Artsy

I have some heavy material to post about, but not the time. However, here are a few arty things that have been going on that I never got around to posting.

A week ago or so ago we went to the old Sears building to see it get lit up. You may remember the Memfeast dinner I went to back in the Spring. Well last Friday's lights were the culmination of that night's awarding of money to Robin Salant to bring the building to life. Here it is before:



And after:



The lights bounce and sparkle and move around. How fun is that? I saw Robin last night and she said that she didn't get to use solar lights as she had hoped, but the LED lights use very little energy. You can drive by and see the lights any night of the week. Best of all, this is just phase one. More lights are coming!

Jiro had a sleepover, but Satchel and some of his other buddies had a great time running around the parking lot.



They also had a band and Robin's boyfriend, who just happens to be the Executive Director of Indie Memphis, projected a movie on the wall of the parking garage. How cool is that? I would love a regular Sears Movie Night!



Another arty event of note was Park(ing) Day downtown. Thirteen different groups turned parking spots into mini parks.



My favorite was the Teeter Tire made from old car parts and wood.



Chip snapped this pic while teetering with me.



We should have asked them if we could have it for Rock-n-Romp! I did hear that it was pretty hard to transport though.

At last Saturday's show, I was seriously considering getting someone to make an adult sized sit and spin out of wood and a steering wheel. Any takers?

Speaking of Rock-n-Romp, we've been on the hunt for a larger space downtown in which to host the Dec. 3rd show since we've been having such awesome crowds. We went and toured the old Tennessee Brewery, which is awesome, but so NOT kid-friendly. It would be a great place for an adult party though...or a City Museum!




There's even a place for a MonstroCity!



Someday maybe...in the mean time, we're still looking.

Rock-n-Romp Recap

You can see the official recap here...

Saturday's romp was super fun. I worried early in the week about the weather, but it turned out beautiful. The weather lords did send down about 10 minutes of heavy drops just to mess with me. We set up the stage about 300 feet from our power source and it caused a major headache for our awesome sound man, Charlie. For the first time ever we had a band cancel on us right before the show started. They were there and I had assumed they were setting up, but then about 15 minutes before showtime I found out that the lead singer was losing his voice! Dude! Then the Grizzlies came out and graciously set up their inflatables, which unexpectedly deflated and scared the crap out of some kids and parents. We ran out of cups. It was one thing after another! But! I don't think 99% of the people there realized anything was wrong. We had about 900 folks with big smiles on their faces, beer, bbq, yolo and/or pizza in hand, enjoying some nice weather, rockin' tunes, and just being in the presence of other like-minded/fun-loving parents.

Here's Chip's picture of me proudly admiring all of our hard work.



And Warren and I hanging out under the check in tent.



Satchel and Jiro were MIA most of the afternoon. Satchel, after complaining of boredom and "mean teenagers" on the jumping pillow, escaped into the Corn Maze with his friend, Kai, and twenty of my dollars.

Jiro was very happy on the jumping pillow with his buddies. He appeared every so often to ask me for a sip of water and I did manage to get a piece of pizza in him. When Satchel reappeared near the end of the show, he and Jiro ran off to spend the last $5. They both re-emerged later with these awesome headbands, which they wore almost all weekend long.



Then in the most awesome move ever, both kids got invited to spend the night with friends! Warren and I actually got to go have dinner and watch a movie before completely crashing. It was a good day.

Kosher Q

On Sunday, the fam and I went to the 23rd annual Kosher BBQ Contest at the ASBEE synagogue out east. I was slated to judge and the boys wanted to come along to eat and hang out.

Satchel begrudgingly agreed to be in the under 13 pickle eating contest. (I promised him a kitten.) He's such a future teenager.




He did not win.

Warren was waaaaaaaaaay more excited about the over 13 competition.




He did not win either.

But it was fun and we ended up with a pickle for everyone!



When it was time to judge, we had a no show, so I managed to get Warren hired.



He took his job very seriously.



Satchel served as our very enthusiastic assistant. He tried every entry and added very colorful commentary that I will not share here. Jiro couldn't even be talked into taking a single bite!



There were some really good entries and some not so good entries. The teams have a very limited time in which to cook and can only used pre-approved ingredients and specially blessed Weber kettle style grills.

Whoever made this brisket rocks. It was head and shoulders above the rest.



Even though the picture is crappy, you can see how it differs from an entry like this:



I still hope to one day convince Warren to enter the contest as a cook. I think that would be the very best way to enjoy the event. Whether or not that happens, it is clear to me that Satchel will one day be a judge. He's a natural.

Kittens!

Second only to the soccer game was acquiring some new kittens this weekend!

As you know, we've been ready for awhile and have been waiting for the right opportunity. I've been saying that we have a hole in our house in the shape of a cat for awhile. (Jiro was like, "where??")

On Saturday, a woman who lives a few blocks over sent an email to the neighborhood letting us know that she had three kittens that needed adopting. A neighborhood cat had brought them to her, and she already had plenty cats of her own. In the email she mentioned that they were all black or black and white.

I told the kids and they wanted to head over immediately. However, it took a few hours for us to exchange emails and decide on a time to come visit. I made plans for Sunday morning which means I had to endure about eighteen hours of questioning from the monkeys and Warren. i.e. "How old are they? What do they look like? Can we have two?"

That last question somehow stopped being a question and started being a fact around hour twelve when we started talking about kittens instead of just a kitten. We have two dogs from the same litter and I think it has been good for them to always have a playmate. So why wouldn't it be the same for cats? My only concern of course was double the poop in the litter box.

But I also made sure to tell the kids that we were just looking, and there was no guarantee. I wanted to make sure that they were healthy, I said. Then Jiro, my precious Jiro, said, "Well we should take the least healthy one so we can make it healthy!" Man, I love that kid!

When we finally went to see the kittens they were all three crazy cute. I really didn't know how we were going to decide. Then all but one got away from us! So we brought home the all black one, named him Darkrai, and chalked it up to fate.



The dogs were very curious about our newest arrival.



Warren wasted no time preparing a safe haven for him. We pulled out the bed that Olive never liked, and the boys filled it with stuffed animal friends. Then we set about showering him with love. I was really excited for the boys to have a pet that they could watch grow up. But I was extra excited when Warren said, "I've never had a kitten either!"




Once Darkrai was all safe and secure, we had to leave for a little bit. We went to the Kosher BBQ contest (more about that later), but instead of BBQ, we had kittens on our minds. Warren kept talking about the one with white whiskers. By the time we left, we had agreed to call and see if he came back. Then on the way to the pet store for supplies, I called my sisters to see if either one of them wanted a kitten. Turns out my niece has been pining for a kitten too, so my sister Tracey said she'd happily take one.

Just imagine how thrilled our neighbor was when I called back and said we wanted the other two! She said she'd call me when she caught them, and then about an hour later we went and picked them up!



It was really funny to see how comfy Darkrai got in just a few hours. When we brought the other kittens home, he was lounging in his bed. When we reunited them, he casually tapped them with his paw and greeted them. There was a lot of back and forth, but we finally decided which kitten to give my niece. We decided to give her the one with the white whiskers and keep the smallest, most skittish one, just like Jiro had suggested in the first place.

My niece was thrilled.



She showered Spike with love for the entirety of our family dinner together. At one point she even had him sleeping in a baby carriage.



The cutest part about giving one to my niece, was seeing how the monkeys advised her on the care and maintenance of him. They had become experts in a very short period!

Back at home, we started Operation Snuggle with Darkrai and Pocky. They both really like to snuggle. Thankfully only Darkrai likes to lick.



They are both doing great and easily adjusting to life with Team Oster. They are sleeping in a kennel so that they have a dog free zone, and both have proven themselves to be 100% on board with the litterbox.

We love watching them play and chase each other. "Kitten TV" is our new favorite activity. It's amazing how playful and affectionate they have become in just two days! But I can already tell that once they become fully comfortable with us and the dogs they are going to be wild boys! But hey, what's new?

Jiro is My Hero

We had an action-packed weekend like only September can deliver, but I have to start my recapping with Saturday's soccer game. It was the boys' second game and Jiro was super excited about playing goalie. He had apparently taken three balls to the face without crying at Thursday's practice and been unofficially named "toughest kid on the team." (This came as no surprise to me!)



Because their team has fourteen players and only six play at a time, the coach has to do a lot of subbing. At Saturday's game, Jiro was on the B team, which meant he played the second half of each half. When he got in the goal, the score was 0-0. The A team had several shots on goal, but since the other team had a giant (who so obviously was not a 3rd or 4th grader) in the goal, it had been impossible to score.

Immediately Jiro had to protect the goal. One shot thankfully bounced off the post and another was easily scooped up by him. Shortly after there was a corner kick which resulted in a handball by Jiro's teammate IN THE BOX. Now most of the parents watching from the side did not grasp what this meant, but I did.

Yep, direct kick.

It took a minute for the ref to explain everything to everyone, and it was the longest minute of my life. There are no real lines on the field, other than the outside lines, so the ref just guessed where the goal line would be. I'd say his guess was pretty lame since the kid who would have a direct kick on Jiro was only about 5 feet away.

My main hope was that the kid would just flub the kick and accidentally kick it out of bounds or on the pole. I couldn't even dare to dream that Jiro would make a dramatic save. He's only been playing soccer for about a month and hasn't had any in-depth training as goalie.

So, when the kid scored the goal, it was ok. I don't think anyone of us expected Jiro to be able to make the save. If you've ever seen a World Cup shoot out, you know that the goalie basically has to guess a side and dive, hoping s/he guessed right. We all cheered for Jiro and told him he did good, and he made a few other saves and came off at half time with his ego intact.

Meanwhile, Satchel was playing defense and doing a fine job of it. He got the ball several times and made some great kicks. He was also feeling good at half time.

By the time the B team went in for the last "quarter" of the game, we were down 2-1. (The coach's son scored a BEAUTIFUL goal at the beginning of the second half, and then the other team basically dribbled one in during a clusterf*ck in front of our goal.) Now Satchel and Jiro were both on the offensive line and I had my doubts as to whether they'd be able to do any scoring. Our big kickers are on the A team and our star from the week before was home with a fever.

But Satchel and Jiro both surprised me. They played harder than I thought they could, and had several runs to the goal. I, of course, was out of my seat and running down the sidelines along with them screaming my head off! There was a lot of back and forth between the teams and a LOT of running. Jiro was so amazingly aggressive and managed to steal the ball several times. At one point he had the ball and three players from the other team stood back about five feet and allowed him to set up for a kick because they were all too scared to attack him!

I saw Satchel holding his chest and worried that he was getting winded, but he hung in there and had some great runs.

Finally, Jiro took a really hard spill after getting tripped. He stayed down, and eventually the ref sent him off of the field. He came off doubled over, holding his stomach, in tears. Since no one on the team had ever seen this tough guy cry, they were all worried. As I waited for him to come off the field (really, I can't believe I didn't run out and carry him off!) I looked over and noticed that Satchel was in tears too. I informed the coach, who called him off too, and then waited.

They both came over and collapsed at my feet in a pile of tears. I think they were both basically exhausted. In the most anti-climactic moment of the day, the whistle blew about 30 seconds after they came off. Suddenly it was time to shake hands, but only Satchel had regained his composure. The coach put Jiro on his shoulders as the team chanted "Jiro! Jiro! Jiro!" and they went to shake hands.



What a roller coaster!

I have gone into the games just hoping for a win, but both times have gotten so much more. It's wonderful to see them playing as a team, learning more and more each week, and really and truly giving 100%.

When they win, and I'm sure they will, it will mean so much more to them because they've really had to work for it.

Once they got some Gatorade and some chips, they went over to the playground with two of their best buddies and played for about an hour. They were all as happy as could be.



Satchel found this enormous caterpillar in one of the trees. I'm thinking of the boys' team as the caterpillar. I am so enjoying watching them transform. When they start to fly, I'll be right there with them, cheering them on.

Ice Cream and Puppies

On Sunday, I had planned to take the kids to Hernando for a Little Helpers service project at the animal shelter. It was to be followed by a trip to Velvet Cream. Warren kind of poo-pooed the idea (get it?) because he thought playing with a petting dogs that were going to be killed was morbid. I had seconds thoughts because I could see us coming home with a new dog, or two, or three. So I ended up spending six hours scouring our house.

Then we took our twelve year old puppies to the park. We let them swim in Rainbow Lake for the first time in years which meant they would need a bath upon arrival home. Satchel and Jiro agreed to help wash the dogs in exchange for ice cream from the ice cream man.



After washing the dogs, Satchel asked, "Hey when are we going to play with the puppies you told us about?" When I told him we missed it, he was so mad at me! We will definitely have to do better about going to future Little Helpers events. At the very least I will have to do better about telling the kids we are doing something and then actually having us do it.

In totally unrelated news, have you ever met the safety clown?



And who knew that giraffes like popsicles?

First Soccer Game Ever

It's hard to say who was more excited about the boys' first soccer game, but it's fair to say that there was enough excitement to go around.

I spent the morning making muffins, slicing oranges, and filling a huge cooler full of Gatorade for the after game snack. It was nice to be busy, otherwise I might have spazzed. (On Friday night at practice, I mentioned I might make popsicles, but then stopped myself and said I probably wouldn't have time. One of the boys said, "You can stay home and work on them and then bring them after the game. Hilarious.)

Before we left for the 1:15 game, Warren asked me to get a picture of the monkeys outside. Getting them to not act goofy was a real challenge.



Warren was also very concerned that we both wear green to show our support. I have lots of green tees, but he doesn't. I let him borrow one of mine, which turned out to be the official soccer dad uniform.



WE all parked ourselves along the field in our chairs and prepared ourselves for some serious cuteness. The kids did not disappoint. Coach told me beforehand that since Jiro was technically too young for the team that he would only get to play if someone got hurt or tired. I turned to Warren and said, "Great, now I have to root for some little kid to get hurt!"

I'm kidding.

Turns out no one got hurt and Jiro got to play a good bit of the first half a little bit of the second half. Ditto for Satchel. Both had hoped for a turn in the goal, but Satchel was mostly defense and Jiro was offense. Neither one of them outed himself as the star of the team, but they both played really well and really hard. Each of them definitely had some good plays and I was so very proud of them.

They played against Christ United Methodist, which seemed to have more experience. They had us 0-4 at the half, but amazingly enough, our guys scored three goals in the second half. CUMC snuck one more in and the final score was 3-5, which was totally respectable.



The kids seemed to have a good time, and I know I did. My mom said her favorite part of the game was watching me scream and jump up and down. Hopefully people will still want to sit next to me at the next game!

Here are a few funnies from after the game. Despite some of the expressions on the kids faces, I think they did like the muffins. (I made the Chubby Vegetarian's banana-ricotta muffins, minus the walnuts, with added chocolate chips to half of them.)






Is there anything cuter than little boys in soccer uniforms??

I so totally want to coach now.

The Hunger Games

A couple of weeks ago, Satchel came home from school very excited about a book. This never happens. "Can we get it? Can we get it? Can we get it?" he asked me while hopping up and down in the kitchen. As I loaded the dishwasher, I had questions. "Where did you hear about it? What's it about?"

He didn't give me much detail, only that it was awesome and that David was reading it. David is his friend at school who is a little older and therefore WAY cooler. Satchel's idolizing David already got him in trouble once with the XBOX, so I was wary.

Since I understand books a lot better than video games, I went on Amazon to see what the book was about. When I read, "The Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each of 12 districts to fight to the death," I was even more wary. Kids killing kids?

I asked my friends on Facebook if they'd read the book, or if their kids had read the book, and got a pretty mixed review. So, I decided to read it myself and then decide.

Let me just say that I don't really read. Don't get me wrong. I love books and reading. I read to the kids almost every night. I have a stack of books by my bed--mostly non-fiction--that I am slowly making my way through. But I haven't really read a fiction book purely for pleasure in forever--probably since before I got pregnant with Satchel. Something about becoming a mother has turned me into a non-fiction, reality TV centric entertainment consumer. (I do love going to the movies though.)

Once I started The Hunger Games, I couldn't stop. It was a total page turner and I finished it in about a day and a half. I thought it was fine for Satchel and handed it over to him when I was done. I also told Warren that I thought he would like it.

Then something weird happened. I got depressed. I was depressed that the book was finished! Thankfully it is part of a trilogy. It took me a few days, but I finally made it over to Laurelwood to buy the remaining two books. Then I promptly read them over the three day weekend.

That's right--three books in a week!

Warren started reading The Hunger Games at night, and Satchel read it during the day. They both finished and are now sharing the second book, Catching Fire. I can't wait for Warren to finish so we can talk about it, and I am so excited that they are making a movie!

I won't be surprised if Satchel doesn't finish Catching Fire. I think he was most interested in the actual Hunger Games part of the first book. The larger story and the romantic parts don't really interest him yet. If he does finish, it will probably just be to impress David!

I did order another trilogy by the same author, called Gregor the Overlander that is targeted towards younger kids. I'll probably read the first one out loud at bedtime. Hopefully that inspire Satchel or Jiro to read the others to themselves.

Jiro is desperate for me to read him The Hunger Games, but I told him he'd have to read it himself. So far, he hasn't shown much interest in doing that, which is fine by me. I don't think he's quite there yet.

In this case, I'm really happy with how things turned out. I realized that I shouldn't automatically put something on the "naughty list" just because an older kid likes it. I'm also glad to see that Satchel can get pleasure from a book and not just video games. And it also makes me feel good that we were able to read the same book and both enjoy it (albeit on different levels).

Delta Fair

The kids love the fair. And i have to say it is growing on me. Since MLGW usually has a booth, I have been required to go for the past several years. Each year it gets a bit funner, probably because the kids are getting older. This is the first year that we all got wristbands, which are actually stamps, so that we could ride as many rides as we wanted.



The lines were longer than I thought they would be--probably due to the awesome weather we had on Monday--but it didn't stop us from getting our money's worth.



The kids could not wait to get back on Crazy Mouse. We innocently rode it last year thinking it was a kiddy ride, but man, is it scary! We were prepared this year, but it was Warren's first ride. It did not disappoint.



We also rode the Avalanche (complete with dancing Carnies!), the flying chairs, the ferris wheel, and most notably Ali Baba. Jiro actually changed his mind about this one at the last second, which was probably a good idea. Satchel cackled the whole time and said, "It tickles!" referring to the feeling of weightlessness.

There was no Fire Ball this year, but maybe next. We ran into my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and niece for a bit, so that made it extra fun.



In addition to the rides there was lots of eating. Jiro had a regular corn dog, a lemonade, a foot long corn dog, and an ice cream sundae. Satchel had a corn dog and a turkey leg. We all split a funnel cake and Jiro remarked that it was "the best thing ever with cake in the name."



I think I may actually be a turkey leg convert now. Satchel's was really good. (We got it at Yancy's.) Unfortunately, I had to stow it in my purse a few times when we went on rides, so I now have the grease stains to remind me of its yumminess.



There were a few corn dog photos taken, but none compared to this one, thank goodness:



The kids really want to go back another day, but they don't have any money to foot the bill so we'll have to wait til next year!