Nice shot...

Emma: Charlie hit me with a ball on purpose!

Charlie: I didn't mean to hit her!

Emma: You yelled "Bullseye!" when it hit me!


***Does anyone have any advice on how to discipline a child when you are laughing so hard you can hardly breathe?

Learning curve

I spoke yesterday of my pride in learning to do Pipo's hair. Honestly, since Pipo's arrival, I have been pushed into learning many things quickly. Within weeks of his arriving, I became fairly conversational in Kreyol. Beyond dreadlocks, I got very good at two stranded twists and even made some attempts at cornrows. I could probably teach a class on nephrotic syndrome and FSGS. I am a pro at managing the meds of a chronically ill kid, and could probably teach ESL at this point as well. But by far, my biggest achievement to date is learning to drive in the city. Anyone who has ever driven in Boston before knows it is absolutely insane.

With all Pipo's specialists, I find myself driving into Boston fairly regularly. And because it's more practical, I find myself driving in during rush hour. Actually... that sentence holds no logic does it? I don't think it's possible to use the word practical when talking about driving in Boston at rush hour. But because I have a limited timeframe of getting in and out between dropping off and picking up kids at school, the only time to fit in a drive to Boston has me driving during the height of the morning commute. I will admit, those first few drives, I was near tears, being overwhelmed with 18 wheelers on each side of me pinching me on the Mass pike. But now I hold my own with the best of them, muscling between the pushy cabdrivers downtown, avoiding the jaywalkers that jump in front of you from nowhere, even navigating the lovely Boston catastrophe we like to call the 'Big Dig'. I have learned that the estimated time of our drive in there is anywhere between 1-2.5 hours. There is no rhyme or reason to the traffic. Sometimes I sit on the Mass pike for an hour or so, sometimes I whip right through... no matter if it is the exact same day of the week, at the exact same time. I've learned to appreciate my big beast of a van, as the rules of the road are that the bigger car gets the right of way. I've learned to let go of my politeness, and yell right back at the smaller cars I cut off.

I am quite proud of my new skills. After almost 40 decades of growing up not so far from this big city, I am finally confident to drive in there. For any of you out of towners looking to learn... here is a great link for you. It's all true, I can vouch for it!

Once...

After watching the movie Once, Kaleigh (and me!) have been loving the soundtrack. Falling Slowly won an academy award this year, and I think it's Kaleigh's new favorite song. So she decided to put her little brother to work and work out the song together.



People have often joked that we are the new Partridge Family, especially with the bus and all. But honestly, it is so fun now that the kids are getting old enough to really start playing together!

Hair... again

So it's been about 5-6 months since we decided on 'locking' Pipo's hair. Every week or so I have been retwisting, but it has been fuzzy and loose, and sometimes discouraging to me, as I have put so much time into it. But I can finally say it is looking fully locked. If I let it go a little longer, it's staying pretty tight. I am obnoxiously proud every time someone asks who does his hair, and he points to me!

EMHE update

Today is the reveal... the "move that bus!" day. After much thought, we have decided not to go. It is in the single digits right now, and people are already heading over there... at 7:30 am! The family won't be there until after 2, so these people are going to be standing in the freezing cold for hours and hours... no thanks! As a concession, I told the kids we could take the shuttle over last night to get a glimpse. That is the new house behind them. It really is an incredible scene. I've always wondered if they really do a whole house in a week... and yes they do. Actually, all told, it was about 4 days from the time they demolished the original house. Last night they were doing most of the 'finish' work. It's an amazing thing to watch. Volunteers with bright blue shirts swarm everywhere... some were laying down new turf, some were carrying trees, others were unloading furniture, people were finishing up on the roof. Everywhere you look there are small things being done. A modern day barn raising.

I am so incredibly happy for the Giunta family. They will be in a much better place now, and with a lot less stress than they have had the last two years. I will also be happy to get our little town back to normal... it's been an insane week! They are expecting 5000 people or more today. ABC is saying they have never seen anything like this. (Though I wonder if they say that in every town!) The episode will air in May. I will give a heads up when the date gets near. It should be an amazing show.

Just because...

This came up on a message board I belong to... one of my all time favorite movie scenes. So because things have been crazy here, and I can't come up with another blog topic... enjoy this.

Extreme Makeover

I am was so excited today to find out that a local family has been picked for this show! Their oldest son is in Emma's class, and they are just the nicest family. They were whisked off to Disney today, and their house will be torn down tomorrow. Next Friday, we will all be gathered around yelling "Move That Bus!"

I have mentioned before that I love this town. And I will say it again. Back in August, ABC came to 'scout' out the house and neighborhood. The family had not been chosen, they were just looking at several possible families. It didn't matter that they hadn't even been chosen yet, a couple of thousand of us showed up that day, including our entire highschool cheerleading squad. The producers said they had never seen anything like it.

You really can't beat a small town... everyone knows everyone, and you know they would all be there for you if anything happened.