in a small town in rural Upstate New York.  My father grew up in the nearby city.  My mother came from the next state over (Pennsylvania), way out in the country.

My husband's homeplace is also New York.  But New York City, a much different place.  

Now we live in a tiny tropical town far, far away from my homeplace.  While I grew up among cornfields, sugarcane is the crop my children see everyday.  The children, who have been raised there, identify with this tropical culture.  They also feel at home in my homeplace, where they have summered for almost every year of their life, as well as California, where they were all born and have spent much time.  I like to think that all of the places they have lived are part of their sense of home.

My mom likes to joke about how she is a hick.  My mom, who has more class than many fancy ladies I have met over the years.  She and I both talk about how we love the woods, and the peace and quiet of a slower paced life.

Because, as she always likes to say, "You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl!"

Thanks to Kristin for this theme. 

real time

Today was day 15 in Los Angeles.  We have been busy getting the girls to and from acting boot camps six days a week.  They are also enrolled in a hip hop dance class weekly that they love.  Yesterday they shot their first commercial with a bunch of other kids and their acting coach.  We are meeting many wonderful acting families through this community, and had some time to socialize.  We have been taking Shawn to the park to play basketball.  We were hoping to get him into a sports camp but haven't had luck finding something close by.  We have also had time to visit Sprinkles, an amazing cupcake shop, eat at a little French place in Beverly Hills, and yes I now know how to make crepes.  I almost am tempted to say who needs France?  But seriously, we do, don't we? 

We got in touch with the school where the girls have been accepted and learned that we need to be home in 30 days or they can't attend.  There had been a misunderstanding about how we could work their schooling from afar.  We had to make a decision, to stay here for the three months as we had planned, or to return home at the end of August and have all of the kids go to school.  After lots of conversation, we decided to change our plan and return home early.  It made the most sense in terms of the kids' education.  Sky's show will be filmed in ten days, her cameraman leaves town September 1, and the other house we had rented, the owner needed to come home early anyhow, so it just made sense to change the plan.

I am sad, however, that I have not had time to explore more of this city, go hiking, visit the coast, go on a date with my husband...but there is still time.

Life lesson: flexibility.

faith

If you look at how humans live on this planet, it's obvious that we usually take so much more from nature than we give back.

This rose bloomed in my front yard the other day.  It made me so happy.  I gave it a few days of love, and it gave me this.

Thank you rose.  You remind me of the miracle and mystery of life.

corner view~trios

There is a saying that good things come in threes.

They have for us.

I adore my kids.  What more can I say?

I hope everyone is having a good week.