Smacksy Sunday Links

Vi on the move

Loving these cats in bars.

Do nothing for two minutes.

Another brilliant Listen To Your Mother LA reading: The Baby Maker by Anna Lefler.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Retro Bob

Good Morning, Amsterdam - 2007

Note: It took five adults, forty minutes to figure out how to set up that pack-n-play.

For Serious

"I need to talk to you about something, Mom."

"What's up?"

"Where do bees go when it rains?"

"Maybe inside their hives?"

"Mom? One more thing, for serious."

"You need to know that my made-up karate name is Punch-and-Grab."

Maybe... No

photo from here

"Mom! I want that thing!"

"What thing?"

"That thing on TV."

"That cereal?"

"Yeah!"

"It's a special cereal to help you go to the bathroom easier."

"Oh. Never mind. I do that easy already."

The Negotiator

"Tell me about this battle in the living room, Bob."

"It took me and Coop 75 minutes to build it and it is very awesome."

"That part I know. I'm wondering when you are planning to clean it up."

"When's the next dinner party?"

"Next month."

"Definitely by then."

"I was thinking more like today by dinner time."

"But I have more battling scheduled for tomorrow morning. How about if I do it by lunchtime tomorrow and you can help me and also I could have a peanut butter cup and a light saber fight in the backyard? How does that sound, Mom? Good, right?"

He Got Me

"Bob? If I see you hitting the garage with a light saber again, I'm going to have to take the light saber away for the rest of the day."

"What if you don't see it?"

"I think you're missing the point."

"But how many points did I start with?"

Bath Snacks

photo from here

"Mom? Can I have a snack in the bathtub for special?"

"Sure, why not?'

"Can I have grapes and some of the yellow cheese?"

"Okay. Just be careful not to spill it in the water. Here you go."

"Thanks... Mom?"

"Did you spill it in the water?"

"Yeah. But I can still have it. The cheese is really clean now."

Smacksy Sunday Links

One of my favorite blogs Ill Seen, Ill Said recently posted this fascinating video about photographer Jane Brown.

I love the perennial favorite, Letterheady.

Sharing another fabulous reading from Listen To Your Mother LA: Picket Signs by Gabby Friedenthal.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Looking Up

"Mom? Look up. It's good to just look up and see things sometimes."

Fans

"Mom? Does cousin-baby Olivia like Star Wars?"

"She's only three-months-old. She may not have an opinion about Star Wars yet."

"I'm pretty sure she likes it a lot."

"Why is that?"

"Because she is an extra good cousin-baby."

Spies

"Bob? What are you doing?"

"Dad, if you stand right here with the door open just a little bit like this, you can spy on mom and her book club ladies in the living room."

"Like this?"

"Yeah. But Dad? The most important things for the spying are sneaking and using a whisper-y voice like this."

"Got it."

"And Dad? Stay right here for a second, I have to go to the spy-bathroom."

Deal Maker

"Are you going to tell Daddy about my good behavior today, Mom?"

"I'll tell him about your behavior."

"No, Mom. My good behavior. Just good. You want a hug?"

Bets

"Mom? Whoever gets to the top first wins."

"What do they win?"

"A million-seven dollars."

"Wow, Bob. I don't think I have a million-seven dollars to bet."

"Okay then, whoever wins owes hugs and kisses."

"I like that idea."

"Yeah, hugs and kisses are my best love thing on the whole world."

"Me too."

"And Star Wars and Harry Potter."

"Of course."

My Little Old Man

"Mom? Can I please have a cup of water?"

"Sure."

"Cold water?"

"Okay."

"Is this cold with ice?"

"I can put ice in it, if you like."

"I only drink ice-cold water, Mom. That's how I take my water."

Smacksy Sunday Links

This is the coolest, space-age-iest thing ever.

Loving the gorgeous, online Kinfolk magazine.

And another beautiful reading from Listen To Your Mother LA: Kris Kahrs with The Fierceness.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photos: Bedtime Story

Reading Harry Potter by flashlight... and cell phone.

Lego Camp: Day 4

photo from here

"Today we talked about weight loads on catapults and how you could build the pyramids in Egypt with catapults as long as you had the right weight loads and then we made these towers that were super tall and made these motorized things that could rescue the guy on top of the tower and we did a battery operated helicopter and robots that walked and I also made a Lego guy that looked like me."

"That's amazing. Take a deep breath, Bob."

"And those little round things on the Lego bricks are called knobs."

"You having fun?"

"Yeah."

Lego Camp: Day 3

photo from here

"That kid with the blue t-shirt in Lego Camp today was being disrespectful and talking when the teacher was talking."

"What did you think of that?"

"I'm worried that the blue-shirt kid won't get Christmas presents because Santa sees everything and the blue-shirt kid was doing bad behavior."

"He still has time to turn it around before Christmas. I bet he'll do okay. I don't think you need to worry about him."

"He should be real careful."

Lego Camp: Day 2

photo from here

"How was Lego Camp today? Did you guys make something fun?"

"We learned about bushings and axles and fulcrums and catapult loads."

"Wow!"

"It's engineering, Mom."

Lego Camp

"So, Mom? Where is the Lego Camp?"

"It's in that same room at the park that Jedi Camp was."

"Are they going to have the big Duplo Legos or the grown up kind?"

"Well, the camp is for five to eight-year-olds."

"So grown up Legos, then?"

The Wizard

photo from here

"Mom? Have you seen that wizard in the park?"

"He's not a wizard, Bob."

"But he has long white hair and a beard and Dylan said he's a wizard."

"Dylan's wrong this time."

"But I think the man lives in the trees like a wizard would."

"Honey, I think sometimes he might sleep in the park in the afternoon because he doesn't have a place to live."

"No house?"

"Right."

"Then we should all be very quiet when he's sleeping."

"That's a nice idea."

Smacksy Sunday Links

Morning Glories: They're exhausted everyday by 3pm.
I get it, Morning Glories. I get it.

Super cute couple and their super cute apartment.

A lovely little article about procrastination.

This link will take you to Lisa Arch's fantastic Listen To Your Mother LA reading of her essay, "WhY Chromosome? WhY Not?"

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Life In 3-D

"With these glasses, everything looks real except for the real parts."

Doing the Math

Cool camera at the Science Center.

"How many seconds are in two minutes, Mom?"

"One-hundred and twenty."

"How many days are in three weeks?'

"That's... twenty-one."

"How many minutes are in 3 hours?"

"Um... one-hundred and eighty."

"How many seconds are in four-hundred days?"

"Um...?"

"Mom? Let's call Daddy."

Another Magic

photo from here

"Mom? The car is a giant stink inside."

"I know. The sour milk smell is back."

"I thought it was gone."

"It was but then when you and Coop had that water fight in the backseat it reactivated it."

"That's like magic. It's like Dumbledore in Harry Potter but with stinking."

The Meeting

"Mom? When Dad gets home tonight, I decided we all need to have a meeting."

"What about?"

"It's a cuddle meeting"

"How does that go?"

"First there's games (balloon ball, light saber fights), then The Cuddle Meeting Song (music and lyrics by Bob Rosenberg), snacks (grilled cheese sandwiches), then the meeting part (agenda: Legos), the reading stories part (Harry Potter), then we do cuddling and bedtime.

"I like your plan."

"I worked on it a lot."

"I can tell. I'll schedule it."

"Awesome."

"Awesome."

Fire and Ice

"You guys? Fireworks are so, so, so, so, so, so, so awesome. It's like a million-eighty-five stars split open and went into forever."

"You're right."

"And also if they had Star Wars fireworks on Hoth, they would be made out of ice. They would be ice-fireworks. They should have that. But these are super good too."

"Right again, baby."

Fourth of July

Today there will be:
Pancakes
Parade Bike Riding
BBQ
and Fireworks.

Let freedom ring.

Sunday Links

We're camping in the backyard tonight.

This is a link to my reading at the LA Listen To Your Mother shindig. Hang out and watch the rest of them too. Each reader is funny and poignant and you will totally want to group hug your computer.

Check out the stunning cookie art.

And my favorite 4th of July song.

Happy Sunday.

Jedi Camp: Day 5

"So me and Jake and Brandon all picked each other to be dueling partners. It's called a trio, Mom."

"That's fantastic that you friends stuck together."

"First Brandon light sabered Jake and then he light sabered me but I was only pretend dead and I light sabered him and we all went down on the ground."

"Wow."

"Yeah, we did a lot of practicing. It was a pretty awesome friends trio, Mom."

Jedi Camp: Day 4

"Bob? What's the most important thing you've learned from Obi Wan this week?"

"To have fun."

"That's great. I love that."

"He said we have to have fun or he'll throw us in the garbage can."

"Wow, and that works?"

"Yeah."

"So... I'd like you to pick up your room or I'm going to have to throw you in the garbage can."

"Mom? You're not even a Jedi."