Monthly Archives: February 2011

Oscar’s Cake For The Oscars

28 Feb 2011


(Our Homemade Invitation for our family Oscar Party (a.k.a. Academy Awards and dinner)

Mark got a screamin’ deal on the Honey Baked Ham, because he is very good at that kind of thing. Nanu brought homemade Mac-n-Cheese, and Madie and Alex brought “Bomb Salad”, as in, ‘it’s the bomb’ (it was).
We realized Kiera wasn’t going to be able to join us . She was busy in NY!

Oscar had a idea for a cake topper he wanted to do. Nanu was making tiramisu, which turned out boozey and delicious. However I still needed a cake that Oscar could “top”. Normally Kiera would be all over that bad boy, but instead, I would just try to make something serviceable. My shortcut: Yellow cake from a box.

All of which gave me a realization: I am officially a cake snob. So spoiled by SK these days, I was not hungry for this faux cake! It’s just not yummy enough {sniff!}. Good thing for Nanu and the tiramisu!

Our frosting was lemon butter cream (no I will not stoop to frosting from a can). This came out a little too strongly lemon because I cavalierly threw in a ton of lemon zest with no measurement whatsoever. But the cake toppers were fun! Before we cut the cake, Oscar ceremoniously bowed the swan’s head into the frosting, and the king reined supreme.

Everyone filled out their ballots before the show. Some tried hard, some, not so much. Some convinced others to vote one way, and then changed back without saying! We circled our correct guesses as the show went on. In the end it was a close race for victory, which Alex clinched by predicting Best Director: The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper). We had fun -I hope to always watch the awards this way! Congrats to The King’s Speech for Best Picture as well!

Photo by Cole, with the point’n’shoot.

Park Branch is Open

26 Feb 2011

Lucy's new library card

Park Branch Library at 1833 Page St. has re-opened, and we went to check it out. The 101-year-old library, which first opened its doors in 1909, was fully renovated: the large neo-classical Reading Room has been restored, and the Community Meeting Room on the ground floor is nice new space. We spontaneously decided to walk down for the festivities, and it was certainly a fun family thing to do.

(Click any of these to see larger, arrow key will advance.)

The Scene outside was classic Haight ambiance. This is one block from Madie’s old apartment.

On a normal day it’s easy to drive by and miss seeing the building, but not today! I hope to combine future library trips with the new Whole Foods around the corner.

Upstairs is the main reading room and book checkout. Downstairs is the community room where they had Acro Sports people performing to music.

Oscar checked out two books and a movie. I explained how he needs to return them in two weeks. (one week for the movie). The good news is kids don’t have late fees!

Pajama Day at Clarendon

24 Feb 2011

School wide pajamas and stuffies. Even some of the adults are in on it (remind me to throw on a robe next year). Oscar forgot to bring Sharkie as was the plan – luckily we had not one, but two random stuffed animals in the car. (Sometimes it does pay to keep a cluttered car!)

Happily we parked next to Enzo and Carla:

And just got to class on time:

Oscar wore two pairs of pjs due to the chilly weather:

Van Gogh’s Bedroom

23 Feb 2011

Oscar’s kindergarten class studied Vincent Van Gogh last fall.
This little work of art came home at least two months ago, in the backpack, but I am just posting it now. I don’t know how Ellen (the art teacher) had the students go about painting the rooms. I can make an educated guess that they weren’t supposed to copy the room outright. I’ll try and ask her about the process tomorrow.

And, just in case you want to reference the real thing:

The Bedroom (French: La Chambre à coucher)

Oscar’s Fort-Bed

23 Feb 2011

This week Oscar Benjamin has been sleeping in the living room, under the table, in the fort he made on Saturday.

He has an inflatable camping pad in there, and ALL the pillows, so it’s super comfortable. Is this the new thing? How long will it last?

When asked his opinion, Mark replied, “Well, at least he’s staying in the fort all night. He’s not joining us at 5am like he usually does. He’s even sleeping later than normal.”

I asked Oscar what he liked best about the new sleeping arrangement. He replied,
“Booker is nice to have for company”.
Well that pretty much melted away any misgivings I had! Whack away, kiddo.

These snaps don’t show all of the fortitude. These are of the first night. Now the left rattan chair blocks the lower leg area, and the ‘comfy chair’ (from the kitchen) blocks his feet, plus there are other miscellaneous reinforcements at his head.

And a kiss good nite!