Split

Allow me to take you back in time - to July of 2009. Elisabeth got her new helmet, size XXS.

It looked like a pearly pink eraser; smooth and beautiful:



***
Now we find ourselves in June of 2011 - almost 2 years later.

Elisabeth is still wearing that size XXS helmet (that's microcephaly for ya) - but it's taken a beating or two. In fact, a few days ago it finally split:





Too much head banging, I suppose.

Time to go helmet shopping....

***The Children's Developmental Center, where Elisabeth received therapy for her first 3 years of life, is in the running to win a new Toyota Sienna! Today is the only day to vote, so please, please take 1 minute out of your day to do so. This is a very deserving organization that has made a huge difference in not only Elisabeth's life, but the lives of thousands of children over the past 34 years. Thank you!!

Go here to vote: http://apps.facebook.com/carsforgood/?ref=bookmarks

Spring Piano Recital 2011

The dress:





It was sewn by my mother-in-law, Susan. Did you notice the music notes on the fabric? Perfect!

The Hair:






My mom called last week and told me about a hair style she saw, where a braid wrapped halfway around the head into a side ponytail. I decided to give a go; how did I do, Mom? (By the way, this reminded me somewhat of the circle braid Lorelai wore to last years recital.)

The Piano:





And, of course,

the dessert:



Bravo, Lorelai!

Around the World with Jennifer

Welcome to a new series I will host on my blog titled,

Around the World
with
Jennifer

Jennifer - who I am proud to call my sister - is an archaeologist by profession; a female Indiana Jones, if you will (should we just call her Indiana Jenn??). Always off on an adventure of some sort, she's agreed to take us along for the ride, here at The Far Side of Complexity.

Today, she is guest posting from the Indonesian island of Bali:

Greetings from Bali!

Many of you may know Bali from Eat, Pray, Love or from Margaret Mead's famous anthropological work in the early/mid 1900's. What brings me to Bali is a yoga teacher training program. I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks and have 2 1/2 more to go. Here are a few tidbits on what is quickly becoming my favorite place in the world:

• Bali has THE BEST food. Everyone I've spoken to (all international and well traveled) agree on this point. Everything from traditional Balinese to raw food diets, organic, vegan, sushi, Indian.... you name it, the best of the best is in Bali. All fresh and healthy. (Unfortunately this means I'm putting on weight, lol).

• Every five feet you will get asked if you need a taxi. "Hello? Taxi? Yes? Taxi?" EVERY FIVE FEET, no joke.

• It is a huge rarity to hear an unkind word spoken, or even a mean look. People are just generally happy here.

• No matter how careful you are, you have a 50/50 chance of getting "Bali Belly" (AKA traveler's diarrhea) ...luck did not favor me on this one.

• Bali time. I seriously have no idea what day of the week it is... and that's a beautiful thing. Bali time is slow and relaxed. No worries. A half hour in Bali doesn't necessarily mean a half hour.

• Unlike most cultures, discounts are NOT given to friends/acquaintances. The more you get to know someone the more they hike up the price for their services/product. I'm still trying to figure out the logic on this one....

• There is tons to do here! Museums, Balinese dances, rafting, hiking, biking, snorkeling, visiting traditional healers, bathing baby elephants, bargain shopping, the best and CHEAPEST massages (maybe 10 bucks for an hour), surfing, and even a Jazz cafe.... the list goes on and on.

• Offerings of gratitude (or to ward off bad mojo) are everywhere: on the sidewalk, on statues, cars ...EVERYWHERE. At least three times a day the Balinese take the time to offer thanks in the manner of small food offerings on woven palm leaves and burning incense. How often do we Westerner's take the time to show thanks? Such a lovely practice to embrace.

• The Balinese LOVE flying kites. At any given time of day you can look up and see multiple kites flying. It reminds me of that wonderful last scene of Mary Poppins (both me and Lisa's favorite movie) in which everyone is flying a kite; a metaphor for taking the time to stop and enjoy life and to know what REALLY matters. So every time I see the kites in Bali it gives me a smile - maybe we should all be on "Bali time."

Thanks for letting me share my experience with you all! Bali is a lovely place and I will miss it when I leave.

p.s. If you're thinking of visiting, don't come smack in the middle of summer - I hear Bali is overrun with tourists and the traffic is ridiculous. Just don't come.

Miniature Emma

Is it just me, or is Lorelai looking more like Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger) by the day?

It has me thinking back to her Halloween costume a few years back:



The perfect Hermione, indeed.

Unpredictable

The weather was so hit and miss this weekend. There were moments where it was heavenly; where we sat on our front porch by the hour, rocking in the chairs and waving hello as neighbors strolled by. And then, in the blink of an eye we'd have to escape indoors as dark, ominous clouds came rolling in - bringing rain with them.

That's Springtime for ya - unpredictable.

Memorial Day 2011

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Rise and Shine

[The Sorenson Family record player.]

When it comes to waking the children in the morning I have several different methods.

1) Walk into their room[s] singing 'Good morning to you...' (sung to the melody of Happy Birthday to You)

2) Crawl on into bed and snuggle with them for a minute or two, and then give the ol' 'rise 'n shine!' line.

And my favorite...

3) Put a record on the phonograph, turn up the volume, and let it do the waking up for me.

This was the option I chose yesterday. I pulled out our The Sound of Music record from 1965, flipped it to side 2, and let the voice of Julie Andrews singing 'The Lonely Goatherd' fill our home.

Lorelai was downstairs within 1 minute.

Works like a charm. Every time.

What's a Little Pain?

Once upon a time, precisely 3 years and 8 months ago, Elisabeth was born. Fresh and pink and small.

Of course, I knew then that she would turn out different from the other children.

Sometimes I would think about the future - try to imagine it. It was never something that I dwelt on too much, but thoughts would cross my mind: What will it be like when she gets bigger? How disabled will she be? How hard will it be for me to care for her? Etc. Etc. Etc.

And suddenly, that time is here. The time where those questions are beginning to receive answers.

She is far from grown, but she is big. And because she is so big and because I am her sole mode of mobility during the day, I am in pain. Continually.

In fact, I am so used to being in pain {lower back} that last week, when I saw someone get into their car, I actually grimaced, imagining how painful the motion of getting into a car is. Of course my thought lasted only a split second before I reminded myself that most people can do things like get in and out of a car without having to say, 'ouch!'

And, for the record, I am not exaggerating. (It even hurts to sneeze.)

But yesterday, as I carried Elisabeth out to the car, taking careful steps and fighting through the pain of each of those careful steps, I whispered to her that she is worth it. That I will live the rest of my life in pain if I have to. I will care for her and love her and protect her with my life because she is my angel, my pure and perfect angel.

And when I think of it in those terms, I find myself saying, 'eh, what's a little pain, anyways?'

Cataloging

Every night at bedtime, the girls and I read a bedtime story. Or - if it isn't way past bedtime already (which it usually is) - I'll even let them pick out a few.



But anyways, before we start in on reading our nightly picks there is a little game I always play with the girls; I have them try to guess the copyright year. It might not sound like the most fun game in the world - but they love it. And they always try to make educated guesses.

For example, "I remember that Mom said this one was one of her favorite's when she was a child, so it must be from the nineteens".

Long story short: we have a blast making our guesses each night and seeing who comes in the closest.



Well, the night before last, Alexandra told me that she was working on a 'project'. She is going to catalog each and every book we have by making a list of the titles and copyright date.

"That way, when it's time to see what year it was made, we can look at my list."

Then she went on to tell me that she had decided to organize her catalog of copyrights according to the book's color - because you might remember that our books are on the shelf in rainbow order. (they still are, oh yes they are!)

So that's what she's been up to. Last night I saw her sitting on her bed with a pencil, a paper and a big stack of books - hard at work. Better than staring at the TV, right?

One Month and Counting...

If all goes as planned I'll be en route to Italy one month from today. That seems so close. And that is so exciting!!!

I called my older sister, Kristin, on Sunday to chat through a few details of our European getaway - because finalizing all the details is up to us seeing as our younger sister, Jennifer, is away in Bali teaching yoga to handicapped children (isn't she amazing?!). Anyways, Kristin and I were talking about how we really don't want to plan out every minute of every day. We just want to be there; soak it all up; people watch; eat; immerse ourselves completely in Italian life rather than stress over what's next on the 'official itinerary'.

While I'm away in Italy Donald and the girls will be livin' it up too - off on adventure of their own; making sandcastles at the beach, swimming, picking oranges at Uncle Michael's house, eating In-N-Out, and of course, paying a visit to Disneyland two or three or maybe even four times.

So, as I have discussed before, successful traveling comes from careful planning. And now that we have hit the one-month mark I am officially in preparation mode. It's time to start making lists and organizing my folder full of hotel reservations and other misc travel forms.

Also, I need to shop for a few more necessary items - including a new pair of sunglasses. I haven't found the perfect pair yet, but I did find a new hat to wear while roaming the streets of Rome:




Off to plan...

Opposites

Alexandra's Hair:



[Smooth, Thick, Brown, Long, Manageable.]



Elisabeth's Hair:



[Wiry, Thin, Blond, Short, Unmanageable.]


Enough said.

Sea Symphony

[Alexandra, showing me a dance she choreographed to Lorelai's piano piece. They are always up to something!]

I'm so excited for this weekend! We [the Mid-Columbia Symphony] are teaming up with the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers to put on a spectacular performance of Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony.

I would go so far as to say that this concert is one of my favorite in recent years. So come, come! It won't disappoint!

Details here.

Sand Castles

Yesterday, the children (+ friends) made sand castles at the backyard water table...











...and next month they'll be making them on the sandy beaches of California.

(vacation time is almost here!!!)

p.s. My favorite part about these pictures is seeing Lorelai hosing herself off in the background.

Nothing Short of Miraculous

I've been promising this video to my mom for days now. So, with no further ado, I give you Elisabeth Elva:



Her stem cell infusion was 15 days ago. And 8 days ago she began putting pressure on her legs. This - in our eyes - is nothing short of miraculous.

Labels

The girls recently discovered my label maker. (How did they go so long without discovering it??) Anyways, it has become the new 'it' item - the thing that they are both dying to play with.

So - as you can imagine - I am now finding little slips of paper stuck all over the house. And I'm getting a good laugh at some of the messages...



Now the label maker is out of tape. No surprise there, huh?

I guess I need to make a stop at Office Depot....and buy in bulk!