Kindergarten Concerto

I came home and found Christian writing the final arrangements for his first concerto. Mind you, he's a kindergatner and he's never had a minute of music instruction. And kindergartners receive no spelling instructions (only "sight word" instruction). Christian thought of his own melody, titles, sounded out the words, spelled them as best he could, and wrote them down without any assistance. Above you'll find a copy of the first page labeled "Christians song and et es cold o I luv u" and a copy of the tenth page labeled "Last port uv Christian song nots." No one prompted Christian to write this song. He laid all ten pages out and played them by humming through grandma's faux horn. He may have misread a few whole, half and quarter notes but he did correctly change pitch (two pitches - high and low) just exactly as written. I know parents are often accused of gushing too much about their children's accomplishments, but hey, you must admit this was quite a feat for a musically untrained 5 year old. Put the Legos on hold, we're buying a piano.

Squanto Meets John Smith; A One Man Play

Christian came home from his school's Thanksgiving celebration with both Native American and pilgrim costumes. Loma Portal Elementary's meticulous attention to detail and dedication to historical accuracy resulted in these authentic, hand-sewn paperbag outfits. Christian said, "It's like 1621 all over again!" The school served Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, and cranberry sauce to which Christian said, "I want French fries."

Last year's announcement that Polaroid is discontinuing its instant film has forced me to use my use my stash sparingly. Hence, I sometimes take one Polaroid and a dozen digital shots of the same subject. Look at the two photos, I prefer the Polaroid, and I guess that's the difference between you and me.

Triplets?

Family resemblance? From top to bottom, Christian, Erika and Juliet. Triplets; one born every three years.

Point Loma Pirates

I came home today to find two pirates running wild in my living room. They held my TV hostage. Their list of demands? Access to their Halloween booty. I quickly responded with an "I'm outta here" and bolted to Rubio's for some fish tacos. Actually, Heather told me to go to Rubio's because 20% of every order made tonight went to the local elementary school. So from now on whenever Loma Portal attempts to extort money from me I can say "Hey, I bought five dollars worth of fish tacos for your school so back off!"

I shot this with my Polaroid land camera, flash bulb, and my last pack of color film. Then I darkened it slightly using Picasa 3.

Tiny Pugilist No Longer

Newborns always remind me of boxers; the puffy eyes, smashed noses, misshapen heads and the jab jab right hook combinations of their barely controllable arms say Jack Dempsey to me. Juliet is now officially out of the tiny pugilist phase. The swelling is going down and her features are starting to pop. Not that I have anything against boxers. I hope she never loses her uppercut.

Calico Critters Find a Home

A few weeks ago I completed a Boba Fett helmet for Christian. Now its Erika's turn. Heather suggested I make something for Erika's beloved Calico Critters. We went online and found some ideas for a diorama/playset (I don't know what to call it) and I had some scrap maple laying around. The pebbles, glitter and popsicle sticks for the fence all came from Michael's. The grass has a thin pad underneath it for a slightly cushy feel. The raised path is bondo covered with speckled paint. Erika was delighted. Next? A music box for Juliet.

Juliet Claire Nelson

Heather made it home around noon today with our new daughter. We threw out all hopes of finding an agreeable Danish name and chose Juliet Claire Nelson. Pretty, not trendy, fits well with Christian and Erika, and an overall good choice. Here's Heather and Erika doting over little Juliet.

Thrice is Nice

We celebrated Erika's third birthday on Saturday at J.W. Tumbles. I thought Mr. Tumbles was going to show up in the flesh for as much as we paid. Alas, his three assistants did an excellent job at capturing the imagination of the fifteen or so kids that came. Mimi, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Keith and Aunt Carol were all in attendance. Heather hoped to make an appearance but she just wasn't yet up to leaving the hospital yet. Under doctor's orders, she had to remain in the hospital reading baby name books for the umpteenth time until a name was found for our newborn.

[Insert Name] Nelson

Meet our new roomie! We love our new little [Insert Name], all 7 pounds 5 ounces of her. Born November 7, 2008 at 2:11 p.m. (a little more than a week early). Heather and Dr. Lim make a great team - another quick, epidural-laced, induced delivery. We have a pretty good idea of what [Insert Name] will look like as she grows because she looks nearly identical to Erika when she was a newborn. And don't you love her name?. . . [Insert Name]? Just adorable. Instead of trying to rush home for Erika's big birthday bash Heather opted to stay one more night at Scripps Memorial. The original plan was to celebrate Erika's birthday before the baby came, but plans can fall through and so often they do. So, I'm now in charge of Erika's Dora-themed birthday at J.W. Tumbles. I hear Mr. Tumbles himself is going to appear. What a weekend!

The Secret Machines

Scott L. and I went to see The Secret Machines last night at the Belly up. Let's say it was a little difficult to get through. Real shame too. There first two full-length albums are amazing, the third album. . . not so amazing. The first two concerts I saw - also amazing. The third outing (last night), you guessed it - not so amazing. I expected them to intersperse a few clunkers from their new album between their more popular songs. However, they played their worst, most plodding, never-ending songs for 45 minutes straight. Everyone around us was thinking "Okay, the next song has got to be a good one" but the good ones rarely came. They started late too which is always annoying. By midnight half the crowd had left. We left early too. The new guitarist was good, and the drummer is always great to watch but they clearly chose to play what they wanted instead of what the audience wanted. What a bust.

All Hallows Eve

Happy Halloween. Our neighbor Denise threw a pizza party before trick or treating. Then we hit a few dozen houses before calling it quits. I made Christian's helmet out of paper maiche, and Heather assembled Erika's kitty outfit.