A Big Weekend for Six

I think, if you asked Thomas right now, he’d say being six is great. Take this weekend, for example.

Friday – came home from school with an unexpected report card that shows how great he is doing in both Japanese and English classes. His strengths are Math (which he loves) and speaking Japanese. We’re so proud.

Saturday – Thomas had just jumped in the pool for the beginning of his swimming lesson when he held out his hand to me containing a baby tooth – his first to fall out. I was a little relieved because he already had his big tooth growing up behind. Well, I was relieved after I was able to get past the grossness of being handed a bloody tooth. Earned another mother stripe.

Why does no one tell you that having a child may involve having to find a bag small enough to hold a teeny tiny bloody tooth so that narrowly missed being lost at the bottom of the pool? (thanks for the help, LeeAnn). I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if we’d lost it or, worse, if Thomas had swallowed it – which was apparently a close call. So here’s my tip for mothers of six year olds everywhere – bring a spare little plastic baggie or two wherever you go for the next couple of years.

And, in case you’re wondering, the tooth fairy’s going rate is $1.

Sunday – Just your everyday, ordinary birthday party at the movie theater to see STAR WARS EPISODE 1!!! Thomas tells us it was pretty awesome – particularly the pod racing part.

That’s one big weekend for one small boy. No wonder it was so hard to get him out of bed this morning.

AWARD WINNING Video Re-Link

Here’s a new link to my AWARD WINNING video. OK, it’s no Tarantino or Scorsese but some people (aka: my Mum) said they couldn’t watch it at the other link so I’m hoping this one works a little better. I’m really not trying to shove it down your throat (or set expectations too high), but it’s pretty good for a corporate video created on a shoestring budget, if I do say so myself.

Watch it here.

And because I can’t have a post without a photo, and the video is called “Blue Sky Thinking”, I leave you with a picture of a pretty blue sky. I’m clever like that.

An Ishida Production

On the weekend, Thomas and Samuel treated us to a very special play. I’m not sure what it was called but let’s just say that it involved Super Hero figurines, a blue dinosaur and lots of catching bad guys. There was even a little audience participation where we were invited to come up on stage and find the bad guys. Needless to say, it was awesome!

Thomas and the…uh…dinosaur setting up for the big show.

Tickets have been collected and we’re ready to begin – right after one of the audience members pulled back the curtain. Please take note of the poster that was stuck on the wall to advertise the play. In fact there were many, many posters – I counted about 10. No one was missing this show!

One small complaint… the lighting for this show was terrible… and very orange.

A lot of the play involved watching the stars play with their superhero toys. At this point in the story, the good guys had managed to round up the bad guys and conveniently position them so they were all facing the audience. That’s some good direction.

Breaking the fourth wall…

Then the good guys gathered for the big finale, although I’m not sure who was keeping an eye on the bad guys.

Finally someone (it may have been a member of the audience) suggested that it was time to get ready for bed and that perhaps the play should wrap up, but not before the talent took a well-deserved bow.

They even cleaned up after themselves, although the posters remain many days later. I think they’re planning an encore performance.

A big two thumbs up for this production.

Someone’s Got A Case of The Mondays

Too many things on my plate today for a meaningful post so I’ll just share a few recent instagram pics from my new Tumblr account. I set up the account so I could easily share these pics through Facebook and Twitter – and keep them all in one place. It’s so convenient and easy to use and I’m hoping it inspires me to take more photos with my phone. I have been on a bit of a photography dry spell lately and I need something to get me out of this creative rut.

Samuel (and his football) greeting me at the daycare fence.
Window shopping on Mississippi
Beautiful blue skies in Portland
Ice covered car window in Bellevue
Cool office lighting
A storm descending on Seattle
Sunset
The blue tongue ring pop side effect
Snow day humor in Bellevue

Here’s to a sunnier outlook for the rest of the week – literally and figuratively (apart from my dentist appointment on Wednesday – two fillings, ugh!).

P.S. I started this post a couple of hours ago and, since then, have had the opportunity to celebrate a little award (Best Interview Video) I won for a work video I produced last year. Cheers to that!

Today’s Photo of a Rainy Day Activity

My house is being invaded by Lego. The only time they are completely put away is when I have the cleaner scheduled and I warn the boys that tiny Lego pieces and Vacuum cleaners don’t get along.