pa-jammy
Last night Miles’s class participated in a dance competition through a local program called Mindsteppers. I can’t share most of the photos and videos I took because of privacy issues, but I do have to share this adorable one of Miles and his swing dance partner.
Miles insisted on staying the entire time, and good thing, because they took home the gold!
At one point, a class was dancing to Uptown Funk and Oliver and Linus couldn’t not dance. It was simply not possible.
Five things for today:
– Miles has a dance competition tonight. I don’t know what’s going to kill me first, this or the movie we’re working on. (Coming soon…very soon.) I’m not sure if I’m going to see the tango for the first time, but if it’s anywhere near as cute as the merengue or the swing, I’m doomed.
– I’ve been having pain in my achilles’ tendon for a couple of months now, and I finally made an appointment with an orthopedist to get it checked out. It turns out I have, as I suspected, achilles’ tendinitis, so I’ll be starting physical therapy next week to get that worked on. I was oddly proud when the doctor told me I had the tightest achilles’ tendon he’d felt all day! (How many achilles’ tendons does he feel in a day? A lot, I guess. He is the practice’s ankle expert, after all.)
I can’t run until it’s not pissed off at me anymore, so now I go to the gym and die of boredom on the bike or elliptical instead. I know lots of people think treadmills are boring, but you can run or walk or do intervals or go fast but on a bike or elliptical, you just…ride a bike or do whatever it’s called on an elliptical.
– A couple of weeks ago, when we came back from DC, I started a rotation on a new team. It’s really cool to learn a different side of things from what I’m used to. And on that note, if you have a passion for WordPress and helping people, we’re hiring.
– Yesterday was George’s birthday and at his request, even though it’s spring in Louisiana, I made beef and barley stew. I have to say, it was incredibly delicious. I used this recipe from Williams-Sonoma, but subbed out beef broth for all of the water, I used bone-in short ribs for most of the meat (took the bones out at the very end) and threw in a parmesan rind. Oh, and a dollop of red wine. I was using all of the tricks I could think of, and they worked. Man, it was good.
That’s four. Hmm. Here are some random photos, then.
Linus is the brains behind the boys’ newest project, a movie involving Power Rangers and a ninja and some other stuff. I’m just the hired help.
We filmed over two days and now I just have to edit it all together and add special effects. I’m a little nervous about that part, since I only have iMovie. Maybe I can convince Uncle Evan to give it a little pizzazz. (Hint.)
It was actually pretty awesome to watch Linus and his brothers create this. There were costumes, a script, the fights were even choreographed!
I was able to get some behind-the-scenes photos. I guess I’ll use these in the inevitable “behind-the-scenes” documentary.
And what you’ve all been waiting for…the movie’s trailer that I put together last night. Gotta build up some buzz, you know.
Lovely post my cousin-in-law wrote about her Mom for Mother’s Day.
It’s only 9:45 in the morning, and it’s already a winner. I got to sleep in (thank you melatonin) and I was presented with a plethora of cards and gifts upon arising.
Look, I love presents. A lot. But I can honestly say that there is nothing I love more on Mother’s Day than a pile of handmade cards and drawings. I want no other gift.
Some highlights from today include:
A family drawing from Miles, with a list of what he loves about me and George on the back (they combine Mother’s Day and Father’s Day since they won’t be in school in the summer, but George lets me keep them on my desk.)
A photo of Linus with his hands in a heart:
A card from Oliver with some nice (I guess) things about us in French:
There’s also a list of 10 8 things that Miles loves about me (he assured me he ran out of time, not things)
and then Linus, who brought the tears:
You have to love the honesty of kids, don’t you?
I’m not going to publish this right away, because I’m still waiting for the other requirement of a great Mother’s Day: a photo of me and the boys. Preferably one with only four chins between the four of us. We’ll see how that goes.
Editor’s note: it went fine. Always get a friend who understands how to minimize multiple chins to take your photos. Also, I think I need a new dress.
The boys and I got back Monday evening from our trip to Virginia and Washington DC. It would be a really long post if I recapped in detail (and I know no one wants to sit through all that), so I’ll just hit the highlights.
Plane ride went fine. iPads FTW.
We met Emily at the bus stop.
Much soccer was played in the backyard.
I got some Andrew snuggles.
We went to the Natural History museum one day.
Emily had her First Communion.
There was a crawfish boil after.
The next day, we went back into DC to go to the Air and Space Museum.
After, the boys and I spent some time with Kiki and Mike and some other friends I don’t get to see very often. This is how their kids reacted to the boys:
Not really. I was just taking pictures of them because they’re so cute and their backyard is awesome.
The next day, before heading back home, we took the boys to the Lego store and visited Mike at work.
The end!
Taken in Kiki’s backyard, in their souvenir t-shirts she got them.
Maybe my favorite picture from our trip so far.
I was asked to share my thoughts on watermarking photos for today’s Daily Post.
The last NOLA Navy Week was a few years ago, and I can’t say it went all that well (with the boys) but this year, we went on a tour of a huge ship, and they had a blast.
It helped that Ethan and his parents came with us, along with some other friends. The boys were in heaven, climbing in and out of every kind of military vehicle imaginable.
Some pictures from the day:
On the way to the USS Wasp:
With Daddy right before getting on:
In and around and on and under various vehicles around the ship, and wearing a helmet (remind me to shave the boys’ heads ASAP):
Details of the ship:
My favorite part, when they got to sit in a tank. It was probably the cutest thing ever.
Their favorite part, though, was firing this giant gun.
A rare picture of me and the boys!
More random pics from the top deck:
Until next time, Navy!
This little guy was just hanging on our fence.
I seem to have become quite the nature photographer lately.
A few weeks ago, I responded to a casting call for local identical twins about the boys’ age. Didn’t hear anything, forgot about it, no big deal.
But then yesterday, I got an email in the morning asking if the boys would be available for filming today. I called back the casting agent and was told the casting person from the other show gave her the boys’ pictures for this movie. Since I said they could be available, the boys were now going to be considered.
Since the filming was taking place the next day, they’d have to choose someone quickly, so I spent all day in a state of nervous excitement. I couldn’t even eat, could barely concentrate.
It’s just as well they never called. I could not do this all the time. Although I suppose it would be a good weight loss tool.
I don’t know if it’s okay to give too many details of what the movie is, but let’s just say:
– I’ve been binge watching The Americans and one of the stars is in it
and
– Alright alright alright!
The part they were up for involved holding on to Mama’s leg and crying, and I don’t know if Elizabeth Jennings would be wearing the skirts my children would take turns crying on, or that the dude in the Lincoln commercials would be their dad, but it’s cool to imagine it was.
But the state of nervousness all day was too much to take on a regular basis. The boys didn’t even know, so I don’t have to worry about their delicate egos being bruised, at least.
Oh, who am I kidding? This is the second time in their life we’ve been through this. I can handle it once every three years, right?
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