Uber Kids

Off to Ohio!

2012-01-07T09:36:00.001-05:00

America NEEDS talent

2011-12-30T10:32:00.001-05:00

Keira, while I was singing in the car: "You should be on America NEEDS talent"

Keira gets a haircut

2011-12-29T15:00:00.001-05:00

Before and after.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T01:03:00.001-05:00

Big gifts. Owen an Xbox, Keira a Nintendo 3DS.

With Santa

2011-12-15T15:16:00.001-05:00

Canoe

2011-12-15T15:15:00.001-05:00

Keira Drawings

2011-11-29T09:25:00.001-05:00

Pretty impressive for a 7yr old. I like how each girl is different. Her favorite is the color one but I really like the short hair one too.

Keira's picture to her great grandfather

2011-11-14T15:19:00.005-05:00

Keira's great grandfather passed away several years ago, but had a close relationship with both Owen and Keira. Two nights ago, Keira drew this picture before she went to sleep for the night. She said in the saddest voice to Emily (and this breaks my heart):

Give this to Grampa GG, if you see him again

(tears!!!!!)

The picture is of both of them together. We think the scribbles for eyes might indicate she's crying but we're too sad to ask.

Lunch at the "secret" park

2011-11-12T12:22:00.001-05:00

Owen's third basket of the year

2011-11-03T07:50:00.001-04:00

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T19:07:00.004-04:00

Keira is a Monster High girl, Frankistein. Owen is a G I Joe ninja "Snake Eyes".

A moment to not forget

2011-10-31T10:37:00.002-04:00

Down 2-1, fourth inning (games usually go to five), bases loaded, Owen steps to the plate. His old coach is in the opponent’s dugout, encouraging his team to hold the lead. Jack, an old kindergarten friend on the field, hunched over, looking to make a play. Owen looks at the first two pitches, both balls. He watches the third pitch go by, called strike, the fourth sails by for ball three. Fouls off the next pitch back into the catcher’s stomach. A few minutes are given for the catcher to recover. I check in on Owen, he complains about the called strike “It was WAY outside!” As I run back up at the line to coach first base, all I can think is just “throw a clear ball and walk him, please”. Much more of a competitor and leader than me, Owen decides otherwise and smashes the next pitch out to gap between the left and center fielder. Base clearing double to the fence! Parents are going crazy in the crowd, big smile on Owen’s face as he looks back from second base at me, teammates chanting Owen’s name from the dugout. 4-2. Best hit of his baseball career to date.

The game finished up with Owen pitching and getting the first two outs in the fifth inning. Because of little league rules, I have to pull him, so I move him to first base and brought in a teammate to try to get the last out. The fourth pitch is hit right to our second baseman. He fields it perfectly but thows it into the dirt towards first base. Owen stretches, backhands the ball off the ground. First base coach of the opposing team yells “SAFE” but the ball was clearly in Owen’s glove, foot on the bag before he falls over, off-balance from making the play. Umpire makes the empathic call: “OUT”. Game over.

Just a minor game but it’s so fun to see the little man making plays. All the hard work that kid has put in over the past year looks to be paying off.

Owen's second basket of the year

2011-10-25T15:37:00.002-04:00

He's starting to get the hang of it now!

Keira's beard

2011-10-23T09:52:00.001-04:00

Rest and pice

2011-10-20T21:12:00.001-04:00

Keira's fish, Mylo, died tonight. Keira drew this. It reads 'Rest and Pice for Mylo'

The boy is cute but he can be aggravating at times

2011-10-17T14:09:00.002-04:00

As our young boy matures, we've discovered that he's more stubborn than most. Case in point...

Reading.

He has all the "Diary of a Whimpy Kid' books, he's read them through several times over. He loves these books, yes. But the main reason? Because he refuses to read anything else! We've tried to introduce him to several other books, willing to buy him "Big Nate", "Magic Treehouse" or "Percy Jackson" but he doesn't even entertain the idea. And, as exhausted parents often do, we decided that this is battle not worth waging for the time being. Fast forward to last night...

It's bedtime; time for him to read for his 30 minutes. Knowing he's going to pull out "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" for the umptenth time, I search Amazon.com for boy books. First on the list is a book I thought was named "The Heroes of Olympus". I read a description and I was sold. Sounded like an awesome book and it got rave reviews. However, it's a book in the Percy Jackson series, a series we've argued about before. I approach Owen, told him the book and the minute I said "Percy Jackson", he said "NO" and walked to his room. Of course, I followed him in his room and started asking him about this book he's reading at school. For about a week or so, he's been bragging about reading "a 500 page" book during his reading time at school. I wanted to know why this book captivated him and figure out more about (hoping I could figure out a series and buy it to read at home). It was around that moment something clicked for him as we spoke. "Look up 'The Lost Hero' dad" (the book he's reading at school). "Why?", "Well, there's a kid in it named Percy" "WHATTT?" and now he's doing his cute laugh because he's realizing that he's been reading a Percy Jackson book all along and loving it! "The Heroes of Olympus" is the name of the series and at school he's been reading the first book in the series! AGGGHHH!!!! So many times we've been through this with this kid! He fights and fights and fights us, then turns out he loves whatever it is we force him to do. And I'm sure we'll do it again and again and again.

Owen's First Points!

2011-10-09T08:04:00.003-04:00

Owen's playing basketball for the first time this season! Yesterday, he scored his first points of the season. #50 gets the ball near the free throw line and heaves up a jump shot a little after the 40 second mark. I like the little hop he does on the way back down the court. Proud dad!

Owen playing chess with Grandpa

2011-08-24T11:02:00.003-04:00

He's 9 in this picture. The game lasted 2+ hours, ended in stalemate.

Ew, I'm Hideous!

2011-08-24T10:55:00.002-04:00

"Ew, I'm Hideous!" - Keira, as she looked down at her clothes before we entered Evo's. She had spent most of the day hiking at a Herpetology summer camp.

Small not working

2011-08-11T08:06:00.002-04:00

"Just another reason being small isn't working for me!"

Keira after being placed in the 4 to 5 year old group at gymnastics camp.

Voice Mails from Keira

2011-08-01T15:08:00.002-04:00

Last week, I left on a business trip, leaving a very sad group of kids at home with Mom. The ride to the airport was not pleasant, filled with tears and sadness. However, one of the highlights of the trip was hearing my daughter's voice when she called and left a message. For the most part, she was usually upbeat and silly, which made me laugh. Google Voice fortunately lets user embed voice messages so here area bunch:

I like how she goes from sad to giddy in less than a second on this one

This one has an Owen cameo

ROAR!

I like the "Tah-Tah" sign off on this one

This was actually from my first day back in the office:

Washington DC Trip - Summer 2011

2011-07-11T11:18:00.001-04:00

Washington DC - July 2011

We spent a week on the road this summer. The first leg of our journey, we stopped in Charlotte, NC and stayed two nights with friends. The kids enjoyed playing in their backyard and we ate some incredible meals. The one full day, we visited a children's museum in downtown Charlotte, it was actually the second time we've been there (Christmas 2009, we stayed with family in Mooresville, NC and spent a day in the city, visiting the same museum). Charlotte is a lovely town, lot's of great home but there doesn't seem like there's a lot to do there.

We spent the fourth of July driving up to our hotel in Reston, VA. Our hotel was located in the Reston Town Center, which is pretty much a 5 x 2 block outdoor mall. Staying there gave us walking access to many different dinner and desert options. We ate at different restrurants each night enjoying Mexican, American, Asian, French and Pizza/Pasta fare. Of course, most nights concluded with a trip to one of the many ice-cream/yogurt/gelato places. And every morning, we walked to Starbucks! Our favorite meals were a greek Pizza at the American Tap house, Shrimp fried rice at Big Bowl and a pepper steak at Mon Ami Gabi (we ate there with great company, meeting up with Hester and Bill Church!). And the kids favorite meal was Ben and Jerry's, of course! The only big wiff was Viapano, which was a serve yourself Pizza/Pasta place. It was the last restaurant we ate at, coming after increasingly good meals, it was a big dissapointment.

Activities wise, we went into Washington DC two different days, taking the Metro each time. Highlights included the Abe Lincoln Memorial, The Korean Memorial, The War World 2 Memorial, A Capitol Tour, Ford's Theatre and our unique lunch at the American Indian Museum. We re-visited the American History Museum, the National History Museum and the Air and Space Museum but all were very crowded and we didn't stay too long.

We visited the DC Air and Space Museum days after we visited the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. That may have been the highlight of the trip. The museum held 150+ airplanes/helicopters/space vehicles all in several large hangers. You could view each plane from floor level or from cat walks above. A space shuttle was there along with the Enola Gay and a P-38, the fighter plane flown by Emily's grandfater during WW2. There was also an high observation deck you could view planes taking off and landing from Dulles airport.

The same day we visited the Udvar Hazy Museum, we spent the morning at Great Falls National Park, which is about 10 miles north of Reston. The "Great Falls" part of the name refers to falls of the Potamac River viewable from observation platforms, right off the main parking lot. We then walked a 2 mile trail along the river, that included a path down to the river (which Owen, Keira and I took) and rememants of a lock/canal system built in the 1700's. That was a surprise to see and we saw two deer walk really close to us! Both Owen and Keira loved hiking after initially complaining. Crossing my fingers that there's more of this in the future!!!!

Our final day was spent driving home. We left Reston at 4AM in the morning (on a Saturday), encountered a full stoppage on I-495 for 30 minutes for road contruction and made it back home by 8:30pm, battling t-storms through Northern Florida.

Overall, the trip was a HUGE success and we're anxious to get back!

A good threat

2011-07-07T08:17:00.001-04:00

Staying in a hotel room is tough with kids. They have to go to sleep earlier than parents, else the next day tired kids will rule the day. So an early bed time means quiet parents in the room while they sleep. Another issue is sharing beds with you siblings. Teasing and silliness ensue. Last night issues from both of these problems arose.
As most know, my son has OCD and if you're a cruel parent, you can use this to your advantage. Last night, after a very stressful day, we put the kids to bed at 8pm. Same bed. Craziness ensued. Owen got a fit of the giggles. I made multiple attempts to calm him down but failed everytime. In my exasperation, I went to my last resort. Attack the OCD! Yes, I'm a cruel parent. I'm not proud, in fact I'm writing this out of part guilt.
Owen collects Monopoly games. At the US Capitol gift shop, he bought "Americopoly": Monopoly with an American theme. He's already played a game and put the contents back in the box with more care than a mom caring for her newborn. So this game became the target of discipline when all else seemed to fail. I opened the box, pulled out a single $500 bill and threatened to flush it down the toilet if I had to talk to him one more time. Guess what? It worked. He was quiet and asleep in 5 minutes.

Owen's 9th Birthday pictures

2011-06-29T08:31:00.006-04:00

A little late but here's a few pictures of him opening presents at his Grandparents house...

My Jr Docents

2011-06-26T10:18:00.001-04:00

Keira and Owen spent a week of their 2011 summer becoming junior docents and the Salvador Dali museum. Saturday they both stood by a painting and dispensed info it. They both did great, especially Owen who hammer it up with guests. His frequent use of the phrase "As you can see..." was especially memorable. I highly recommend this camp to any St Pete parent. It exceeded my expectations and my kids reaction to it surprised.

Kids at Disney over Memorial day weekend

2011-06-03T11:26:00.006-04:00

Easter 2011 Family Picture

2011-04-25T08:19:00.002-04:00

Go for the face

2011-04-22T14:18:00.001-04:00

Last night, in the middle of the 5th inning, Owen's baseball team, the Blue Jays, were tied 5-5. Owen's best friend was pitching. Owen ran over to him while he was throwing warm-up pitches, they spoke for about a minute, Bailey nodded and Owen ran back to third base. Being curious what 9 year olds are saying to each other in these situations, I asked Owen what they were talking about. He grinned from ear to ear and says something along these lines, interlaced with laughter:

Owen:

I told Bailey to think of someone he hates. He said . I told him to look at Austin's glove (the catcher) and think the glove is that kid's face. Now throw the ball as hard as you can at his face and keep doing it.

Me:

"Whoa! Where did you get that idea from?"

Owen:

"I do that all the time when I'm pitching"

For Owen, mighty Owen, was advancing to the bat

2011-04-06T08:37:00.004-04:00

Through 8 games of his little league season, Owen had only two hits (in his first game) and a bunch of walks and strike outs. He feared getting hit by a pitch and would get defensive, dropping his bat and backing up, the minute the pitcher pulled back his arm. It was tough to watch. However, in practice, his swing and form were beautiful to watch. We both knew if he could get past his fear, he could be a hitting machine. But things looked bleak and I even discussed maybe taking next season off. But in the mean time, he kept working with his coach. They tried many different drills and approaches. And it finally seemed to click last night. He came to the plate looking like he wanted to hit. He swung at strikes, laid off the bad stuff and kept his form for all three at-bats. He didn't get a hit but he had a big foul shot after good contact, something that hasn't happened since the first game. And he walked twice, which I credit to him looking like he could hit the ball if he was thrown a strike. But best of all, he looked like he was having fun and that he wanted to hit. He didn't looked scared.

I don't know if I'll ever really figure him out. And I don't know what made it switch for him last night. I asked him and he just said "If I get hit by a pitch, I get hit! Then I go to first!". This is something I told him a hundered times but for the first time HE said it. Why did it just seem to click out of nowhere? Why wasn't it a gradual change? I don't know but it was a relief to seem him having fun again. And it's great knowing he'll be contributing to his team at the plate.

Defensively, he was incredible last night. He pitched the first two innings, stuck out 5 and left the game with his team up 3-0. No kid hit any ball out of the infield on him. And he got out of a bases loaded, zero out jam in the first inning. Two kids he struck out were from his team last season, which made him really happy. One of those kids he pumped two fast balls past him and then changed him up on the last strike. The kid's swing seems about a full second before the ball hit the glove. It was beautiful. The other kid on his team last year is about twice Owen's size and Owen made him look foolish. A David and Goliath type matchup.

Disney Spring Break 2011

2011-04-02T08:34:00.001-04:00

Pics from Spring break 2011 at Disney.

Opening Rays game 2011

2011-04-02T08:28:00.001-04:00

We were fortunate to score great seats hours before the Rays opening game this year. They raised the 2010 AL east banner, introduced all they players and had their ace pitching. Unfortunately, so did the O's.

Weedon Island hiking pictures

2011-03-21T11:11:00.001-04:00

Waiting...

2011-02-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

"Would you like breakfast now?" - Me

"No, I'm waiting for Mommy to come home because she always says 'Yes' to me" - Keira

Pictures!

2011-02-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

Glazer's museum, Tampa

Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa

Tree climbing in our neighborhood

Spy cat

2011-02-20T12:27:00.001-05:00

Keira in her spy cat gear for spying on Owen and his friend.

Keira's future profession(s)

2011-02-16T07:59:00.003-05:00

From Emily:

On the way home tonight, Keira relayed this to me: "When I grow up, I am going to be a Veterinarian on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays". I asked her what she was going to do the rest of the days off. She said "I have Tuesdays off and on Wednesdays, I am a dolphin trainer at Sea World".

Owen's "15 minutes of fame"

2011-02-11T09:24:00.002-05:00

Cool School: Douglas Jamerson Elementary: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

Teamwork

2011-01-25T20:56:00.002-05:00

I explained to Keira tonight on her birthday... "7 years ago today, your mom and I made something special".

She said "you mean just mom".

"No, both of us. When a man and a women are in love they can make a baby.".

Her response, in high pitch...

"TEAMwork!"

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Owen's letter to the tooth fairy

2011-01-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Owen had an infected tooth pulled at the dentist. He's been agonizing about the procedure for the past week, mostly fearing pain. When he came out of the office after the procedure, he couldn't stop talking about how it didn't hurt, how much he loved our dentist and about the tool that extracted the tooth. Of course, he asked for the tooth prior to extraction and he put it under his pillow last night with this letter above. Translation below:

Dear Tooth Fairy

Can I get $15 because I have to go through all this stuff like rinsing salt water on my gums, getting padding (gauze) on my gums and the dentist pulled it out.

Owen and Keira and their new cousin, Samson

2011-01-11T09:43:00.001-05:00

Owen on monkey bars

2011-01-11T08:11:00.002-05:00

I love his thumbs up at the end.

Cats!!!!

2011-01-01T08:39:00.002-05:00

"The Car Cat"

"The Sombrero Cat"

"The Chad Cat'

"The Cotton Candy Cat"

"The Rudolf Cat"

"The Alien Cat"

Last night, we sat around our big table and spoke about 2010 and our plans for 2011. One of the things we discussed was that in 2010, Keira drew 174 pictures, 73 of which were cats. Of course I just made up those numbers but I wanted to point out that drawing is one of her strengths. The first day of 2011 she seems really determined to draw more cats than last year. She's already turned out 6 and she's only a few hours into 2011! If you notice,"The Chad Cat" has a beard.... also featured: the Rudolf Cat, Sombrero Cat, the Alien Cat, the Car Cat and the Cotton Candy Cat.

new Nee record!

2010-12-24T12:23:00.001-05:00

Owen's new table tennis return challenge record...

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At the park

2010-12-23T16:53:00.001-05:00

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Owen's letter to Santa

2010-12-21T11:44:00.001-05:00

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With Santa

2010-12-20T18:35:00.002-05:00

Owen, the clarinet player

2010-12-20T18:34:00.001-05:00

Important Santa Question

2010-12-19T21:56:00.002-05:00

Owen: "Dad, when I'm older, will you tell me if Santa is real so I'll know if I need to buy my kids presents?"

"But what if she celebrates Hanukkah?"

2010-12-18T14:41:00.002-05:00

Today, my driving upset an older women in a mall parking lot. After a sincere apology, her look of disgust hardened towards me. I couldn't resist so with a smile, I yelled out "Merry Christmas, Ma'am!". In the backseat, Keira quipped "But what is she celebrates Hanukkah?".

Saturday morning fun

2010-12-18T08:51:00.001-05:00

Keira drawing....

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What's Interest

2010-11-26T15:53:00.002-05:00

I was talking to Owen about his savings account and I asked him if he knew what interest was. He said:

"It's when someone finds you interesting?"

Number one: Bears!

2010-11-15T18:19:00.003-05:00

Owen told his extended family, last night, over dinner, why he doesn't like camping..

"Because, number one : Bears!"

It's been a good week for Owen.

2010-11-10T10:29:00.002-05:00

At school he received a "Trail Blazer" award. It's given four times a year to be top student in each class. He also scored very high on a recent 3rd grade assessment. And he's a favorite of his classmates and the staff. He was recently invited to eat lunch with a second grade teacher! Very impressive considering this is another new school for him, this is his 4th school since Kindergarten. He seems to look forward to going everyday. Mommy and Daddy are proud.

In Baseball, he's the team's regular starting catcher. "He has a magnet in his glove" - I was told last night. He's saved many runs with his ability to stop a lot of wild pitches. His last two outings as Pitcher have been outstanding too. Last night, he pitched as our closer and didn't give up a run. Putting up a zero in that inning put the game out of reach for the other team. At the plate, he's been heating up too. He's much more comfortable hitting. At the beginning of the season, he seemed terrified of the bigger kids pitching. He's been averaging a solid hit every other at bat. Last night, for the first time, I noticed him going after the ball more than looking to avoid it. I don't think anyone could argue that he's vital to the success of our team. It's all pretty amazing considering he's the youngest (and maybe the shortest) on the team.

Just a few weeks back, Emily and I were getting worried about him again. He was reverting back to his non-eating ways of a year ago for a few days and he just seemed sad. He's definitely turned things around for the better.

Keira is smart

2010-11-06T23:14:00.002-04:00

Owen, Keira and I watched the modern Karate Kid tonight. Midway through the movie, the "kid" makes questions his master (Jakie Chan) about not driving a car. The exchange lasted a minute and there wasn't another reference in the movie about how Chan's character doesn't drive. Near the end of the movie, there's an emotional scene where the viewer finds out the Chan's character's wife and son died in a car wreck. Immediately, Keira (6), says:

"That's why he doesn't drive a car".

I didn't even make the connection until she said it. I know every parent has these moments where they are really impressed with their child but it's fun when it happens to you.

I can't say "No" to this face!

2010-10-26T09:05:00.003-04:00

Owen as Catcher

2010-10-13T11:26:00.004-04:00

This little league season is Owen's fifth. Two in single A, two in double AA and this one, his first, in triple AAA division. In all those prior seasons, I encouraged him to play catcher. He has the skills and body type to excel at that position and it's a good place to be more involved with the game. He's been reluctant/defiant anytime I brought it up for what I saw as three main reasons:

1. He didn't like wearing a cup.

2. He was scared of getting hit by the ball.

3. He was afraid of trying a something new (a frequent problem).

This season, I had given up on poking him about it. He was a decent fielder and pitcher, he could at least contribute in that way, is what I figured. So, when he asked if he could play catcher Saturday, I was shocked.

He practiced as catcher Saturday, seemed to like it but said he wasn't ready to play the position during the game. Tuesday, I was working on the team positions and put him down for the third inning to catch. If he put up a fuss, I had a backup plan. I broke the news on the drive over to the game and he seemed receptive to it. The third inning came around and I had butterflies. He later told me that he had them too. Every adult within earshot found out that it was his first time catching, I was so proud as he trudged out in the catcher gear. And guess what?

He looked outstanding in that inning.

He was always alert, kept the ball in front of him and made strong accurate throws back to the pitcher. He was aware of the base runners and somehow looked like he's been playing catcher for his entire ball career. Great form too! The inning ended and he asked to try it again. Fortunately, the game was going by fast so we had an unscripted 5th inning to play in. We put him in at catcher again, to his excitement. And in that inning, the Bulls (his team) seem to have found their starting catcher.

Backing up... through 6 AAA games, I had yet to see any team throw out a base runner. Maybe 5% of the time, the throw was accurate enough to make a play. The rest of the time, it wasn't even close.

So back to Owen... A runner was on second, looking to steal third. Several times during the at-bat, he held the runner back, catching the ball, rising up and arm cocked, ready to throw. After several pitches, the runner darted to third. Owen hesitated a second but threw a strike to the third baseman, to the left of the bag. The third baseman caught the ball, moved his glove over but the runner was on base when the tag was made. It was a great strong throw, a great catch but just a half second too late. That was the closest I've seen anyone get to be caught stealing. And during the inning, he also tossed off the catcher's helmet several times and covered home plate, like a champ. Amazing for a first time catcher.

Watching Owen overcome his fears while excelling at a new position couldn't make this dad prouder. It also helped that his team played very well and easily won the game.

The functional husband

2010-09-17T08:44:00.000-04:00

Driving the kids home from school yesterday, a man crossed the street in front of our car.

Me: "That's one tall guy!"

Keira, in her silly voice: "I bet he has lots of ladies who want to marry him!"

Me, a little perplexed by that comment: "ah, do you like tall guys?"

Keira: "No!"

Me, still perplexed: "Then why?"

Keira "Because he can reach lots of things!"

All 6 year old girls dream of a functional husband, I suppose.

Keira at Subway

2010-09-06T12:47:00.001-04:00

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Owen got me this morning...

2010-08-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

I asked Owen what he was playing on the laptop this morning. He responded flatly:

"Bloody War Games For Boys dot com"

Me: "What????"

Owen, laughing now: "I love it, it's so much fun!"

I ran over, looked at the URL and it was something harmless like "KidGamez.com". Well done kid, well done.

First day of public school!

2010-08-24T10:26:00.001-04:00

About 23 years ago or so, I transitioned from a 250 kid private school to a 1000+ kid public school. I still remember how scared I was that day. I was 11 at the time. Keira and Owen are much younger than I was and they went through the same thing this morning witbout any problems. I'm super proud of them both.

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Cork It, buddy!

2010-08-12T09:11:00.003-04:00

Owen frequently cuts Keira off mid sentence in a loud voice showing little regard or respect for her thoughts and ramblings. Emily and I frequently stop him but we can't catch it all the time (because both kids seem to ALWAYS be talking!). In the car yesterday, Keira had enough. She started in on a story, Owen typically cut her off with a story of his own. She shouted at him...

"CORK IT, buddy!"

40 pounds of fiestyness and I love it!

The best part of vacation...

2010-07-28T07:28:00.001-04:00

The best part of vacation is the tv in the bathroom, according to Owen.

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St Pete Beach

2010-07-26T14:33:00.001-04:00

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Keira trying to get a happy meal (Audio)

2010-07-24T09:14:00.001-04:00

That sound near the end is her kissing the phone :)

Great accessory...

2010-07-23T08:02:00.003-04:00

From Emily:

Man walking around Target today with a LARGE snake around his neck. It was fascintating watching the Target staff run after him and try to stop him. He simply ignored every request to leave and just starred straight ahead. My take: weird. Owen's take: scary. Keira's take: "Great accessory, I am totally going to do that when I grow up".

College anxiety

2010-07-13T08:09:00.001-04:00

Owen asked Emily if he can call her when he's off at college (10 years from now) because... "I might need help making decisions like if I have to choose between a poptart and a brownie for desert"

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Cake baking on the 4th of July

2010-07-04T10:47:00.001-04:00

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Rockin'

2010-06-27T19:24:00.001-04:00

"Those people... those people... those people were rockin'" - Keira passing a group of unique individuals while exiting the pizza joint tonight. Dyed hair, thigh high bright purple boots, arms coved in tatoos = unique.

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Busch Gardens fun

2010-06-25T10:28:00.002-04:00

Skyride Pictures

Keira on Teens

2010-06-22T08:20:00.003-04:00

"I don't want to be a teenager. All the boys just play video games. And all the girls just text each other."

Keira's rating of goodie bags

2010-06-21T12:57:00.002-04:00

"Declans's goodie bag is the best goodie bag I ever had"

- Keira after Declan's birthday party.

Fishing with cousins

2010-06-07T08:50:00.003-04:00

Busch Gardens pictures

2010-06-07T08:46:00.006-04:00

We spent Saturday morning at Busch Gardens with the kids and a few friends

Keira lost a front tooth!

2010-06-07T08:32:00.003-04:00

The going tooth fairy rate for a front tooth is $5 these days. I thought that was steep until I was told the tooth fairy was bringing $20 to their friends.

Owen closes out the final 2 innings for playoff save

2010-05-10T23:53:00.002-04:00

Tonight, Owen's AA Little League team won 4-3 in round 1 of the playoffs. Owen pitched the final two innings (5th and 6th) to secure the win.

The final innings were intense. He took the mound with a 4-2 lead. He coasted through the 5th inning with a ground out to first, followed by two strike outs. At that point, it appeared we had the win and celebration ensued. However, the other team insisted we had to play for 2 hours minimum and 8 minutes remained. So a 6th inning was in order. His team didn't score any runs in the top of the 6th, so Owen just needed 3 outs to secure the win, however, it was against the top of their order. He took the first kid to two strikes but the kid got a hit. An error on the throw to first by the infield moved the kid to second. Another error on the next batter moved the kid to third. He eventually scored on a single. The score was now 4-3 with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd. In past games, I noticed he weakens around 30 pitches. I knew his count was right around 30. But he surprised me. He seemed to harness the energy of the moment and started throwing strikes. After getting a strike out for out #2, he did a little fist pump. He was clearly focused at this point. His next pitches all came in extra fast and for strikes. He seemed to be throwing 5 mph faster, at least. He sent his last pitch right down the middle, the hitter tried to swing, dirt exploded off the catchers glove and his teammates mobbed him. I struggled to keep back tears, I was so happy and proud of him. Lots of family was in attendance, including his teacher! What a special night for our special boy!

Keira Art

2010-03-31T21:41:00.002-04:00

From KidsDrawings

Keira's Saint Patrick's Day Artwork

2010-03-23T09:40:00.002-04:00

From our little Irish Girl!

From KidsDrawings

I really love the detail in this one.

For example - look at the purple flower on the hat of the girl

From KidsDrawings

A big pot o' gold!

From KidsDrawings

Excellent Baseball Pictures from Today

2010-03-20T19:44:00.000-04:00

Surfer girls

2010-03-16T09:57:00.003-04:00

Keira drew this while her babysitter (who surfs) was here.

From KidsDrawings

Funny Part of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2010-03-14T09:21:00.004-04:00

Owen seems to have finally found some books that really makes him want to read (The Wimpy Kid books). We got him a second book yesterday and read a part that made us both laugh out loud last night.

------------------

Manny (the wimpy kid's little brother) keeps getting up at night and his parents let him stay up and watch TV. Greg (the wimpy kid) isn't happy about it...

"It's really not fair, because when Manny is with us, I'm not allowed to watch any shows I like.

All I can say is, when I was a kid there wasn't any of this "getting out of bed" stuff. I did it once or twice, but Dad put a stop to it real quick.

There was this book Dad used to read to me every night called "The Giving Tree." It was a really good book, but the back of it had a picture of the author, this guy named Shel Silverstein.

But Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids.

Dad must have know that picture kind of freaked me out , because one night after I got of bed Dad said...

(shows picture of his dad telling him this)

"IF YOU GET OUT OF THE BED AGAIN TONIGHT, YOU'LL PROBABLY RUN INTO SHEL SILVERSTEIN IN THE HALLWAY."

That really did the trick. Ever since then, I STILL don't get out of bed at night, even if I really need to use the bathroom.

Owen at Baseball 3/6/2010

2010-03-11T08:36:00.002-05:00

At Pitcher

At First Base

At the Plate

Keira Art

2010-03-11T08:25:00.002-05:00

Keira drew these at school yesterday

The Tooth Fairy's boyfriend

2010-02-26T08:46:00.003-05:00

Owen: "Guess what Keira? Everyone at schoot, except kindergarteners, know there is no tooth fairy".

Keira: "That's not true, Owen".

Owen: "It is! How can a little fairy fly around the entire world every night?"

Keira: "Maybe her boyfriend helps her"

Improvements to Keira's room

2010-02-15T08:32:00.003-05:00

Emily and I put a few things up in Keira's room this weekend. We added the picture hanging rod and those little buckets for her art supplies.

Keira playing tennis

2010-02-09T13:11:00.003-05:00

Dad the Barber

2010-02-09T13:01:00.005-05:00

Not only did I cut Owen's hair this past weekend... I cut Keira's too! It's hard to tell, but I removed about 4 inches. That's one cute little girl, I must say!

Here's the kids post hair cut

Owen

And Keira

More Keira Doodles

2010-01-26T10:27:00.004-05:00

Ponyo in the right lower corner and Totoro in the bottom left.

Not too shabby!

Owen's 2009 Christmas Story

2010-01-19T16:38:00.003-05:00

Owen's teacher typed out his version of our Christmas vacation.

(Click the image to see it bigger)

USE THE OTHER BATHROOM!

2010-01-08T11:17:00.001-05:00

A few days back I found Keira staring at herself in the bathroom mirror.

I was thinking how cute she was until, without breaking eye contact with herself, she blurted out : "GO USE THE OTHER BATHROOM!

White Christmas

2009-12-28T13:47:00.005-05:00

We spent our Christmas 2009 in Washington DC, right after one of the largest December snowfalls the area ever had. We first stopped near Charlotte NC for a few days and then continued the journey north.

The best memory I'll take from the vacation is Keira's grin to Owen while on Emily's hip in the National Gallery of art. Emily walked behind a nude sculpture and when Keira saw the "buns" she went into a full smile and pointed to it for Owen. Hilarious. I wish I had a picture of her at the moment.

Here are the pictures. Videos are on the picassa web album of the kids opening their presents from Santa in the hotel room.

Mistletoe

2009-12-16T10:47:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, Keira burst out of her room, held this drawing over the head of her Uncle Will and Aunt Christine and then laughed.

More Impressive Keira Art

2009-12-01T13:58:00.002-05:00

She's drawing all the time and getting good!

Mice

Self Portrait

Our Family after exercise (blue is the sweat)

Our Family

Keira Art

2009-11-24T13:35:00.005-05:00

Giant Cupcake

She puts an 'x' through pictures she doesn't like. But I liked this one.

I like the pink background in this one.

She wrote 'Mom' on the other side

Owen Pitching

2009-10-28T12:25:00.005-04:00

Kid pitch started midway through the Fall baseball season. Owen's had a few strikeouts. Click on the picture and it'll take you to our photo site to view the video. Two videos are there. Both are of Owen on the mound. I love his routine prior to pitching. He gets his feet right and the glove up. Awesome. One video is a strikeout and the other is him not trusting his 3rd baseman. The videos were taken from my phone, sorry for the poor quality.

2009 School Pictures

2009-10-19T14:26:00.005-04:00

Kids Art

2009-10-14T14:19:00.002-04:00

Clicking on the slideshow will bring you to a larger view of it.

"That's really creative"

2009-09-27T08:21:00.003-04:00

Emily noticed today's Google Doodle and showed Keira. (Today is Google's 11 birthday). Keira's response made me laugh:

"That's really creative"

Owen's first email

2009-09-10T10:33:00.007-04:00

Owen had a difficult time going to school today,

so he was allowed to write me a email.

-----

I love you dad.

My stumic hrts ido not went to git sic dad

am I going I do not went to git sick.

Hav a gud day dod I luve you dad am I noml?

dad iove owen

Busch Gardens Pictures from Sunday 9/6/09

2009-09-07T23:45:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Aftercare

2009-09-01T13:44:00.002-04:00

Schools started just last week and it's time to give some props to Keira. She's handled the transition to the new school like a champ. She's having a real positive experience, her mood is much better and she's excited about going to school everyday (but she won't admit it). And this is all despite being told by some girls on the playground that she couldn't play with them.

Keira: "Can I play with you?"

Mean Girl: "I already have friends"

Keira: "But you could have one more"

to which Mean Girl turned and ran away. Heartbreaking, huh? But she's doing awesome, despite this and other incidents.

Owen, on the other hand, is struggling. Every morning we're still told that he's not going and lots of tears are shed.

Last night, word crept out that they were going to aftercare (Emily's first day at her new job is today!). Anger, tears and yelling from Owen. Keira, excited. Owen's refusal was pretty intense. He was steadfast in his refusal to attend Aftercare. During the episode, with her head down and in a soft voice, Keira said to him:

"I'll hug you and hold your hand the entire time"

How sweet is she????