is big bird a girl???

Were there any classic Sesame Street muppets/puppets that were girls? I know they've a whole new cast since I watched as a little girl: Zoe, Abby, probably more than I know. I don't think Elmo was a character way back when. As Josh & I chatted about this, he ventured a guess that maybe Big Bird was a girl? It rocked my world -- how could Big Bird be a girl?!? Then, I realized that maybe Big Bird was like a little kid's version of Pat from Saturday Night Live --- the androgynous mystery that never would quite give up the clue to its identity. As I had always assumed Big Bird was a boy, I looked at him from that perspective. But I GUESS there was nothing so gender specific about him that he would HAVE to be a boy, except the pronoun he. God bless pronouns! At least Wikipedia refers to Big Bird as a he. Another funny note. Carroll Spinney is the actor who plays Big Bird, but, as fate would have it, Carroll Edwin Spinney (also called Ed) happens to be a man! So, my question still stands. Were the original creators of Sesame Street so unPolitically Correct that they created a whole world where girls didn't exist (except for humans, of course!) Can you think of any classic Sesame Street girl monsters? Maybe Snuffleupagus (I always thought it was an f. . as in snuffleufagus. . oh well. I guess Sesame Street never looks quite the same through adult eyes.

sewin & swimmin

This summer, Kate & I have been working on some skills. I have been working on sewing. Below is my third project. I can't tell you how pleased I am with the outcome. This project was so brain consuming that I didn't have time to take pictures of any steps other than the finished product. Can I just say again that sewing can be forgiving? This dress has some unsightly parts on the inside, but the outside is cute as a button. The funniest thing: When I showed Josh the finished product, the first thing he does is look inside. Then again, when I showed it to Kate's grandma, great-aunt, and great-grandma, they too, all looked on the inside. Jen observed, "Why is that the first thing sewers always do?" I wanted to ask, "Why was that the first thing Josh, NOT a sewer, did?" The project took a day and a half, and I did a lot of ripping out seams & stitches. Cutting & marking were challenging, especially since I changed the size I was cutting half way through and had to re-cut & mark some pieces. It would have been much easier if I had known how little I would use the marks. When push came to shove, I did most of the alignment by eye, because in the end, that's what matters! I sewed & seam ripped three button holes, which was not very kind to the fabric. In the end, I only ended up w/ room for ONE buttonhole. But, I think sewing is a good hobby for me. I don't mind ripping up stitches & doing it again. My shoulders & back & eyes might mind, but it makes me feel good that I can redo it better. I'm excited to try the next project now that I understand some of the rudiments of garment making. I will say, though, that with the paltry selection of cute, modern fabrics at Joanne's does not inspire me! I'm not sure whether the time, effort, and money I put into a dress could possibly work out to cheaper than I could buy a cute one at the store. I am going to keep going because it's fun, and I want to get better at it! I also have a lot more respect & charitable feelings for dress prices. It used to make me gag myself when I turned over a tag in a store like Gap or Gymboree to see a $30 or $40 price tag. Now I know why! Fabric, finishing, patterns, everything costs more money than I thought. :-)

Katherine Boo has been working on lots of skills -- the most remarkable of which is swimming! We finally figured out a configuration that lets me relax when we go to the pool & lets her have the most amount of fun with the least amount of water in the mouth! She loves to paddle about to all of her favorite relatives. She stands on a ledge inside the pool and says, "three, four" & then jumps (really) into the pool. She's been practicing putting her face in the water to blow bubbles in the bath tub, and it's actually paying off in the pool.
We started off with just the innertube connected to a tank. But, she kept dipping into the water if she got off balance, so then we added......

swim wings & she's good to go!

Other new skills:

fingerpainting & coloring. Literally overnight, she holds a crayon correctly & gets some pretty good marks out of them. she loves to color & paint & asks me for these activities with frequency when we're at home.

building with blocks. Also, overnight, she no longer solely wishes to destroy towers of blocks that mommy builds. She delights in building & stacking & fitting together.

talking. Her language is exploding. She uses sentences a lot & we're starting to work on some Spanish words. Her first Spanish word that she used all on her own was "agua." She knows where her nariz, boca, and manos are, & can pronounce them, but doesn't use the words on her own. She says nasis for nariz. Sometimes she says agua water. It's amazing how quickly she can pick up a new word or phrase. Some of the hilarious 'adult' things she says are "ashy" (actually) and "I think."

playing w/ dolly. She recently began mothering her baby doll & wanting dolly to be with her in the crib at all times. preferably with her baw-tul. She's quite good at finding the dolly's mouth & putting the bottle on the mouth, after I explained that a baby bottle doesn't go in the eye.

singing. Another exploding skill. She knows many words in Jesus Loves Me & You Are My Sunshine. She knows almost all the words in the first verse of Holy, Holy, Holy. . So cute. She has a special sing-songy voice that she uses, too.

My next post is newish, too, folks. I know, when it rains it pours!

I couldn't post links in my comments, so here are two links re Jennifer's questions.

Similar inner tube at Target & Babies R Us. The one at Target has a crotch strap which looks potentially uncomfortable, but could solve the problem that Kate's has, which is that it rides up if she doesn't keep her arms down. That's one of the reason's the swim wings help. They make her arms fat & keeps the float down. Also, I saw that same float cheaper elsewhere online. The Babies R Us is a whole swim suit with a tube in it. I like the ease of Kate's over the head design. Easy off & easy on. Somehow I can't find one like it online, but I really think I've seen them in stores at Target or Babies R Us, somehow, just not online. Or find it used at a consignment or resale shop, like I did!

Pattern is Simplicity Easy to sew, #3511

Family Update

All of the individual families got some great shots, except for the photographer's family. It's ironic that it happens that way, but it's hard to get great shots of us because I'm always behind the camera. This time, however, we were stymied by Kate's raisin box & hunger level. :-)

Mom & Dad are currently living in Leon, Guanajuato, MX. Although dad & mom were missionaries for my whole childhood, we lived right on the Texas border with Mexico. Dad commuted to his teaching job right across the border. This gave us a lot of advantages. We grew up going to US schools, Dad was able to do his work that he was called to, and we were immersed in a Tex-Mex culture that gave us an appreciation for Spanish language, food, culture, friends, church, music, but didn't isolate us from American culture of family, either. Once all of the kids left the "nest," they decided it was time to move to Mexico. Dad has continued his teaching ministry, but instead of teaching at one central school, he travels around training pastor's to form their own schools in house. He also travels around and teaches Bible classes to small groups & individuals. Mom is finishing up her master's degree by getting involved with the Trique population of Indians in Souther & Western Mexico. Her degree is in ethnomusicology & the Trique Project focuses on encouraging musicians to compose original Trique Christian songs to sing for worship. Currently, their hymnal is all (or mostly) songs translated from Spanish. Mom just finished two recording projects for this Project. One CD of entirely new Christian songs & another of translated children's songs & stories.

This is a great picture of my sister Becky, and her husband, Elias. They got married in March of 2007. She graduated in 2006 with a Cross Cultural degree from TFC & he just graduated in May with his degree in Business. Today they flew to Guatemala to live & work in Elias' hometown. He hasn't seen his family in 8 years, so I can only imagine how excited they will be to have him back! And, he's bringing a wife with him. His parents applied for a visa to come for Becky & Elias' wedding, but they were denied, so this is the first time that they will meet Becky. They will both be working for the Ixtatan Foundation, which runs a school & several other humanitarian projects in Elias' hometown of San Mateo Ixtatan. Becky will be teaching English to several grade levels of middle & high school. Elias will be teaching computers & also running the computer lab. This school is the first high school ever in San Mateo & it was only founded a couple of years ago. Students used to have to go to a boarding school in a bigger city. We are so excited for them, but are so sad to see them go!

Well, what can I say??? Most of you readers ALSO read and/or know Jen & Ben personally, so there isn't much to share. I'm so glad that I have some family that live so close to us. Kate often wakes up and asks about Lydia, Lauren, or Auntie Jen, indicating that she thinks we ought to go for a visit or do something fun. Over time, our fun activities with each other have changed. We no longer go to the movies or out to eat or even shop for a fun time. Nowadays, we have to eat lunch at each other's house, go to Chick-fil-A, story time at the library, or swim at Mima & Papa's. Do I miss the old days? yes. But these new days are great, too. Lydia & Kate play especially well together, so I often kidnap Lydia for a fun day with Auntie & cousin. She is a great babysitter when we go shopping. Kate is not a very good shopper by herself, but w/ Lydia to distract her, she's great! Jen is my commadre in arms, my first call for advice, commiseration, or company.



Susie & Patrick are living in Elkins, WV. Patrick was recently ordained in the Christian Missionary & Alliance church. He works as a youth/assistant pastor & Susie is his sidekick. Patrick is the most involved youth minister I believe I've ever come in contact with. Not only do he & Susan invite their kids into their home for game nights & small group, he also makes it a point to go to sporting events & special events, AND spends one on one or small group time with his kids regularly by taking them to lunch or inviting them over. This summer, Susie & Patrick are taking their high school students to Peru for a mission trip. They are also missionary candidates in the CMA, and are hoping to complete their home service in a year or two & be placed somewhere overseas after that!

the photo shoot

One of our goals on this family vacation was to get a good family picture since this may be the last time for a while that we are all together. My sister Becky and her husband are moving to Guatemala in ONE week and probably won't return for a few years. There was much hub bub about this idea. Everyone wanted to get a photo, but just how much planning should go into it was a bit controversial. First, someone suggested white tops & khaki bottoms, but apparently the idea of 13 people dressed exactly the same made some family members want to gag! It was hilarious to arrive at the condo & look through several brochures for activities on the beach -- we saw lots & lots of these white windblown beach pictures. :-) Well, we finally settled on a few acceptable colors and I think the end product doesn't look too matchy matchy (a fear of some) or too random (my fear!). Amazingly, for a group of 13, this photo shoot didn't take too long. Here was the end result!


More photos of individual fams later. I don't own a tripod, so we had to improvise with a lawn chair and my camera case. Incidentally, we were staying at a yacht club, so we were able to see the marina & this view from our condo.


I know, I know. This picture is slightly tilted. That would be thanks to my camera bag (the upper portion of my homemade tripod). :-)

pillowcase dress

Attempted & completed! I cannot tell you how excited I was about this project. I chose this plain blue pillow case to be my guinea pig before I attacked an embroidered pillowcase which was my grandmother's, but I think my first try turned out pretty fetching, if you don't look too closely at the stitching. I used the pattern & directions from this website. Next step: a dress from a pattern. I have everything picked out, but I forgot the interfacing. It is a real bummer that the closest fabric store is 20 mins from my house, and that I have to use the expressway! BTW, if any of you buy fabric online, drop me a note about where.

700 spf anyone?

Gone are the days of the 15 spf. In my youthful hunt for a tan, I would skimp by on the lowest amount of uva/uvb protection that Banana Boat could offer. And, if I could smell like I was in the Hawaian Islands, all the better. My usual m.o. was a little burn meant a lot of tan. What was I thinking???? These days, I slather on 55 spf or 70 spf. Life as a mom is too short to be moaning away the nights wishing that you could sleep totally naked with aloe vera creamed everywhere and NOT stick to the sheets. Not to mention that likelihood of bringing on skin cancer in your later years! It all happened the summer I was pregnant with Kate. Supposedly, pregnant women burn more easily than non-pregnant women. So, I determined that I would not burn. . I pushed the envelope and went for 30 spf. . the next summer, Kate was a little baby, and I had to slather HER up with the high powered baby sunscreen, and it just made sense to share. As we head off to the beach this week, spf 55 will be in my bag. Slather it on, baby. What spf do YOU wear?