Celebrations

It's been quite the week for them, and that looks to continue through Sunday. At least.

Tuesday we attended a potlatch at Abby's school. A couple dozen kids, in full (if not entirely authentic) masks, telling stories and showing art and serving (fairly authentic) food (although I suspect that the Coastal Natives dried their own fruit and fish, rather than buying it at the local QFC). Abby was in charge of "art and symbols" and wrote the following piece for her display area, in addition to the mask and the drawing she made:

Native American art is unique symbols put together to make a big beautiful drawing. Native Americans who lived in Washington next to the Pacific Ocean made these wonderful drawings, paintings, sculptures and other amazing Native things. Two of the most common symbols are the ovoid and split U. These are used to fill in blank spaces. Native American art can be put on longhouses and totem poles. They traded art sort of like money to get other things they required. Sometimes they would carve these drawings on canoes. They mostly do animal drawings, sometimes they put animals on these boxes called “bentwood boxes.” These are some of the beautiful drawing the Native Americans did. 

<pictures not included because the permission obtained was for her project, not this blog>    

 These are some of the pictures the Native Americans do. I hope you enjoyed them. My mom got permission from the artist and the art gallery to show you this art.

Wednesday was Girl Scouts, complete with dinner at the sushi place and a haircut for Abby.

Then today it was Valentine's Day. As it's also my sister's birthday, and I was not exactly a popular kid growing up, to me it's more about her birthday than Valentine's Day. Until I had kids. To them, this is the best thing since Christmas, probably because of the sugar. And after a Valentine breakfast at Abby's school, and a Valentine lunch at Lizzy's, I'm about done in.

Then Lizzy and I had Girl's Afternoon Out, got our nails done (her first time) and went to the bookstore, where we got some little books for the girls and the Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook for +Laston Kirkland. On to home for chicken and leftover (from lunch) rolls and salad, and pink-for-Valentine's ice cream for dessert.

My mom's birthday is this weekend too, and as a surprise, her younger sister flew in from Florida for the weekend. So Saturday the aunties and all the adult women in our family are having a Girls' Night Out. Sunday is the actual birthday dinner for Mom and Sis, at Mom's house.

Add in school and the usual job-hunting and, well... Whew! So it's um... not just the kids then, who are over-sugared and overtired...