Laura's Computer Art

I'm 100% sure I gave birth to this child, but when she does stuff like this, I find myself wondering if we are even related. Luckily, some Fletcher genetics are factored in that girl somewhere. Anyway, I saw her doing this on her computer today, and I was completely WOWed! She discovered some internet program called "Paint" that lets you do this:

My favorite is the last one!

All you'll ever need to know about Mozart. By Lincoln R. Fletcher.

Wolfgang A. Mozart was born in 1756 (almost 300 years ago). When he was 3, he asked his dad for "claiver" lessons ("ancestor of the piano" lessons). His father Leopold said no because he thought he was too little.

(Three-year-old Mozart throwing a temper tantrum.)

So when his sister Nannerei was done with her lesson, Mozart went up to the piano and started to play. These days, if a three-year-old went and played, it would sound horrible. But Mozart was special. It sounded great to his dad who finally started to give him lessons.

(Clap clap.)

Half a year later, Mr. Mozart thought his kids were good enough to play instruments in public, so they traveled everywhere, played for kinds, queens, and emperors, and sometimes in enormous buildings. Everybody loved the Mozart kids.

Sadly, nothing lasts forever. As Wolfgang and Nannerei got older, people were less amazed.

His dad kept encouraging him, but he only wanted to play for people who liked his music, not people who liked to see a cute little boy and girl who play music, but only think it is cute. But then the Archbishop Collerodo took over. Collerodo was terribly mean to Mozart, and didn't appreciate his music at all.

After only a few weeks, Mozart was fired. Then he went to Vienne, Italy.
In Vienne, he made lots of people happy, but he met someone who would put joy in his life.

Constanze Weber's sister wanted to marry Mozart, but he wanted to marry Constanze. So eventually, Mozart and Constanze married.

She encouraged him and helped him stay awake when he was writing music late into the night.

(Yawn.)

He and his father were in a fight. His dad was mad at him for not taking good enough care of his mother. In a trip to Paris, his dad didn't go to she had died. What really happened was that she had died of an illness that Mozart couldn't help because he was poor, so he couldn't hire a doctor. He couldn't buy medicine or even buy warm soup. The reason he couldn't was because he spent his money on parties and games. And Nannerei didn't exactly like Constanze. So Constanze was the only one to keep him happy.

He always used to write classical, but then he started to write opera. His operas were the most interesting of all. One has two people who sing a duet super fast.

Well, not lightspeed, but pretty fast. But while he wrote operas he was getting iller and iller by the day.

That was bad!!

Eventually he got very, very, very, very, very, very sick. Constanze tended to him well, but he still wrote music in bed, using precious energy.

Many musicians came to see him, but there was no hope. Mozart was dying. He died in his bed, writing hi slast piece, Requiem. He was only 36.

Six years of obsessive dragon-sketching has finally paid off.

Congrats, Laura!

The lastest thing.

Origami Yoda(s). They're all over the place...and word to the wise, don't throw them away. Learn from my mistakes.

Lincoln made this little guy for Noelle, and she slept with it the first night. When she woke up in the morning there were big tears. Big, grumpy four-year-old girl tears. "Where is my Yoooooda? It's SUPPOSED to be on my fingeeeeeer!"
But we found it. Phew.
Here's Lincoln with his favorite.

A good find.

This picture was posted on facebook, tagged to my aunt by some obscure cousin I've never met. It's a picture of my dad as a little boy (the taller boy on the left) and his siblings and my grandparents. Laura's middle name is Sidney, after my grandmother here who was such a light in my life when I was younger. She died a couple of months before Laura was born. I've actually been thinking about dumping facebook for quite a long time, in part because of the whole photo tag thing...if someone tags a picture of you, it is impossible to delete. I really hate that (and other things). But then something like this happens--I log onto facebook and see a photograph of my father as a child (and I've seen so few photos of my father as a child) and my beloved grandmother as a young women (I've NEVER seen a photograph of her as a young woman, wish I could see one of her as a kid)--and I kinda get sucked back into thinking facebook has its good side. Any opinions?

A little too much Wii.

Noelle's prayer tonight:

"Please bless that Mommy will be Bowser and that Lincoln will be Yoshi."

Blizzard 2011

Laura and Steve (in his MC Hammer polar bear pants) at 6:30 AM. Around 8:00 AM Steve had to hike his way to the nearest main road to hitch a ride from a friend.

Upstairs window.

Basement windows.

Steve, after work, trying to finish clearing the driveway.

The total was between 15-18 inches. Boy oh boy, we are ready for Spring!

I'm a little gassy, but I'm loving these anyway.

This amazing black bean recipe.

I got it off my new favorite vegetarian blog (even though I am not vegetarian). The blog author is a professional chef and all of her recipes are completely healthy and full of great veggies.

The first time I made this, I took a bite to be sure it was seasoned correctly, and the next thing I knew I had eaten half of the pan. I almost didn't have enough left for the rest of the family. The next time I made it I doubled it so I could eat as much as I wanted. This recipe is actually supposed to go over a wonderful rice recipe (made with tomatillo salsa, garlic, oregano, cumin, red onion, then at the end you fold in sour cream and cheese...amazing), then topped with guacamole and tomatoes. I made the entire dish a couple of weeks ago and we really loved it. But it was a bit labor-intensive for me. This time I just made the beans and topped it with guacamole and tomatoes and ate it with a spoon. The rest of the family had corn chips and cheese with it.

The recipe:

Vegetarian Black Beans

2+ Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans black beans, drained

Heat oil in pan. Saute onion, red pepper, and salt for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin (and more oil if you need it) and saute for 3 additional minutes. Lower heat and add black beans. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, if necessary. Serve when beans are warmed throughout.

Pictures for no reason.

Lincoln with his new glasses as of today. I don't think he likes them. I had to force him to put them on.
Isaac.
Noelle today after ballet class.
Laura hanging out in her room.
My dinner, after a clumsy moment.

My birthday.

The downside: Steve wanted to take me to lunch. We tried a couple of places (and I'm limited by the gluten-free thing), but they were both closed for lunch on Monday. I was bummed because I was hungry.

My favorite moment of the day was when we were driving around looking for a place to eat. Steve said, "How about sushi?" Noelle (from the backseat) groaned and said, "Again???"

Yeah. Again. We've taken here with us to get sushi once. She wasn't impressed with the food. Lucky for Noelle, the sushi place was also closed for lunch.

We stopped off at Pioneer Co-op and I purchased this microwaveable meal instead. Sumptuous. Also, it has 50% of your daily allowance of vitamin A.
And this:

One of my birthday presents:

The frames. Our new house is still pretty empty. Empty walls. A few sparse pieces of old furniture from Target or Costco. I just wanted to put up some pictures of my kiddos to make it feel like home. To get this arrangement it took four days and a thousand nail holes and I think there were some tears, too, but I finally like it.

Oh yeah. This was definitely a bonus birthday gift.

I thought this only happened to boys.

Noelle begged me no less than eight times today to let her play the Wii, asking in her most syrupy sweet four-year-old voice, claiming she only wanted to play "a teeny, little bit" and "please???" It's very disturbing. Just watch the aggression on her face. Sorry it's a little blurry.

If you've ever wondered what Isaac would look like if he were a girl...

The first month at the new school, everyday I would ask Isaac if he had made any friends, and everyday he answered, "I don't need friends." With a little attitude...like he might be too good for friends or something along those lines.

Okay then. How to respond? If only I could locate the "parent manuel" which details exactly what to say or do specifically for this precise situation. But I seem to have misplaced it.

Last month he came home and said, "I made a friend." And he grinned a little shyly.

Ta da! Here she is. Alyssa. Isaac's same height. Glasses. Know-it-all, just like him.

Love it!

(Would you just look at that bedhead? Where is the poor neglected child's mother???)