Most Improved!

Ashford Park Elementary 2nd Grader MOST IMPROVED!

Salem got the "Most Improved" award yesterday at her school. She accepted the award at an assembly that the entire student body attended, she was so proud. I am so proud too, as school has been something of a struggle for her. It's a relief to see she IS trying to focus and IS making a difference with her studies. This little award is just what she needed to maintain her path, make her feel good about herself, and proves to her that her efforts aren't unnoticed.

Yay Salem!

Now, Mommy just needs to remember to have her remove the yellow gum from her mouth before I shoot her photo. I swear to you, her bicuspids are not solid butter.

The Situation with the Elves

Adding to the complication with DNA and Santa's elves ...

Along with a few typical items a kid would ask Santa for Christmas, she has come up with a couple that can not be found in a store, on Etsy, Ebay, or even by massive searches using multiple key phrases within our all encompassing mother: google. It's going to take a little creativity on Santa's part to fulfill her item specifications.

I asked her to sit down and make a list for Santa, I gave her a catalog of toys and pulled up a few stores on the interwebs to browse then indicate choices on the hello kitty notebook paper she had prepared for the task. She bulleted a few from the Toys R Us catalog but then she stopped short.
"Mom?"
me: "Yes? How's your list coming?"
her: "Well, I have a problem. I think that Santa might get confused by one of the presents I want."
me: "How so?"
her: "I want a guinea pig that is motorized. You know, that has wheels and moves around on the floor. But, I'm worried that Santa will think I want a ZuZu pet!"
me: "Well, find it online and we'll print it. Then we can put it with the letter!"
her: "It's not online mom. It's something the elves will have to make for me in their workshop!"

*Great. Of course my kid wants toys that have to be built to spec.

her: "And I want a Coraline with a raincoat, but I don't want the button eyes, I want the regular eyes. She needs to not be a tiny plastic statue that you have to keep on a shelf, She needs to be big and not have a cloth face!"

*After she went to bed, I searched and searched for said Coraline. I found the figurines she was talking about not wanting. I found some homemade dolls folks have posted in their Etsy stores. Some were cool, but I'm not willing to spend $70.00! Not to mention they had fabric faces. Usually I'd find a way to make a doll, but I gotta tell ya, I just don't have the strength this year. I can see it now, molding a Coraline face out of some kind of resin - and ending up with something that looks more like hap-hazard combination of Elijah Wood and the Dutch Boy.

My solution was to have the 'elves' draw a portrait of Coraline. They even signed it "North Pole". On the back, Santa made sure to address it himself. In hind-sight, I find it hard to picture Santa penning anything in glitter, ooops. I guess I'll rely on the old adage of  "it's the effort and thought that counts"....right?

"Coraline in her raincoat" for: Salem    From: The Elves of the North Pole

Santa goes a little nuts with the glitter pen.

8th Annual Skate Deck Art Show

View my skate deck -->

Santa's Elves and Genetic Engineering

Chuk and Salem were having a little conversation about what she'd like for Christmas. She told him she thought she might ask Santa for a "live animal". He answered her by addressing the fact that they already had enough live animals in the house, suggesting that adding more was probably not a good idea.

Her response: "Well, I probably couldn't do that anyway, because I don't think Santa's elves could make that DNA."

Skate Deck Art Show

I will be showing a piece at the 2011 Skate Deck Art Show this Saturday 12/3 @dooGallery. $10 Door Donation, Refreshments, Raffle Prizes, Bands, & DJs.

Proceeds to be given to Toys For Tots.
Receive a free raffle ticket for each toy you bring and donate to Toys for Tots.

http://www.doogallery.com/doogallery/Skate_Deck.html

Addendum - Cupcake Show moved to 11/19/11

The cupcake show I'm in has been moved to Saturday the 19th at 8:00pm from Friday the 18th. Thank you!