Friday, January 26, 2007

All He Really Wanted Was Some Fruit

Fortunately, here in Mountain Lakes we only have to deal with squirrels and deer, and maybe the occasional bear.  But nothing like this.  Perhaps it would have been better to have protected the fruit trees with some chicken wire -- certainly the poor dogs would have thought so.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Olivia's Birthday

Turns out nieces and nephews grow up just as fast as our own kids do.  A case in point is that Olivia is already three years old!  So last weekend, we traveled down to Maryland to help her celebrate.  It  was a whrilwind two-day extravaganza, capped off by a party at Chuck-E-Cheese's.  As is fairly obvious from the pictures, I drew Matthew duty at the party.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Who Dat?!?

Here's a great Saints-related article from today's NY Times.  It really captures, in the context of this one family, the relationship of the Saints to Louisianians.  I, as many of you know, am much more like the two aunts than like the father.  An eternal optimist, I suppose.

Actually, in thinking about the Saints' upcoming playoff game against the Eagles over the last week or so, I've been unable to avoid playing through in my mind the many potential ways they might find to lose the game in crushing fashion.  What will it be this time?  The usually-reliable Saints kicker shanks an extra-point attempt?  A last minute special teams breakdown leads to a winning score for the Eagles?  Drew Brees, who has been so great all year, throws a completely out-of-character bonehead interception at a key moment?  Reggie Bush fumbles at the Eagles 2-yard line as the Saints drive for the winning score? 

As you can tell from the above, I bear the scars of having been a Saints fan for a long time.  This means, of course, that I must prepare for the worst.  But I will be hoping for the best.  GEAUX SAINTS!!!

Stephen's 6th Birthday Party

We had Stephen's 6th birthday celebration with friends on Saturday.  We find attendance is better if we hold off on the party until January, instead of trying to have it near his actual birthday.  For whatever reason, it seems people have less to do the first week of January than the latter part of December.

Anyway, we held the party at the "Funplex", a name which aptly describes this sprawling conglomeration of video and arcade games, go-cart tracks, laser tag, party facilities and, of course, the "Foam Frenzy".  Here are some pictures from the event.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Matthew's First Day of Preschool

Matthew was not to be denied any longer.  While we were a little reluctant to send Matthew to preschool last fall, when he was still only two, his pleas to be permitted to go to school have intensified over the last several months.  He just does not understand why all the other kids in the family get to go to school and he does not.  And then there was the unpleasantness with the class he was taking at the Y.  So, we enrolled Matthew this semester at Scribbles Preschool, just down the street from home, and Tuesday was his first day.  You can see from the pictures how excited he was.  From all accounts it lived up to his expectations.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Happy 2007

Happy New Year, everyone.  It's hard to believe we're rolling into 2007 already!  I'm sure everyone will be happy to hear that one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more frequently to this website.  Here's my first 2007 post.  I've put a few pictures of our family New Years celebration, State of Nature style.  The kids stayed up (almost) till midnight.  Around 11pm we had a "toast" and then went down to the basement to bust open a special pinata, which Lisa had stuffed with party toys and candy (free, of course, of wheat, gluten, nuts and artificial colors and flavors).  A got a few pictures along the way -- hope you enjoy!