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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cirque du Martin


Sporty-Sport-Sportums.  We’re those people.  For a little while anyway, we will be those people.  What people?  The multiple sports practices/games-a-week people.  Last night, Zachary had his fourth basketball game (where he scored at least thrice, thank you very much)!  Wednesday and Saturday, Matthew has his first baseball practices of the season.  Our neighbor has asked Mike to be his assistant coach which will make the season just a little bit extra cray-cray for us.  Until basketball’s done, it’ll be a three-ring circus, getting to all of our events.  In terms of baseball though, I’m hoping – as much as I’m able – to assistant coach the assistant coach.  Mike and I would make a good team as he has the baseball knowledge and I’ve got the herding-kids gift from years of teaching.  It also turns out that I have secret mad baseball playing skills that no one ever knew about and I can pretty much school anybody out there.  (Or I like to think so, anyway).    

 

Lenten Update.  We’re on week four of our six week Lenten journey which for Mike and I means week four of being Vegan.  Not that it’s all about weight loss, buuuut…I’ve lost about five-eight pounds (depending on when I weigh in) and Mike’s lost around ten.  Just this weekend Justin Timberlake danced as a piece of Tofu on Saturday Night Live singing a medley about “Veganville.”  Apparently, Mike and I are very cool and sexy hopping aboard the Vegan train. “Hey, eat some kale, it’s so much fun!...Ahhh, Veg out!”  Anyway, it’s going well.  What’s most amazing thus far is how my taste buds have changed.  We’ve gotten rid of the super sugary cereals and the most sweet/treat cereal we have is “Oatmeal Squares.”  I don’t eat it for breakfast, but mix it in a little snack mix for the kids (with raisins and a few chocolate chips).  The Oatmeal Squares definitely still have a little sweetness to them, but now when I eat one, I can’t believe how sweet they are – they’re like candy! 

 

This Saturday, we’re going to the school auction where we’ve given ourselves special Lenten Dispensation (I’m sure the Pope would be on board…oh wait…we don’t know who that is yet!) to eat the expensive (and cheesey-meaty) meal that we’d paid for pre-Lent. I wonder how we’ll be feeling afterwards!

 

Cirque du Martin Memories!  On Saturday, we took the boys, my parents and brother Chris to Cirque du Soleil’s show AmaLuna.  If you’ve never seen Cique du Soleil, you should put it on your bucket list.  Yes, it’s ridonculously expensive, but the memories WILL last a lifetime and is such a fun experience.  Our cirque experience was a little more stressful than would be ideal for sitting back to enjoy the spectacle.  The boys, when we first arrived, were both pretty freaked out and nervous after seeing the poster of the mutant-serpenty guy.  Then, at the beginning, the place goes pitch black, the kinda-different-sounding music starts and this piece of red fabic stats levitating in the middle of the spotlit stage floor.  You can imagine the little fingers that were digging into my arms.  Thankfully, once the lights all came up, they relaxed and sat back thoroughly entertained.  It IS funny how not entirely stunned they were by what those performers can do with their bodies.  The rest of us sat there with jaws on the floor as people did the most crazy contortion-y things and the boys didn’t seem to really ‘get’ how impressive some of that is.  They both, however, now want to work on perfecting certain skills.  Matthew wants to work on his juggling.  Zachary wishes that he was still doing gymnastics and also wants to work on dumping popcorn on people’s heads like the serpent guy did.  Ha ha ha, mr. clever. 

 

The second half of the show was made stressful, by Zachary’s writhing in pain from a ‘tummy ache.’  The poor child has suffered occasionally from serious bouts of constipation in the past.  Last spring, it had gotten so bad on a couple of occasions we nearly took him to urgent care not knowing what was causing him to be in such agony.  After going through some tests with the peditritician she determined that he was suffering from the painful but common-for-kiddos issue of constipation.  Our ‘perscription’ was to start giving him Miralax everyday.  Zachary calls this his “Poopy Potion.”  We’d been doing it regularly (ha! Get it, REGULARly) and he’d definitely gotten better, so we’d cut back – still giving it to him some but not as often.  Then, recently, it was starting to become an issue, so we HAVE been making sure he gets his Poopy Potion.  However, on Saturday, DURING the show, he got one of his super bad tummy aches.  And, unfortunately, there’s really not a whole we can do about it (especially if we’re not home – where he could try a warm bath)…we just have to wait until he can go.  Anyway, sorry for the details, but all joking aside, Zachary is a tough cookie and these issues have caused him seious pain!  So, sadly, we spent the last half of the show trying to help him stretch out a little and nimble on a granola bar that was in my purse (just to give him something to try).  In some ways, it was maybe a good place to have it happen, as watching the show definitely distracted him a bit.  AND, he did enjoy it and has talked about it nonstop for the last few days.  For the time being, anyway, we’ll be stepping up the Poopy Potion and upping the fiber intake (though I don’t know how that’s possible).  As we know and JT so eloquently rapped, “We got the cure for constant constipation — fiber.  It’s a dope ingredient. The thing you want to make your bowels expedient.” 

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