Family Bonding, 2009 style?

Sunday morning we decided to treat ourselves out to a nice big Sunday breakfast out at a local country eatery. But that's not what this is about. Stay with me here.

10 feet or so from our table, the waitress seats another family of 3, this time with a boy of about 7 or 8 years of age.

::bleep bleep::

I turn my head in that direction.

::bleep bleep boop bleep::

Ok, they let the boy bring his Nintendo DS Game Boy. Ok, that's fine, let him mindlessly entertain himself while Pa catches up with Ma. Saves some of the childish hassle and whining. No problem.

::bleep boop bleep bleep boop bleep boop bleep bleep::

Oh. My. God. All three of them have Nintendo DSes, and they are all playing simultaneously.

Ok. So I shouldn't judge, but have we devolved that much as a society that we'd rather play video games by ourselves while we are out in public, waiting for meals or in between waitress visits?

Personally, I wouldn't even dream of this scenario, let alone plan ahead for it for my family.

Well, Redbeard, have you considered maybe they REALLY enjoy their video games? They may even be practicing for a major competition?

Sure, although I find this highly bizarre even in this day and age. Maybe I haven't subject myself in public to make myself aware of this phenomena, it may even be some sort of trend.

Ok, I realize, the ideals of a Norman Rockwell or Leave it to Beaver family have been long gone, but as a society we still grasp on to a fraction of those ideals, am I wrong? Sure, some nights I'll be on the lap top and my wife on her DS while Sierra is doing her own thing or watching one of us, but we're not doing it out in public. We don't do it to avoid each other, because *sarcasm* what would be worse than having to talk to one another as we bond over a meal at a dinner table, whether it be ours or not?

A Lack of Something

Certainly my motivation to blog has been lacking of late, settling for the daily Facebook interactions, which can be quite satisfying, but my creative juices have suffered because of it. In addition, the summer time isn't always the best time to blog, what with all the outdoor distractions that come with it. Throw in a busy 3 year old and... Oh my god I'm making excuses again!

At least I'm not the only one.

Ok, really, enough with my excuses! Focus... dedicate...

So a quick catch-up is in order.



No, not that kind of ketchup.

Sierra got a taste of pre-school this summer. After being referred to EEE (Early Education) for speech, they decided to rush her into a 6 week summer program (which was only 5 weeks due to our annual camping vacation), 30 minutes twice a week one-on-one, then in September she will begin 2 hours twice a week with other kids. So far she loves her school and her speech has picked up a little bit but she still has a long way to go (Thursday's child has far to go).

With a couple of flips and flops, the decision to move to New Hampshire for my job is off. Mistakes were made but I think this is the right thing to do. As a result, my mother is trying really hard to get me to move back to New York but I'm not sure about that yet.

We had another excellent week at Lake Groton. It wasn't all that warm save for a couple of days but it only rained 2 out of 8 days, so overall it was a success, Sierra enjoyed herself and we made it out of the campground to enjoy some of the other things - the Nature Center, Boulder Beach across the lake.

Enjoy some pics. Maybe I'll post again sooner than 3-4 months.

Sierra's first easter egg hunt

You can't stop them from growing. Now at 3 years old, she's old enough to grasp the concept of the easter egg hunt, albeit with mommy's help. Please enjoy the easter egg hunt video.

Labor Day - one month to go in the baseball season

With the Yankees' season finally dead most likely, I've compiled this video, hope you enjoy. Happy Labor Day weekend! I'll be heading to NY to spend time with my family and enjoy one more shindig before the end of the summer. I haven't seen them since May and the new baby must be getting so big. Lots of photos to come, for sure.

Love's not a competition, but I'm winning...

...at least I thought I was, but there's no way of knowing. -Kaiser Chiefs

Ok, so I've been sitting at a mediocre 65 friends on Facebook. For a LOOOONG time. Probably the better part of a month or so. About a month ago, The Girl was sitting pretty at about 30 friends.

Then IT happened.

She added her maiden name to her last name on her profile. How unfair and selfish!

She's steadily increased friends since then and caught up to me yesterday!

So what did I do?

I went out and sent out a shit ton of friend requests to people I knew, but didn't really know too well. I've already got 5 adds since yesterday.

Sometimes it pays to be shallow.

(I'm not usually this shallow, but it makes for a fun blog post! Please take this as tongue-in-cheek as a sign of our times!)

Body Parts

Video courtesy of Jess, Mrs. Redbeard.

Also today Sierra graduated to a big girl bed. For the past week she's been screaming whenever we put her in her crib for a nap or down for bed. She would scream for almost an hour in come cases, and she would scream when she woke up, increasingly earlier and earlier each morning. For the past 2 mornings it's been at 4:30-4:45am.

At first we thought it might be the heat. We put the fan in her room, no change.

Then we thought that the light in the room coming through her southeast facing windows were keeping her up in the evenings and getting her up early in the mornings. We nailed blankets over her windows. This temporarily assuaged her crying for one night, then she was back to her old newish habits.

So this morning we took Jess' old single bed out of storage, knowing we were keeping it for Sierra when she is old enough. And now is the time. Taking down the crib was a lot easier than putting it together with no instructions (I had bought it secondhand from a co-worker). We put the bed together in no time although my wrists are quite sore from the ratcheting.

Sierra was absolutely giddy when we got her up in the bed. Now tonight will be the true test - what will happen when we put her down for the night unrestricted.

Random photos from holiday

Sierra sitting in her toys again.


Bleeding hearts from mom-in-law's garden.


Sierra feeding Shelby cubers (ice cubes).


Sierra and her cousin Charlotte in NY. They're growing so fast.


Rebecca (9 days old in the photo) and her uncle Redbeard.

Here we go again

9:05 pm EST: Sister of Redbeard heading to hospital to deliver her 2nd child.

We still don't know the gender of the baby; he or she refuses to show him/herself in any and all ultrasounds. We are prepared for a very stubborn devil child.

9:29 pm EST: Red Sox - bases loaded with no outs for Manny Ramirez. Down 5-3.

9:34: Manny fouling off pitch after pitch.

9:35: Manny gets jammed inside and grounds into a double play, out at home and first.

9:38: Mike Lowell flies out to left field to end the inning, stranding 2 baserunners.

9:39: Realises that maybe this live blogging thing is bad luck for his team. However, baseball pales in comparison to the delivery of the newest member of our family.

Wednesday 14 May, 7:15 am: Receives call from Mother of Redbeard. Sister of Redbeard has been in hospital all night and received her epidural at 5 am. Any time now.

7:25: Redbeard leaves the house to commute to work.

8:30: Redbeard arrives at work, no new messages.

8:40: Redbeard gets call from Mother.

::drum roll please::

Rebecca Hosler was born at 7:52am this morning. No middle name as of yet.

7 lbs 6 oz, 20 1/2".

Pictures presumably soon to come.

Play nice in the sandbox.

Daddy I love the Red Sox. (The words I can't wait for her to say, almost as much as Daddy, I love you.)

Chin up!


It isn't fun until you have sand in your hair. Then when you take a bath, the sand will exfoliate your scalp.

Mortality

Thanks for your support all. I quite enjoyed the bread, T.A.R.D.I.S. cake, macaroons, coffee and marshmallows! You all are too much!

It all was very sweet the last two days. He was a sweet old man, and my dad, his sister and his brother all spoke fondly this morning of him. I wish I had more memories but having spent the better part of the last 14 years over 100 miles from the rest of my family will do that to you. There was more laughter than tears the last two days and I'm very thankful for that.

And now, picture time. It's a little unnerving seeing your last name on a headstone, but I had to take a picture shortly after the committal. (These gravediggers don't waste any time.) Notice the nice little camping scene on the lower left.

Sierra liked playing in the sandbox top more than the actual sandbox itself.

Charlotte joined in the fun and her Poppa stopped by and thought it'd be a great idea to spin them around in the sandbox top which is cleverly disguised as a red crab.

My mom took this at the girls' party - her cousin Charlotte and friend Eliza are looking at her like she's nuts.

Decisions, Decisions...

Ok, I think I'm done tinkering with colors. The yellow shown much brighter on a desktop so I'm going with sort of a Sox theme. Red, white, blue, and Fenway Green.

The photos were from last Tuesday on the previous post from my 4 day weekend. Since then I haven't been doing much but I'm heading back to NY to be with my family tomorrow- weather should be great 60s maybe 70s (15-20C). My grandfather passed away on Monday. Save the tea and sympathy though, we weren't all that close, but thanks anyway. He lived a full life, he was 78. He was the last of his generation on that side of the family, and now I have one lone grandfather left as my grandmothers have already passed.

But it has made me a little contemplative on my own existence.

Things I've been thinking about:

Life is short.

Life is what you make it.

Life is too short to be angry or hurt or to have an attitude or a chip on your shoulder.

Make sure your loved ones know how much you love them.

R.I.P Grandpa D, aka Dink, aka Bob. We will miss you. I know I'll miss the clam bakes and riding the 4 wheeler and snowmobile, among others. Here's to wishing we could have had another beer together.

What it's all about.

Photo by Brian Snyder-Pool/Getty Images

The boys are back in town. With hardware.

Nice win today, but what is going on with the Detroit Tigers? 0-7 is no way to start with such a talented squad.

Sierra had a gorgeous early spring weekend for her birthday. Still a little snow on top of Mount Mansfield but a beautiful backdrop for my little girl's party. We saved you some cake, and she got her first bike!

Back to work for me tomorrow, 4 day weekend's all over.
...

Happy 2nd Birthday Sierra!

::passes the Kleenex:: Don't cry too much, I know I did when I was putting this together.

I know I'm such a sap.

It is kind of slow in the beginning, but stick with it, it's well worth it towards the end. It goes waaaayy over IANO's 1 minute protocol at a total of nine minutes, but screw it, it's my baby's video.

And now, without any further ado, the video you've been waiting for:

Hey Ya!

To whet your appetite for the big birthday video, I made this little shorty. Just over a minute, sound on, off you go.

Redbeard Junior

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Happy Monday.

Sierra Updatia

My girl the movie star, complete with cell phone and disheveled hair...

She is saying at least one new word a day lately, here are some of the latest:

-bath (this weekend she went into the bathroom, pointed at the bath and said it, she's catching on quite fast lately)

-no way

-go away (which sounds a lot like no way)

-wind (appropriate after yesterday's windstorm, I was quite impressed by this)

A propos of nothing, does anyone like Amy Winehouse's new hairdo? Shock - horror!

(photo c/o yahoo.co.uk / hellomagazine.com)

Little Miss Sunshine

If this doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will. I apologize for the mess but when you have a toddler, your home is in a constant state of disarray. We were watching The Winter Guest while i filmed this so there's a spot in it where one of the boys shouts "Wanker!" I don't remember what exactly made her giggle so much, but here's the wee one with the ginger hair. She might not be chatting it up with the Queen, but it doesn't take much to get her going.

Oh, and we put up our tree today. Real tree of course, cut down by yours truly. I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.

Holiday Cheer

What I'm thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving America! Everyone else, happy Thursday!

This year I'm thankful for:

The Red Sox winning the World Series, AL East, and tied for the best record in baseball.

My loving wife who does so much, you are appreciated very much.

My sweet daughter who astounds me with new things everyday. Daddy wishes he could be with you more.

My friends at Survivinggrady.com, I can't get through a workday without you. Also all my other friends throughout the world, the world is a better place with you in it.

Mike Lowell re-signing with the Red Sox, and Dustin Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Good health - I haven't gained any weight in years and I haven't been sick since last winter.

My extended family who is always there for me and my family.

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Don't eat too much turkey, you'll gobble your way into a tryptophan coma! Stay safe you travelers.

photo from: Kansas City Library www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/YS/crafts/

"You have to be Catholic to be a nun."

Leave it to my wife to come up with such Joe Morgan-esque brilliance. We were talking about something, I can't remember what exactly, and she said that to create some sort of expression. I thought maybe she was taking the piss for a second, then I thought, well no s**t Sherlock, and we both ended up having a laugh. We had some great moments that we haven't had for a while, and now she's taken to calling the red beard "Pepperoni" and that gets me giggling.

The kibbe was good. It's not so much spicy as it has the herbs in it that makes it safe to eat raw ground meat. But I missed the toom, they didn't make any this time but it was ok with just the olive oil.

I watched 4 movies over the weekend, and I've reviewed them out of 5 stars:

Afraid of the Dark: 1.5 stars
The Winter Guest: 4 stars
Meet the Robinsons: 3 stars
Deck the Halls: 2 stars

Well, it's Monday, very busy work day so it's a shorty today.