In which I am renamed Wendee Cakes

 Rosie and Pippin Yoda Cakes argue over who owns the jar aka the space helmet (this photo is just BEGGING for a "Caption" - have at it!.


Heard at the Holtcamp house at dinnertime.

"Do you know what Pippin's middle name is?" - me

"Probably something stupid," says my emo daughter Savannah, who was not in a good mood.

"She doesn't have a middle name," says Sam.

"Yes she does," I say. "It's Yoda."

"That's stupid," says Savannah.

"And do you know what her last name is? Cakes. Pippin Yoda Cakes. I formally announced it on my blog." 

Death stares.

I suppose this requires a slight backstory. My ex-boyfriend and I would always joke about feeling like a Fatty fat cakes, and it became a sort of thing I always say to everything. Everything is a "cakes" around here.

"She's not a Holtcamp," I say emphatically.

Savi rolls her eyes. "Why don't you change your last name to Cakes, then," she deadpans.

"Maybe I will," I reply. (after all I decided I would marry her if I could!) "I'll be Wendee Cakes."

And at that I burst out laughing so hard that I about fell on the floor. I looked over at the sink, where Savannah was washing her dish, and she could barely repress her smile and laughter too.

 #winning!

my kids crack me up

Sam exploring on the rocks in Yosemite National Park
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

"How fiercely, devoutly wild is Nature in the midst of her beauty-loving tenderness!-painting lilies, watering them, caressing them with gentle hand, going from flower to flower like a gardener while building rock mountains and cloud mountains full of lightning and rain."

- John Muir, The Yosemite.

I stumbled across this list I made Sam write so he'd remember his trip to California in Summer 07 - here's a link to the Jun blog archive from then with some other pics and writing about the trip. It cracked me up - so minimalist! When I took them to Australia I made them both keep a daily journal (hey they were missing some school for the trip), so this was an EASY one to just make a list. It just brought back memories and made me laugh so here it is. Note though he sounds like he was 4 or 5 in his minimalistic answers, he was 10 when he wrote this! And a very smart 10! I think next time I'm going to make him write a bit more about each little adventure...

What i did/saw/got/ate in CA, by Sam

* I saw a bear
* I saw a clear river
* I saw a trout and carp
* I got a poster
* I got 2 fake bears (WH Commentary: I have no idea what he means...stuffed animal??)
* I saw Kira (WH: his cousin)
* I saw snow
* I made a snowman
* I had a snowball fight
* I got to drink some spring water
* I got to swim in a glacial lake
* I got to swim in a very cold river (WH: The Merced at Yosemite!)
* I got my name painted (WH: by the guys in San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf)
* I saw the bushman (WH: ROFLOL - this is the guy dressed as a bush who jumps out and scares people in Fisherman's Wharf in SF)
* I got an Alcatraz hoodie
* I saw sea lions
* I saw a guy doing a crazy trick
* I saw a baby sea lion
* I got to fly on a plane
* I ate "gooseberries"
* I ate fresh honey from a hive
* I got a gong (WH: When I first read this I thought it said bong! LOL!)
* I saw a wild plum tree
* I ate unripe wild plums
* I ate a fresh organic strawberry
* I got to tour the garden (WH: At Green Gulch Organic Farm)
* I got to tour the Zen Center (WH: Green Gulch Zen Center Monastery)

That's it! Hopefully I'll blog some more later. I revised my chapter on truth, yet AGAIN, but I'm liking it finally, and I'm working on another chapter about my frustrations with the church after my divorce. Why were all my non-Christian friends there for me, while my Christian friends were not, and often turned their back on me? It's all there... later chapters will talk about redemption and forgiveness.

Last night when I was tucking Savannah in for bed, we were cracking up! Somehow we started talking about spontaneous combustion. I think I said something like, you might just spontaneously combust. And she was like, that does NOT happen, really. And I was like, yea it does! You just disapear, fwoop! And all that's left behind is a little pile of ashes. She was like, no it does NOT. I said, yea I think if you eat a lot of beans and have a lot of gas you're at a greater risk. She was like, whatever. I said Go look it up on Wikipedia!! If it's on Wikipedia it has to be true! She said, Yea right, I made an entry about a giant rat man on Wikipedia. I was like, you did?! Are you serious?! She said yep, I wrote a whole long story, but then I hit cancel on accident! (she didn't have it saved elsewhere - big no-no!). So anyway the giant rat man will go undocumented, for the time being.

Here are a few more of the pics from that trip!

Sam at the Green Gulch Organic Garden, where my best friend Daline lived and worked for over a year. This is outside San Francisco. I think this may be the gooseberry bush but I'm not sure...
The guy painting Sam's name in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.
Sam and Savannah jumping in the frigid glacial Merced River in Yosemite National Park. They went swimming with my brother and Kira while me and Zofia stayed on the shore. I may be wacky, but I am not crazy!
Sam about to go into Dog Lake, a glacial lake and also very cold!

Sam making a snowball.

And about to throw it! This was the first time my kids had EVER seen snow! Well they did see snow when we spent 3 weeks in Alaska but Sam was 9 months old...

God's art alive

Your beauty
surpasses brilliance
of the nighttime sky
shining brighter
than all the stars
luminescent
as the moon
full of magic sprinkle dust

Samuel, my son
God’s art alive
living
breathing
laughing
three-dimensional complexity
mindful of babbles and bubbles
thoughts comprehensible
only to God
and yourself

Copyright (c) 2000 Wendee Holtcamp

um, ya, ok

Oh. My. God. I am laughing! Just got back from taking my kiddos to dinner at On the Border, and well I found out that on my latest credit card bill,my daughter has rung up quite the cell phone bill - due to text messaging. And guess what her text messages are about?

S: I like goldfish and OJ

A: LOL goldfish. LMAO. Apple juice is better...

S: ORANGE JUICE!

A: Apple. It could totally beat orange in any time.

S: Nuh uh! Lol. Orange is the best!

A: Of course not. Apple. Orange has pulp and stuff.

S: That's why u get pulp free. Ah hah hah hah!

A: Apple juice is less healthy

S: Orange juice is orangyer

A: It's applier

S: Whatcha doing now?

A: We won (A and another friend were together arguing the merits of AJ)

S: Huh???

A: We won the the apple vs orange battle

S: OK

This was over SEVERAL HOURS... oh my. My kids are fruitloops (and their friends!) :)

Then at dinner we had a conversation about whether I was a freak, and whether they were freaks or not. Their argument that I was a freak? I hug trees. Savie was analyzing everything, like, when I said that George W Bush had some of the worst ratings of any President in US history and she goes, "Well how do you know because they didn't have polls and all of that back when say George Washington was President." I was like, "You are such a scientist!" Which is, of course, a good thing. She was also analyzing everything, which was quite hilarious. Sam was doing the same thing too.

Oh and if anyone needs a person to do auctions? My daughter can talk like 9 gajillion miles per minute!! I mean, REALLY! I need to record her and put it on this blog. She can not even breathe she will just talk and talk and talk and talk like sooooooo fast you're like, slooow down!!! OK like RIGHT NOW she is doing it and she is saying: Savannah is cool, nobody is cooler than me because I am a freak because I am a freak. You are a Democratic freak. No I didnt say that, I said you are a different kind of freak. I am a good kind of freak. You're not a bad kind of freak you're just a different kind of freak.

I think she had too much root beer.