Creative Arts Studio Dance Recital 2014

Poor Marni.

She just couldn't keep up the hectic pace necessary when taking two different dance classes at the same time. She's only human after all. So this year Marni chose to focus on ballet.

And on June 15th she performed flawlessly at the Creative Arts Studio dance recital.

Earlier, Marni had announced her retirement from dancing altogether. But after the performance, she had a change of tune and has announced that next year she will be focusing on drama and hip hop ("Ballet is too slow for me.").

(The Curtain Call video runs pretty long. You can see Marni zip off the stage to get flowers at 1:39. She hands her teacher flowers at 5:00. She misbehaves at 10:15.)

Someone is facing the wrong way. Is it Marni, or everyone else?

Marni's Beauty Tips

Marni would like to share her tips on fashion and beauty with you...

Pumpkin Carving (Better late than never)

It was brought to my attention that Marni's pumpkin carving video never saw the light of day. She made it all herself. Take note of her (over)use of the word "perhaps".

Here it is...

PS39 Dance Festival 2014

This is the final year that a Shepard girl will perform in the annual PS39 Dance Festival.

It all started with shy Stella and her awesome solo balloon performance in 2009. Marni joined in on the fun in 2011. But the dance festival is only open to kids up until 2nd grade. So, next year, there won't be a Shepard in the show.

Marni went out in style with another awesome performance as she and her classmates danced to One Republic's "Counting Stars".

Memorial Day 2014

Summer 2014 officially started with our annual Memorial Day visit to Old Orchard Beach.

On Friday morning we made the 5 and a half hour trip straight to Maine in only 9 hours (lots of traffic, peeing, and food shopping). The first thing we did once we got to OOB was to have a delicious dinner at Ken's.

Nana and Papa and Toots and Glenn joined us on Saturday morning. The weather was cloudy and threatening rain, but the day remained dry and we were able to go "downtown" and ride the rides.

Cousin Andy joined us for dinner on Saturday night at The Rising Tide restaurant.

The weather stayed clear again on Sunday and we visited Palace Playland for more rides and lunch at Surf 6. Cousin Janet joined us for a delicious Glenn Kennedy BBQ dinner that night.

Monday was beautiful and sunny as we cleaned up the cottage, packed up the car, and headed back to Brooklyn. The ride home only took 7 hours this time.

A Decade of Stella

In May, Stella hit the double-digit mark with a birthday party at t-shirt design shop, Hiho Batik.

Friends Uma, Hailey, Lucy, cousins Tyler and Delia, and special guest Jasmine Imhoff all joined Stella (and Marni). The kids designed some very cool t-shirts, tote bags and dresses and topped the day off with delicious birthday cupcakes.

The PS39 Marni Show

Okay, it's not "officially" called the Marni Show. It's the PS39 Spring Talent Show. But for the past few years our little Miss Marni Moo Moo has been killing it at the Talent Show.

This year was no exception as Marni joined up with classmates Baila, Amelia, and Tara to perform a dance to Pharrell's hit tune "Happy".

There was a little fumbling with her prop wig, but Marni's performance was otherwise amazing.

(First, as an appetizer, Marni danced front and center in "Everything is Awesome".

A Very Harry Birthday

The yearly birthday theme selection is like spinning a giant wheel of chance. Round and round it goes, and where it stops, no one knows.

This year it stopped on Harry Potter.

Little Marni and big sister Stella have been bitten hard by the Potter bug ever since I showed them the first movie a few months ago.

So this year the theme was everything Potter.

Lisa did a first-rate job coming up with the activities, including a customized word-search puzzle and an exhilarating scavenger hunt through the neighborhood. She even created hand-made chocolate frogs for all.

My part was that I had to dress like Dumbledore.

The birthday party was a awesome success with the exception of finding several half-eaten jelly beans spit out under various pieces of furniture. That's what happens when you hand out flavors such as vomit, earth worm, and ear wax.

Ready for the scavenger hunt.

And they're off!

A bunch of cuties lined up to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Birthday cupcakes.

Blowing out the candle.

Toothpocalypse - Part 2

Who says lightning doesn't strike twice?

Three years ago Stella channeled her inner hillbilly with a daring and provocative single-front-tooth look. The New York Times called it "a tour de force of dental architecture". The Appalachian Picayune called it "damn sexy".

No one thought it could happen again in our lifetime.

Wrong.

Last week, younger sister Marni duplicated the look.

Dental hygienists screamed. Orthodontists rushed to pick out their new BMW.

But Marni doesn't care. She wears so much lipstick nowadays that no one even notices the tooth.

Overheard #39

MARNI: Daddy, was it difficult living with roommates in college? I mean, what if you were warm and they were cold in your room? Did you open the window?
DADDY: Well, there are 4 of us all living in one apartment and we all get along.
MARNI: Well that doesn't count because you're usually warm, and Stella is usually warm, and I'm usually warm, and mommy is always having hot flashes.

Our First Venn

A redacted version of Stella's Venn for our more delicate readers.

What better way to return from a blogging break than with a piece of awesome artwork. Stella surprised us with this one today. The spelling may need some work, but the accuracy of her set theory is right on.

My Beauties - 2013

The 4th grader and the 2nd grader.

Halloween 2013: Part 1

We finally did it my way this year.

We all went to a Halloween pop-up store and bought costumes for everyone.

The result... a pretty wacky looking family when we headed for the PS39 Spooktacular party last night.

Marni was a cute zombie Robin Hood. Stella was a very convincing zombie bride. Daddy was an adequate escaped prisoner. But mommy!

Lisa dressed as a sexy cop and the results were amazing. Eyes popped. Tongues hung out. And many didn't even recognize her.

Some ladies even wanted to borrow the outfit later for their own Halloween hijinks.

I'm pretty sure the kids are gonna get kicked out of school tomorrow.

Selena Gomez

The groupies

I don't think I went to my first rock concert until high school or college. I'm sure it must have had something to do with either Aerosmith or Genesis.

But my 21st century NYC chicks are having a much, much different upbringing.

Broadway shows.  Radio City. Professional sporting events.

So the girls were more than ready for their first "rock concert" when we brought them to Barclays Center to see Selena Gomez earlier this month.

The girls got dressed up in their concert finest and ascended to their nosebleed seats. After surviving the sonic assault of a local opening act, we went foraging for expensive arena food and then retuned to our seats for the opening act, Emblem 3 (Yes, I know. Who?)

At 8:30 Ms. Gomez hit the stage. Very punctual. She must realize that a great deal of her audience needs to go to grade school in the morning.

Marni is shaking it

I warned them that this would be the loudest thing they ever heard. So they were pretty prepared for the noise. Marni was up and dancing. Stella was a bit more reserved, but was enjoying herself in her own special way.

By about 9:30 Marni was beginning to get a bit bored by all the songs she didn't know. I convinced her to stick it out for a couple more songs because I knew the encore would include her two favorites.

She did. And they loved it.

By 10 we were heading home. Luckily, the arena is a 10 minute subway ride home.

The girls were in bed by 10:30 and were able to function normally in the morning for an on-time arrival at school. Stella wore the $40 Selena Gomez t-shirt we bought for them.

The concert was pretty good. Selena is a very talented gal. And Stella keeps telling me over and over again how she wishes Selena was her older sister.

Me too. I can certainly get used to a millionaire daughter.

She's down there somewhere

Columbus Day in Maine

One of the great things about Cottage 2.0 is that it has heat! And insulation. So we can use it even when the weather turns chilly. And in Maine, the weather turns chilly in late August.

This year we took advantage of the Columbus Day weekend to visit OOB. Our special guests were Lisa Stefanoff, Ron, and Kathy (on a stick).

The weekend weather was somewhat brisk, but totally sunny and dry. As usual, the kids got right back into the swing of things as if they never left... except with an extra layer or two of clothes.

There was time for seafood, time for a movie, time for shopping, and time for the beach. We even had a great night at the fire pit (which was never broken out during the summer).

While visiting Camp Ellis, the girls discovered a dead shark washed up on the shore. Very exciting stuff!

We headed back to Brooklyn on Monday afternoon, but there wasn't much sadness in leaving because we knew we would be back for one more visit at Thanksgiving.

Ya gotta love a winterized cottage!

S'mores at the fire pit.

Our Camp Ellis album cover.

Stella and her dead shark.

First Day of School, 2013

The new 2nd and 4th graders...