Red

Mimi and Annabel have been pals for many years(8 1/2) or so.

Each year they decide to spend their birthdays together. In the beginning, Annabel's mom and I had group parties only to discover that they really just wanted to be together and forget the whole thing(rude).

So we have devised different experiences for the two of them to have together. I must admit, Annabel really usually comes up with some great stuff.

This year Annabel's father got us  second row seats to Taylor Swift at Ford Field. I have never been to Ford Field, the show is sold out and I really don't know what is about to happen but its all about the kids right?

I don't know how Annabel's father is going to follow up at age ten, but for now I will fasten my seat belt and enjoy the bumpy ride. Oh yes, and post it on Instagram.

First day of preschool

Carnavale

At the risk of repeating myself season after season, I love Spring.
The Easter holiday and Mimi's birthday mash up together, flowers peak, robins take over the lawn.
We have certain traditions(more about that later).
There was a point in my blog where I thought I was just posting an obituary of famous people  and it distressed me.
The best writers say, write what you know. Also, some guy on some network disproved the death in threes theory and I am here to once again dispel.
1.Margaret Thatcher: I lived in England during her "reign" wasn't happy with her, but she did set a path for women in power.I think most of the music of Paul Weller and the Clash ... and the Smiths were because of her , ok , she wasn't my favorite lady.
2.Roger Ebert: To be honest, my friend David and I used to call Siskel and Ebert"the fatty and the skinny " and being mad movie watchers  listened to what they had to say, and then watched whatever we wanted to. I remember that Ebert once called "American Gigolo" an incredible film.... it just goes to show how subjective criticism is.
3.Annette Funicello: I don't even know where to start.
When my sisters and I got home from school, Our local network used to show old reruns of the Mickey Mouse club,we all knew the anthem, we watched the serials, especially "Spin and Marty" .
Rita Bell and the 4:30 movie would have "Beach Party " week. I own all of the "Beach Party" films. Annette would devise the plan to win over Frankie,with Buster Keaton, Linda Evans,Paul Lynde, Don Rickles and oh yes Little Stevie Wonder.
Crazy? maybe  I really thought that I was part of the surf culture at one point( I actually bought surf wax), my friend Lisa and I tried to buy a used Woodie in Waterford.Thus the power of film.

I am also enclosing a true Spring song(1995)

The Cardigans - Carnival from myzw on Vimeo.

Body and Soul

Mimi and I went to see "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater" this afternoon at the Detroit Opera House.
Mimi and I have been attending the dance season this year due to the fact that a great guy named Evan gave me the deal of the century.  I hoped that Mimi would be inspired.
We saw the Met doing "The Nutcracker" ... I think that was when Mimi told me that she liked ballet  only when it has stories.

I forced Terry to "Red Hot and Blue" by the Eisenhower group , which was wonderful, but also without a story(Terry not impressed).

I gave away my tickets to  Dance Theater Of Harlem.


  Today, I saw dance
http://youtu.be/LZuBFz6WYfs
I don't have words.http://youtu.be/LZuBFz6WYfs

I cried

The Stars Are Out Tonight

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Rocket to the moon

It has been a while since I have last posted and I thought of catching up by announcing that Mimi has a rocket to the moon.

Mind you, I found this moon rocket online and Terry thought it was absolutley ridiculous. It reminded me of the rocket ship they used in that famous silent movie where the rocket ship goes up to the moon and the moon is made of cheese and is a man.... and ithe rocket jets right into his face???? anyway, I love that movie and when I saw this rocket I was hooked.

After about a half an hour, Terry(who loves space ships and astronauts)was hooked as well. Mimi goes into the space ship and Terry begins to sing" Ground control to Major Tom "Blah blah blah and then he asks if she has Tang and then blast off!!! Mimi and her blankie and her assorted stuffed animals ascend into the stratosphere.

As ridiculous as it is, Terry has come around and the pictures are proof in the pudding.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Mimi and sledding

As all of you know, Mimi has a rather untraditional reaction to the outdoors and all of its elements. Several weeks ago,Terry bought a sled for Mimi and we took her out in the little bit of snow that we have had. She doesn't look thrilled in these photos but sledding did grow on her.

Take Me Somewhere

 I'm done.I'm truly done.
My mother always told me cakes are done, people are finished. I'm done with snow, winter ... and being cold.
Any one who knows me would make a testament  that  I am never finished  with making fires in my fireplace, I'm done.
We have planted our seeds,began cleaning the yard, preparing for Mimi's birthday. We've ordered a ham... for the love of God, .
Truth be told, it is as it should be, this year we will have a great peach and apple crop because of a normal winter. I'm just getting old and rickety.

Bring on the Sun, or Terry gonna hit ya with a sled

Welcome To The Terrordome

I am thrilled to say that my old blog"The Life and Times of Mary Margaret Sipes" is still up and running!
I thought that blogger had deleted it, but I found it today and took a very long walk down memory lane.

I honestly can't believe that Mimi has been home for eight years.

Mimi's latest terror is timed multiplication tests. I am trying to remember.... why do we do these?

I did them in grade school because the calculator and smart phone were just stars in the sky.
I sat in very neat rows in the classroom. We would recite our facts and if we got them wrong, well , there are a lot of books, plays and films written about what happens when you get the facts wrong.

I also have the idea that it helps your brain... blah blah blah.
Mimi goes into an absolute panic. No matter how many ipad apps, drills, practice tests, schoolhouse rocks, she freezes in test mode with a timer. Meanwhile, she can find the Detroit Opera House from memory, build a Lego Police Station in three hours and start a fire with sticks.
Her entire self image unfortunately, is wrapped in this timed test (and the promise of a Leprechaun with every passing grade). 
I ask you is this all necessary? in the third grade?
Back to my crusty old blog. I found my first entry, before we even knew Mimi was our baby.

I love this photo, one because Andrew my nephew never misses a photo op, two because Paulina and I are truly scared, three, because the dad on the far right is so non phased by the whole thing, walk in the park. He doesn't have to do his times tables in four minutes.

Love Is The Drug

During the Fall and Winter Terry ventured into his own pharmacy in the city.
Smack dab across the street from his old digs, he took on the mighty lion of CVS. So far everything has run according to plan, the neighbors love him, he gets catered fried chicken and collards a few times a week.(I cant compete with that cooking).

With all that has gone down with Kwame, and his compatriots bringing down the city.
Terry is a semblance of unity and neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the Pope was assigned as well as the City manager for Detroit.  The City of Detroit will thrive soon, I think.
I hope that Pope Francis brings a new vision to the Catholics.
Hail to New Life.

Terry and Leona are Detroit... Lovely

Spring Is On The Wing

It was so exciting to feel the first breaths of Spring.

I always get into a frenzy of cleaning and organizing, purging unneeded junk.
I decided to clean out my desktop computer, in the hopes of stopping its infuriating slow pace and trying to organize my personal media.

I cleaned and scoured my hard drive , hooked up my printer to my wireless network and moved the desktop downstairs to the kitchen.
I then logged onto my much ignored blog and discovered that my last post was January 9th.

Yikes.

I have such a backlog of stories and photos. I don't know if I will ever catch up.

I guess, just like my teeny daffodils in the backyard, I will start anew and throw in some old craggly posts for posterity sake.

Last weekend, Terry surprised Mimi by booking a night at the Book Cadillac downtown.
Strange as it may seem, its been Mimi's dream to stay in this hotel.

Our view included the courthouse(Goodbye Kwame)

On special occasions we often go to the main restaurant in the hotel  called Roast. Mimi always takes longing look into the lobby and whispers, some day I am going to stay here.

What a lovely stay it was. We had dinner at Roast swam in the pool and generally soaked in the beautiful ambiance.
When we checked in Mimi requested a floor as high up as we could get. They upgraded us to an executive suite on the 20th floor(somehow, I think if Terry or I requested it, that wouldn't happen.)

She was so excited to have to enter her key card in order to go higher up in the elevator.
She immediately opened her door, carefully unpacked her clothes, scolded me for messing up the bathroom with my stuff, and ordered extra towels from housekeeping.

The Annual Corktown 5k race outside the hotel

Making the most of no valet service(during the race)

Mimi organizing her nightstand

A beautiful city

Putting on clear mascara for her dinner at Roast

Waiting to swim

Mimi was in heaven.

Somewhere Between

I am excited to say that "Somewhere Between" is being shown at a local theater on Monday night.
I am looking forward to sharing the experience with family and other families that are going through similar experiences. Terry can't even watch the trailer, so I don't know about that part.

All Of This And Nothing Part 2

I just wanted to update , that my friend has been upgraded to 100% on Ebay.
Truth be told, I heard an NPR story that involved people buying things at assorted tag and garage sales and placing them on Ebay, with grand story tellers doing the descriptions.

Things that were bought for a nickel, described by Tom Wolfe were selling to the highest bidder, because of their storytelling.
I thought that may help my friend get her 100% rating back.

My mom was at a dance, it was at Cranbrook, the Saarinens were there.... end of story.
My fur was sent back.
I'm glad.

All Of This And Nothing

I am not without shame, I put , or let me say I try to put my kids toys on Ebay.

I bought a ton of cool stuff for Jiejie from the Doll Hospital. I bought Beanie Babies?????, Muffy Vanderbears, Madame Alexanders.

For Mimi I bought Blythe , Dawn dolls and Sonny and Cher, all with the intent of selling them on Ebay????.
Whenever anyone said,"Dont take them out of the box" "They will be valuable someday"
 I usually said nope , "They will just play with it".
I recently, went into the Ebay world to sell a ton of stuff that was building up in my basement.
My dear friend was enthusiastic about helping me out. She had an Ebay shop, she knew the business.
I told her that I was reluctantly selling a modern dollhouse that I had bought for Terry?Just before Mimi came home from China.

I also listed a fur.
The fur sold for probably five times what I had expected, delivered promptly.
The abuse then began.
"My fur wasn't odor free", "My fur had wear", "My fur wasn't sent "UPS fur storage?"

I felt terribly about my friend suffering so much Ebay and email abuse from someone.  I told my friend to let the coat go for free. I wanted her to keep her 100% rating, I felt responsible.
I got a call from USPS, my coat is back, my friend has a 99.6% rating on Ebay.
I wrote a letter.
 Dear Ms. Dominique,
You have just bid upon, spent moments of your life obtaining a fur jacket.
Let me tell you a little story;

My grandmother was given this fur jacket as a gift by my grandfather John Dean. His family owned a small business in Pontiac MI.
The fur jacket was a dear gift  to my grandmother and lent out to  my aunts, only on special occasions.

My mother (who was the most attractive of the three), was asked to a Dance. My mom was seventeen years old and needed to be dressed accordingly for the occassion .
My grandma loaned her the jacket,with of course , the caution of taking care of it.
My mother was at a dance at Cranbrook Manor, with a Saarinen boy.

Years later, at Christmas time, I was standing at the front of the tree, giving out presents to my children. I made it a tradition to wear my grandmas mink by the tree.Considering its historical significance , why wouldn't you?
I reached in a little secret pocket and there were fifty dollars.
My mind raced? so did my sisters(I have four) what could have happened?
My mother would never tell.
In an effort to rid my mother of the question, I thought that I might put it on Ebay.
I asked a sweet friend to do it and she  took a chance for me
I find it unusual how people treat one another and what people think is valuable.
Regards,
Julianne
I am shameless and never going back to sell on Ebay. (for now).
The dollhouse didn't sell. 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

" Now Is The Start" by A Fine Frenzy is a song placed  with brilliant piece of editing of classic Hollywood films, to appeal to the younger set.

Over the last weeks I have had the extreme pleasure of watching films with my girls.
I don't always get the most desired responses for the movies I love.

Mimi doesn't like how Beth's face looks when she cries in "Little Women" and Jie Jie couldn't get through "Little Women" ... a whole lot of cryin.

Note to self, next year, leave out "Little Women" even the new one with Batman.

JieJie, Bill and I watched " Love Actually" which also makes us cry, but in a good way.

My nephew Bob is coming to stay with us and his favorite Christmas song is " Christmas Is Around Us"I really look forward to hearing him sing it around the house constantly for 4 or 5 days.
He is also responsible for making this brilliant gem of a film about my house during the Holidays. I repost it yet again.

Stop Me If You Think Youve Heard This One Before

I knew that my passion for music would leak onto Mimi eventually.
Paulina was the president of her middle school rock band club. She did a report on Ella Fitzgerald in the second grade.

I think that Mimi takes it to a new height. She wears her Wilco and White Stripes shirts to school every day. Her latest fixation is/are"The Smiths"
She loves "The Smiths", a brilliant band, but for an 8 year old? She doesn't listen to "One Direction" or Justin, which is more than fine.
But the Smiths? Morrisey ?  at 8 she recites the lyrics to me and I want to weep.

putting on lashes to be Cher for Halloween(fake hair)

"If a double Decker bus crashes into us . to die by your side is a pleasure the privilege,is mine". I loved it as a teen , but heck.
The best bit is that she thinks Morrisey looks exactly like Mitt.

Somewhere Between

I follow a blog called "And Babies Make Four", it is a blog written by a mother of twins who were adopted at the same time as Mimi and they are from the same orphanage.
 I have been following her  very creative and amazing blog since our girls were babies and she just posted a link to a documentary that follows the life of four adopted Chinese teenage girls over a three year span. The filmmaker is also an adoptive parent.
 I am very anxious to see it.
http://www.somewherebetweenmovie.com/

I Could Write A Book

I have an assignment from Mimi's third grade teacher to write a 1000 word essay, telling her about Mimi.

I am working it out here:

 Dear Mrs. Murphy,

I think that I can give you an idea of Mimi. I think an example of who she is could be her first grade year with Ms. Simon.

Ms. Simon had a huge influence on Mimi. Mimi proudly credits Ms Simon for teaching her how to read.

Mimi, at the beginning of her first grade year decided to ditch the name Mimi(five years in) to be called Mary.

Mimi's true name is Mary Margaret Yu Bao Sipes. This is a very large name to carry but she was named for many Mary's and Margaret's and Mary Margaret's on both sides of our family.Yu Bao is her given Chinese name.

So in her first grade year she decided to be Mary....her assignments, folders , labels  signed Mary.She wouldn't respond unless we used Mary.

Burton followed suit, but the family and friends were kind of slow to adjust, tried as we might , we couldn't make the jump.

The general public would say,"She's a Mimi, it's so hard to imagine it any other way ."

Mimi kept on being Mary for the school year and then eventually, with some hesitation, eased back in to her Mimi brand.

Mimi is strong, and stalwart . She is self reliant, but also cares a great deal about what is thought of her. Perfectionism keeps her from trying some things.

She doesn't like being told how beautiful she is.
When she stays in hotels, she immediately calls housekeeping and orders more towels and a wake up call.

She  tries to be in the background. Being in that place, she listens and takes in everything and keeps it in the back of her mind for future use.

Mimi loves routine and at times can be cynical. She is extremely agile,  centered and artistic. She loves painting, pottery, sewing and has a definite illustrative style.
Mimi loves noodles, rice, eggs and fish 
Mimi claims to not be a reader, but adores Archie comic books.

Mimi is resourceful. We often joke that she could easily be the winner on "Survivor". She has a innate  sense of direction.

Mimi is very inquisitive and wants to be told the truth. She is a homebody.

She loves music, mostly Adele, some Gershwin and a bit of Bieber thrown in.

She loves to be scared. She often jumps out from closets and behind doors to catch us off guard.

If she needs something, she will tell you. She has beautiful manners.

Mimi studies ballet and gymnastics.

She has a beloved dog named Zelda.

She wants to be a peer pal.

She is glorious.

We invite you to check out our life at mimiandjiejie.blogspot.com or Google "Sleep Warm In Your Fur"

 

Make Summer Last Forever

Today is our last official day.

Arts Beats and Eats, from the top of the Ferris Wheel

Last official late morning snuggle time

How will we spend it? Probably doing a whole lot of nothing. What a great summer it was, too fast.

Someone Somewhere In Summertime

We've been away, I would say that we have been away for most of the summer.

American Girl store Chicago

Disney week with Grandma and Aunties

Disney

Saugatuck

Home

Jefferson in Charlevoix

Greenfield Village

Malibu

Los Angeles

Our New Pharmacy

 

Nothing But Flowers

The girls made a project gleaned from the blog Rookie

We used dollar store items and knickknacks from Mimi's treasure stash

Summertime

Summer has unofficially arrived and we have been basking.

Between a Phillips girls vacation to Disney(more photos to come), a giant garage sale, and gardening and motor city chicks and end of school activities we have been moving.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of my control, my Ladies of Downton are leaving for a farm in Goodrich on Sunday.

Mimi working on her extensive Fairy garden

Our Ladies, a few weeks back, they grow like sea monkeys

We have so enjoyed watching them grow into gorgeous young women and I know that they will be happy with lots of land to roam.
 

Last dance continued

When I graduated from high school, I was asked to sing  at commencements. I sang"Out Here On My Own". I was completely inspired by Miss Donna. (I think Irene was too). written by Leslie"Its My Party and I'll Cry If I want To" Gore
Mimi prefers the Glee version.