there’s been nothing new for a while.
Lex’s Birthday Party
Beautiful Day.
Batman Cake.
Relay Races.
Pinata.
Fall Family Sportsnet Presents
FRIDAY NIGHT
T-BALL!
We had our first neighborhood T-Ball game Friday night. 20 kids (too many), 1 hr of chaos, 1 minor injury (Lex took a linedrive off the side of his head, finished the game, tho).
We all agree, wiffle-ball from now on.
Make Your Daughter Work Day
Thursday was “Take Your Daughters/Sons to Work Day”. Charlotte went to work with me and I put her to work. We had to edit 3 Yankees promos. I taught Charlotte how it’s done while I cut the first two. Then it was her turn. She cut the 3rd spot. You can see it here.
She truly did most of the work. Well, most of the work that needed to be done. If you watch the spot you’ll see it’s what we call a donut, you basically just need to fill the hole in the middle. And she did that. She took direction from the producer (Joe Pepitone, btw… nephew), and chose the best part of each shot (with a small bit of reassurance from me).
We both had a great day, and not just because she was at work with me…. much more, really. Just walking to work together was special, quality-time. Making mundane chit-chat, talking about people that are homeless, eating lunch, laughing with adult co-workers, shopping leisurely for a b-day present for Lex, listening to music on the train home. It was great.
New Cousins
Well, newly met cousins. Lisman’s cousin Ruth (Lis’ father’s brother’s daughter) and her husband Keith have adopted 2 kids, Alex and Andrea. Now 9 and 6 1/2, they were just months old when adopted. We’d never met the kids, they live in Idaho. But they spent a few days with us this week during a 2 week East Coast vacation.
The kids hit it off famously. The first day here they all got to play, along with a bunch of neighborhood kids, in the backyard. I think that cemented the friendships. By the time I got home that night they were best buddies and definitely family. Hangin’ in PJs helps too, I guess.
Pretty cool. From the mouths of babes and all that, y’know? Quite heartening.
L’anniversaire de Charlotte
Charlotte’s seven. So we went out to dinner with her best friend, Emily. All had steak. All went to the powder rooms by themselves (Lex, too).
Came home and opened presents. For some reason, 7 seems very poignant to me. Somehow more significant than most of the others, so far. I guess ‘cuz I can truly remember being seven. And because Charlotte’s clearly her own person now.
I suspect this may be the last teddy bear she wants; tho it’s not just a teddy bear, it’s a “glow-in-the-dark Doodle-Bear”.
Another niece (real type) photo
Kenny’s right, I have been neglecting the real nieces, so I’ve been scrounging around trying to find photos. I’ve found a couple of interesting ones which I’ll post over the next few days starting with this one of Charlotte and I. I think Charlotte is just a little over two months old at the time. I was living in CT then so I just buzzed down one day to visit. Charlotte and I are obviously quite comfortable in each other’s company. 🙂
1st Grade Art
I was going to post a shot of my new coffee-maker (it grinds beans automatically on a timer and has a very fresh pot of coffee waiting for me in the morning), but Charlotte brought this home from school today and I thought you’ld be more interested in it.
Click on photo for larger image.
She calls it “Space”.
Merry Christmas To All!
And to all…. I’m going to bed…. after I wrap 2 more gifts.
Christmas Cards
I finished this year’s Xmas card last night and I decided to put these up here for nostalgia and posterity.
I never much appreciated the cards I got each year with friend’s kids pictured. As a rule they were either crappy snapshots or cheesey Sears photos. (Ken, your pix were always the exception to the rule.)
Once I had children I recognized the motivation to send pictures of one’s kids was awfully powerful, but I wanted to do it a bit differently. I started in 2001, when Lex was barely 8 mos old.
2001
The actual motivation behind this picture was the fact that our house was so incredibly messy, every shot we had of the kids had a background of clutter and crap. So I made a “virtual room” for them. Nothing in the shot is real, except for the kids (and the scans of photos, tho the frames are digital…. note the World Trade Towers).
Mommy would have been proud of the shine on those floors, huh?
2002
This was done by Lis on her first and only foray into the world of digital imagery. One long night on the computer, a crash course using a program called Painter, and she produced this masterpiece. A Winter Wonderland hand-drawn on a computer.
2003
A friend took this shot on a visit to Central Park just after Thanksgiving that year.
It was just too fun (and easy) to pass up.
2004
I was at a loss what to do last year and started searching the Web for a graphic to inspire me. Found an illustration of a Christmas Elf (not a fairy, mind you… an elf). I really enjoyed doing this one and it’s gotten lots of compliments, so I just had to come up with something for this year.
2005
I kinda like what I ended up with this year. Still have mixed feelings about it, tho. It’s not what I originally envisioned, but hey…. that’s the way it goes. Hopefully I got it done in time to get printed and mailed to y’all by Christmas, but if you can’t wait and want to know what it looks like CLICK HERE. If not, we hope to get it to you by Christmas (true, it does look doubtful, but you’ll get it eventually).
Happy Holidays!!
Gary & Lis