Stephen's First Communion

I'm continuing to catch up on the blog . . .

Stephen's First Communion was March 2, and it was a fantastic weekend. Family from all around made the trip to Northern NJ to share in the festivities. We had visitors from Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and North Carolina! What great turnout, and lots of good food and conversation.

Here is Stephen fully dressed and ready to head to the church.


More photos here.

Matthew Starts T-Ball

Here's a picture of Matthew all dressed and ready for his first day of T-Ball. He's been at it for a few weeks now, and let's just say he's got a long way to go to reach the level of David or Stephen. But he sure looks cute!

Easter 2009

We had a very quiet Easter this year, but a very nice one nonetheless. Despite the relative quiet and calm in the State of Nature, the Easter Bunny did find us, hiding Easter baskets, and eggs throughout the house. We also did our traditional egg dying/painting on Holy Saturday (see photo above). On Easter Sunday, I broke somewhat from the normal cuisine for this occasion, and deep fried a turkey. Although high winds, made the frying somewhat challenging, I managed to complete the task safely, and the finished product was fabulous.

For more pictures of the fun, click here.

Drinking The Kool Aid

If state-sponsored religion (or, in this case, town-sponsored religion) were legal, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, just might establish the Church of Lacrosse. I am only partially kidding. The people of this town seem to eat, sleep and live lacrosse 24-7-365. Stephen will be playing for the first time ever, so we received our "baptism" Saturday morning at the annual Mountain Lakes Lacrosse "Fun Run" -- the official start of the season. It was a real spectacle and, I have to admit, kind of fun. All the kids from all the teams, second grade through high school, gathered at the elementary school and went for a short jog around town as a group. Then, when they returned, they got an inspirational talk from the high school coach. I guess the rather obsessive commitment to this sport in Mountain Lakes pays off: I learned Saturday that the high school team is ranked 5th in the country this year.

The picture above is of Stephen, fully equipped for lacrosse. Except a jersey will presumably be added over the pads at a later time. More pictures here.

Parents vs. Play Station

Here's a little more ammo we can use in our constant battle to keep video game systems out of the house. So they don't just turn kids into slack-jawed zombies, they also cause physical harm.

Digging Deep For Good News

Guess you could call this a silver lining in the current economic situation. And it's not bad for the sharks either, as they don't really like to eat people anyway. At least that's what I'm told.

It's A Start

So this winter has been so cold and snowy we have been forced to dip our toes ever so slightly into the world of winter sports. First, a little ice skating, and then, a couple of weeks ago, some fun sledding on a local hill. At first the kids were a little reluctant to venture out into the arctic landscape, but after one or two runs down the hill, they were sold . . . that is, at least until Stephen got snow inside his clothes! Picture taking was a little rough, as I had to ride the sled down with Matthew over and over, but I did manage to get a few, including the one above, and some more here.