Senior Recital

Yesterday was John's senior piano recital. He has worked his way up from a six year-old playing simple pieces at the beginning of the program to playing Beethoven at the end of the program. Here's a brief portion of Beethoven's Piano Sonatina in G.

...and yes. I am a proud dad...

Easter 2015

Here is our official Easter portrait for this year. Bright sunny Easter morning to celebrate the good news of the Resurrection. Happy Easter and a blessed Passover.

Vincent and me...

Janine is on spring break this week so we got away to the Carnegie Museum of Art to see a special exhibit on color and Vincent Van Gogh. Part color theory, part art history, all about beauty, it was a fun experience, and with lunch nearby on Craig Street, between the Pitt and CMU campuses.

Happy Birthday!

For Throwback Thursday over on Facebook we submit a very young Corrine Paulson. The hand smocked dress came from England. (The damage to the photo was homemade.)

Happy birthday one week early!

Fish FRYday

This year during Lent, Janine, John and I are sampling the Friday fish fries at nearby Roman Catholic churches.

Today we had a late lunch at Saints John and Paul on PA Route 910 near I-79. Because this church is in the middle of an office park they start serving at 11 to bring in the lunch crowd.

This parish's fish fry is catered by the S&D Polish Deli (www.sdpolishdeli.com). Therefore the sides are pierogi and haluski instead of potatoes and hush puppies.

The pierogi are all very tasty, especially the mushroom and kraut as well as the haluski. But both shine when compared to the fish, which seemed to be prebreaded and sourced from Sysco.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! These are a big undertaking for any church. We go to these fish fries for the fun and fellowship...and naturally Janine saw someone she knew...

Last nice day...

On the last nice day two weeks ago, John took his bass and amp outside for a little impromptu concert and practice session.

A few days before when the weather was also agreeable, he played his guitar on a bench at the nature park behind our house.

Now we are confined due to snow, but John will be waiting for the next opportunity to get outside to play.

Colorado family reunion

One day late for Throwback Thursday on Facebook, so here it is one day late.

This is Sarah at age 9 when she and I went to Colorado to visit my family that summer.

It is lunchtime Mountain time, but we were up since 3:30 Eastern time to catch a flight to Philadelphia then change planes to Denver. We were exhausted!

It was a nice visit and today we have an artifact, a Ford Expedition that my sister picked up that evening for the trip.

Basement Steps

Here's our basement steps earlier today. Over the years the stringer board (upper photo, left side) had bowed out nearly three inches. This created gaps that left some of the steps supported only by nails,

To shore up the steps I cut that board then used a pipe clamp (lower photo, center) to bring the sides back together. Then I installed an extra board next to the cut one to transfer the load. However I had to punch holes in the wall for the clamp.

Still, it was worth it because it worked!

Next time I will patch the holes and paint the steps. In the meantime the basement steps are now structurally sound.

Who's who?

Here's Janine and her friend Lizzy in their Halloween costumes. They are...wait for it...dressed as each other! Yes I know it is hard to tell them apart, the costumes are that good. But that will simply have to do.

It's all great fun and a very clever idea. The study center they both go to on Fridays prohibited Halloween costumes. But sometimes restrictions focus creativity and this is one of those situations. Good job girls! Everyone liked it.

Saturday at the Warhol Museum

This past Saturday Janine, her friend Tessa, John and I visited the Andy Warhol Museum in the North Shore area across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh. This is the Silver Pillow Room, a recreation of one of the installations at the Factory, Warhol's New York studio. While we didn't see Grace Jones or any other celebrities, the photo below is our parking level reminder. I was reassured that Grace's fierce eyes would be guarding our car.

End of Summer

Here's the four of us about a month ago for Sarah's end of summer dinner out. We went to a restaurant in the Fairmont that was very creative so naturally we all had to have a taste of each other's dinners.

...just getting back into posting here. We will add more later...

Sunday Morning

It was great to have Sarah with us over Thanksgiving. This morning she shared her kitchen creativity. We had a breakfast of various cheeses, apples, toasted, thinly sliced bagette and a hash of cabbage and onions.

It all was very good, but the blessing was to spend some time with Sarah just chatting and sharing our thoughts.

Thanksgiving breakfast

Last night I assembled, and this morning I baked, a cheese, spinach and egg strada. It was very simple and tasted great. It may become a new Thanksgiving tradition. Than as I was cleaning up the kitchen sink backed up due to the 10 egg shells I put in there from last night's assembly. Once again a large number of egg shells groud to precise 1/4 inch squares makes the perfect drain trap bolus.

Thankfully this time I know spotted the problem before turning on the disposer and waste water spewed under the sink.

But I am thankful for so much today. We have been through so much this past year and a half after the death of my wife Bobbie. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful family, church, neighbors, homeschool and acting networks, the Caring Place families and staff. The list goes on and on.

Now on this happy confluence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, may The Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine unto you. And make He continue to hold us all in the hollow of His hand.

School Bench

Here's Janine and crew in a Saltworks sketch on bullying and a school bench. They are performing for some school assemblies tomorrow morning and this is one of the better ones. It is a well-written piece, But, while some of it made me cringe, it ended well.

Don't tell Moses

These are two burning bushes on the north side of our house and they are at peak color on top. However the bottom looks like it has a way to go yet. These are the largest of our burning bushes, the others are in the front garden. The rest of the year these are pretty dull shrubs. But right now they sure are not.