Dear Super 8,

12 Jun

One Arm Paparazzi

You made me laugh, you made me cry, you made me gasp, stop eating my nachos, point at the screen and whisper to my mom who was sitting next to me in the theater. But it wasn’t all just due to the writing, performing and action. It was because of the city you named Lillian, Ohio. The city where I grew up.

I wrote about my excitement for your creation before but now that I’ve seen it all completed on the big screen – you made me remember and appreciate so many parts of my history – places I don’t get to see anymore. Where I used to play softball, where I used to take walks, where I used to sit and wait for friends, where I would drive by on any given day, where family is laid to rest, and where I lived and still call “home.”

Our house gets a few minutes of your time. It doesn’t do much – just exists in the background – but it’s there. Holding its own in your summer blockbuster. My second story bedroom window hovers above the scene. A window I would’ve been peeking out to watch it all happen. I used to sit and look out over Weirton Heights, watching the cars drive by on Pennsylvania Avenue while the smell from the metal screen filled my senses. Now, that window is a super star.

Hearing the stories from my mom/neighbors/friends, it was quite a spectacle to see your production in our town. (Pictures that my mom took are in the slideshow below.) It was a town that used to thrive around the steel mill and have an energy about it that I’m sure I romanticize now but you made me feel it again. You ignited a renewed spirit around the city – with your movie magic and interest in a place that so many don’t even know about. (Although we were a Jeopardy question once.)

Thank you for your attention and for thinking that Weirton, West Virginia had something special to offer in your Hollywood cinematic masterpiece. Also, thank you for allowing me to leave the theater and excitedly (and obnoxiously) tell a stranger, “That was my hometown! Our house was in the movie!” I think you would agree, it’s a worthy brag.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tags: , ,

Summer Camp – Week Three

11 Jun

Week three of summer camp featured all the usual fun like swimming, new songs and games, but it also offered lessons on staying safe (Safety was this week’s theme) and baseball-packed mornings for Nate.

Nate loved crashing the ages 6 and up baseball camp. From what he tells us, he held his own with the older boys and by the look of his uniform at the end of each day, it seemed that way. Sweaty, dirty and STINK-y. He learned how to bunt and met new friends who taught him how to not “respect the pouch.” He still giggles about it.

During summer camp, the kids met with police officers, firefighters, a member of SWAT and the American Red Cross. They told me they learned about everything from tornadoes to fires and “not to pick up guns if you find some.” The fire lesson really bothered Nate. He told me before bed one night that he wished our house was smaller and that our roof was “down there,” pointing to the second story’s floor. He said that way he wouldn’t have to worry about jumping out of a window, he just could.

I suppose with knowledge often comes fear – and a mommy and daddy to comfort them.

image

Police Swag

image

Pretty cool caption, Nia.

image

Escape Plan!

image

Nate's Baseball Camp Certificate

 

 

Tags:

Dancing Bean 2011

10 Jun

Bean, having a blast during her dance recital dress rehearsal. Good luck on the big night!

Second year for ballet:

Second year for tap:

First year for jazz:

Tags: , , , ,

What’s this say? And this?

7 Jun

We’ve been treating Nate like he’s doing incredible tricks each time he reads something that surprises us. He’ll read the tv’s channel guide, amazing us with the reaction of, “Nate! How did you know that, buddy?! What’s this one say?” He won’t always know the others we are asking about but he will try to figure out the words, learning them in the process.

He even started to read a book he was just browsing through at a store recently. He opened it and read the first sentence, “I want to go.” Our reaction, of course, “Nate! That’s so great buddy!”

image

Nia is proud of his reading too. She is always updating us when Nate reads something we may miss. While we were at a baseball game, she kept praising him for reading things off the scoreboard monitor. She’s been so excited about his reading that she even made him flashcards. She brought them to me and said, “He can make sentences with them!”

image

It’s really fitting that she is such a big cheerleader of his reading. After all, she used to read to him.

Tags:

Summer Camp – Week Two

6 Jun

The second week of summer camp was a shortened one with Memorial Day off, Nate at baseball camp for part of one day and a Daddy’s Day Off on Friday – but the kids still brought home some art for us to admire. The theme for the week was “Things Outside.” When I asked Nia what she learned about, her response was, “I don’t know.” How fascinating. I did get a few nuggets of wisdom from her involving her art:

image

"Stick bugs look weird but I already knew that."

image

"These are sail-man hats." She made hers at camp but then came home and made me a special one. Extra awesome.

Nate brought home one of his drawings and he asked me to, “Find the wasp, Mommy.” I felt so bad as I pointed at just about everything on the paper, never once hitting the wasp. He laughed at my silliness because he just couldn’t understand why I couldn’t see that wasp.

image

Betcha can't find the wasp in Nate's drawing. Nope. That's not it.

They may not be retaining everything they learn while at summer camp but it seems this fish’s face sums up the time they are having there.

image

Love Nia's Happy Face Hand Fish

Tags: ,

A Man and His Bible

4 Jun

He’s there the same time each day – standing near a busy intersection in our small town. I don’t know his name. I don’t know his history. I only know what I see. A man with many years behind him, a life lived, reading aloud from the Bible.

Reading is actually an understatement though. He is more, announcing it to us. To make sure we hear it. We may not always understand it, but we hear it.

I rolled down our windows as we kept going on our way. Listening to him for the length of the red light. Nia noted how he was reading without looking at the words. She told me, “He must go to church a lot, huh?” I replied, “Or he just reads from the Bible a lot.” “But he’s not reading it, mommy. He knows it.”

And he wants us to know it too.

image

Sharing the Word

Tags:

Commutertainment

3 Jun

I’m learning to make the most of my often 90 minute (one-way) commute to and from work. Some of my entertainment includes:

  • Challenging myself to drive with my left foot instead of my right one. I made it half-way and then forgot and resorted back. It’s harder than it sounds.
  • Double-daring myself to drive without AC when the thermometer said 100. I did it but was sweat-y.
  • Successfully retrieving my water cup from the passenger floor after it fell. I’m proud of my wheel action to convince my cup to come closer…closer…
  • Singing, torso dancing and pointing at other cars. I really love people’s reactions.
  • Actually trying to win radio station contests. I got through a few times but was never the winning caller. Still felt victory though – I’ve experienced a ton of “try your call again” messages.
  • Creating stories in my head about the people I see in other cars. I’ve married some, beat up others and felt really bad for many more.
  • Taking off my pantyhose. It. Was. Necessary. They were control top.

Posted from WordPress for Android

Tags:

Summer Reading – When Do We Start?

2 Jun

I am loving Nia’s suggested summer reading list. Harry Potter, Judy Blume, Nancy Drew and Chronicles of Narnia? What a great list! I’ve been waiting for the day to introduce her to Harry. I can only hope she enjoys the Harry Potter series half as much as I do. (That way I can at least talk about them with her after I re-read them for the I-lost-count time.)

Along with the books of her choice, Nia will add the dictionary to her reads, just because she’s been wanting to learn more vocabulary words. (Awesome.)

I wonder which book she’ll want to explore first?

image

Posted from WordPress for Android

Tags: ,

Home Run for Kindness

31 May

Spilled Corn

The Gwinnett Braves may have lost on Monday night but Nia won in acts of kindness while we were there.

When her little brother spilled a good bit of his bag of popcorn on the ground, she didn’t even hesitate with her selfless actions. She scooped several handfuls of her popcorn into his bag. It. Was. Beautiful. For all their picking on each other, it’s so wonderful to witness such a unprompted display of sharing. She didn’t stop there either. She continued to share her snack long after Nate had eaten his last kernel.

Sure. The G-Braves got crushed 12-2 but we got to see some great plays, exciting foul balls that flew above and near our section (Nate was ready to catch them), incredible fireworks and a whole lotta big sister sweetness. Great night at the ballpark.

image
image
image
image

Tags: , ,

In Memory

30 May

Capt. Mike MacKinnon - Photo courtesy: USMA

I met him as we were checking out at the Target near our home in Savannah. He had his children with him and Andrew was really happy to see him. Andrew had served in Iraq with him in 2003 and they were members of The Long Gray Line (they both shared the experience of attending and graduating from West Point – he graduated in 1997, Andrew in 1998).

His name is Mike MacKinnon. Andrew told me how Mike would always watch “The Simpsons” with his children. That it was a special thing. Now, it’s hard for Andrew to watch the show and not think about Mike – and how he can no longer watch it with his kids.

Captain Mike MacKinnon was 30 years old when he was killed during his second tour of duty in Iraq. He died due to an IED. He died the year after I met him in that Target aisle. He left a legacy behind him with the people he met, led and served with – Andrew was just one of them. He took the picture below of Andrew. So very true to Andrew and I’m sure they all had a good laugh about it.

It is captioned: "Andy asleep"

Andrew doesn’t like to talk about Mike’s death – or the deaths of his other friends from the Army. But there are days – like Memorial Day – when he will share a memory with me or share that he’s thinking about them with others. I didn’t know them well at all – but I know that they – and those who miss them the most – will always be remembered.

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →