Good morning! Emily has been home with a fever (this is day two), which means the working mom is home too... hence my ability to post two days in a row, just like the old days. ;)
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Before I get to the main point of this post, I'd like to direct you to a wonderful interview Rhonda Jean of Down to Earth and the creator of the Simple Green Frugal Co-op (of which I am so honored to write for twice a month) was invited to do with Radio National in Australia (seems like our NPR here in the states). You can listen to the entire program online (Thursday, April 2 - Not cheap, just frugal!), or to hear Rhonda's segment only, fast forward to the 8 minute 33 second mark. Rhonda is so sweet to listen to (that beautiful accent!), but I was most impressed with how natural and comfortable she sounds. It doesn't surprise me, I know how warm and genuine Rhonda is from our behind the scenes Co-op group emails (which I think she once referred to as the bat cave - ha!), where we brainstorm and support one another... Rhonda is a very wise lady and sets the tone for us, making sure that everyone is encouraged, valued and happy. I'm so proud of her and wish her all the best on this book writing journey.
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Now, for all you parents out there, or anyone who just needs a little comic relief... please come on a little tour with me of Emily's Geography Fair at school two nights ago.
This post isn't about her highly unusual request for a special dress and magnetic clip earrings... or that awesome, goofy smile.
It's not about whether or not she wanted an up-doo or a down-doo or an up-doo or a down-doo (repeat that 12 times...).
It's not even about the fantastic job she did on her presentation of Venezuela, or the delicious platter of Arepas Con Queso that she offered as people stopped by her booth. Those were actually really good by the way... we used 1/2 the sugar suggested, pepper jack cheese instead of mozzarella, and left the corn kernels whole. We also mixed the batter a day in advance and it made them even fluffier and more pancake like. Trying to be frugal and efficient... when Emily and I sat down to choose her recipe, I suggested we make something that we already had all the ingredients for... and so we did!
This isn't even about the fact that my girl actually loves playing the recorder and how cute I think that is - because when I was in 5th grade, pretty much nobody in my class found this to be fun.
No, this post is about none of that. This post is about those moments in our lives as parents that will remain etched in our memories forever. You see, after her class played a few South American numbers on these traditional instruments, it was time to perform a number using their homemade instruments that they had made in art class. These instruments have been in the creative stage for some time... I'm just saying there was probably time to change one's direction if they were so inclined, but they were not. They were perfectly content and quite amused (as was the rest of the class) with their bamboo flute type thing with the trumpet mouth piece insert... yeah.
It was quite a sound, check it out...
Am I a terrible mother for laughing out loud while video taping this performance and practically dropping the camera in my husband's lap? It was made even funnier by the fact that she just saw the humor in it and wasn't too shy or mortified to get up there and play her flute in front the crowd and her peers... even if they all do lovingly refer to it as The Fart Flute. I think that may be the one and only time you will see that word typed on this blog. ;)
Oh well, all in good fun. Her music teacher (who is my good friend and neighbor) was just so proud of her for being able to "get a sound out of such a very difficult instrument, flutes are so hard to play!" This cracked me up because she meant it in all seriousness and kindness.
Have a good one friends, Emily will be resting up today hoping to kick this fever. She needs to get back to her musical pursuits... afterall, there is talk of a summer tour to prepare for.
