Photo of the Moment

It's Fall. We're still here. Just busy. Here's a great one of Pete (with cousin John in the background). Look for more soon...

It's School Time

The first day of school still feels so big, doesn't it? Rose and I actually felt kind of nervous this year. It was a big one - Vincent in full day kindergarten, riding the bus, wearing a uniform. It feels so much older than a 5 year old. And Peter's first day of Pre-K. His first time out of the house alone, without his brother. Ever.

Turns out, they were ready.

The duo on Vincent's first day, ready to take on the world.

Determined. Marching toward the bus stop. The wind at his back. Jedis on his back.

This one is a killer. We weren't going to be those parents taking a picture of their kid on the bus. We weren't until Bus Driver Carol said, "If you have a camera, go ahead and take a picture." So I couldn't resist. His face is amazing. 50% terror, 50% determination. He had some bus buddies to help him through it. He's loved it ever since.

Big Pete, ready to go. He was all for it. A few separation-induced tears when he stepped into the classroom, but after some curt prompting by his teacher ("Go. Just go. He'll be fine.") he did great.

"Cheeese. Ok, great. Now let's go to school, Mom. You and me. You're staying, right? Can you be the teacher? C'mon - it'll be fun. We get juice and crackers. And we have circle time. C'mon, Mom...."

Sweet Tooth

I know I owe you all some great first week of school photos. I'll get to them. For now though, you have to check this out. Take 4:32 out of your day. It's a song the boys have been loving since the first time I played it for them. "Put on the candy bar song" they say. While it's not written for kids, I've found that very early country or Texas swing songs or songs inspired by them, are great for the boys. There's a bounce and a clarity they love. David Rawlings and Gillian Welch are maybe the best purveyors of that sound right now.

For my musician friends and music appreciators, check out the guitar solo at the 1:30 mark. It's truly astonishing. For you lyric-centric folks, don't listen to the entire metaphor, or you'll suss out pretty quickly that it's a reference to a different kind of sweet tooth, but it's buried so deeply that the kids won't know until they're about 13 or so.

Final note - the crowd in this video might be the best audience in the history of audiences. The hang onto every. single. word. They laugh at the jokes, clap for the solo. They get it. Even though the video cuts out after awhile, this is the best version on YouTube for that reason.

So put on the candy bar song. You deserve it.

So Many Firsts

This is a big week of firsts for the boys, starting with Vincent's first official, organized, uniformed, instructional, competition-oriented soccer game. He's on The Black Team, which no matter which way you cut it, is badass.
Water break. Fighting fatigue, having just finished running for 90 minutes straight.

Action shot, taking the ball up. He didn't get a chance to score much but of the 10 kids on the field, only 3 really did. The rest floated with the pack.

It was still awesome. Go Team Black. Onward to History.

Milkzen

"Mom! Peter just ate a chocolate chip cookie then put on deodorant!"

-Vincent

Try a Lot of Tenderness

I realize that this doesn't seem fair. It's pure cuteness overload. You may think I set this shot up. Hired a kitten. Trained Peter to pet it just so. Feed it grass.

Nope. It's all real.

We were at one of our haunts - Milky Way Farms in Chester Springs - when the little thing popped out of nowhere and started playing with us. The boys were (fairly) gentle when reminded of its fragility, and the kitten was startlingly tolerant of two boys wanting to hang out with it. And no we did not take it home. It belonged there.

We did give it a couple of cool names, though. "Ice Cream" - since we were about to go get some, and "Vincentpetercarolinejohnjoseph" - after the boys and their immediate cousins.

So take it all in. It was a serendipitous moment of blinding cuteness that may never happen again.

Milkzen

Today's Milkzen:
"No Dad. I was gonna jump over your face."

-Peter