Star Jump!

Apostrophe S (aka Eats, Shoots and Leaves)

I beamed with pride this morning in a way that only a parent can. Did M hit a home run? Nope. Run a four minute mile? Nah. Even better.

I prepped M's lunch and snack for camp last night. When she came downstairs for breakfast, they sat on the counter. Her lunch was in her lunchbox and her snack was in a brown paper bag. I rummaged through the refrigerator, getting M's breakfast, while Margot examined her snack bag.

"Mama," she said, trying to get my attention. "MAMA."

"Yes?" I asked, my head still buried in the fridge, looking for the cream cheese.

"This snack bag is wrong," she said. "It says 'Margot snack.' There should be an apostrophe S at the end. Margot's snack. The snack belongs to me. I am not the snack."

She was right! I did write "Margot snack" on the bag.

As a writer/editor, nothing makes me happier than hearing her point out grammatical errors.

(Well, unless she gets into the Scripps Spelling Bee. That's my secret dream for her.)

Another kind of soccer game

Someday Margot will be sitting around with her friends saying, "Yeah? You think YOUR parents are weird? Mine have got yours beat. Each year, they would get together with their friends from college and some other friends and have a weekend soccer tournament in June. They would alternate cities - one year in Brooklyn, one year in Baltimore, then back to Brooklyn, etc."

"They started getting really crazy about it as the years went by. They had uniforms..."


"And a manager..."


"And there was a trophy..."


"And after the soccer game, everyone would get together for a barbeque that lasted until the wee hours of the night."

"Their team was called the COBRAZ! and one year my mom and her friends made this insane cake in the shape of a cobra. It was a real, edible cake. It took 8 hours to make."


And her friends will look at these photos and say, "You're right. You win."

Soccer Wrap Up

Last weekend wrapped up the 2010 soccer season for Min. As you see in the photo, she wore flip flops to the final game.

But, that said, she was thrilled to have a popsicle and get a trophy with her teammates at the end of the game!

Perfect summer weekend

Wow, what a great weekend. We swam, we barbequed, we hiked at Great Falls (the Maryland side), we sweated, we caught fireflies, we ate ice cream. Just perfect.

Here are Brodie and Margot along the C&O canal, during our afternoon hike to Great Falls.

Graduation Video

Look for Margot exiting from the stage. If this video finally loads, it will be a cyberspace miracle:

PreK Graduation

Where's Margot?

Margot and her teacher

Processing toward the stage

Post-graduation




This morning, Margot 'graduated' from preK. The cafeteria was packed to standing room only with parents and siblings of the 80 preK students, and we were treated to renditions of 'A You're Adorable,' 'Doe, a Deer,' and 'Curious.' I even said the Pledge of Allegience for the first time in probably 25 years.

Also, check out the video. While watching the video, pay close attention to the fourth grade band playing Pomp and Circumstance. It stole the show, in my mind.