All the school's on stage!

I had a day at home, painting our small office, aka the Man's den, aka the room we all spend most time in because the computer's in it.

Then at five o'clock I set off for school. The children were already there, having stayed on in preparation for All-School Shakespeare Night.

It was, as last year, a remarkable effort. The Pre-Ks did a little dance and showed off the Shakespeare-related words they'd learnt. The K/1s 'mimed' a story book - the Boy had great fun as a chicken. The 2/3s performed an entertaining interpretation of 'All the world's a stage...' (though the Girl, just like last year, preferred to be backstage and disappeared there after the opening lines). 4/5s did their own Shakespeare rap, and some Elizabethan dances. 6/7s performed a condensed (and suitably confusing) version of the Comedy of Errors, and the mighty 8th Graders gave a comic rendering of Othello. Kudos, as ever, to the amazing actor who came in and single-handedly pulled the whole show together in little over a week.

I had sent the kids in with bagged dinners to eat between school ending and the show beginning. The Girl 'couldn't find' hers. The Boy 'forgot he had' his. They both dined on Oreo cookies kindly provided by the school, and I now have a reputation as that awful British mother who starves her children (no wonder they're so small...).

Sigh.

Dog's dinner

I've just got in from an evening trip to Price Chopper. Unusually, I found myself wandering down the pets' aisle. This was because the Boy's class is collecting for an animal shelter at the moment and he has been on at me for weeks to donate something.

Oh my goshness (as a student of mine used to say). I remember when I first got back to the UK after six months in Burma being particularly shocked (a) by the triviality of weekend colour supplements and (b) by the grotesque excess of pet products. Whole long supermarket aisles of every imaginable type of food and toy and grooming gadget - just for dogs and cats. Not that I particularly had anything against dogs and cats, but it seemed a little obscene to see them given them the option of a gourmet beef dinner when at the Burmese orphanage I'd recently visited the kids counted themselves lucky to have a spoonful of rice and some boiled leaves once a day.

Anyway. Today I managed to resist spending $13.99 on a sack of Newman's Own Premium Organic Vegetarian kibble for senior dogs, threw my veggie principles to the wind and plumped for a couple of cans of chicken chunks. I also noticed, to my utter bafflement, that you can buy brand new cuddly toys specifically for dogs. Not only that, but there's a whole range of them based on 'Endangered Species'. Seriously. Cuddly polar bears and bisons for your dog to maul. Surely even contestants on The Apprentice couldn't come up with anything less appropriate?

But maybe you can! Share your top dog-chew ideas via comments please...

See the birdy?

I was stuck at home this morning, waiting in for a man to come and service the furnace (boiler). But that was ok, I had some posters to prepare, and by the time the man had gone and I'd had a skype chat with my parents I was all set for a postering mission.

We've got a fair trade event planned for a week on Saturday (May 9th, World Fair Trade Day), so I took myself and my posters to every shop and local business I could find with a customer noticeboard. Also a bunch of churches - there are many to get round. Quite a lot of activity for a sweltering afternoon.

We've had a welcome visitor to our backyard recently - none other than New York's official state bird. When I look out of the kitchen window round about five in the afternoon I nearly always see a bluebird perched on the swing-set. I think it lives over the back fence. Bluebirds suffered a reduction in numbers last century because of pesticide use and starlings (which take over their nesting sites). But a keen Bluebird Society has had nest-boxes put up all over the place to encourage them, and that seems to be helping. The bluebird is a lovely thing, it makes me glad to see it.

Joining forces with the BNP

A busy day of to-ing and fro-ing. Took the Man to work first thing, called in at Jo-Ann's craft emporium for sewing supplies on the way home. Just time to deal with some correspondence and speak to a couple of neighbours before jumping in the car again and setting out for a merry hour chopping veg.

Back home, I prepared for my sewing class, then set off to teach it - we tried cross-stitch this time, with modest success. And after that my own kids and I made an emergency trip to the shoe shop to buy sandals - even the Boy, whose feet don't grow for years at a stretch, was needing new ones.

I never thought I'd say this, but it looks like I might be falling in with the BNP! But no, its not the nasty British National Party, but the Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace - a group of local peace activists with fair trade sympathies. One of them runs a farmer's market in the town and has invited my new fair trade campaign outfit to take a table there.

Blooming marvellous

Another ludicrously summery day - perfect for the Girl's belated birthday party. It was my kind of kids' party, requiring almost no adult involvement at all. A small bunch of girls giggled themselves silly around the house and yard for a few hours and seemed to have a lovely time. Meanwhile the Boy had a fine day out with his best buddy - mini-golf, a couple of rides at Hoffman's Playland then ice-cream.

The sudden warm spell has brought on the flowers in a hurry. Here is our cherry tree as it looked on Wednesday:

As the temperature started to rise on Friday the blossoms were pretty much opening up while I watched, and by today...

Set Fair

I visited small town America today, specifically the small town of Ballston Spa, near Saratoga Springs. It is a very appealing place, with its coffee shops and little stores (including a nice quilt shop). It is also home to the National Bottle Museum. But none of these things are what took me there this sunny morning.

Ballston Spa has a unique distinction: it is New York State's first and (currently) only Fair Trade Town. In fact it is one of only ten designated Fair Trade Towns in the whole of the US - the movement here is rather behind the UK where there are upwards of 450 designated towns and cities (including London).

But little Ballston Spa is a proactive place and wants to spread the message, so today it was hosting a Fair Trade conference. And because I'm aiming for my new home town here to gain Fair Trade status too, along I went.

It was great! I gained useful insights into the direction I should go with a campaign, met helpful contacts and generally came away thinking everything is possible. I already have one local friend on board, and we now need to set about recruiting a few more people for a steering committee. Should be fun!

I should also mention, it has been quite warm today:

Clearly baaa'king

My day was spent doing chores and errands of one kind or another, then tonight I made this.







Sheepishly I have to admit I'm quite pleased with it. What do ewe think?

Going to (ex)streams

My training today at Five Rivers was for 'Stream' instruction - how streams form, what lives in them, how humans affect them. The most fun part of the lesson was when we got down to the water and started looking under rocks. We found all sorts, from mayfly larvae to salamanders and water snakes. Kids must love this class.

It was all very cool - in every sense, as it has not been a particularly warm day. The temperature is due to drop down into the 30sF tonight, but tomorrow - it'll be summer! By Sunday we expect to be sweltering in the mid-to-high 80s.

A significant and sorrowful event for the Boy at last recess today: he lost one of his top front teeth. It had been hanging by a thread for what seemed like weeks, so its loss was hardly unexpected, but still he wasn't happy about it. Now he looks like a pirate, which will take some getting used to.

Finally, Boy and Girl went to a 'Zero Gravity LaserTag' party this evening, where kids amuse themselves running around in the dark shooting each other with lasers. The Boy found his laser gun too heavy to handle, but was very happy to run about waving a torch (flashlight) instead.

Happy Earth Day

The Man writes...by coincidence on the evening before the annual Earth Day I was at a lecture about Climate Change. Presented by a Harvard Professor of Atmospheric Science, and aimed at a non-technical audience, it focussed on greenhouse gases, past, present and future.

As most people know, global carbon emissions are increasing exponentially and the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is 35% higher than at any other time in the last 400,000 years. This American speaker stressed to his overwhelmingly American audience that the per capita emissions in the USA are double the Japan/Europe average, five times China's emissions, and fifteen times India's.

In what seemed to me to be an overly generous nod towards climate sceptics, the speaker stated that there is no certainty in climate prediction, just as you cannot predict whether a particular heavy smoker will contract lung cancer. However, he did concede the moral dimension: carbon emissions come from rich countries but the negative effects of climate change will be experienced disproportionately by the world's poor. And what risks should we be prepared to expose our children and grandchildren to as a result of our actions?

Plenty to ponder, but was it worth the twelve mile round trip?

Our dolled up house

I spent the day at home getting a few things done, including a little house-painting - by which I mean painting the window frames for a little house.

Here is the history of the build, in pictures:







Now for the furnishings! I just hope we don't spend as long choosing those as we've taken deciding on our real-life ones.

Progress

I reached the end of my arm-long list of dental treatment today - hooray! My renovated mouth is now worth as much as a small house.

After a rather lively sewing class at school the kids and I visited the Man's palatial new office (lots of space and chairs with wheels, which caused much joy). Then we all went to the nearby shiny diner for dinner.

Last night the Man and I watched Next Stop Wonderland, borrowed from the library. It's rather slight, but not nearly as terrible as the blurb or the picture on the DVD cover suggest. Although the movie came out in the late '90s, the technology people were using in it already looks surprisingly antiquated - phones with flexes, ancient-looking computers etc. Two characters, splitting up, argue over who gets to keep the video player... How quickly we move on and dismiss what seemed miraculous just a decade or two earlier.

Putting and driving

We had another sunny day to round off the Spring break.

Mini-golfing with friends this afternoon, followed by ice-creams, then the Girl went off with her classmate to see a movie and the Boy and I did several circuits round a go-kart track.



















Back to school tomorrow, with all the early rising that entails. But now the sun is up before us, so even that shouldn't be too bad. It feels like we're finally entering the home straight towards summer.

QUIET STROLL BESIDE THE RIVER ANYONE?

The children were invited out to a roller-skating rink this afternoon, leaving the Man and me unexpectedly at a loose end. We did some yard work - there's a neverending supply of jobs to do out there - then made a trip into Albany and visited the Corning Preserve.

It's a park running alongside the Hudson River. A couple of weeks from now, when the trees finally burst into leaf, it'll look quite pretty I should think, though it's a little bleak at the moment.

It's main drawback as a park, though, is its proximity to a huge, busy highway which separates the riverside from the city. The traffic noise is loud and constant. Back in the '60s, when the road system was designed, the Hudson was so polluted I'm sure the city planners never imagined anyone wanting to stroll along the banks. The river has since been cleaned up considerably and could be a fantastic Albany attraction - but until they pull the road down it will never be able to fulfil its potential.

Brought to books

A day of culture for us, or something like that. The Girl had a Girl Scout outing to the New York State Museum, a 'behind-the-scenes' visit courtesy of someone's uncle. Meanwhile the Boy and I also hung out at the museum. We took in a couple of exhibits, revisited the scene of our famous camping adventure, and took a ride on the carousel.

Once we were all together again I sought out a Children's Book Festival taking place at a school in Albany - I'd only found out about it this morning. It seemed like a good event (if a little biased towards the younger reader, with a heavy emphasis on picture books), but my two were already cultured out and couldn't raise enough interest, so we didn't get to watch any author presentations or try any craft activities such as making a Huck Finn raft. Shame.

Ah well, I got my book-fix later - in fact I've just got in from my book group meeting. Tonight we were reviewing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and also Girls of Riyadh. The first was a little whimsical for me, though it taught me something about the German occupation of the Channel Islands. The second is an insider's take on the life of wealthy young Saudi women - it made for some interesting discussion.

A day out with the kids

...and the lambs


...and the piglets


...and a load of other baby animals, all on show at the lovely Hancock Shaker Village.


We had a fine time. As an added bonus, we even got to put our own kids in a pen for a while.

Wrap artists

It has been a lovely day, warm and sunny. The kids spent most of it out in the backyard: playing in tents, on swings, flying kites and generally hanging out. For company they had the Boy's best buddy, who came for a sleepover last night and stayed with us all day.

On account of the sleepover (late night, early morning) and a day outdoors we have one tired Girl on our hands tonight and one exhausted Boy. I feel comfortably weary too, having spent quite a while digging up dandelions.

Yesterday, while the Man was wasting his time on bureaucracy I was wasting my time with... waste. Cereal box cardboard and sweetie wrappers, to be precise. The Girl joined in too. It was fun. I'm interested in crafty recycling at the moment - anyone got any good ideas to share?

The Notary Club

The Man writes...there are some weeks when this "experience" just doesn't seem worth the hassle.

My kids - unlike their US counterparts - don't have Social Security Numbers. In order for the tax system to acknowledge their existence, I have to send the IRS copies of their passports "notarized by a US notary...to certify that the document is a true copy of the original". Sounds reasonable enough. Except that according to Wikipedia in New York state it is expressly forbidden for a notary to do this.

I kid you not.

I tried calling the IRS (no chance), my shockingly useless UK-based tax attornies (no chance) and scoured the Net for hours. The only suggestion was to go to a tax office. There's no guarantee, but they might kinda sneak it in with your completed tax return. OK, but it's no fun to go to the tax office on tax deadline day (that's another story...)

I spoke to a couple of notaries. One of them was all ready to certify the copy until I pointed out that she couldn't. In the end they independently came back with the same advice: I certify the copies as genuine and they notarize (i.e. stamp) my signature.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Have a gander

The kids and I had 'a quiet day at home', for as long as any of us could stand it. In the early afternoon, when it was clear that two people in the house really weren't getting the 'quiet' part of the deal, I marched them along to the nearest playpark, and then on to the local diner for a snack, then back for more playpark action.

We rounded off the day with a trip to the library, once the Man had got home from work. Now finally everyone's quiet, curled up on the new sofa with books.

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday:

Bunny business

It has been a very chilly Easter Sunday. The Easter bunny got cold paws hiding the eggs this morning, I can tell you. Undaunted (we've all experienced much lower temperatures, after all), the children had fun running round the yard hunting, and even more fun eating what they found - chocolate, at last!

Apart from that, the main adventure of the day was a family outing to Five Rivers. The usual story - everyone had a good time once we got there. I was able to practise some of my 'animal sign' reading, and the Girl enthusiastically found me signs to read (hmm, I need to brush up my scat identification skills). There were fallen trees to balance along, and towards the end of our hike the kids found an excellent pine tree to climb, with branches arranged like steps up the trunk.

We hope you had a happy Easter, if it's one of your celebrations. I believe the Man's brother ate an actual bunny today - guess who won't be getting any chocolate eggs next year, then.

Croco-tile eggs

Being old hands at construction work by now, the children and I are once again tackling a house-building challenge. I bought the kit a while ago, and spring break seems the ideal time to work on it. Today we have been concentrating on the roof.

Fixing tiles is a fiddly business, made even more frustrating when you have to work with a control freak perfectionist. But too bad, kids, I'm your mother and you'll just have to put up with me.

This afternoon we deserted the building site and went off to paint boiled eggs at a friend's house. When the eggs were dry the adults snuck outside and hid them around the yard - there were some quite original hiding places - and the children enjoyed hunting for them, even without the ultimate reward of chocolate.

Blanket ban

It's the first day of the kids' Spring break, and Blankie has gone into semi-retirement. The Boy is bowing to peer pressure and has vounteered to try and give up daytime (one step at a time...) thumb-sucking - and this means putting Blankie out of sight.

'Of course,' I told him, 'if there's a dire emergency you can have Blankie.'

'Like if [the Girl] is mean to me?' he asked hopefully.

'Well, no, because that would be every half hour, wouldn't it. No, I mean like if there's a fire or something.'

Something not very likely to happen. You'd have thought.

While I was preparing dinner this evening the Boy gave a terrified shout: 'Fire!'

And then, 'Blankieeee!'

Of course I thought he was having me on - but only for a second, because when I turned round I saw that flames were leaping out of a pan on the stove. Silly me, I'd forgotten it's the time of year when traditionally I set fire to some olive oil and fill the house with smoke.

I put a lid on the flames and that saw to that. I did allow the Boy a little Blankie time - well, hard to do otherwise ('You said if-there's-a fire...'). Hats off to him, though, for turning a near calamity into an opportunity (actually, he was genuinely pretty shaken up).

The Girl rose to the occasion magnificently, as she can do in the face of a crisis. She soon had her brother laughing, enough for him willingly to give up Blankie again, then while I went round the house opening ALL the windows she took him off so they could plan a morale-boosting concert party to cheer us all up after our brush with disaster.

(Lack of) crocus focus

This morning I spent a couple of hours tramping round the woods and fields of Five Rivers looking for Animal Signs - the latest instruction course I'm learning to teach. There were a whole lot of signs, from raccoon footprints to beaver scat. The day was bright and almost warm and it was nice to see turtles sunning themselves on rocks, and Canada geese starting to nest.

Everywhere trees are on the brink of bursting into leaf, so there's a great sense of anticipation. I've always thought of spring being ushered in by a sort of green mist when the trees are at this point, but here there are so many maples, which have red leaf buds, that it's quite a different experience.

Although it's a rubbish photo, here is my little purple crocus from a few days ago. It has become a memorial picture, as the flower didn't last more than a day before something came and ate it. I assumed squirrels as usual, though a gardening neighbour from along the road tells me it was more likely deer ('And don't even think about planting tulips,' she added with a sad shake of her head). I can see more blooms coming through, so have taken the precaution of soaking them all with garlic juice, on the recommendation of another acquaintance. I'll let you know if this works, or if it ends up making my poor crocuses even more attractive to the local wildlife.

Instructive day

I was back at Five Rivers once again this morning, to start training for the new season of courses. Today's focus was on tips for teaching groups and individuals with special needs, led by an instructor with professional and personal experience in this area. Actually, as he noted, the tips he suggested would be applicable for teaching any group of people, whether or not their needs were categorised as 'special'. Mostly they hinged on showing enthusiasm and respect.

The topic got me thinking that of all the civil rights (in the widest sense of that term) issues, people with physical disabilities and even more those with learning or behavioural difficulties probably still have the furthest to go in achieving equality, or even recognition. I'm not saying other categories of people have nothing left to campaign for, far from it, but I think people with disabilities generally have the least visibility - because others don't want to see them, let alone recognise what they might have to offer.

As an example of invisibility, when did you last see a person in a wheelchair or with Downs in a retail catalogue? Actually a few months ago I picked up a Toys R Us catalogue featuring many such kids, and thought it was great, but then realised it was pitched specifically at 'special' children. Not quite the breakthrough I'd supposed it was.

I know I personally have a way to travel in terms of my understanding of people with disabilities and special needs. I'm certainly guilty of having made tactless or insensitive remarks on the subject - not intentionally, but through lack of experience and knowledge. As a society we'd all be better served by having more information and more integration.

Snow kidding?

It was SNOWING this morning when the kids got on the school bus. I ask you. It didn't settle at all, but it has been a cold day and I've spent it indoors doing housework (there's always some of that to do) and finishing off the school auction quilt:

Peep show

It has been a day when most of my current projects have had a look-in (but not skating: alas, the rink at the YMCA is closed for the season). In the morning I was emailing people on Five Rivers fall festival business (yes, we're planning that again already). At lunchtime I was down at 5R for a meeting to discuss the recent teaching programme. Then I came home to prepare for my sewing class before setting off to school to teach it. My little group did well today, making animal face badges.

At the lunchtime meeting we were offered platefuls of chocolate brownies and some things called 'Peeps'. They are a traditional Easter delicacy, apparently - day-glo yellow (they also come in pink) chick-shaped marshmallows. We were offered them, as I say, but I don't think anyone actually ate one - because why would you?

Disc-ussion point

Another day at home. The Boy had a different friend round to play. The Girl returned, apparently well-rested, from a sleepover.

The children are making plans for a yard sale extravaganza due to take place along our street next month. Reluctant to part with their own possessions, they intend to bake buns and cookies and make craft items such as finger puppets and jewellery to sell. Guess who will be bank-rolling their baking/crafting supplies? I'm getting anxious about how much this yard sale is going to cost us...

I read somewhere today that Wincanton is twinned with a fictional city from Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Apparently Wincanton has done well out of this alliance and a number of people have even moved house to live there, purely because of the Discworld connection. I'm not sure I would be very excited at the prospect of my town gradually filling up with fantasy fiction fans, but that may just be prejudice on my part (I can't stand fantasy fiction, all those tiresome elves and soothsayers).

Anyway, it all prompts the question: which town, real or imagined, would you choose to twin with your own city/town/village, and why?

Crocus Pocus

We've mostly been at home today. The Girl had a friend over to play. The Boy felt he was missing out on company so phoned his classmate to invite him over:

Boy: Hi! Wanna come and play at my house?

Friend (enthusiastically): Yeah!

Friend's mother (off): Who's that?

Friend: I don't know...

Everybody eventually worked out who everyone else was, and a happy play date ensued.

A crocus has started to bloom in our front garden, which is a magical sign of Spring. However, it has been trying to snow this evening, and a fierce and bitterly cold wind is howling (sounds like an underground train crossing the backyard). Winter hasn't quite given up on us yet, I fear.

Talent to amuse, and amaze

Hot on the heels of Spring Sing, the annual school talent show was held tonight. Whereas the first event is much rehearsed and almost formal (by the standards of this school), the talent show has a true spirit of joie-de-vivre about it which makes it very likeable.

There was singing, there was dancing - some of it wild and uninhibited, some of it...minimalist. There was a skit or two, and instrumental solos. A couple of kids performed their own compositions (one sang her own song very impressively, though with her back to the audience). Probably my favourite act was the tiny 2nd Grader who chose to demonstrate a series of skipping rope moves to the theme from Rocky.

As a finale, two 2nd Graders performed a comedy routine to 'Favourite Things' from The Sound of Music. It was just a good laugh, and then one of them started to sing. I swear the audience gave a collective gasp of astonishment: for the mop-haired seven year-old had the voice of an angel.

This little Girl of nine

So, our Girl is nine!

To celebrate, the whole school put on an hour and half long concert. Well, ok, it was the annual Spring Sing and it just happened to coincide with her birthday. Not that she was grateful as she wasn't overly impressed with the choice of songs or the fact that she had to appear on stage.

She was much keener on the selection of chips/crisps I brought in for her to share with her classmates after the performance. A little festival of salt, it was. I apologised to one of the teachers for inflicting coronary heart disease on everyone. She replied, 'That's ok. My husband's a cardiologist, it'll keep him in business.'

This evening the Girl managed to wait patiently (not very patiently actually) for her Dad to come home before she opened her presents. She seems happy with her small haul. One gift is a set of American Girl paper dolls, which I might not have chosen for her had I realised it involved fifteen pages of intricately detailed clothes and accessories which all have to be cut out by ('Can you help, Mum?') hand.

At Spring Sing I was struck by how all the kids suddenly look that bit older. This seems to be the time of year when they all shift from seeming young for their year group to looking plenty old enough, maybe even ready to move on to the next stage. The Girl has no qualms about the passing of time, she's already looking forward to her next birthday. At what age do we stop urging the years to rush by? I guess it's about when we realise that actually time is already hurtling along like a high-speed train.

Orange you glad they're not yours?

Yesterday I taught a maples class to a Montessori group from Niskayuna. They ranged in age from three years to six. The six year-old was extremely bright and knew everything. No seriously, everything. I was tempted to go home early and let her take over the lesson.

All the children enjoyed syrup sampling again. Alas, I doubt my own two kids would ever be so enthusiastic. They are very much creatures of habit when it comes to food - especially regarding their packed lunches. So just occasionally, for my own amusement, I like to wind them up by adding a different item or two. I'd forgotten April Fool's Day was coming or I'd have waited for it, but yesterday I sent them off to school with (unbeknownst to them) satsumas.

Of course, neither of them ate the satsumas. The Girl later explained patiently, as if to an idiot, that she only ate orange food at other people's houses, thank you, and then only to be polite. The Boy came off the bus at hometime with a face like thunder and did a fabulous 'How DARE you!?!' routine. He is very good value sometimes in that respect. He then cheerfully sat and ate two satsumas for tea.