The Reviews...review...are...er...is in!

From Angus:

(By the way, I laughed out LOUD when I saw this e-mail...read to the very last line, it's worth it!)

From Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Gavin and Kayci go to Sonic"

Destructo Film/ Pharckson Productions. Rated: Very 'G'


No expense was spared (actually, very little expense) in the making of Brenhamwoods latest blockbuster in which the lead characters bust a few blocks on foot in search of ice cream, in an otherwise totally deserted Brenham TX., where everything has closed by 6:30. The major pun in all this is the fact that Brenham is the Ice Cream Capitol of the World, at least in South-East Texas. This film is destined to become a cult classic.

Kayci Pharaon gives an excellent performance as herself, obviously looking for an Oscar nod this year. Gavin Clarkson plays (an is) Kayci's older cousin, a role that he seems to be cut out for. Keely and Reagan Clarkson wrote most of the beautiful tear-jerking dialog (Kayci: "No, you better not").

Production values were very high. All the characters were clean and well dressed, even during the tricky ice-cream scene. Brenham showed itself to be the Tinseltown of the far distant future. The director/photographer/cinematographer/editor/sound editor/visual effects guy, James Pharaon, obviously mentored by George Lucas and Perry White, does a superb job, but no doubt he's saving up for a Steadycam.

This is a must-see movie, but take a handkerchief; with so many kids to watch, a cold is sure to follow.

Gavin and Kayci Go To Sonic

Yesterday evening the Clarkson kids stayed over with us. We didn't know what to do for the evening because it was kind of a gloomy-looking day in Brenham and it was about to get dark. We talked about going to a movie, but there wasn't really anything playing. We talked about arts and crafts, but not everyone wanted to do that. We talked about putt-putt golf, but that and dinner would've been pretty expensive (because you can't play putt putt golf and not play games afterward). So we decided to make a movie...

We chose some random locations in Brenham and wrote them on strips of paper. Each kid got to choose one strip of paper. Each location that was chosen was someplace we HAD to use in our movie. They chose Sonic, the Stone Mansion, downtown and the hospital. We went to dinner at CiCis and talked about what we wanted our little movie to be about. There were lots of ideas - all of Gavin's involved the characters having huge throbbing mutant heads - but we ended up deciding to do a movie about Noble crawling away and all of us going lots of places looking for him.

But Noble was fussy and tired. Movie stars are like that sometimes.

So instead we made up a story about Kayci and Gavin sneaking out of the house and going around town and ending up at Sonic. We shot it in about three hours, and I think everyone had a lot of fun doing it. We pretty much made up the dialog as we went. Kristi was really great at throwing out little kernels of ideas that ended up becoming the new plot of the movie. Keely and Reagan actually came up with most of the dialog. It was a lot of fun on Saturday night in Brenham, Texas. And the best part is that we shot the entire thing for $2.47 - the cost of two ice cream cones.

Here is the result of our evening:


(If the movie doesn't play in your e-mail, watch it on the blog at http://ipharaon.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Noble!

One year ago today, Noble was born! I can't believe it's been a whole year already. For a quick jog down memory lane, be sure to check out the story of Noble's birth - both Daddy's and Mommy's version.

Now What?

It's 1:40 AM (well, my computer still says 12:40 but I'm telling my brain it's 1:40, hoping it will go to sleep soon...).  Technically, it's Bubby's birthday today.  Happy birthday, Nobley!!  What a year it's been, start to finish.  :)  I can't believe he's already one...but that's another blog, one that I honestly don't have the energy for just now.  Anyway, I'm sitting in my room waiting for James to come to bed, and I just realized something (if you haven't read KnuffleBunny, do...it's hilarious.  Best line of the whole book:  Suddenly, Trixie realized something.)...our projects, save the final clean sweep of the kids' room, are done.  Our room is done (but the big ol' blank wall where Noble's crib & name used to be is going to drive me nuts...our room looks empty).  Grandma's dresser is fixed, now I just need to find some pictures and whatnot to fill it up since the TV's gone (amen!).  The office is done.  I can't think of anything that really needs to be done other than a good spring cleaning.  So, now I guess I get caught up on entering receipts, etc. and get our tax stuff ready for the accountant, and other than that, the next big project is the yard.  We've got two things on our list this year:  one, landscape the front yard, or at least rework the existing beds.  We'll see how far we get.  We're definitely pulling out the two tree-bushes that block your view when you're sitting on Baylor, and I'm excited about that.  James is MORE excited about that, as he gets to use his truck to do it...and a chain.  Woo-hoo!  We've also talked to someone about tilling a part of the backyard to create a garden space...I'm going to get an estimate to see if I can't get someone out to tell me what could actually grow there.  We'll see...one thing at a time.  That's one thing I'll say about this whole living on a budget thing:  before, we truly lived paycheck to paycheck.  We got paid, bought what we wanted, paid bills...and sometimes wondered where the money went.  Now the money all goes--on paper--before we spend a dime, which means now we shop with what we've budgeted, for what we've budgeted...and it also means that our wants sometimes have to wait a week or two or six.  It's interesting.  Not like, 2:00 in the morning interesting, but interesting.  Off to bed...big fun day ahead with the kids.  (Ronny's kids spent the night--you'll have to check out our blog to see what we did.  It's AWESOME!!)  Noble's sleeping in his crib in his new room/their room.  The kids are in the living room...they were piled up like 4 puppies on the couch, and we moved the biggest one and the smallest one to the air mattress.  (An aside:  Ronny's kids are floored by the fact that James & I have a full-size bed.  Gavin kept saying, it's....tiny.  Your bed is so small!)  Tomorrow we'll wake up and have birthday donuts--a first for Bubby.  Not donuts, but the birthday part.  James has a freelance job tomorrow, so he'll do that for a few hours and I guess the kids and I will hang out here.  I think we'll go to College Station tomorrow to buy Noble a new car seat for the truck, since he rides to school with Daddy now.  Things are changing really fast right now...it's great, but scary at the same time.  

Noble is One ...by Kayci

Kayci drew a picture of Noble for his first birthday.

"If you look closely at his mouth, I drew his two teeth."

The next, next iPhone?

I have a post over at Destructoville that might interest some of you about my ideas for the next, next iPhone.

Check it out if you are so inclined.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast...

Every once in a while, we're handed unexpected opportunities to step off the fast track for a while and just BE.  As a parent, especially, I find myself most aware of the opportunities I let pass by...more and more these days I have to really work at being present and available to Kayci, not just being "with" her.  It's not about her at all, but about my own stress level, etc.--you know, the whole being a grown-up, even when it's hard, thing.  

Quick rabbit trail:  have really struggled with the whole working Mom/Noble going to daycare thing this past few weeks (okay, months, if I'm being honest) and today was one of those days where I was able to really appreciate my life exactly the way it is and to be grateful for truly having the best of both worlds.  I got to go to Bible Study, and then I went on a field trip with Kayci's class...on a Tuesday.  How awesome is that??

Anyway, so the field trip...after the movie, Kayci was upset that she wasn't leaving with me (I didn't know it was an option, BISD is sooooooo different from GPISD in that respect!) and started crying.  Her teacher looked over and saw us and told me that it's fine for Kayci to leave with me (I think all of the chaperones left with their kids, actually).  So there we were at 2:00 with an unexpected hour and a half together.  I had planned, honestly, to come home and put away laundry and do some work to get ready for tomorrow.  But that stuff will be there in the morning, right?  Time with Kayci won't.  So I just asked her what she wanted to do.  At first she said she wanted to come home and work on a project, but I think she realized that we've got family time set aside for that after tomorrow, because she quickly changed her vote to "walk around downtown."  One of us, possibly me :), suggested ice cream at Must Be Heaven first.  So that's where we went, and we sat at the bar in the ice cream parlor and enjoyed our ice cream cones and visited, then we literally walked around downtown.  I let Kayci lead and I followed, and we went to all (well, most) of our favorite stores and just wandered around.  I was struck by how well she really can read now--she can read most signs, etc.  She's not just a beginning reader anymore--she's a reader.  Sigh.  But that's another day.  Anyway, we just walked and talked and held hands...I can't remember the last time I had an afternoon like that with my Bitty, just the two of us, no constraints, no agenda...it was awesome.  Unexpected, appreciated, and awesome.  (And be proud--all that "shopping" and we only spent $1 on a book.  Woo hoo!  I wasn't even tempted, except by these awesome flip flops I'd like to work into the budget next month...)

Crazy unflattering picture, but I couldn't resist..."me and my shadow" keeps running through my head.  :)  

Slurpy Slurperson

Noble LOVES spaghetti! Saturday for lunch he had spaghetti and kept putting noodles in his mouth, then slurping them in Lady and the Tramp-style. We got some of it on video:

Cousins...Identical Cousins...

So they're not exactly identical...YOU name a song that talks about cousins, then!

Meditations in a Brushing Emergency

I walked around the corner Friday evening in to the bathroom to find the following scene:



Kayci was standing at the sink brushing her teeth, but kept looking down at a sheet of paper. This month is health month at school and they've been talking about proper dental hygiene. They gave her a little (Colgate-branded, naturally) brochure on the proper way to brush teeth. So in true Kristi's daughter form, she was practicing and trying very deliberately to follow the letter of the instructions.