mindaTHINK

Talking House

Andrew and I took another trip to the Minnesota History Center today and our first stop was my favorite exhibit.  Recreated inside one room of the museum is a house.  That house, which still stands in East St. Paul, MN, has been home for dozens of Minnesotans, and has echoed the changing landscape of that neighborhood.  What I love about the exhibit is the lack of celebrity in its tenants.  These are the truly middle class, all but lost in history and painstakenly recovered by the hardworking team of historians at the museum.  The Schumachers who built the house were prominent members of society at the time, but their relatives didn't stay around in Minnesota after their parents deaths.  After they moved to a new house across the street, they turned the house into a duplex, and later a triplex, thus making it a rental home for decades. 

I love that so many "average" americans are memorialized in this exhibit.  Just people that worked, had small tragedies, gave birth, moved on.  I could spend hours in this exhibit learning about their simple lives, looking through their photos, reading about their passage through the house.

Its everything I love about scrapbooking built into a massive "altered item" that would suck up all the tallypoints if you could post it!

This quote, from Ali Edwards blog, sums up my feelings:

Leo Buscaglia : The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.

I think the museum affected Andrew in a special way.  After we came home I left immediately to clean a house.  When I came home it was to two poems he had written.  Poems!  Be still my heart!

It's back.

A little dented a little scraped, but all still works and the number is reactivated.  So if you want to ringy ding me, I'm ready...

Slumber Party

Andrew's big birthday bash day is today, a kids birthday party in the afternoon and a family party in the evening.  Lisa's husband is out of town on Guard duty, so she and her dog Missy came last night to spend the night and help me manage the party preparation.

Andrew of course just considered it another facet in his party...a slumber party!

Something other than Scrapbooking and Vomit

Woo Hoo!

So today I ran the first 5k I've run in over 10 years!  It was a fun, fabulous experience, the kind that makes it fun to talk about, instead of just a lame little 5k run!

We had our first blizzard of the season.  You know the type:  whipping winds, snowy/sleet or sleety/snow falling fast, couldn't even see Lake Harriet while standing beside it!  We got a decent parking space, picked up our t-shirts and headed for the heated vendor tent.  Ah, this girl who hates crowds never appreciated them more! 

6,000 crazy Minnesotans, dressed in everything from a reindeer costume to a snowsuit, dogs in tow, all laughing and talking excitedly and LOVING that the snowstorm was making this all so much more interesting!

It was fun wandering around and checking out the costumes, overhearing conversations, and trying to decide if we were going to need to shed layers once we got going.  It was such a crowd it took us 5:50 to get TO the start line after the race began!  We used our own watches to keep time and Marcy and I ran pretty well, considering the first half mile was pins and needles sleet pelting us in the face, and the fact that we had to walk for a good 2 to 3 tenths of a mile because so many people were backed up. 

The favorite thing for me was passing people.  I passed hundreds of people on the race, and that really wasn't what I was expecting, so it felt good to know that I wasn't coming in last!  Marcy and I ran together for the first half of the race and then I had to take a walk break and we said our good lucks and parted ways.  I began running again shortly thereafter, because even though I'd stripped off gloves, hat and a coat and was sweaty, if you go too slow you start to get cold again!  The road was slick but I was very careful and when I was 3/4 of the way around I checked my watch and realized if I picked up the pace a bit I actually could meet my goal of 36 minutes, even with the rough start and bad roads.  I kicked it into high gear and came across the finish line just one minute behind Marcy and very close to my goal (just a few seconds over)

I felt great and was pleased as punch, immediately thinking, "I want to run another 5k here at Harriet in better weather conditions!"  So Tami was right, I am hooked!

I have more pictures that aren't downloaded yet, but here are a couple until I can get the rest out of the camera.

Always running a day or so behind!

Andrew made this earlier this week.  I'm not a big Halloween fan, but you gotta admit that is cute/scary/cute... ya?

Today the three of us cleaned his room together.  Andrew is a packrat.  He has a SUPER hard time throwing even used Kleenex away.  In the past we push him to clean his room and then after a couple months of him not doing a good job I clean it, often throwing things away.

This time we took a different approach and explained the rules. Then we got him started with our encouragement to go through toy by toy and really think about what he uses and what he has outgrown.  We came up with a bag of dress up clothes for his angels, and a shoe box of toys for some other kids.  We also threw away a BIG bag of broken, missing pieces, rocks, sticks and kleenex.  His room is sparkly, and we rewarded his good work with a new toy and a bookshelf for his books.  He seemed quite proud tonight as he drifted off to sleep.

Africa is a Continent.

This past weekend was all about Africa.  Which I have to remind myself is sort of like saying this past weekend was all about North America.  Not very descriptive, if you know what I mean!

Our friends Don and Danielle Pierce and their children are here from Uganda, and we were so privileged to get to hang out with them Friday and Saturday morning.  The girls are so grown up now, you can really see the positive affect their new lifestyle is having and Andrew was in heaven the whole time.  He said yesterday when we were talking about their visit, "Those girls are seem the closest to God of any kids I know.  You can really tell they love Jesus."  We spent the afternoon and evening catching up and in the morning after breakfast we got to see movies and photos (some of which I have in my hot little hands for scrapbooking purposes!!!) It was a lovely time and we sure hope they can squeeze in more time with us while they are in Minnesota.

Saturday night we headed to the Fabulous Halloween Party of Park and Julie.  We had a great time and Andrew was in the haunted house more than out of it.  The kids kept mixing us strange, horrifying drinks in the garage, and some of the parents mixed me a drink that about knocked me on my behind!  Goldschlager, 'nuff said.  Andrew AND Scott won the brain game.  Andrew got a cool bag of party favors: Scott got half the brain.  ICK!  It was disgusting, but he was brave and took a bite anyway!  What does all that have to do with Africa?  Um....we were looking at a globe at one point and talking about how people say Africa but are more specific about countries elsewhere in the world.  Weird!

Then the top off of the whole shebang.  LION KING at the Orpheum Theatre downtown.  Dave and Lisa treated us to something we could never do on our own, and we treated them to dinner at Palamino as a thank you.  I had my first Mojito (and my second!)

The Lion King was AMAZING!  I can't possibly convey how wonderful it was, but can only tell you that I cried TWICE at the beauty and wonder of it, and Andrew was on the edge of his seat agape the whole night.  Truly amazing! 

Then of course Monday was the second date of our Young Writers Workshop and the african tie in there was the natives were restless!  It was crazy and fun and all the kids' stories are coming along nicely!  Its going to be so fun to see the finished product at the end!

So, here are some random raw photos to illustrate the last four crazy days!

Let the music move you

Andrew and I attended a Folk Music and the Orchestra concert at Orchestra Hall in Downtown Minneapolis earlier today. I am a huge fan of the arts, and one of the many perks of being a homeschool parent in a metropolitan area is reasonably priced tickets to arts events like this. For $5 a seat we get to not only hear the full might of the Minnesota Orchestra, but with every Children’s Concert we get to see actors or dancers or famous musician’s that really seek to connect the kids to the music.  This concert featured a viola performance by Miss Minnesota 2006, Peter Ostrousko, and a hungarian dance troup.

I realize not everyone lives near a city with a symphony or orchestra, but if you do, I highly recommend you search it out and see if they offer a kid friendly program at all throughout the year. Attendance at orchestral events is down in recent years and if you call the box office you will probably find a staff very willing to work with you and help you find a concert you can afford.

Now if you are saying poo-poo to the idea of classical music, I say you really need to give a live concert a chance. I love to close my eyes during a concert and let the unfamiliar music take me away to another place. You don’t have to be an expert or a longterm fan, but I promise you if you give yourself the chance to try it out, you will be changed in some way. If you are a harried mom of young kids, find a babysitter and go, nothing is more relaxing!

Here, take a taste here (you'll have to turn off my music player above first!)

http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/audio/BEETHOVEN_Symphony_No.3_IV_Finale.mp3

After the concert we headed out to one of my favorite restaurants, Bombay Bistro in downtown.  Beautifully appointed, with a charming staff, this fast paced buffet style restaurant is so richly scented when you walk in the door you already feel like your dining!  While there we talked about an upcoming concert at Orchestra Hall of a famous indian artist that will be joining us for the evening. I love the popular and world music concerts that are also at this venue.  If you really HATE classical music this might be another option for you to try, although these concerts tend to be more expensive and less likely to have rush tickets available. Still it never hurts to try!  Here is a little clip from that upcoming concert.

http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/audio/ANOUSHKA_SHANKAR_Beloved.mp3

We interrupt this boring to do list with some fun.

Saturday.  Sever's Corn Maze with Marcy and the boys.  Crowded.  Sunshine.  Noisy.  Perfect temperature.  Muddy.  Fun-filled.  Good times.  Crabby boys on the way home.

Its not so much a reality check as a reality hip check.

This is the sort of post that kids grow up to need therapy over, so it will only remain up for a few days.

I had a ABFAB time in New England.  The company was like coming home, the weather was perfection itself, the scenery was gorgeous, the sites were moving, the transit system is understandable and fast.

So it was a little hard adjusting, coming back from this:

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To things like laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, and this:

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Yep, just went in to make that final trip to the can and this is what was awaiting me.

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Good thing I always look inside before proceeding...those are a 7-year-old-who-sleep-walks' pajamas.

Sigh.  We aren't in New Hampshire anymore folks!

At the Speed of Life

This is my sons foot after it was eaten by alkali based chemicals...

Yeah, you are right, I so wouldn't post that picture, because trust me, its GROSS!  Jason had an industrial accident and he could star in his own horror story now.  Thanks to a great friend who is a former ER doc, I'm calmer than I was.  Aren't they cute?  I saw Erin AND Jason for a few hours on Sunday and she promptly loaded my computer with a whole set of new pics.  Nice girl!!!!

So today started out bright and early at 1am when the neighbors in the house on the hill behind my bedroom window had what I can only describe as a horror party.  A VERY loud woman screamed and shrieked and sometimes cackled for about two hours starting at that late time.  Woke me out of a sound, drug induced sleep.  I went to the kitchen to get water for my head cold parched throat and the water in the fridge was warm.  Very warm.  Warmer then the unheated room was...hmm...

RIP 1985-2007

So we lost all of the food Scott bought at the grocery store the night before and the chili he took an hour to cook...It was about $75 worth of groceries lost.  Which is really cheap when you figure that this is what we got for our seventy five bucks.

The freezer is twice as large and I think the baby is brand new!  Now if we owned our own home we would have lost the groceries AND had to buy a new unit.  So see?  Such a deal!

So guess what else you get when you lose $75 in groceries, $40 of which you just bought that night?

A $40 gift certificate in the mail from your parents to here:

Yeah, so we ate like pigs tonight and the perfectly clean kitchen with its shiny new fridge didn't get messed up and I still can hardly breathe.  So really everything worked out in the end...I think.

I did NOT get to go to Erin/Lance's house tonight to scrapbook with Erin (waaaa!) because I really couldn't afford the gas with the food loss and the tons of driving I still have coming up this week, but Jason did come over and get all of Erin's scrapbooking supplies and her table and chairs, which inspired me to clean Andrew's room (I don't have any idea what the connection is!?!?) and so the house looks marvelous and I miss Erin but maybe next week.

God really does provide in strange and mysterious ways.

And I got rid of ALOT of annoying condiments!