3-4-2K12

We Loved This Movie!!! No Matter What Your Age See It, It's A Must!

Getting Back Up To Speed: Nothing Quite Like the Homecoming Celebration During the Wonder Years

What is the fascination with the affair known as the High School Homecoming? It is true what they say, when you have children it allows you to live your childhood out all over again. This is a great experience but being the parent of a teenager can bring back those not so distant memories which often times can be unfavorable ones. During my adolescent years I was swimming in feelings of inadequacy and awkwardness, the experience of going to a dance and actually dancing or partaking in the festivity known as the homecoming game would be something that I’d liken a close second to death. All I knew about homecoming is that it was an open invite for past students to return to their Alma matter. There was a king and queen involved who was usually the prettiest girl in school alongside the star athlete, and there was a lot of fuss to be had for finding the perfect dress and the floats while ostentatious were downright humorous. Reliving my teenage years through my 15 year old I am once again flung into the life and times of a sophomore in high school. But this time it is different, this time I am watching from the sidelines empathetic and in admiration of those bygone years. Notepad in hand I set out to witness the upcoming week in its entire carnival splendor.   Fall is upon us as the teenage angst has  began to brew in anticipation for the big game and the weeklong celebration that drives kids here in America crazy and had the whole town center covered in confetti, that which is homecoming Fountain Hills 2011.

I got to thinking after the third mad dash to the dollar store in a week for cheap noisemakers and fairy wings that second only to Halloween Homecoming sure has a way with stimulating the economy in the month of October. Not only is there the ever present need to have to find the perfect dress and the perfect pair of slacks, but the question as to what you do aside from the dance. Is their dinner involved? Apparently there is much like prom. Is a limousine in order? To some of the girls in the freshman class it was a no brainer and the limos were in abundance. Were their corsages or boutonnieres involved? Absolutely not, who knew. Not even the kind you wear on your wrist, no flowers, anywhere. Boy how times have changed. I took a center seat on the homecoming festivities and set about to not only volunteer for spirit week rallies and at the school but decided that for the first time ever I would be attending the homecoming football game and be present at the dance, if just for a little while, before my son and his friends noticed and I felt bad about potentially embarrassing him. I set out to experience the whole package to better understand what the hype was all about and to perhaps find that lost piece of teenage wasteland I’d let go of long ago. Before the grand finale known as the game was to occur followed closely by the dance, the week-long celebration began with what they term spirit week. Spirit week is essentially dressing up to a different theme every day to show pride in your school. It pretty much is anything goes and the sky is the limit as I soon found out on just how far these kids will go. The first day was what they called a looking cool day or clique day. Back in my time that would surely mean a turned up collar, bangs sprayed high and lots of blue eyeliner but looking cool proved to be a day where kids emerged as a blast from the past, a throwback to an era which feels worlds away from modern times, the 1950’s. It was like watching the movie Grease all over again; I think I had Grease songs running through my head the better part of the day as a matter of fact. Thanks to the ability to find almost any costume you can imagine online anymore many of the girls became Pink Ladies, pink satin jacket, poodle skirt, and all. The guys became the greasers, black leather jackets, white t-shirts, slicked back hair and skinny jeans. Hey skinny jeans were popular in the 1950’s too, who knew. John Travolta sadly was nowhere to be found. There was a lot of bravado building up throughout the day and I have to say it was nice for a change to see teenage boys with their shirts tucked in, a rarity nowadays; this is just something you do not see much of anymore. There is a lot of pride in this small town and throughout the week it was as though the teenagers had a free pass to become something other than what they normally are, to become an elaborate animated version of themselves. Nothing exemplifies this better than the next spirit day on the list fantasy day. Fantasy day can mean a lot of things and when I first heard this I hadn’t a clue what the dress code would entail but after running to and fro to the Goodwill, the Dollar Store and to Target to find the perfect skirt for my son I soon found out and took every opportunity to snap blackmail pictures all the while. It looked as if all the guys followed suit, from class to class there was a parade of neon fairies, it was like Narnia had gone psychedelic. Hair was sprayed the perfect shade of pink, football players donned tights and glitter and there were tutus and fuzzy ears everywhere you looked and no one was made fun of because of it. As a matter of fact given that all these guys were dressed like girls it was hard to tell who was who. There were the few that decided upon a wizard costume in place of the hose with Vans look but overall it was cross dressing at its finest. The girls had no particular theme but rather chose Playboy bunny costumes and dressed in their dads white business shirts complete with a loose tie and knee high socks giving off a modern day impression of the famous Rebecca Demornay in Risky Business. To my amazement being this was the week of anything goes they were all able to coexist in class throughout the day dressed in fairyland excess. The next few days that would follow would be color coded with each class choosing a particular color, there was the freshman all in red, the sophomores sporting a bright yellow, juniors in purple ala Barney the big round dinosaur and seniors who would prove to be the big hit in Green which spread beyond clothing to include green hair and face paint. St. Patrick’s Day in October. During the tail end of this spirit week the Fountain Hills Falcons had their first celebration and you would think that the whole town shut down and everyone was in attendance.

The Homecoming Parade takes place in the center of town in what is considered the downtown area. Like many small towns the downtown area is nothing like what you see in big cities and often involves a main street or drag lined with businesses and restaurants keyed to attract visitors and locals alike. Typically you will find kitschy shops and it is a place where decorations abound to commemorate the seasons and Fountain Hills is no different. The Avenue of the Fountains runs directly across the main attraction in town, the Fountain, located at Fountain Park it used to be the worlds largest and was the center point from which the town was built around. In closing off the surrounding streets this proved to be a great place for people to gather and in the crown you found students, teachers, parents and people from all ages anticipating the spectacle that was about to begin. The kids waited along the roadside in anticipation for candy and eagerly danced as the Fountain Hills Falcons marching band started their path to the anxious onlookers. Watching the local marching band play gives you a real home town feeling whether you live in a big city or a small time there is something about it that just grounds you and gives you a sense of place. As they belted out various tunes such as When the Saints Come Marching In and The Star Spangled Banner there were older students spinning batons in all their blue and silver glory along with a group of girls who looked as though they ranged between five and ten years of age shaking their pom poms and dancing down the road. Some of them looked sleepy and some of them were excited but either way it was a long walk for some and those little legs looked like they might give out at anytime adding a little character to the whole show. What followed was an elaborate display of homemade floats. When I say homemade it was not like I remember them to be where someone donates a trailer and some makeshift cardboard and paint are used to create something that leaves you wondering what the hell that was? No in this day and time there appears to be a great deal of money ,time, and effort put into this huge display of Falcon pride with each class getting a chance to show their talent and skill in its best form, or rather their parents, it is hard to tell. The floats were built in the back of small semi truck beds or as in one case a large rig with a huge trailer. Beyond the cardboard and paint there were banners and music and lights and dancing, it was quite the show. One float would take you to the tropics with a Hawaiian theme while the other was a scene right out of Nightmare Before Christmas complete with spiders, costumes and the beloved Jack. The senior float proved to be a big hit as the Varsity football team would have their place riding on it and if you have ever visited a small town or live in one you’d know that the high school football team is all the rage. People get crazy here over about high school football. It is ingrained in the popular culture of America. It is serious business and not something to be taken lightly. Every float handed or rather threw large amount of candy into the crown as the children ran back and forth as though they were hungry dogs in a mad race to see who could gather the most. To a child a parade isn’t about the fancy cars rolling down or the fire departments tooting their horn so much as it is about the candy and with Halloween fast approaching there was plenty of good stuff. Tootsie roll pops and Twix bars seemed to be the popular favorite. Speaking of fancy cars there were plenty of them as the members of AMVETS and Kiwanis clubs along with our local politicians rode and waved to the less than thrilled onlookers who were were waiting for the real fun to begin. That being the end of the road where there would be a stage awaiting the arrival of those Varsity football players. Around the stage the cheerleaders danced and flung around singing the song of Falcon Power as the crowd clapped and hollered the team took the stage and everyone gathered in a circle around them. Last names were yelled out as the townspeople cheered loudly in an effort to build momentum for what was about to occur in less than twenty four hours, the big game.

Let me first say I am not a fan of football that is not to say that football isn’t watched in my house. With 4 boys here it controls our Sundays and Monday nights for the better part of fall and winter, I have grown accustomed to this mind you but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I was apprehensive about going to the homecoming game at first. After all I don’t think I even went to one of my own high school football games. But in order to get the full experience I found it necessary and even though I promised my 15 year old son I wouldn’t sit by him and his friends I’d like to think that him just knowing that I went was a good thing. The kids were all jazzed up still from the goings on that occurred earlier in the day. The Pep rally as it has come to be known here in America hasn’t changed much since I was in high school, well minus the Salt and Peppa music and the reminder as to why I would not dance if my life depended on it. There were football players dressed up in their respective colors pretending to be cheerleaders, there were cheerleaders who were trying to get a rise out of the crowd which was compromised of those students who actually think the pep rally is fun and those students who are glad to just have gotten out of class for the afternoon and cracked jokes at the expense of them. Nevertheless it created energy and you could feel it in the air as it spilled over into the night as the bleachers began to fill. One student actually complained that the pep rally wasn’t as fun as it was in recent years being that there was no disc jockey. This was something new, we never had disc jockeys. I began to wonder if they would have one at the dance.

The football field is located kitty-corner to Fountain Hills High School and proudly boasts home of the Falcons. This epicenter of Falcon Pride can be found in a most unassuming neighborhood and something tells me the neighbors more than likely aren’t making any noise complaints. After the opposing team and their egos arrived on the field there was a sense that all hell was about to break loose coupled with the smell of freshly popped popcorn in the air. The feeling of competition weighed heavy on these players and you could tell this wasn’t a show, this wasn’t a spectacle, this was a game and one in which they intended on winning. After a brief appearance by the home coming king and queen along with their undergraduate wannabes it was time to play ball. That being said the homecoming queen does appear to still be the prettiest and most popular girl, and the king had the kind of toothy grin and sense of entitlement that only a star athlete can possess.  We were playing Estrella Foothills High and the adapted motto found everywhere from posters to banners to t-shirts was “Attack the Pack”. It must be rough to be the away team on homecoming night. But attack them we did. The crowd was wild. There was a lot of cheering and hot dogs and yelling over the band. The cheerleaders did their best to keep everyone’s spirits up, but we were doing great. The Falcon spirit was high intensity and I was just glad that I could be there to witness the vibe first hand. The team took a take no prisoners approach and the end result was an astounding win by thirty points. There is a reason why high school football tends to be so popular in cities and towns throughout America and that is that it generates a sense of camaraderie and defeat, it turns up the volume on this thing called life. This is a good thing as there is nothing that can quite compare to the feeling of being a winner and for these boys having the whole town cheer them on to victory made them proud. They would not let us down.

The icing on the cake in this week long series of events was the homecoming dance. The theme for this year would be “A Night in Times Square”. When you are out on the town in New York you dress up and for the homecoming dance the kids would be dressed to the nines. Limousines began to drop off groups of giddy girls excited for what the night may hold. The boys waited anxiously in groups perhaps wondering if slow dancing is required and if they’d be brave enough to ask someone to dance alongside the makeshift neon signs of Times Square. Then there were the couples who arrived hand in hand among the parade of parents cars that lined the parking lot. I put thought into what it would be like if I had a girl going to homecoming instead of my son, I could only imagine what must go into picking the dress that was just right for the big affair. Just getting my son ready would prove to be quite the task which involved a haircut more expensive than my own and slacks that had to be tailored just so. I wasn’t privy to what happened behind closed doors, no one wants their parent hanging around at the high school dance, we just aren’t welcome. Two hours before the dance was to begin the girl that my son had asked to go with him told him she would be going with friends. As my heart sank in hearing this news I suddenly felt like not much has changed. Those teenage years are still filled with broken hearts, feelings of awkwardness, apprehension and hope. And for a tiny slice of your life you get together with everyone else regardless of their status in school and celebrate something that is traditional, that reinforces the feeling of being a part of something and is special to the community and to the school. You make memories that you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life, good and bad. Based upon the fact I picked my son up with another young lady I am thinking they were pretty good.

The things I love about October..1st it is my birthday month..2ND Halloween..which is always a blast when you have kids..There is always too much candy and enough sweet stuff to go around..the best thing about this Halloween is that my best friend is not having his annual Halloween party, while it is always a blast this year I won't be under pressure to find the coolest costume which has brought me to near panic in previous years..it will be smooth sailing. I will be heading out to LA later on this month as well to view the opening of Romanza: A Frank Lloyd Wright documentary , attend a huge Taekwondo competition in Torrence and watch my son compete (and hopefully kick some serious tail), and do my second photo assignment at the Salton Sea. This is one of the most magical places to me and I am beyond excited to visit this old friend. If all goes right I may just leave early and indulge in a little Palm Springs for a day or 2, one of my favorite places to be. So it will be a busy month..school and work and family are all full of activity and I am just trying to keep up with it all, isn't that always the case. I am always making something but when Fall rolls around it is time for some serious cooking in my house. I have always cooked according to the seasons and this time of year I have started off with 2 new chilli's and the crock pot will pretty much have a permanent home on the counter for the next few months. Especially thanks to The Crock Pot Girls , their recipes rock! Pumpkin cakes and breads start making an appearance as does apple cobblers. My son is requesting caramel apples this year and here's hoping that no one loses a tooth, I haven't made these in years so this should be interesting. Don't you just love these cupcakes!"Eyeball" Cupcakes recipe.. pretty awesome if you ask me!

Vacation

I have been enjoying my down time..the first whole week off I have had in almost 5 years..somewhere in the midst of it I can't help but think..Hmmm I could get used to this. I have never had the privilege of being a stay at home mom, at least not for any significant period of time..with all three children I went back to work rather quickly and now with my youngest entering kindergarten in the Fall coupled with a full schedule of college classes yet again I am reevaluating my balance between work and home. Quitting my job and staying home is proving to be a hard decision to make and one that I have been pondering  for well over a month now. What I do know is that I have enjoyed the time I have spent at home with my boys this week so much..I start the days with doing an hr of Yoga..make breakfast..watch the today show & Regis & Kelly..do 2 to 3 hrs of schoolwork..make lunch..do another half hr of Yoga..have learning time with my boys which lately has involved watching documentaries as it is so blazing hot and humid outside ..nap time..maybe a cooking show or time to run errands then its time to make dinner and settle into the evening whether it involves movies, another yoga session or more schoolwork the schedule isn't rushed, it flows...Today we got out of the house and visited the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art or SMOCA as it is known. We set about to see "The Masters of Collective Reality" exhibit featuring some of the major comic book artists from around the world. Among the exhibit were stencils and sharp colored pencils and artists renderings where the kids could draw their own comic book strip. This proved to be the funnest part of the afternoon and I am continuously impressed by the artistic talent of my 10 yr old. One of the reasons we go to art museums is that I hope he sees other works of art and expands his knowledge which I hope will help motivate him to continue creating and drawing...SMOCA is a fairly small museum and in the summer time they tend to use less than the available space however it really is a neat museum in that they do things like family night and programs keyed for kids and adults that are based on creating and learning. Thursdays are always free and the museum is open from 10 to 8 and provides a cool space on a hot summer day. We stopped by the kitchy museum shop where we scored a cool projector key chain and for me an Andy Warhol matted print at 60% off. I am looking forward to the fall exhibits and getting the boys more involved with the upcoming education programs. Also on the menu for the month the ASU exhibit of Warhol's inspiring photographs and the Phoenix Art Museum... Needless to say I am enjoying being home...I want to be able to pick my boys up from school instead of having them go to an aftercare program..I want to be there to go on field trips..make breakfast in the mornings..devote the necessary time involved in graduating with my PhD instead of winging it..not be a tired zombie in the evenings..to be more involved with my church and living a life of service..there are a lot of positives...as you can tell it seems like I may be talking myself into this..I wanted to share a link to a documentary I watched the other day called The Human Experience, I was touched and very moved by the wisdom in this film, at times almost to the point of tears. If you haven't seen it please do, it really makes you open your eyes to the rest of the world.One more day of my weekday vacation left tomorrow..among the artists whose work  I saw today was Rory Hayes..I found him to be in your face...at times repulsive yet utterly brilliant at the same time ..It is true in a lot of ways that instead of fighting the crowds, spending a small fortune and doing a chaotic adventure some of the best vacations are the ones taken at home..

Rory Hayes

04/29/2k11

Carnival Spring 2011 Finding the Gummy Worm in a bowl of whipped cream sans hands

Christmas is right around the corner!!

Great Gift Idea!!

Best Version I Have Seen!!

And I have hopped on the Christmas shopping wagon already and already started the "pre-decorating" around the house..We saw Disneys "A Christmas Carol" with Jim Carrey to get  us into the holiday spirit. Attended an 80th Birthday party with friends and family along with my Moms 53rd birthday party. I have been spending my time with my boys and Charlies and enjoying just being home. Nicholas has started Taekwondo & is having a lot of fun...pictures to come!! Jake has his last Soccer Tots class on Saturday where I plan on taking lots of pics!!!  A few more gift ideas are circulating around in my head, in particular I saw this on tv yesterday and it is the coolest gift ever for my 8 yr old. I love Crayola's products, they have the neatest art supplies for my guys! Nicholas is such a great artist anyways! Here is the scoop on the "Glowdome"...He can color anything he wants on the dome, and it just wipes right off when he wants to change it...nice! Some of the things they show as examples include a flames (when camping in the livingroom:) A space scene...oh so cool and this aquarium...I love it and of course Crayola's website has lots of ideas as well as some neat printables and online Christmas activities for the young one. Love it!! I will be picking one up in the coming days!!! So for now back to home, preparations for Thanksgiving including cooking & the Parade. Can't wait to get the tree up. Have a fantastic week!! What are you doing differently this year to prepare for the upcoming holidays, I would love to hear from some of you!

Hellllloooooo November!!

The biggest Corn Dogs ever!! Jake usually hates these but loved them at the fair!

Nicky loving every minute of it!

First ride all by himself he was so stoked!!

Wango Tango...I am feeling nautious..ugh!

Fine dining.

Nicholas had to be out of his mind!

I think the games were one big set up, I believe they had a button on the floor they pushed with their feet & chose the winners not fair:)!

ate the whole thing!!

I admit it! I have been lousy about blogging lately...why?? I have been busy!! It starts every year with the Arizona State Fair..it's almost as if after that November & December turn into a whirlwind of holidays and events and preparation. This year I so enjoyed the fair, we got there early in the day and spent no less than 8 hrs. playing games, riding all sorts of rides, going through fun houses & haunted houses, petting farm animals, eating junk food, sliding down slides, and getting completely worn out on what proved to be an unusally windy day! the highlights of the evening were Nicholas' trip on the Zipper with Charlie..his courage soon turned to fear as Charlie put it he was cussing like a sailor & I didn't blame him a bit! It was the first year Jake was able to ride rides by himself and he loved every minute of it from the bumper boats to the mini roller coaster...Logan wasn't as daring but still went on his share of rides and we actually won some pretty neat stuff playing games this year, including a huge yellow banana! What do you even do with something like that? But for me this was almost a life changing event! ( Well sort of) Charlie insisted I go on the most humungous ferris wheel even, I mean this thing was enormous. I haven't rode on one since I was a kid as in my old age I am afraid of heights...scardey cat really! I gave in as I had no choice and got in line, all the while thinking of the ferris wheels of my youth, little wooden benches with a steel bar over the front, rocking back and forth on top of the world...god how dangerous is that! This particular one was the biggest out of three there but it had a semi closed in pod which u got into..Did I tell you it was windy?? Super windy?? Well getting on this thing I saw the guy who ran it via computer from inside this little glass box in the middle and he looked pretty scary, I had my doubts but we waited forever to get on... Almost immediately I started bawling like a baby and almost hyperventilated as I clutched onto Charlie and buried my head in his lap and refused to move..only when we were taking our last to spins did I open my eyes and was wowed overlooking all the lights and the valley. It was so beautiful& I overcame my fear!! Besides Charlie rode the Tango...for those of you who are not familiar with the godawful Tango you are suspended in mid air with nothing other than a chast harness holding you in as it flings you upside down and round and round and side to side (think out of control windmill) I think the boys once had a toy like that...but thats beside the point..all the while techno music playing and sirens blaring....god I think I am dizzy need to stop typing!!!

Crayola Holiday Pages

Always on the lookout for fun and free stuff my kids can make or busy themselves with I came across the Crayola website last week while trying to find a printable Halloween calender, which I found the cutest one plus more!! I wish I had found this site sooner, not only do they have interactive coloring pages which even my three year old can do online, but they have thousands of printable pages and activites as well perfect for toddler through to older kids. Above is just a sampling of the many many pages they have available for print. Along with a huge archive of craft ideas this is definitely a page I have bookmarked and I can't wait to hang the cool prinouts once the kids color them in. Worth a look!!

A Great Christmas Idea~

They Have the Cutest Bedroom Set Featuring this furry guy here!!

Eric Carle

I love that so many of my favourite illustrators are now featured on childrens toys..First it was Charlie Harper and now the beloved Eric Carle . I picked up the puzzle pack for my boys at Target a few weeks back and they are so charming, there are 4 puzzles which fit neatly in a small wooden box when put away, and the best part is the pieces are numbered which makes clean up easy!! There are so many I want to get and put away for the boys for Christmas. Target will have a few featured items on sale through the end of the month, these are a little pricy but oh so worth it as these are something to be cherished and being they are wooden toys long lasting too, or so one would hope. A great gift idea!

I Love Charley Harper

I am looking for The Book Of Illustration & The Childrens Books out by this fantastic artist!! I found some Vintage Ford Mags that include his illustrations which I am bidding on via E-Bay. Jakeys birthday is the week after next and he is sure to find the memory game and puzzle among his gifts. The coloring book is neato too! I collect birds and love these prints as well. I am sure my little one will too...I am digging out my collection of Ed Emberly drawing books this weekend as well, Nick is at the perfect age!!! Tomorrow is Friday & I could not be happier.