Thursday, February 12, 2009
Uncle Miles Visits Texas
Ted's brother Miles flew in from Utah for a long weekend visit with our family. Ted and Miles attended the King Tut exhibit together and ran the Dallas Half Marathon. The Biddulph family calls Miles The Human Jukebox since he can immediately pick up any pop or rock tune on the guitar. The kids had a blast sounding like real musicians as they strummed the guitar while he did the fingering, and Caleb and I got some pop piano lessons so we can play The Beatles and Belle and Sebastian a bit by ear. When Miles left, Sierra told me in her wistful princess voice, "Our guest was just so nice." Madeline misses him too, and has taken to saying "goodbye Uncles Miles!" when we're ready to leave somewhere. I've been pondering whether Miles's grooviness could have led to the drug bust? He does sport that daring bit of stubble!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Much Ado About Nothing
This week, I was driving down Lebanon Rd. with my brother-in-law Miles and 2-year-old daughter Madeline and didn't notice the speed limit went from 45 to 40 mph. A police officer pulled me over to give me a warning for speeding--a first for me. When I removed my sunglasses to talk to him, he thought my pupils looked constricted. He asked if I was on any medications, and when I said no, he asked if there were any illegal drugs, firearms, or samurai swords in my car. (I swear, he asked about the swords.) I can't imagine how he thought my small pupils looked so suspicious, especially given the fact that the sun was shining brightly. The officer radioed for two cops to join him so he could search my mini-van while Madeline sat in her car seat, completely unaware of the drama. After finding nothing more than some cheerios and apple cores under the seats, he let me go on my way without so much as a traffic ticket. At least I have a funny story and my perfect driving record intact.
Cupid's Arrow
Last week I came home from the park during the middle of the day to find chocolates, tea, earrings, a candle, and card waiting in the kitchen. Ted had calculated the date of our 5,000 day anniversary on a financial outlook program years ago so he could do something special to surprise me. (I, of course, was oblivious to the date.) Ever the goal setter, he already has a date in 2022 planned for the 10,000 day celebration. I'm just sad that I missed the best part of the surprise by not being home--he brought the gifts over wearing his wedding tuxedo!
Since one good surprise deserves another, I put together a creative plan of my own. Greece is one of the places Ted and I would both like to visit someday, so while he was flying a kite with Caleb and his brother Miles, Sierra and I raced around the house putting together a Greek-themed treasure hunt, constructing a make-shift toga and laurel leaf headpiece, and decorating the outside of the house with Ionic columns and a sign on the front door reading "Aphrodite House." (And some people told me being a Humanities major wouldn't have any real life application!) Ted didn't get much of a chance to solve the treasure hunt about Greek mythology and history since a very excited Caleb was a clue or two ahead of us the entire way. The prize was a date to a Mediterranean restaurant. Ted and I are all worn out being creative and romantic, so I think Valentine's Day will be very simple this year.
Thanks to Miles for serving both as the decoy and the babysitter!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Olympic Champions
Our family attended an Open House at a local gymnastics business, which happens to be owned by the coach who trained the 2004 and 2008 Olympic All-Around Champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. Aside from enjoying the beautiful facility, it was fun getting a chance to briefly meet these amazing gymnasts.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Reflections Contest
Sierra and Caleb kept busy during the month of October tapping into their artistic abilities for the national Reflections contest. They ended up having lots of fun, and both were thrilled to receive some awards for their efforts.
Sierra wrote several very silly stories that had me suppressing my laughter as she dictated them to me, and she won an Award of Merit (second level of recognition) and an Honorable Mention (third level of recognition) at our elementary school for two of them.
Caleb had an advantage this year being the oldest grade in the K-2nd contest level. He entered every category of art except dance choreography and proved to be quite the Renaissance Man. His short film won an Award of Merit and he won Awards of Excellence (top level of recognition) for his photography, musical composition, writing, and two drawings at the elementary school. These entries advanced to regional judging, where he received an Honorable Mention for musical composition, Award of Merit for photography, and Award of Excellence for writing.
His story "The Come-to-Life Origami Paper" will now advance to the state level! It will be a couple months before we hear the results from the state competition. I'm sure it will be hard to place there, but it's always fun to wait and dream. We attended an awards ceremony for the regional contest at the elementary school today, and it was comical to see the second grade buzz louder and louder every time Caleb went on stage. He was pretty calm about the whole thing, but I think he's proud and excited.
I told both kids that what makes me happiest isn't the awards but enjoying their art. Since their stories are the easiest thing to post, I thought I'd include a sample of their efforts below. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
One day Mike was riding to Hobby Lobby. He was going to buy some origami paper. He found a box that said ‘Weston origami paper. Will bring your origami to life!’ “Wow!” said Mike, “This must be the only box of origami paper in the whole store!” Indeed, it was. He had looked through every nook and cranny of the store, but had not even found a single piece of origami paper in the entire store! He went to the checkout counter, bought the paper, rushed out of the store, and hopped onto his bike to pedal home and go make some origami. He climbed the stairs to his room and decided to make a goldfish. He folded it, snipped it, and opened it out into a goldfish. As he stood back to admire his work, he thought he saw the tail move. He looked again. Yep, he definitely saw it move. He looked away from it. Then heard a voice scream, “Get me some water! Noooooow!” Mike jumped up, opened the door, ran downstairs, got a bowl, filled it with water, ran upstairs, shut the door, and put the goldfish into the bowl, all in 5 seconds! “What’s going on?” he asked the goldfish.
Chapter 2
“Well, look at that box,” said the goldfish. “Can’t you read?’ W-I-L-L. That spells will. B-R-I-N”… “Ok, I get it,” said Mike, “But how did this happen?” “No idea!” said the goldfish. “But I can tell you something!” “What?” asked Mike. “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON!” bellowed the goldfish. “Er, yeh, I already knew that,” said Mike. “Can’t you tell me anything else?” “No!” said the goldfish. “Well, I’m underwater…” “Looks like there isn’t anything you can tell me. Guess I’ll have to live with that.” He paused. “Well then,” he said “So, mind if I make you a friend?” “No, not at all!” said the goldfish. “The more the better!” So he folded, snipped, and opened the paper up into a goldfish. Its tail twitched. It twitched again. “Get me some water! Noooooow!”
Chapter 3
Mike plopped him into the bowl. “Hello, good friend!” said the first fish. “Hello good friend!” said the second fish. Mike put the bowl in the closet. Then he headed downstairs. That night, Mike heard a sound from his closet. “Can I have a glass of water?” “No,” said Mike, “You already have lots of water. Now go to sleep!” The next morning, Mike went to school. At the classroom, the teacher, Miss Airbag, was introducing a new kid. “Class, this is Bulligan. His favorite animal is a cow. He says he likes male cows best. Another word for a male cow is a bull. And his favorite truck is a bulldozer.” Mike soon found out why. He was a bull-y.
Chapter 4
Bulligan tripped him on the sidewalk so he got loads of scratches. He stole his lunch money. In fact, Bulligan was probably bullying him more than he was bullying anybody else! Finally he had a plan. The next morning, he made a dragon and eight cranes out of the magic origami paper. Just as he expected, they came to life. He whispered orders to them, and he got the goldfish out of the closet and whispered orders to them. He got some foil and wrapped it around the bowl so the water didn’t fall out, and stuffed the animals into his backpack. When he went into the classroom, he still had his backpack on. He opened it up, and the cranes and dragon flew out. Everybody stared, especially at the dragon, since they had never seen one before. The cranes picked up Bulligan and swung him around. The dragon swooped up and just hung there, since Mike wanted to teach Bulligan a lesson and just made the dragon to scare him. Then, before he could give the signal for the fish to splash water at him, Bulligan yelled “OK, I give up!” The cranes dropped him, and the dragon swooped down. “You have used your magic wisely,” said a voice from the shadows.
Chapter 5
A figure stepped from the shadows. “It is I,” said the person. He had white, long hair that almost touched the floor. He had a cape, and warm brown eyes. “I am Wizard Horus.” His eyes twinkled. “My last name is Weston.” Weston… It rung something in Mike’s memory, but he couldn’t tell what. “Yes, I am the maker of the origami paper,” Horus said, as if he had read Mike’s mind. “It was hard work. I worked on it day and night. Why did I do it? I thought I could make a difference in the world.” “And I did,” he finished, looking at Mike. There was a silence. Then Bulligan spoke up. “Do you think it was a good idea to bruise my hands?” he said, pointing to the scratches on his hands the cranes had made. “Oh, I can fix that,” said Horus. He waved a wand he had conjured out of thin air, and the scratches vanished. Then he stepped back into the shadows and he too vanished. After that, Mike and Bulligan, (who now called himself Friendigan) were the best of friends. Horus visited them often enough, and they all lived happily ever after.
Sierra wrote several very silly stories that had me suppressing my laughter as she dictated them to me, and she won an Award of Merit (second level of recognition) and an Honorable Mention (third level of recognition) at our elementary school for two of them.
Caleb had an advantage this year being the oldest grade in the K-2nd contest level. He entered every category of art except dance choreography and proved to be quite the Renaissance Man. His short film won an Award of Merit and he won Awards of Excellence (top level of recognition) for his photography, musical composition, writing, and two drawings at the elementary school. These entries advanced to regional judging, where he received an Honorable Mention for musical composition, Award of Merit for photography, and Award of Excellence for writing.
His story "The Come-to-Life Origami Paper" will now advance to the state level! It will be a couple months before we hear the results from the state competition. I'm sure it will be hard to place there, but it's always fun to wait and dream. We attended an awards ceremony for the regional contest at the elementary school today, and it was comical to see the second grade buzz louder and louder every time Caleb went on stage. He was pretty calm about the whole thing, but I think he's proud and excited.
I told both kids that what makes me happiest isn't the awards but enjoying their art. Since their stories are the easiest thing to post, I thought I'd include a sample of their efforts below. Enjoy!
The Silly Elephant by Sierra Biddulph
Once upon a time there was a silly elephant. He did many tricks. On his tail he could balance a birthday cake, on his belly he could balance a rocking chair, on his eyes he could balance diamond rings and necklaces, on his ears he could balance sunscreen, and on his trunk he could balance a bed.
There was one girl named Sarah who didn’t like his tricks even a teeny tiny bit. He saw her face and thought, “Maybe I can make my tricks even sillier, like jumping through a hoop!” When he jumped through the hoop, he accidentally fell over. That made the girl even less into his tricks. The elephant was very, very sad. The elephant thought, “I don’t even know if this will work, but I will just try.” He picked the girl up and spun her around for everyone. Then he said, “Good day, ma’am.”
The little girl said, “Wow! That elephant must be a really famous elephant, even more than the President of the United States of America. No elephant can speak, and he was just born the other day! How can he learn to speak so fastly?”
After that, the elephant and Sarah became best friends, and she visited him every day at the zoo.
Once upon a time there was a silly elephant. He did many tricks. On his tail he could balance a birthday cake, on his belly he could balance a rocking chair, on his eyes he could balance diamond rings and necklaces, on his ears he could balance sunscreen, and on his trunk he could balance a bed.
There was one girl named Sarah who didn’t like his tricks even a teeny tiny bit. He saw her face and thought, “Maybe I can make my tricks even sillier, like jumping through a hoop!” When he jumped through the hoop, he accidentally fell over. That made the girl even less into his tricks. The elephant was very, very sad. The elephant thought, “I don’t even know if this will work, but I will just try.” He picked the girl up and spun her around for everyone. Then he said, “Good day, ma’am.”
The little girl said, “Wow! That elephant must be a really famous elephant, even more than the President of the United States of America. No elephant can speak, and he was just born the other day! How can he learn to speak so fastly?”
After that, the elephant and Sarah became best friends, and she visited him every day at the zoo.
The Come-to-life Origami Paper by Caleb Biddulph
Chapter 1
One day Mike was riding to Hobby Lobby. He was going to buy some origami paper. He found a box that said ‘Weston origami paper. Will bring your origami to life!’ “Wow!” said Mike, “This must be the only box of origami paper in the whole store!” Indeed, it was. He had looked through every nook and cranny of the store, but had not even found a single piece of origami paper in the entire store! He went to the checkout counter, bought the paper, rushed out of the store, and hopped onto his bike to pedal home and go make some origami. He climbed the stairs to his room and decided to make a goldfish. He folded it, snipped it, and opened it out into a goldfish. As he stood back to admire his work, he thought he saw the tail move. He looked again. Yep, he definitely saw it move. He looked away from it. Then heard a voice scream, “Get me some water! Noooooow!” Mike jumped up, opened the door, ran downstairs, got a bowl, filled it with water, ran upstairs, shut the door, and put the goldfish into the bowl, all in 5 seconds! “What’s going on?” he asked the goldfish.
Chapter 2
“Well, look at that box,” said the goldfish. “Can’t you read?’ W-I-L-L. That spells will. B-R-I-N”… “Ok, I get it,” said Mike, “But how did this happen?” “No idea!” said the goldfish. “But I can tell you something!” “What?” asked Mike. “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON!” bellowed the goldfish. “Er, yeh, I already knew that,” said Mike. “Can’t you tell me anything else?” “No!” said the goldfish. “Well, I’m underwater…” “Looks like there isn’t anything you can tell me. Guess I’ll have to live with that.” He paused. “Well then,” he said “So, mind if I make you a friend?” “No, not at all!” said the goldfish. “The more the better!” So he folded, snipped, and opened the paper up into a goldfish. Its tail twitched. It twitched again. “Get me some water! Noooooow!”
Chapter 3
Mike plopped him into the bowl. “Hello, good friend!” said the first fish. “Hello good friend!” said the second fish. Mike put the bowl in the closet. Then he headed downstairs. That night, Mike heard a sound from his closet. “Can I have a glass of water?” “No,” said Mike, “You already have lots of water. Now go to sleep!” The next morning, Mike went to school. At the classroom, the teacher, Miss Airbag, was introducing a new kid. “Class, this is Bulligan. His favorite animal is a cow. He says he likes male cows best. Another word for a male cow is a bull. And his favorite truck is a bulldozer.” Mike soon found out why. He was a bull-y.
Chapter 4
Bulligan tripped him on the sidewalk so he got loads of scratches. He stole his lunch money. In fact, Bulligan was probably bullying him more than he was bullying anybody else! Finally he had a plan. The next morning, he made a dragon and eight cranes out of the magic origami paper. Just as he expected, they came to life. He whispered orders to them, and he got the goldfish out of the closet and whispered orders to them. He got some foil and wrapped it around the bowl so the water didn’t fall out, and stuffed the animals into his backpack. When he went into the classroom, he still had his backpack on. He opened it up, and the cranes and dragon flew out. Everybody stared, especially at the dragon, since they had never seen one before. The cranes picked up Bulligan and swung him around. The dragon swooped up and just hung there, since Mike wanted to teach Bulligan a lesson and just made the dragon to scare him. Then, before he could give the signal for the fish to splash water at him, Bulligan yelled “OK, I give up!” The cranes dropped him, and the dragon swooped down. “You have used your magic wisely,” said a voice from the shadows.
Chapter 5
A figure stepped from the shadows. “It is I,” said the person. He had white, long hair that almost touched the floor. He had a cape, and warm brown eyes. “I am Wizard Horus.” His eyes twinkled. “My last name is Weston.” Weston… It rung something in Mike’s memory, but he couldn’t tell what. “Yes, I am the maker of the origami paper,” Horus said, as if he had read Mike’s mind. “It was hard work. I worked on it day and night. Why did I do it? I thought I could make a difference in the world.” “And I did,” he finished, looking at Mike. There was a silence. Then Bulligan spoke up. “Do you think it was a good idea to bruise my hands?” he said, pointing to the scratches on his hands the cranes had made. “Oh, I can fix that,” said Horus. He waved a wand he had conjured out of thin air, and the scratches vanished. Then he stepped back into the shadows and he too vanished. After that, Mike and Bulligan, (who now called himself Friendigan) were the best of friends. Horus visited them often enough, and they all lived happily ever after.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Happy One Third Century
I was having a catch up day at home earlier this week when I was surprised to hear the doorbell. When I looked outside, I saw a single pink rose in a vase on my doormat with a card propped beside it that read "Happy 1/3 Century!" I looked down the street where I saw Ted had parked his car just past our home. He walked toward me with a sheepish smile and lunch in tow. Ted explained to me that I was 33 years and 4 months old, and therefore I was a third of a century. And to think I'd almost completely missed such an important occasion! Beyond the pleasure of a delicious lunch and fun break in the day, I was really touched that Ted had gone through the effort to do something special for me just because. Such a simple gesture has had an impact on my morale all week. Thank you, Ted!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
California Getaway
Ted had two whole weeks off work, and since we were so far West we worked in a 5 day getaway to San Diego and Anaheim with Caleb and Sierra, leaving Madeline in Tucson with my parents. When we first arrived it was so cold that I wanted to go straight back to Tucson. We did have our days of sunshine though, and the kids were daring enough to go into the ocean near the Coronado Hotel one sunny morning. At first it was just their feet, but by the time we left they were soaked. We enjoyed the science museum, street performers, Japanese gardens, organ concert, and people watching at Balboa Park. We especially enjoyed sampling the foods from around the world at the international houses, with a heavy concentration on pastries from Scandinavia. Downtown we watched the ships and ate lunch on the bay.
We even fit in a day at Disneyland. Not wanting to change hotels and feeling daring without Madeline, we opted for an extremely long day. We left San Diego for Anaheim at 5am to be the first ones there when the gates opened at 8am and left the park at 10pm, returning to our San Diego hotel just before midnight. The four of us ran through the park the first couple hours like we were on the Amazing Race--you can't do Disneyland entirely in one day, but we came close, skipping only character greetings with the princesses and the invention exhibition. I'd spent hours studying strategies for getting around the busy lines, and despite the crowds we had only one wait past 15 minutes. Sierra surprised us going on all the roller coasters, including Space Mountain (Caleb's favorite of the day), although she merely tolerated them. Her favorite was the Winnie the Pooh ride, which we rode three times to pay her back for coming on all the stomach lurching rides with the rest of us. One of the best parts of the day was relaxing at a holiday show with very few crowds. Santa and Mrs. Claus both took their time visiting with the kids, Sierra won a game that gave her the chance to feed Pluto a bone, and a magician spent some one-on-one time with Caleb showing him all his amazing tricks.
Coronado Beach
Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland
Santa and Mrs. Claus
Sierra feeds Pluto
Sierra and Caleb with Dale
The one glitch in my planning was trying to hit Small World after a parade. We waited for 45 minutes only to see no line at all when we finished our ride. I was kicking myself for making such a silly mistake after strategizing so well, but at least the lights were pretty.
Downtown San Diego
Sea Lions in La Jolla
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