Let It Snow

Ah Christmastime....the smell of cookies baking in the kitchen....Christmas music piped through the house....the scent of pine from our enormous tree.....snow on the ground...wait, snow? In Richmond, VA? In early December? After getting hammered last year, we've already had two snow storms this year (IOW: snow that covers the roads and paralyzes the city), which is crazy considering winter doesn't even start for a few days. The good news: schools are closed and the kids are home. The bad news: well, schools are closed and the kids are home. At least we can get outside for some sledding on the hill that strands us in our house because our cars cannot go up or down it:



I'm pretty sure that Peeks was having a blast....pretty sure....



Last week we hit the Tacky Light tour around Richmond. Because there are so many houses, we picked our own route leading from our house to a Barnes and Noble for coffee. I've always wanted to experiment with lights reflecting off of water at night. Tough to do because it would require me to get up and go somewhere when it's raining at night, and who wants to do that. Luckily, this house was set up for me. Tricky without a tripod, but I managed to snap this one handheld and still have it be recognizable:



Finally, the highlight last week was the excellent production put on by second grade of "Melton the Warm-Hearted Snowman". Roo played the part of Blitzen. I had never heard the story of Melton, nor did I know that Melton knew Donner, Blitzen, Comet, and the other reindeer, but it really was awesome and the kids did an incredible job. We are still shaking our heads at how much these "kids" are growing up:

Nothing is worth more than this day.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

O Christmas Tree

Yes folks, that is a 10' tall Christmas tree. Who are we, the flippin' Griswolds? I'm still waiting for a squirrel to fly out of it and Cousin Eddie to walk in wearing a blue leisure suit. I had to walk upstairs to put the lights on the top of the thing. Awesome.

It has been far too long since I posted, so we have a lot to get caught up on. School has been kicking my proverbial tail lately, so I feel like I have a pretty strong excuse. That said, I have captured quite a few moments in the last month, so here they are, in no particular order.

On the Move

Shortly after thanksgiving, Juliette started to move. She wasn't crawling, it was more of a modified "scoot". Well, here, see for yourself:



She can really cover some ground like that though. Since then, she has moved to a more traditional "hands and knees" approach when on carpet, but when she is on the hardwood floor nothing beats the bottom scoot. This past weekend she covered 15 feet in a matter of seconds - right to the dog food where she proceeded to stuff her face. Seriously though, who among us hasn't tried dog food at least once? Anyone? Bueller?

Leaves

I love and hate this time of year. I love the weather. I hate the leaves. I discovered a long forgotten upside to leaf removal last week though - the piles. I vaguely remember hours of running, jumping, riding, and skating into piles of leaves at various stages of childhood. It was the girls turn this time around. Our friends Megan and Henry also joined in the fun:











Don't eat the leaves Henry...

Happy Halloween!

Yeah, I know, Halloween was over a week ago. As usual, it's been a busy couple of weeks. School has a way of requiring that you do work, and I managed to squeeze in a couple of interviews. I was able to get a few good shots during our Halloween adventures. It started a week before when we went to the pumpkin patch. Looks like someone is on the "track" to becoming a race car driver:



We go to a neighbor's for Halloween dinner and then we all trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. It's always a ton of fun, and, well, it's on our street which has its own upside. Before the evening festivities, I snapped this photo of a very scary vampire and a seemingly clueless ladybug sitting on the front porch:



And look honey, I DO take photos with you in them!!!

Picture Day

Yesterday was picture day at school. After traveling for the first three days of the week across several different timezones, my first challenge was getting a 7 year old girl dressed up for picture day. Of course, Mom had picked out an outfit that Roo hated, so the burden was squarely on me. Mommy, I hope this meets with your satisfaction:

As mentioned, I was traveling all week. First to Las Vegas for a day/evening for a career fair and some networking. Then off to Atlanta for two days for an annual business aviation conference. It was quite the whirlwind, with little sleep in between (I can't sleep on planes, probably a good thing). The wifey and I almost literally passed each other in the airport, as she was heading out as I was heading in. Luckily, we got to spend some quality time at the playground this past weekend before the madness started. It was a gorgeous fall day:

Rainy, Pizza kinda Friday

For the last two days we have been stuck under low clouds, gusty winds, and lots of rain. The local weatherman has even used the term "nor'easter" to describe the weather system. It is the kind of weather that, at the airlines, would leave us sitting around crew rooms for hours on end, wishing we could somehow get up and leave - for home, a hotel, anywhere but there. Closer to home, it was the perfect kind of Friday to go out for pizza and frozen yogurt. We decided to try Pizza Fusion out by Trader Joe's, and then hit Verry Berry next door for the coup de grace.

Unfortunately for Peeka, she didn't get pizza, only sliced bananas (the vast majority of which ended up on the floor):

Roo, on the other hand, did get pizza. You can tell from her expression that she was thrilled:

Actually, this was before the pizza arrived. The food was terrific, and I highly recommend both places for their respective cuisine.

In closing, let's just say never give a baby desert unless you are prepared to deal with what happens when you take the desert away. That's all on that subject for now....

Mr. Mom: Day 1

Today was the first day of three that I am home with the girls while the wifey is away on business. As a pilot, I am methodical, and like to follow checklists. It is my belief that when you follow the checklist, things happen as the manufacturer says they should. Today was one of those days around the house. The checklist for babies says that by 8 months they should be starting to use the item known as a "sippy cup". Sometimes, checklist items need to be done more than once.

Apparently she thought she was supposed to put it in her lap and attack it like a badger, or something:

On the second try, she meets with more success (with a little help from dad):

That's it for tonight. It's 12:30 am and the badger will be up shortly.

Nothing is worth more than this day.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Moments...

So my wife always tells me that I don't do a good job of capturing moments. I don't take enough pictures. I don't take enough video. As usual, she is right. I'm the first one to admit that, when it comes to photography, I'd rather wait for "just the right artsy" composition to come along than to snap away at everything in between.

I tried this whole blogging thing once before - I kept a blog about my flying adventures. What I eventually found was that I was having a hard time coming up with material; flying was actually pretty boring (which is EXACTLY how I like it, but that's a topic for another time...). Eventually I let the blog go altogether, although it is sneaking around here somewhere. Recently (yesterday), I was struck with the realization that I had the best subject matter right under my nose: my three beautiful girls.

I am a member of a pretty cool online aviation community. A year ago, another member was lost to a tragic plane crash. He left behind a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. As we approach the one year anniversary of the accident, the blog that he and his wife kept was passed around the website. The circumstances hit very close to home for me, which make it even more difficult to read through. But what struck me the most is the beauty and grace of their life, all of it captured in this blog (and the strength with which she continues the blog.)

Life is but a series of moments strung together to form but one longer moment within the "big picture". These moments do not last long, nor does our opportunity to experience them here on this earth. This is my attempt to capture some of our moments, and share them with the world....