Okay, this one needs some back story.
For those who may be unaware Strawberry Shortcake (an uber-popular line of toys and cartoons from the 1980's for girls) is back. Tessa has discovered Strawberry on DVD and loves her, her friends and their adventures. The lone boy in the series is named Huckleberry Pie. Tessa really loves Huckleberry. In fact, it's possible that she has the two year old equivalent of a crush on ol' Huck. I'd be lying if I said it didn't disturb me a little, but then I remembered Daphne from Scooby Doo and thought that it's maybe not so weird after all.
Here's the thing, though. Tessa calls Huckleberry her brother. At first we thought that "brother" was the only relationship she understood well enough to put her little crush into. But I don't believe that's really the case, I think this goes deeper. You see, Tessa was going along, minding her own business when BLAMMO, she gets new twin siblings. Now, Melody is Tessa's sister, and Tessa is Melody's sister. Melody has a twin brother named Patterson, but...where's Tessa's twin brother? Yes, she knows Patterson is her brother too, but shouldn't Tessa have a twin brother as well? It's a little confusing to her. So Tessa is just trying to process and make sense of her life through imaginative play, which is common enough. This will all surely fix itself in time.
I told you all of that that so I can tell you this.
On Tuesday, Valerie took Tessa and the twins to JC Penny for a little shopping after work. Valerie told Tessa that she was buying some shirts for Patterson, y'know, Tessa's real brother. Tessa replied that she was going to buy a shirt for Huckleberry. Cute, right?
Well, fast forward to Saturday morning. Valerie took the kids for their weekly Library visit and, upon exiting the library discovers a strange article of clothing in the bottom of the stroller. Her first thought was that when our babysitter Kristin borrowed the double stroller the other day maybe she did some shopping and left a tee shirt for her son in the basket.
The conversation went something like this:
"Tessa, did Miss Kristin take you all shopping this week?"
"No."
"Huh. Well why is this in the stroller?"
"I bought a shirt for Huckleberry, Mommy."
I didn't actually see Valerie's face, but I'm pretty sure I know what it looked like. Valerie was completely unaware of the shirt being in the stroller, and left without paying for it or giving it back or anything. So now her two year old daughter has stolen a shirt, and she's an accomplice. Great.
Valerie called me at work, and we decided that obviously the shirt had to go back, and that Tessa should go along so that she could maybe learn something from this whole ordeal. So a few hours later I get the following text:
"Tessa apologized to every woman in the store-even the headless mannequin. All is forgiven."
Before they got there, Valerie explained how they had to go back to Penny's because Tessa took something without paying for it and they had to return it, and Tessa had to say she was sorry. So to every woman they encountered at the store Tessa said. "Are you Penny? I'm so sorry..."
And that was Saturday afternoon.
P.S.-I know I said I'd talk about the animals, but this was too good not to share. Pets next time.
P.P.S.-I had to explain to a lady at church today that Tessa doesn't have a brother named Huckleberry and we're not expecting one either. Just imaginary. She then informed me that there are twins in her family too, and the older siblings made up imaginary twins as well, so I guess this really is normal. Nah, it's still pretty weird.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
St. Patrick's Day
Thursday, as we all know, is St. Patrick's Day. This is one of my favorite holidays as I get to celebrate my heritage by listening to some great traditional (and not so traditional) Irish music, eating corned beef and those little potatoes, and drinking Guinness Stout. Actually, I do that stuff a lot but in March I get to be loud and proud.
Yes, yes, I know the last name isn't particularly Irish, but we do know that there's lots of Irish blood in the family. My mother's side of the family, the Johnstons, is very Irish. Dad's side is a little more mixed but there's lots of Irish there too. It's a little harder to trace my Dad's genealogy because some of the records have never been translated to English, but we know through oral history (a very Celtic practice) that before Germany, Holland and Wales we were in Ireland. And due to some digging about the origin of surnames I've come to find out that "Brink" is believed to be a popular European derivative of "O'Brieren". Can't get more Irish than that folks.
Now, I'm not going to be able to attend any official celebrations this year. The kids are too young to take to any of the parades here in the St. Louis area, and two happened Saturday anyway. The real celebration is on St. Patrick's Day itself in Dogtown (a largely Irish neighborhood). The Hibernians parade is the best one as it's all representing local clans and Irish based organisations. Also, inside St. James The Greater church is a corned beef lunch, lots o' Irish type drinks, and a good Irish folk band called the Irish Aires. It's a good time, shame I can't go.
Nope, I have to work Thursday, and even if I could go I'm not sure about taking the kids down there. So I've got to make my own fun. Mostly I'll be listening to some traditional folk music(drinking songs), and a modernized version of that as well. There have been quite a few bands over the years to blend traditional Irish/Celtic music with their own songs and a frenetic energy. Three stand head and shoulders above the rest and if I have to tell you then you really need to do your homework. I am of course speaking of The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly.
I shall also probably watch some "Father Ted", a hysterical British sitcom about three priests on an island just off the coast of Ireland. I'll also try to fit in "The Quiet Man"(classic movie) and the Food Network has a special on Bobby Flay in Ireland that looks interesting.
And then for our St. Patrick's Dinner I'm going to do the cooking. We're actually going to make the dinner the night before as Thursday won't allow us the time for a big meal. But I'll be making Corned Beef in Guinness, with potatoes and carrots. We're not big on cabbage in this house, I'll eat it other places to be polite, but I'd rather have the other veggies. The recipe is fairly simple, so hopefully I don't screw it up royally. It sounds delicious so I'm going to give it a go and maybe we'll get a new traditional meal. And if not, well, I'm sure there'll be some beer left over...
Okay, have a happy St. Patrick's day however you spend it. Back soon with an update on the animals.
Yes, yes, I know the last name isn't particularly Irish, but we do know that there's lots of Irish blood in the family. My mother's side of the family, the Johnstons, is very Irish. Dad's side is a little more mixed but there's lots of Irish there too. It's a little harder to trace my Dad's genealogy because some of the records have never been translated to English, but we know through oral history (a very Celtic practice) that before Germany, Holland and Wales we were in Ireland. And due to some digging about the origin of surnames I've come to find out that "Brink" is believed to be a popular European derivative of "O'Brieren". Can't get more Irish than that folks.
Now, I'm not going to be able to attend any official celebrations this year. The kids are too young to take to any of the parades here in the St. Louis area, and two happened Saturday anyway. The real celebration is on St. Patrick's Day itself in Dogtown (a largely Irish neighborhood). The Hibernians parade is the best one as it's all representing local clans and Irish based organisations. Also, inside St. James The Greater church is a corned beef lunch, lots o' Irish type drinks, and a good Irish folk band called the Irish Aires. It's a good time, shame I can't go.
Nope, I have to work Thursday, and even if I could go I'm not sure about taking the kids down there. So I've got to make my own fun. Mostly I'll be listening to some traditional folk music(drinking songs), and a modernized version of that as well. There have been quite a few bands over the years to blend traditional Irish/Celtic music with their own songs and a frenetic energy. Three stand head and shoulders above the rest and if I have to tell you then you really need to do your homework. I am of course speaking of The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly.
I shall also probably watch some "Father Ted", a hysterical British sitcom about three priests on an island just off the coast of Ireland. I'll also try to fit in "The Quiet Man"(classic movie) and the Food Network has a special on Bobby Flay in Ireland that looks interesting.
And then for our St. Patrick's Dinner I'm going to do the cooking. We're actually going to make the dinner the night before as Thursday won't allow us the time for a big meal. But I'll be making Corned Beef in Guinness, with potatoes and carrots. We're not big on cabbage in this house, I'll eat it other places to be polite, but I'd rather have the other veggies. The recipe is fairly simple, so hopefully I don't screw it up royally. It sounds delicious so I'm going to give it a go and maybe we'll get a new traditional meal. And if not, well, I'm sure there'll be some beer left over...
Okay, have a happy St. Patrick's day however you spend it. Back soon with an update on the animals.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Update
Wow, been a while. Got a little busy over at Words About Music. Sorry for the neglect here. Let's get going.
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So the kids have all been sick over the past two weeks. Bummer. Patterson had it the worst with the fever and congestion. Tessa's fever was bad too, she's still on the Amoxocylyn (y'know, the pink stuff they give to kids).
And then there's Melody. She only got a little cold and as a result her brother and sister got more attention. So, not to be outdone, she got a pretty nasty butt rash. Very competitive, that girl.
Everybody's pretty much over it now and on the mend. Just in time for allergy season to start next month. Yay!
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For anyone who doesn't know, we have finished recording the Two Hangmen EP and are in the mixing stages of the music. Next we need to build up a web presence, finish packaging for the hard copy versions of the EP, and start scouting gigs. I'm excited about this project. Most of the songs we're doing are holdovers from Blue Tattoo. That band had quite a dense sound, looking back, and these versions are a bit more scaled down. But that's a good thing. Somehow in the process of condensing them the songs have been given room to breathe and flesh themselves out so actually sound more dynamic and alive than before. Sometimes less really is more. No offense to the guys in BT on that, I thought that band was great, but this is better.
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In other baby news, Melody is close to walking already. She also has two teeth. Patterson is right behind her on both counts. She seems to do stuff first and then he gets it a few weeks later. Except when it comes to eating. Patterson has been feeding himself Cheerios for like a month or so now, and Melody got it over the weekend. Well, if there's one thing us Brink men can do it's eat.
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I had to use this dash device because the "three" on my keyboard is broken and seems to be an impossible fix.
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Let's finish with a Tessa story.
Last week we were watching Sesame Street and Harvey Fierstein was on. He was singing "Everything's Coming up Noses" poorly, and in a high register, while putting noses on faces of Muppets. Now, we all know Harvey's as gay as the day is long, and this was no exception. Here's my daughter's take.
Tessa: Daddy, that lady is singing about noses.
Me: Yes he is.
Tessa : She's funny.
Me: He sure is sweetie. He sure is.
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And that'll do it.
P.S.-Don't send me any messages about how prejudiced I am, that's not what that last bit is about. I actually like Fierstein. "Torch Song Trilogy" is brilliant. But it was interesting to me that even a two year old who doesn't know the first thing about sexuality picked up on it and procesed that info the only way she could. And it was funny. So there.
-----
So the kids have all been sick over the past two weeks. Bummer. Patterson had it the worst with the fever and congestion. Tessa's fever was bad too, she's still on the Amoxocylyn (y'know, the pink stuff they give to kids).
And then there's Melody. She only got a little cold and as a result her brother and sister got more attention. So, not to be outdone, she got a pretty nasty butt rash. Very competitive, that girl.
Everybody's pretty much over it now and on the mend. Just in time for allergy season to start next month. Yay!
-----
For anyone who doesn't know, we have finished recording the Two Hangmen EP and are in the mixing stages of the music. Next we need to build up a web presence, finish packaging for the hard copy versions of the EP, and start scouting gigs. I'm excited about this project. Most of the songs we're doing are holdovers from Blue Tattoo. That band had quite a dense sound, looking back, and these versions are a bit more scaled down. But that's a good thing. Somehow in the process of condensing them the songs have been given room to breathe and flesh themselves out so actually sound more dynamic and alive than before. Sometimes less really is more. No offense to the guys in BT on that, I thought that band was great, but this is better.
-----
In other baby news, Melody is close to walking already. She also has two teeth. Patterson is right behind her on both counts. She seems to do stuff first and then he gets it a few weeks later. Except when it comes to eating. Patterson has been feeding himself Cheerios for like a month or so now, and Melody got it over the weekend. Well, if there's one thing us Brink men can do it's eat.
-----
I had to use this dash device because the "three" on my keyboard is broken and seems to be an impossible fix.
-----
Let's finish with a Tessa story.
Last week we were watching Sesame Street and Harvey Fierstein was on. He was singing "Everything's Coming up Noses" poorly, and in a high register, while putting noses on faces of Muppets. Now, we all know Harvey's as gay as the day is long, and this was no exception. Here's my daughter's take.
Tessa: Daddy, that lady is singing about noses.
Me: Yes he is.
Tessa : She's funny.
Me: He sure is sweetie. He sure is.
-----
And that'll do it.
P.S.-Don't send me any messages about how prejudiced I am, that's not what that last bit is about. I actually like Fierstein. "Torch Song Trilogy" is brilliant. But it was interesting to me that even a two year old who doesn't know the first thing about sexuality picked up on it and procesed that info the only way she could. And it was funny. So there.
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