How could you not?

OK, surely someone would comment on that last blog, I thought. Cute pictures of little children playing a game that Anne Marie in particular loved when she was in her youthful prime...Jennie actually admitting that she doesn't mind a sport...how could my family resist commenting? At least something like, "How can an armless kid be a goalie? Did she let any balls through?" or "You guys sit on a blanket when you watch the games? Really? Why don't you get regular folding chairs like all the other cool parents?" But nothing. Is anybody reading this?!
(dramatic pause for nose-blowing and pathetic sighing)
Boy, glad I got that off my chest.

Inga: "Are those bugs male or female that suck your blood?"
Me: "You mean mosquitoes? Female."
Inga: "So if they get some of my blood in them, that means we are half-sisters!"
Me: "Hmmm..."

The whole summer in one post

We have been in Maine for the summer, and are leaving tomorrow to begin the journey back to real life. One of the biggest things I will miss will be late nights watching movies with Mandy, but I am already practicing getting over it since Mandy left us for Ben and Julie last week.
But while she was still here, Mandy introduced us to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This did not come out of the blue--Brad started the whole thing when we were out in California and we watched the first few episodes of Angel. From there it just spun out of control. One and a half seasons later, I realise that in order to support my Buffy habit Dan and I need to sign up for a Netflix account or something. Only we are going to go with Blockbuster, mostly because we are doing the cheap version with only one CD at a time and I am too impatient to wait for stuff in the mail so I will just trade in to Blockbuster if I actually want to watch a movie two nights in a row (which is pretty unusual during the regular non-Maine year, but might happen). So, after that boring explanation, I have to say something interesting:
Last night I finally realised who reminds me of Angel. Or, actually, the other way around. It's Brad. Wait, don't shoot me down--the dark, unattached, brooding, mostly silent guy with strong opinions that don't really come out unless you know him fairly well and hang with him for a while...see, I'm right, aren't I? And he always comes through, doesn't he? And he may not necessarily be openly friendly with the masses but is fiercely loyal to those he holds near and dear (like sisters). Just in case anyone thinks the contrary, this is a COMPLIMENT. Way to go Brad, you stud!

Real life comes soon. We have known for a year now that Inga would be going to her Daddy's school for second grade. I've been preparing for it all year and I think I am finally ready and I know Inga is way ready. It's fun to think that Moira and Inga are entering the world of the school classroom at the same time. We don't have all the same battles, though. Inga will wear a uniform, so that solves the clothes issue (it actually makes it easier). My biggest issue is outfitting a particular school bathroom stall for Inga's use, and then hoping that when she needs to use the bathroom it will be available to her. Her teacher, Jayme, is awesome. Jayme has an aunt who is quadriplegic and became quite famous when she started a foundation for accident victims who became paralyzed (this is Joni Eareckson Tada http://www.joniandfriends.org/, for those of you who have heard of her). So this teacher has all the right attitudes toward Inga (which is to say that she will not be making any excuses for her), and has already started getting Inga excited about being in school by sending her home from church with various second grade-y type things like an extra baby praying mantis they had left over from a science project. So this is perfect, right? It's still hard to let go, though. At least I have my other kids still at home to torment with lessons.

Inga's Toe Walk

We are going to look into enrolling Inga (and possibly Elena) in a dance school next year. Inga has a peculiar talent for dancing on her toes, the very tip ends of them. It's uncanny.

That time we went to California

It was like living a completely different life for 1.5 weeks, a life where I had only one child and she was "in the movies". Even though she was only an extra (which is the lowest species of appearance there is, unless you are dead, I suppose), she was treated like a star because she was specifically chosen to fit the movie (being an amputee). We flew in on Tuesday evening and a "limo" (Lincoln Town Car) picked us up to drive us to the hotel. Everything was paid for, by the way, including taxes and all gratuities. Our limo driver told us the last guy he had driven was Russell Crowe.

In the morning we met everyone else they had flown in, all of whom were amputees (mostly congenital) from all over the States. It was easy to tell who was in our group :) We had a bus waiting to drive the kids (and their parents) to their initial costume fitting and hair and makeup evaluation. Then we had to get work permits for the parents who hadn't planned on their kids actually getting into the movie (silly people) and then we had to open Coogan accounts for our kids. Apparently a long time ago a kid named Jackie Coogan made millions and his parents spent it all, so now any child in the movies is required by law to have 15% of his earnings go into a "Coogan Trust Account" where it will earn a pathetic amount of interest until the child is 18 and liberates the money into the real world once more. When we were done with all the running around the kids jumped into the pool, which became a ritual each day from then on (until the kids got their hair dyed the following week). Inga became quite a good swimmer!

The next day the wind was so strong (see photo) they had to close down at least one highway in LA and the set blew over on Mystery Mesa, which is where the movie was being filmed. So we all went to downtown LA and shopped, each amputee determined to spend everything they were earning as fast as possible--and Inga was no exception.
That evening busloads of Afghan people checked into our hotel and the hotels around us (our movie was using up 3 entire hotels). I was told there were 600 Afghan extras in the movie, and over a thousand extras up on the Mesa. There have been few times in my life when I have truly been the minority race...and the rest of our trip was one of them. The amputee children stood out even more now, and everyone knew about them because the other extras were there to provide background for the hospital scenes. No one was a stranger in the elevator. "Are you in Charlie Wilson's War?" a tall, dark man in a beard with a mysterious-sounding accent would ask. "Yes, are you?" I would politely ask in return. Duh. After the first night, by mutual unspoken consent, the political incorrectness of stereotyping was suspended. If you were white and missing a body part, you were in the movie and in the hospital scene. If you were darker and staying at the hotel, you were an extra for the movie in general and maybe even a principal. If you were a white male and wore a business suit, you were probably very weirded out by everyone else.

On Saturday we went to Universal Studios on a VIP tour and saw all sorts of things that were interesting to us but would probably bore you. VIP means you skip to the front of lines, and get 25% off of things you buy. I like it. Inga made her first official purchase using her own money that she had earned and paid taxes on. She bought a dog in a purse (these are very popular) with two different outfits. Brad joined us toward the end (see his blog, I don't know how to make that cute little URL thingy that gets you there just by clicking on the words) and patiently helped her make her decisions. He also carried around a huge stuffed bear that Inga did not win at a game she played, but that people gave her anyway because she thought she had a fighting chance against a whole group of grown-ups. Go, Brad!
We spend the night at Brad's apartment, Inga guzzled root beer and watched the Incredibles, and we went to church and made friends. I won't really say much more than that because Brad basically covered it in his blog.
Monday Inga didn't work--they didn't need the amputees, but they did pay them :)

Tuesday we went to the set to get Inga's hair dyed, and we stayed all day and did school (basically they sit the kids down in the middle of a large tent and tell them to concentrate but no one does because all sorts of interesting things are happening everywhere), and Wednesday we went back and got makeup done. Some of the guys who worked on her had also done Pirates of the Caribbean, and they were very good at making everyone look maximumly disgusting. At first Inga freaked out, totally convinced that they were going to need to cut her up to make her look as awful as the others she had seen walking around in blood and gore makeup--but they were really good with kids, and by the end she was asking for more.By the time they were done, Inga looked horrible, in a cute sort of way. It looked totally realistic, even up close.

The kids got all decorated and then went to the holding tent, where they stayed in school all day, waiting to be called. One by one they "timed out", which means their allowed time on set (according to age) was coming to an end and they had to go back to makeup to take everything off. Before Inga timed out she was chosen to go to a scene involving a lot of hospital beds so she could be convincing background. They had a nurse attending her and were making a big fuss over her, but there was light filtering in from a window in the tent that made her skin shine. In the end she was pulled out by the director, who spoke rather rudely to her because he just wanted to hurry up and shoot the scene and once he decided her bed should be empty he wanted no delay. Inga did beautifully, she did just what she was told and waited quietly on the side while they shot the scene. Meanwhile everyone came up to her apologizing for the director and saying what a great kid she was, and after the scene was shot the director himself came by and did his version of an apology, and told her she was too beautiful to use for a scene like that. Inga bought it hook, line, and sinker, the vain thing.
Oh--I forgot to mention that while everyone was fussing over Inga and the nurse in the bed, Tom Hanks was waiting in the sidelines right next to me and another mom and we got a chance to talk just a little. He really is nice. He tickled Inga's toes as he passed by her bed, but she didn't notice.
Well, back to the timing out. We were scheduled to fly out on Thursday, but had not shot our actual scene. We were told it was cut. Apparently they had to do a lot of that sort of thing since they were so behind. They asked if anyone was able to stay and everyone said they could. They chose three kids from our amputee group to stay on for another scene they had in mind which they hoped to shoot the next day, and Inga was one of them.

Unfortunately Inga had made a lot of friends, and was unhappy the next day when she got up to go to the Mesa and only two others did, both of them significantly older. She was a trooper, though, and held well through the scene (which is one with Tom Hanks entertaining the amputee kids). She didn't eat breakfast ahead of time, and they had whisked her off to makeup when the kids arrived, so she worked for 6 hours before she ate anything (thank goodness for that law that says children must eat a major meal 6 hours after they arrive on set!). She ate a huge amount of very fancy food afterward (the amputees got to eat in the crew's tent, which has really amazing food). She kept her makeup on, just in case, but after lunch we found out they didn't need to do the scene again since the original had been so good (they call it a "one-shot wonder"). We were told by someone who saw it that the director actually cried it was so perfect. He came out afterward to thank us for coming out and to say what a great group of kids we were, which I understand is very unusual for him (he is apparently a very well-known director).
We returned home happy and healthy and exhausted (and in another "limo"). It was great fun doing the movie and Inga already received a check for last week's work. Her hair is slowly turning blond once more, and she misses her friends, but she is a normal child again. I am looking forward to December 25, when the movie comes out, to see if that scene actually made it after all.

We're back (and jet-lagged)

Inga's hair is now brown. More details to follow (when I get back on track after having been gone for two weeks!).

California Beware!

Inga is going to Hollywood! She is sooooo excited, and so am I. Since she is in a scene where there are lots of other amputees, I can imagine that we will be making lots of friends and comparing notes on how we all do certain activities with various missing limbs. We actually already "know" a bunch of the kids from a child amputee chatlist we're on.
Next week we will be in Hilton Head on vacation, and will fly out from HHI airport to LA on Tuesday. We will be staying in Valencia, and shooting on some sort of a plateau around there. But first they have to figure out hair and makeup and clothing and props (prosthetics), etc., and it is going to take 9 days in all. 9 days with only Inga, staying in a hotel room with a pool and eating at restaurants every day, all on Tom Hanks' bill--nice! Once Spring Break is over, Dan and the kids are driving back to Maryland and Dan's brother is coming to stay with the kids during the day while Dan works until I come home (supposed to be Thursday). What a great guy!
Well, I've got to pack. My living room is full of clothes because I am switching over from winter to summer apparel for everyone in the family and it looks like a tornado hit (sorry, Jaime!). I've also got to go buy lots of books because I will probably have a lot of time to read in CA. Any recommendations for books that will be good for escapist type entertainment?

Dancing, Cake, and Friends in the ER

Inga and Elena have dance fever. Their gymnastics instructor started teaching them tap dancing for a portion of the class, and I bought Inga the book Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfield, and now Inga wants to do nothing but dance. We visited a friend's dance class, and they let her try on a costume and dance with the class (you could see a better picture but I can't get any sideways shots to show up correctly on the blog!). She really does look like a dancer!

Alex took another trip to the ER last week. It's kind of scary when you walk into the Emergency Room doors and the people at the desks all look up at you and some of them wave and say things like, "Oh, you're back! How's Alex doing?". Maybe people who work in hospitals become blind to the sight of blood dripping all down someone's face and shirt, or they wouldn't have asked that. Kind of like becoming used to the smell of cow dung when you live on a farm. Anyway, this time they wanted to do a CT scan and little Alex in the middle of this spaceship-looking thing was so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture. Then later they put staples in his head. He has now had stitches, glue, and staples for each of his three head wounds. I wonder if they will come up with something new the next time we have to visit?

Alex had his adoption day celebration on March 28, 2 years to the day after we went to court and officially adopted him. He went around telling everyone, "I 'dopted today, I 'dopted!!" We watched his orphanage videos and the first few days--he was so sad, and sick, and helplessly cute! He was wearing the same sweater that we took to bring Sam home in. We gave him a little flute-pipe from Russia for his adoption day gift, and ate brownies and ice cream (no, I did not let him put all that into his mouth at the same time). I figured out we have 10 birthday and adoption day celebrations between November 26 and June 15. That's a lot of cake. I am going to have to get creative here, or we are all going to become sick of cake.

Inga's Exam

Inga passed her Tae Kwon Do belt test today! She is now officially an orange belt (double stripe). She had a few firsts during this exam. She got nervous for the first time. I tried to take pictures when we first got to the testing site, and she couldn't smile properly. In the past she has sort of taken it for granted that she would just go in and pass. This time she seemed to truly understand that a test of skill was before her, and she had to prove herself. She started to focus on the task at hand the moment she walked onto the Do Jang, and she didn't have any attention left over for the camera. The second "first" was that she did a great job. Usually I am smiling semi-indulgently along with the rest of the mothers of the younger children at the cute attempts at self-defense that these children display. But Inga was intense. When she did her Kicho the parents around us were exclaiming (quietly) at her focus and skill. And she was one of the few who broke her board the first time.
It's funny that Ben I mentioned that they are sending Moira to school next year, because we are sending Inga to school next year, too. There have been moments when I have questioned that decision, not sure if Inga is ready to strike out on her own and be responsible with her choices away from home. As this year has progressed I have seen her exhibit more and more maturity, but today's exam clinched it for me. She is ready to make her education her own, and to take responsibility for her time and her choices. Wow--my baby is growing up. And I pity the guy who tries to take advantage of her on a dark street.

Practicing

Inga is still practicing her refugee look. I personally prefer the smiling countenance but this at least gets us the odd quarter from the innocent bystander.

We have done the Unthinkable

We have submitted an application for Inga to be an extra on a movie which has asked for child amputees. The film is called Charlie Wilson's War (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/) starring Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, who is also directing. I have no idea what will come of this, but a lot of people are applying so the chance that she will actually make it is slim--especially since this is for a refugee camp scene which takes place in Afghanistan. I don't think she quite fits the profile, but I guess they are counting on modern technology to darken skin tone because they listed "Caucasian" as a type they were inviting to submit. Inga has been practicing looking gaunt and haunted all day, and asking others (including her gymnastics teacher) if she looks traumatized enough. This would be hilarious if she didn't also have a sinus infection (apparently these are easy to come by after you break your nose) with huge puffy red bags under her eyes that make it look like someone ought to call 911.
So, Brad, if the unthinkable turns into a reality can we come stay at your place? Oh--and can someone give Inga a crash-course in acting 101?