Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. 

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.

The artist I'm covering this week is Alison Balsom. I'm going to share a little bit about Alison.

I have a surprise at the end of this post. 

She was born in the UK. Alison first started out in acting. Later she went on to become the valedictorian of her high school. Then she earned a Bachelor's degree from Princeton and a Master's from Trinity College in Ireland. She later joined a group as a folk singer and singer-songwriter having released her first alt-rock/country album, 'FIRST.' She was a part of the group Alison and Stone. Now she is known for playing the trumpet in classical music. She plays concerts all the time.

Learn more about what Alison is up to now here. She has many classical CDs out.

Are you ready for the surprise?

Here is Alison Balsom as a child:

Source

Does she look familiar? She played Nancy Olseon on Little House on the Prairie. Her character on the show was not very nice, but she seems like a sweet heart in real life. It was an odd find; that I didn't expect. Her name on the show was spelled Allison, but on her CDs now it's spelled Alison. I know it's the same person I watched interviews where she talked about what she did then and what she's doing now.

If you want to see more about where stars are now on Little House on the Prairie check out my post here.

Shoveling

We got hit with snow at 1 pm today. It just kept on snowing all evening long.  Isaak and I shoveled when we got home.

This was just the start of it. Daddy had to go out and shovel some more.

Isaak was very talkative, while we were out!

Isaak: "Mom I'm digging for fossils! Ok?" The person across the street laughed. 

Me: "Ok! Have fun!" 

Isaak: "Mom I'm going to make a snow angel! Ok?" 

Me: "Alright have fun. Just try and do it in a spot I already shoveled, so you don't pack the snow down." 

Isaak: "What? Never mind Mom I'm making a Transformer in the snow instead! Ok?" 

Me: "Alright." 

Isaak: "Mom what does it look like if snot falls down in the snow?" 

Me: "I'll get you a tissue!" 

Isaak: "Mom I love this shovel! I'm cold now. I'm going inside. Ok?" 

Me: "Ok."

Dapper

I went ahead and bought Easter clothes for the boys at Crazy 8. I have no clue how long their Easter sale is, so I decided to just bite the bullet and buy them. I figure the boys can wear these for their pictures to. I get pictures taken around their birthdays and one of the two together in the spring or summer.

We have a Crazy 8, but it's supposed to snow like crazy here for 2 weeks. In fact all the public metro schools are out today. I just didn't think I'd get out and go across town to shop with 2 little boys this weekend. Shopping with them is really the last thing I want to do.

I need your advice. What kind of shoes and undershirt would you get with this outfit?

I'm thinking any plain t-shirt would work. Like a springy green, light blue or even white. In pictures their feet could go naked. On Easter they will have to wear something on their toes. Crazy 8 featured these shoes with the outfit:

Would you go with shoes like that, or something different? My boys have never had shoes like that before, maybe they would wear them.

They are both between sizes of pants. I got them the bigger size. Isaak a 6 and Mica an 8. If they don't work I'll take them back to the store and they can just wear jeans.

Doc Isaak Apel

Isaak likes to wear his play clothes to bed. His hospital scrubs to be exact.

 The trouble is:

• They are getting a little small to pull over his head. He has a small head, so I'd think that would be the least of our problems.
• He likes to tuck his shirt in and pull his pants way up like Urkle. 
• He also puts his shirt on backwards or inside out almost every time. I'm not sure why. Maybe it doesn't have a tag like his other clothes do. 

He'll wear them until he can't wear them anymore. We've gotten good use out of his scrubs. They were Mica's before they got handed down to Doc Isaak.

Piggy

Mica eats...a lot. He eats more than I do. When his friends come over, he eats way more then any of them do. It's not like he eats a lot during one time, like it's a growth spurt. He just eats all the time. I'm kind of wondering what our grocery bill is going to be like when he's a teenager? Maybe I don't want to know.

The good things are that he eats just about any veggie, any fruit (except grapefruit), any kind of meat, any fish like salmon and tilapia, nuts, seeds, bread, drinks water and any kind of milk. He just doesn't like things that are spicy. He always asks for dessert, but much of the time doesn't get one. I'd say he's a well rounded eater. He also stays skinny and likes to be active.

Here's Mica a year ago. Aunt Terra wrapped his gift in a burrito box just to play a trick on him. I added the piggy flare.

Mica went over to a friends house early this school year. He came back dirty from walking and playing. Play date Daddy neglected to feed our son, it was 8:30 and a school night. He was all blinky tired. It was rush, rush to get him fed, bathed and put to bed. We are very routine people. Let's just say that we weren't happy. We were hesitant to let him play over there again.

We let him, but it was not for dinner.

Then a few weeks ago we gave Play Date Daddy another shot. Everyone deserves a second chance. He has 3 girls and they are perfectly fine, well behaved, do good in school and look well kept. Mica came home at 6:30 and didn't eat once again. Some people eat late; he did say that he was going to feed Mica dinner though. Daddy was about to blow a gasket. I was helping Isaak with a bath, so I just observed the conversation.

It turns out that Play Date Daddy did offer Mica dinner. He just didn't want to eat it. I was thinking, What? My piggy boy eats just about anything! They had pizza with chicken on top. Mica thought that was weird. He likes chicken and pizza, but not together. I told Mica that he could have picked the chicken off and ate the pizza. Daddy said, "Well what else did they have?" Mica said, "Fish sticks! I just don't like fish sticks much!"

This next thing he said had me laughing, "I really didn't want to eat because there were no fruits and vegetables! Seriously there were none anywhere."

WW: Friends {Linky}

A week ago Mica and Isaak got to each have a friend over.

Isaak's preschool friend couldn't much focus on one thing to play with. With all the new and different toys, his little mind was all over the place. I'm sure my boys would be the same way at someones house. Isaak kept saying, "Ummmwe have to pick this up first; before we get out something else." Regardless they both had a whole lot of fun!

Mica got to play with his best friend. I think he'll be sad because his friend is moving away sometime soon.

You Can Follow Me Here:

Googly Eyes

Adding googly eyes to your eyelids makes for odd expressions.

Here's a photo that Isaak took of me. Forgive me, I'm not wearing any makeup. Truth be told, I don't wear a lot anyhow.

Little House on the Prairie

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie. For awhile after school reruns would play as well.

I read awhile back that Lisa from Two Bears Farm was watching episodes with her boys. Then my sister Terra was watching episodes with my nephews. When I saw seasons 1 and 2 in Target, I bought it.

Mica loved Little House on the Prairie! Isaak was pretty neutral. 

Daddy walked in on us watching it, he sort of rolled his eyes at me when I hummed the theme song and snapped. I said, "Well you bought Dukes of Hazard a while back."

Daddy asked to borrow one of the Little House on the Prairie DVDs the next day to watch while he was working. Then he wanted to watch it with me last night. This morning Daddy said, "Man that episode when Pa broke his ribs, the girls went to stack the grain and all the towns men helped was heart breaking!" He noted that he got teary eyed. That was the very first episode. I teared up to. 

Just for fun here are some facts about the show:


1. Laura, and Willie were actually brother and sister in real life. Melissa Gilbert and Jonathan Gilbert are siblings. Also Sara Gilbert who played Darlene was on the TV series Roseanne is their sister in real life as well.

I was bummed to see that Melissa Gilbert got some plastic surgery. I know many actors do it. She was so pretty without it though. Willie AKA Jonathan Gilbert stopped acting after he was in Little House on the Prairie and is an accountant now.

2. Melissa Gilbert (Laura) and Alison Arngrim (Nellie) were against one another on-screen. They were actually really good friends in real life. To this day, they are close. Alison Arngrim actually wrote a book called Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated.

Nellie's curls were not real; she wore a wig. She had to have the wig fitted to her head; it was painful to wear. She loved playing the character in spite of such challenges, including a wig that made her head bleed!

3. There was a feud between Melissa Anderson, who played Mary, and Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura since early in the show's taping. The children were able to remain professional, and no viewers ever suspected a thing.

4. Karen Grassle who played "Ma" Carolina has worked on broadway after Little House on the Prairie ended.

5. Here's a few more actors from the show. Richard Bull and Katherine MacGregor who played Nels and Harriet Oleson. They are both well into their 80s.

6. Both that characters Carrie and Grace were each played by identical twins. All 4 childhood actors have abandoned their acting today.

7. Michael Landon wore many hats. He was the creator, director, and known as Pa. During the show he was known as being a trickster. He would make Melissa Gilbert "Laura" run farther than she had to. He would also make fun of the cast members when they would mess up.