Week of January 6 – 12
He was a very sweet birthday boy, even helping make the special meals.
(The light bulb was for his lava lamp.)
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(The boys insisted I keep the photo below with Rosebud’s red eyes. :/)
We had a little trouble getting this next shot. . . .:)
There we go! haha.
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Thank you for calling him that day and for the very special gift! I think it was a great birthday for him.
Love,
Michelle
Here’s what happens when you give Hummer a camera and plenty of time to dawdle (aka Christmas break). . . .
(video below)
Oh, how I love that quirky, fun-loving boy! He keeps us laughing. Can’t believe he’s 10 now!
“For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I’ve no desire to be disloyal. . . .” ~ Pirates of Penzance
No profundities today, just a little light cultural frolic.
This Gilbert and Sullivan song has always given me sympathy for people who have today as their birthday. So, if that’s you, here’s a quadrupled wish of goodwill for your REAL birthday today! :)
Start at 2:18 and chuckle with sympathy at Frederic’s plight. . . .
Hummer and I are enjoying a special celebration today for school in honor of Leap Day.
We’re playing leapfrog out in the gorgeous spring weather,
doing some math around the theme of 29 (make 29 cents with as many different coin combinations as you can, etc.),
using some of the “extra day” just to snuggle and read on the couch,
and leaping--er, jumping--on the trampoline.
I didn’t realize till I saw the “fancy Google” that today is also Gioachino Rossini’s birthday. Hummer immediately wanted to know exactly which birthday this was for him. . . .he was born on Leap Day 1792, so 220 years divided by 4 makes this Rossini’s 55th birthday. Hummer said that means he’s probably a grandpa. :)
Can’t resist posting the most famous performance of Rossini’s music of all time. . . .Hey, by now it’s a classic, right?
(Rossini probably rolls over in his grave every time someone watches this. :)
From Stanley’s point of view. Written by Hummer (with some assistance from yours truly).
For some gorgeous background music to really put you in the setting, play this while you read. . . .
Hi, again! It’s me, Flat Stanley.
I’ve been on an amazing trip! It started at home in Arkansas, when Hummer made me my very own missionary nametag. He taped it to my shirt, folded me up, and sent me to Prague, Czech Republic!
This is a map that shows me going to Prague.
Hummer sent me to the Czech Republic because his Uncle Duff is serving a mission there for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I was excited to become “Elder Stanley” for a few days! Elder Bailey is squishing me with his hand, and holding a Book of Mormon, too.
Here I am with Elder Bailey in front of a Kofola truck (and he is squishing me again). He said that kofola is the best drink ever besides root beer.
Elder Bailey took me to Uherské Hradiště.
The Church of St Francis Xavier is in the background. I am tired of being squished. There are lots of cars behind me. I wonder why the road is made of bricks?
I went with him to Olomouc next.
Here we are on the main square. I think the Christmas lights will be beautiful!
Missionaries travel a lot! Next we went to Zlin.
Wow, look! There’s the moon! I think that Hummer and his family are probably asleep right now while that same moon shines on them in Arkansas.
Next Elder Bailey took me to the capital of the Czech Republic. Here we are in Prague on the main square, Vaclavske Namesti. I think all those people are gathered to talk about Lepidoptera.
In Prague, with Charles Bridge in the back. Hopefully he doesn’t drop me and I get run over by a car like I did before when I was in Arizona! Elder Bailey told me that the Vltava River is under the Charles Bridge. There is a beautiful piece of music written about this river. . . . Die Moldau.
In Prague with Prague castle in the back. The nametag is in Hummer’s handwriting.
I liked being a missionary for about a week! Thank you, Elder Bailey, for hosting me!
Next Flat Stanley travels via USPS to Portland, Oregon, meets famous author, hobnobs with cute furry animals, and hits the stacks at Portland State!
(Hummer and Exacto are telling this from Flat Stanley's point of view)
Here, Aunt Annie and I are outside Powell's Books, one of the biggest independent book stores in the world. I liked seeing all of the books there and remembering when I was still inside a book!
Here, Aunt Annie and I are visiting New York Times best-selling author Steve Berry at a book signing at Powell's books. He was very tall.
Here I am with my Cousin Alice. When Aunt Annie first put me by Alice, I was scared. But we became friends before long. Eventually I fell asleep against her because she's so warm and soft. Her purring lulled me to sleep, too.
Here's me with my Cousin Paploo. Paploo is smaller than Alice, so I wasn't as scared at first.
In this picture, I am watching the acrobats at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). They were amazing! The walls are made of glass, and I was worried that one of the acrobats might mess up and accidentally go through the wall.
Here Aunt Annie and I are at the Narnia Exhibit at OMSI. At first I thought that the lion was real, so I was really scared! Later I asked Aunt Annie if I could slide down the arm rail on the stairs, but she said that if I did, I might fall off.
Here, I'm outside Cramer Hall, Portland State University. I wish that in "Cramer" they would put an "e" before the "a" and a "y" at the end. Then they could put the word "ice" at the beginning and it would be "ice creamery hall."
Here I'm outside Millar Library, Portland State University. It's five stories tall! Since I'm so short, it seemed extra huge to me!
Guest post by Hummer :)
Flat Stanley was made in Arkansas on March 29, 2011.
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The next day, he went to Stanley Russ Hall on the campus of University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Fluffy is holding Stanley.
And he went to Hendrix College in Conway, too.
Flat Stanley is in the center of Arkansas. Fluffy is going to the Pinewood Derby.
I wrote a note to Nana about Flat Stanley and I asked her to take pictures of him in interesting places. She lives in AZ.
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I put him in the mailbox. Later I saw from the window the mailman taking Flat Stanley.
I've always thought it must be so nice to hibernate. First, to have a good excuse to eat tons. Then, to just sleep and be cozy while winter drags on outside. Sigh. I think I was meant to be a bear (unfortunately, that is true in more than one sense :).
I realized just a few days before Hummer's birthday that he has never had a friend party in his entire underprivileged life. I also realized that I wouldn't want to do one next year because we'll be in Arizona for Christmas. So I gulped quietly and asked him if he would like to have a friend party this year. He said YES!!!
Once we got the main idea going I was actually excited, too. We thought it would be fun for our winter-born boy to have a HIBERNATING party. I let him choose 7 people (since he was turning 7), and we invited them to come and wear comfy clothes or pj's and bring their teddy bears.
Three of the lucky seven were adults, including his Primary teacher. :)
So what does one do at a "hibernating party"?
Well, for an ICE BREAKER (har-har) we made snowflakes! The traditional 6-folded way, and also a new way that turned out to be really fun. Then we hung them from the ceiling fan.
Then we "gathered" food for the winter. This was kind of like a treasure hunt. Each kid had a bag, and as a group they went to four different stations outside (we were so lucky with the weather!). At each station they did a silly task and got an ingredient for their trail mix.
Station #1 - Say the alphabet backwards (taking turns for each letter), and get chocolate dipped pretzels. . .
(May I just say that birthday parties are WAY easier with older siblings to help?! so nice.)
Station #2 : Jump and land on your bum-bum SEVEN times on the trampoline - get some tasty cashews. :)
Station #3: To get your own stash of blueberry puffs (yep, the baby snack -- you wouldn't believe what a hot item they are around this house :), repeat after me, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
Station #4: Cadbury's chocolate pieces in exchange for untying the Human Knot. . . .
It was just chilly enough for it to feel good to come back inside for some really good comfort food--hot cocoa from scratch, stove top kettle corn, and spicy molasses cookies. Mmmmmm-hm.
And then, we all just curled up by the fire and I read one of the coziest read-alouds ever. . . .
The birthday boy read another great "cozy" book, making sure to show everyone the pictures after he read each page, Kindergarten teacher style.
Then, present-opening, and a rousing game of "Snore, Teddy, Snore" (like "grunt, piggy, grunt") until the guests had to leave.
This was actually the funnest part for the kids, I think. They were laughing so hard. . . .I would have included a video clip, but unfortunately one of the guests who may or may not have been a member of the family visibly needed to use the bathroom. So you'll just have to imagine the giggles and snores and shrieks.
Rosebud slept through most of the party. Apparently what she really needs in order to sleep better is a houseful of sugared-up kids! Here she is afterward wondering what happened to the house. :)
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The next day was Hummer's real birthday. It was an awesome day--breakfast in bed, his birthday meals of choice, stake conference with the whole family, and SNOW--enough for school to get cancelled the next two days. It just doesn't get much better than that as far as birthdays go!!
And just to impress your socks off, let me show you the work of profound art that was his cake.
Are you moved? :)
His request: lemon cake with lime-flavored frosting, decorated with limes and a hibernating snake. (I added the touch of having the snake dream of seven limes).
SEVEN THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT HUMMER
from the whole family
1. His laugh
2. His courage - he's not afraid to answer the phone or door or to talk to people
3. The way he dances
4. The way he makes up songs
5. The faces he makes
6. The sweet, sincere way he says thank you
7. How intently he listens to stories of Jesus
