Portrait of a friend

Janine just drew this portrait of one of her friends to take over to her house. Given that they want to play outside, I hope it is delivered indoors first.

Janine got a very nice art set for Christmas two years ago and it has provided hours of creative fun and many portraits.

Snowman (woman?)

Last week Janine and her friend Jessica built snowmen in the backyard. As you can see they got very creative with the pine fronds and bamboo leaves.

This one even looks a bit like a hula dancer more than a traditional snowman. But all of that is now covered in a layer of new snow. We are in the middle of six more inches.

Freeze thaw cycle

As all that snow has melted then frozen again, Bobbie has been great about knocking the icicles down from our roof. The back is the biggest challenge as it is a three story drop from the roof to the driveway.

Here she is using an extension pole borrowed from the neighbors. (Thanks Sue and Tom.) Previously we opened the window and waved a broom at the icicles to knock them down.

I am so glad she keeps ahead of it because there's more snow due tonight.

Shakespeare Festival 3

Sarah and Janine both played the same role of Olivia. Even the same scene, just a little later in it.

For Sarah's scene her friend Marcella joined her. They did quite well. Their voices and energy filled the theatre.

Traditionally, after our turn in the competition we all go out for dinner. Because of the snow we stayed very close to home this year dining at a restaurant within walking distance. We got home fine, but as you can see in earlier posts, we were in for a few days after.

Shakespeare Festival 2

Here's John with the Bard himself.

John's scene was from Love's Labours Lost in which he played Berowne's. Naturally we thought he was pretty good. It is his nature to be the first to memorize his lines. This allows him to work on his blocking and intonation.

This time Bobbie worked particularly on the meaning of the monologue. At times Shakespeare, was quite ribald and this scene is no exception. The good news is that it was in reference only.

Shakespeare must have loved mythology because in this, as well as many other scenes, he uses mythological creatures as metaphors. Blessed with a great memory, John recalled that Argus was the creature with a thousand eyes. But Berowne would conquer his love despite Argus' gaze.

Shakespeare Festival 1

This year was Janine's first time to participate in the Shakespeare Festival sponsored by the Public Theater. Here she is with her friend Jenny. They are performing a scene from Twelfth Night. Janine is Olivia and Jenny plays Viola.

Like all of Shakespeare there are many mistaken identities with cross dressing leading to many.

Here Olivia has just lifted her veil to reveal her beauty just after her speech revealed her vanity. Viola plays to these weaknesses.

Participating in this event forces the kids to dig deeper into the meaning of the scene and better appreciate the poetic language that is Shakespeare. And since we are a family of hams, they also get to perform and enjoy.

(Please excuse the rough quality of the photo. It is a frame grab from a video. I would have uploaded it, but the sound quality is very poor.)

The gift of sunshine

God gave us a little sunshine after the big storm. Now those of you in the Midwest (and you know who you are) usually experience clear skies after a big storm. Here, it's a different. It usually stays cloudy but clouds of a different nature than the storm clouds.

Like Ernie Banks, I love "God's own sunshine." Most of the driveway is melted down to the pavement (the $75 to have it plowed was worth every penny) and the sidewalk has been dry since Saturday afternoon. This photo was taken this afternoon, but Saturday afternoon was exactly the same weather.

Most of the kids' events have been cancelled or postponed. There is so much snow to move, the crews have been overwhelmed. I had a client meeting this morning and the usual 30 minute drive was 50 instead. There are large washboard-like patches of compacted ice and snow on the freeways. One of the old country roads turned arterial near our house has been closed since Friday night. Several trees fell from the hill above onto the road and others are hanging over the edge ready to fall at the slightest breeze.

Now get ready for the next one. The prediction is for another storm starting tomorrow at noon with 10 inches in store. Let's hope we don't wake up Wednesday for a repeat of this photo from Saturday of our front porch.

The big snow

It started yesterday afternoon at about 3 PM and continued through the night. It snowed and snowed, quite heavily overnight. So much that we had 17 inches at our front door by 10 this morning.

Now that it is tapering off, it's time to start to shovel. Here's Bobbie getting started. At this point she has about four feet cleared from the front door out to the driveway.

We left the car at the top of the driveway last night so we could get out if we had to. But everything has been cancelled for today and tomorrow. So we are in the house for the weekend.

Well, not ALL of us. Janine was at a sleep over last night. It was a tough trip for her to walk two doors down.

The last time it snowed this much was in March of 1993. That time was BK for us, (Before Kids). Bobbie and I lived in a condo. That monthly association fee is sounding pretty good right now...

"Do you poop out at parties?"

Last month I had a client meeting in Jamestown, NY and found this mural downtown. It's next to the Lucy/Desi Musuem that celebrates Jamestown's most famous native and her first husband, Desi Arnaz.

This photo is a depiction of a favorite scene from the "I Love Lucy" show.

Like many things, the clip best speaks for itself. Now we all have seen it. But when was the last time you saw the backstory?

Also, keep in mind that Lucy and Desi laid the groundwork that defined the TV situation comedy.

The Nina at the Point

I just discovered this photo from last fall. Bobbie took Sarah, John and Janine down to the Confluence of the three rivers to board a replica of the Nina (of Pinta and Santa Maria fame).

Now I don't remember anything about Columbus sailing up Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River, portaging over the Allegheny Mountains and sailing down the Monongahela River to the confluence, but what the heck?

The point is that this is a great photo and I wanted to share it. (We don't have too many in which everyone is smiling and looking this good.)

Kids in the attic

This past Saturday we took down the Christmas tree and put everything away. In fact I got to do it twice: once in the morning at our church and again in the afternoon at home.

It felt great to complete the task for the year. But this year something was different...the kids clamored to go into the attic. I guess this is part of growing up. When they were small they would hide as soon as the drop stairs opened. Now it's another story.

They were a big help, but I hope this is not just a Tom Sawyer like passing fancy. Thankfully Christmas is once a year, so the preparation and put-away can be events instead of chores...I hope...

Happy New Year!

We all went to an all-family new year's party last week and had a great time.

Here's Janine with Mary ready to greet the new year and decade.

It was a lot of fun to go to a party with kids because they got so excited at midnight. They all poured out onto the street and made a lot of noise. I think the neighbors were OK with it because I heard someone banging pots from two directions. The family hosting the party owns a restaurant so they got some of the largest shrimp (prawns) that I have ever seen and eaten.

We all made it home by about 1:30 and slept in the next morning.

Real tree please

Ah the pleasures of a natural tree. This year we followed tradition and bought ours at the same lot on Camp Horne road as previous years. They even held prices. Twenty-seven dollars buys any tree.

As you can see this one has all the characteristic asymmetrical charm of a live tree. It even has an abandoned bird's nest in it.

But as always there is the challenge of keeping the tree up. Two years ago we bought yet another tree stand. It is a great idea. The tree goes into a gimbal-like mount that fits into a stand at any angle.

Once you have the tree right, simply lock the mount into the base and there you have it.

There's only one thing they got wrong- securing the tree into the mount. Here they use four old-fashioned bolts that have a lot of play in them. As a result the mount is secure in the base, but the tree shifts in the mount and veers menacingly.

This year it happened within the first 24 hours and we got it fixed fairly well. Last year it happened when Santa came to the circle. I watched the tree as it toddled to the side. So I left the crowd and came in right away. As Bobbie came in the door she asked what happened to me and finding me on the floor with my head under the tree, had her answer in a glance.

Perhaps the tree falling over is now a Christmas tradition as well.

This year's big gift...

...was the Snuggie! All three got one and as you can see, they love them.

Christmas was subdued this year because a stomach virus was going through the household. Hence we had chicken broth and noodles for Christmas dinner instead of the traditional roast beef and yorkshire pudding. I think the kids appreciated the Snuggies even more to fend off the chill.

We are now all recovered and working our way back into eating what we want again. One can eat just BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) for only so long.

Sledding

John really loves amusement parks and roller coasters in particular. Here he is narrating his own ride in our backyard. Monday afternoon John, Janine and several kids in the neighborhood had a great time sledding.