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Masthead Archive - January 2, 2009

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 01:15:56 -0500

This masthead captured our spring/summer activities.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 00:28:28 -0500

Its hard to believe that another Christmas and, indeed, another year has passed. It is now the start of 2009. I cannot believe it! Our little girl grows bigger, stronger, and smarter every day. She totally “got” Christmas this year and had a blast. Now she wants every day to be Christmas!

We stuck to the same old tried and true traditions of years past. We cut down our tree a little more than a week before the big day. Kirk and Carol came over this year to help decorate. That was fun. We had such picturesque snowy weather right up to Christmas Eve. It rained, taking much of the snow with it. The usual Lake Road drive to the Van Ee’s was less than picturesque with high winds and rain dampening the mood.. slightly. Although, it is hard to dampen the mood when you have a cheerful three year old singing “We wish you a merry Christmas” (repeat 10 times followed by) “... and a Happy New Year!” The Van Ee Christmas Eve party was as fun as ever - good friends, food, and games. M. fell asleep before we made it home - just a half hour before midnight. Mom and Dad still had Christmas preparations to take care of. Dad still had presents to wrap!

Christmas day started later than usual, M. didn’t get us up until 9:30. She was so excited when she saw the full stockings, and loaded Christmas tree. Even Mason was excited. He helped himself to his presents under the tree early. We made M. wait for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive. Santa was good to us all this year. M. got the cup cake maker she wanted and a million other things. Abby got a remote car starter. I got a cool GPS navigator. The family got many Wii games.

The best part of Christmas for Abby and I was the vacation. I had almost two weeks off to play all day with M, play Wii games, and just relax. It was very nice.

See all the pictures and video clips on our Christmas 2008 flickr set.

New Years Eve was spent quietly at home. We let M. stay up to see the ball drop. The next day we had dinner with Kirk and Carol.

The Wow Wow Wubzy Cake

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:05:19 -0400

M. "tricked" me into helping her bake a "Wow Wow Wubzy" birthday cake. Get this, SHE found it on the Internet, knew what it was, and asked me to print it. .. It was no one's birthday.

I say she tricked me because I figured how hard could it be - coming from a kid's web site (Noggin.com?) It should be noted that I don't know how to bake.. ANYTHING. Emma helped me put together a shopping list, went to the store with me, pushed her own cart and loaded it up with all the cake’s ingredients. She also came up with the stars - her own personal touch!

...And the world spins madly on..

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 23:07:48 -0400

The last real journal update was from Christmas. It is now August. The world spins madly on and I have not taken time to reflect. In fact this post is less about reflecting and more about due diligence - a historic, mostly pictorial, nod to the events of the past months:

My birthday, January 11. We had dinner at Bazil’s.

M’s third birthday, March 11.

M’s first ice skating. Surprisingly, no broken bones!

Easter of course.

I attended the Google IO conference in San Francisco. It was a fun time.

Abby and I made a long weekend of it. We toured Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, and biked the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. I got to see an old friend/colleague while I was there too.

M. graduated from her pre-school class. One of many graduations in the coming years!

With the summer came numerous outdoor parties including the big one - the 4’th of July. Like last year, we spent the 4’th at a beach house on Lake Ontario. The resident beach bums put on quite a show of fireworks and bonfires - it doesn’t get any more American than that! See the entire spectacle.

M’s first dental visit. Yes. We’ll take a picture of just about anything. The chompers look good!

Finally, a broken bone. My baby broke her arm! She was running with a ball and tripped over the hose I was reeling in. I was mortified. She is on the mend and is relatively unfazed by the whole ordeal. I on the other hand...

Well there you have it. Time flies.. the world spins madly..

Masthead Archive - August 6, 2008

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 22:38:14 -0400

This masthead captured our fall activities including Christmas time.