Category Archives: Simone

Easter 2011

We started the day coloring eggs. We heard there was a bunny parade and ran over to Occidental to see.  Naomi left directions for the Easter bunny. Hopefully he will come by again. The parade arrived bringing a WOLF, two … Continue reading

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Which moments do you remember?

My neighbors and good friends, the Strains, were written up in the Seattle Times today. Jeff believes that living downtown proffers more family moments..those revelations, discoveries and “good times” that you stumble upon together during a neighborhood romp.  He says, these … Continue reading

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Naomi tells the story of Rosa Parks

Naomi’s PreSchool class is working on a play about Rosa Parks.  Naomi tells me about what they were learning here. Three year old Naomi tells the story of Rosa Parks

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Half the Sky is both a brutal awakening and an unmistakable call to action. -Melinda Gates

Our friend Amber Vandermeulen, a third grade teacher in the Kent school system, said that she and her husband had just read Half the Sky to one another on their last road-trip and she thought I might like it.   … Continue reading

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A half century of kids playing with Circuitry

A toy, similar to “Snap Circuits“ was covered in the September 1967 issue of Electronics Illustrated. Then and now, what you get is a box of domino like magnetic pieces that allow kids to snap together cool electronics such as … Continue reading

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Simone’s take on Dolphins

Simone gave a presentation in her classroom today about Dolphins.  She used questions to start the talk. Her peers listened avidly.  The whole thing surprised me.  Her ease in front of the class and the attentive behavior of the class. … Continue reading

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Santa stopped by the tower.

Naomi saw this image and asked me, “Mama, how cold was the North pole? Did you like working in the toy shop? I’m glad you are back, Mama.”

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14 GREAT Children’s books (7 for a 3 year old and 7 for a 6 year old)

All 14 books have a few things in common.  They have kooky unpredictable plots. They have terrific illustrations.  They have marvelously moody characters that evolve and transcend their predicaments.  Naomi and Simone each received a book a day during the first … Continue reading

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Are you honing in on the virtues or letting them slide? Honestly?

My good friend Valerie Tarico writes a monthly column about developing virtues. She starts each post with a note about the particular character trait including a few quotes to ponder, discuss and share and then ends with an example of … Continue reading

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Naomi’s KOMO tour of the Tower or “What was on the cutting room floor?”

This KOMO news piece turned out well. In the hopes of championing ACT Theatre, which I love, I mentioned them dozens of times. I tried to weave ACT into whatever they asked about. “Yes, I DO love living downtown, especially … Continue reading

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Naomi & Annabel on their First Day at Evergreen School

Naomi is sitting on teacher Judith Hart’s left in a red shirt and ponytails. Next to her is Annabel in fuscia. This is the Pre-School class at Evergreen with Judith Hart and assistant teacher Melissa Norby. Simone had Judith back … Continue reading

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Circumnavigating 100 feet from home court

Pausing to enjoy the adventure of life in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Simone and Naomi love the rush of “urbanity and motormania” that hits you as you step out the giant doors of our building. Simone has her bull and … Continue reading

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Geocaching or There was Shakespeare at the Troll

Have you done any geocaching?  Last week at a wonderful birthday party for Simone’s classmate Meredith, we geo-cached at Richmond Beach and discovered an artillery box full of books. Smitten with the adventure, we decided to create a pop-up small book to … Continue reading

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Daily Rituals or Off to School

In the morning, the girls pack their backpacks with school stuff (lunches, sweaters, sneakers) and after-school stuff (leotards, swim suits, snacks) and then head downstairs to say good morning to Kumar, Hamilton and/or Nelson running the building elevators and Michelle, … Continue reading

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The BIG DIG Treasure Hunt or Simone’s 5th or Great Traditions

We have a few traditions. One of these is the annual sailing trip, another is the annual BIG DIG treasure hunt that happens every year for Simone’s birthday. We bury chests with treasure across the Global Gardens beach, pass out … Continue reading

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Santa stopped by the tower a week early

The presents have been opened and the girls have left the scene for a few moments to pack up some toys for our afternoon plane ride to San Francisco where we will join in a second wave of Holiday festivities.

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Legislation Trumps Jurisprudence “Deciphering the Siberian Wolf Code”

On Saturday morning we headed North to Simone’s ski class at Snoqualmie. En route Simone asked me to turn on the radio. So I did and “Stop in the Name of Love” by Diana Ross came on. Simone said, “That … Continue reading

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Double-wide jaunt through urban landscape

We left the house in the double wide stroller. Simone was working in her easy erase writing book sent from Grandma Patt. Simone was also in charge of documenting this particular afternoon romp with her camera. She pointed out that … Continue reading

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Simone sounds out

Simone joined me at the WWFC Pac events and managed to get a few sounds out with each guest.   There is a bit more about the Political Action Committee on this page.   Barrack Obama gave the money we … Continue reading

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