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Well, it's official. We're selling our house.

We signed the paperwork tonight with our realtor (who also happens to be a longtime dear family friend) and it's going on the market. We've been planning it for months - moving stuff from the basement and the garage - but now it's real.

It's real, Jim.

Sorry - as with most major changes in life, I have to take them slowly. This one's particularly unsettling because we'll be showing the house, having to scoot the boys out quickly, keep it relatively straightened (ha!), the whole bit.

Vincent is fine with it. He knows he'll be going to a bigger house and will get to sleep in the same room with his brother - something he's totally on board with.

But it's me that's having the issues. We've been here 5 years. We brought both boys home to this house. It's our first house. And I'm a sentimental bastard.

Oh well - it's all about the adventure, right? So you'll probably hear a whole lot more about this over the next few months. We could show it as early as this weekend, so prepare yourself for a hilarious missive about some jerk who's asking me about how much my oil bill is every month.

Okay. Time for another beer.

Photo of the Moment

The sight I see most days when leaving in the morning and/or coming home at night. Pretty depressing at 8:10 a.m. Pretty awesome at 7:00 p.m.

More Music!

Last weekend, Vincent and I attended a performance of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf performed by the Kennett Symphony. It was a free childrens' concert (donations accepted) intended to help kids appreciate classical music and the act of seeing it live.

I know - ROCK AND ROLL!!!!!

Despite it's erudite description, it was pretty fun. Members from each family of instruments came out front first to describe and perform their instrument by itself. Most did kid-oriented or funny little gags. Our faves were "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the tromboner's classic up and down slides. They never get old.

It took a solid 40 minutes of descriptions and short performances before the headliner got going but once it did, it had Vincent's rapt attention. Here were the key components:

Narrator: The Mayor of Kennett Square(!) and his deep, expressive (think James Earl Jones)voice describing the duck, bird, wolf, cat, grandfather, etc.

Characters: People from a local dance troupe dressed as the characters hopping about as the orchestra played their themes. Notable question of the afternoon from Vincent: "Why is Peter a girl?"

Music: The coolest part. As most of us remember, each character is "voiced" by the orchestra. Peter is the strings, the hunters are the percussion (blam! blam!), the wolf is the french horn, etc. Just a great way to break down something huge and unwieldy like an orchestra for kids to understand. Prokofiev knew his sh*t!

I was impressed that Vincent enjoyed it for as long as he did. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a tiny lump in my throat watching him enjoy music as much as he did. Even if it was music acted out by dancers in fake beards and feathers.

P-Cups

This has been an everyday occurrence now that Peter is on two legs. He ambles into the kitchen, pops open the cup cabinet and explores/destroys.

Enjoy. It becomes zen-like after about 30 seconds.

The Music Teacher

This week is Music Week at Vincent's school. They sent home a note requesting that any parent with musical ability bring their instrument to school to show the kids and play a little bit.

After some coaxing by my beautiful wife, I agreed to bring my saxophone in. I've been playing for 20 years now and don't play it as much as I used to, but since this wouldn't be a concert as much as a show & tell, I figured, why not?

So I showed up this morning, watched the goings-on for a few minutes before they introduced me as, "Vincent's Daddy, Mr. ___." That's right. I'm a Mr. (Last name left out to protect....oh I don't know. I'm paranoid about the internet.)

I. Am. Now. Officially. Old.

They had the kids right up against me in what had to be the closest I've ever been to an audience ever. That in itself was kind of scary. I mean, this isn't your typical crowd. This is 3, 4, and 5 year olds!

So I opened the case and showed them all the pieces - the strap, mouthpiece, reed, neck, bell, etc. and tried to have them relateable. The mouthpiece makes a "ducky sound" all by itself, the giant fuzzy cleaning thing that stays in the sax when I'm not playing it is "super silly."

I busted out some low notes and high notes, along with a little "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Kids laughed at the jokes, yelled things back to me about their brothers have saxophones that were "bigger than that one," and seemed to altogether enjoy it.

There was one problem, though. Vincent wasn't there.

The poor kid had a fever that kept him out of school. It figures that the day I was going to drive him to school, "in Daddy's car" and hang out with him and his teachers is the day he stays home. If it makes you feel any better, he didn't seem too bothered by it. When I called home after I was done, he ran down the list of his friends and asked if I saw them. "Did you seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Ashley? Did you seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Brandon?"

So all in all it was kind of cool. They told me I could come back "anytime." Next time I'll bring some friends and we'll go off on a whacked out free jazz session and see if they're still into it. Wait. That might make him sicker.

Baby Steps

I alluded to Peter walking a couple of posts ago. This proves that he ain't no joke. He couldn't let Vincent be the only one who walked by 10 months, could he? On top of learning this most useful of feats, he also seems to be thinking about a medical career. Who knew?


Peter, through his publicist, has gone on record saying, "It wasn't so tough. I saw that sweet doctor kit and wanted it. So I pushed myself up on my walker and headed out alone, without a net, so to speak. What's that? Where are my clothes? Clothes Schmothes. I can walk now!"

Photo of the Moment

Title: Our Family

Medium: Disney Guys