Tuesday, May 13
Saturday, May 3
New Camera
In the (highly) unlikely even that we still have any remaining readers of this blog, I wanted to let you know that I just purchased a camera from Amazon, which should arrive May 8. This will replace the one stolen during our (now longer) recent breakin. It will document our upcoming party on the 17th and, hopefully, our upcoming trip to the Pacific Northwest. Look for new picture posts soon!
Sunday, April 6
Birthday season
It's birthday season here at Kaiserstrasse. Yesterday was Zoe's birthday and the joint party. Owen's is Friday. We're in the throes of lots of fun activities and, below, you'll see pictures from the party.
Thanks to my dad for shooting the photos (since we still don't have a functioning digital camera since the break-in, which is absurd), Linda for making the cakes, and everyone for coming and making the party and the day special.
Thanks to my dad for shooting the photos (since we still don't have a functioning digital camera since the break-in, which is absurd), Linda for making the cakes, and everyone for coming and making the party and the day special.
Matt and B
(Another) Matt and Bridgette chat. By the looks on their faces, Matt is learning that B doesn't approve of how the fed is handling the current economic crisis, and he is livid.
Early party
Owen runs, Zoe is in my arms (in the nature fort), and kids play with balls and toys. The party started well.
Children investigate
Owen, Caleb, and Jacob were looking for something. I think it was on the ground.
B holds one of the triplets
The nice thing about the triplets is that you can hold babies that's nice, yet they seem so completely overwhelming that there is no temptation to have another one.
Drake and his dad
Drake and his dad came. Drake stayed away from Zoe a lot of the party, which I think was probably wise because she was really dolled up in pink, which makes her particularly lethal.
Drake is the boy Zoe most likes to beat on at school. I guess that means they're friends.
The oddest thing
The oddest thing about this picture is that Matt A and I were talking about HVAC units. And I think we were enjoying it.
One minute you're trying to figure out which wrinkled flannel looks coolest, the next you're discussing HVAC issues at your kids' birthday party.
Also, now I get grumpy if I stay up late.
Another amazing cake
Linda made Owen another Amazing cake. Compare with this cake and this cake (admittedly, not the best shot of the cake. Doubtless there were better shots, but, well, Zoe was born a few days after the party and blogging seemed less important).
By the way, checking out the archives of this blog (as I just did to get these cake pictures) is a nice trip through the life of the kids.
Who wants a turn?
Can anyone knock the Pinata down? What child is brave enough to take a chance with it?
Eli takes a turn
Eli is a pretty strong kid, you'd think he'd be able to knock that thing in two.
Sadly, no.
Bringing in the heavy hitter
I took a turn with the Pinata. I was not able to break it.
Finally, I knocked it off of the plastic tie that held it to the canvas roof, then Barbara Cosgrove (not pictured in this shot, but in others in the maroon corduroy overshirt) and I each grabbed an end and tore it apart.
Next time, we're ordering a Pinata made of glass so it'll break easier.
Pinata fever!
The pinata was, finally, down. Owen stands with his haul. Eli argues that Owen has more. Zoe bears silent witness.
Green Fire Engine
Takoma Park has a new green fire engine, which borrows heavily from the Flintstones. Here, Owen races off to save the day!
Future Me email
I don't know if you've seen Futureme.org, but it's really cool. Basically, you can write an email to yourself in the future. It holds the email for a set amount of time (more than a year) then sends it to an email address you specify.
Last year I sent a future me email to myself on Zoe's birthday (which, as the audience of this blog knows, was yesterday). I was really touched to get a response. Even though I'm horrible with social niceities like staying in touch, it made me tickeled to do this for myself.
Here, in redacted form, is my futureme email from last year (warning, parts are kind of sad). Also, I can't spell very well.
Dear FutureMe,
So, Zoe turns two today! Happy birthday Zoe! And Owen will soon be four! I hope you and future B are planning something fun for them. Probably Linda and Lisa will come over for a big thing with the Andelmen and their new batch of kids. I guess the triplets should be celebrating their first birthday soon. Man, I hope that's working out well for them.
I also hope you're into the new house. As I'm writing this, I'm getting over a kidney infection (remember that?) and having trouble sleeping. We're moving into the new house in three days, and Bridgette is quitting her job at Wilmer at the end of this week. It's also Zoe and Owen's last week with Aster, which has me strangely very sad. Aster has been so good to them, expecially Owen, and I know they have a really strong bond. We've been lucky to have her. I really hope that you would (will? do?) say the same thing about their childcare as you read this.
. . .
Owen is absolutely wonderful. He's really into books and balls. His vocabulary is exploding like crazy; I love it! Today he asked if I still felt sick and when I said I did he said "I'm sorry to hear that Daddy" as though he was 50. He's such a caring boy, especially for his age.
Zoe is great too. She's doing more cruising on teh sides of chairs and furniture, and, more than anything, her personality is really starting to emerge. I think Owen is more like B in that he doesn't need a lot of external social interaction, but Zoe is definitely like me in that she wants to make sure she's interacting with everyone in the room. She's got the greatest smile too.
Gran's health isn't doing well, and I worry that'll be a challenge for you in the next year.
. . .
I also hope you've finally gotten around to a regular exercise routine. . . . I suppose I have some control over that.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to Zoe.
Take care of yourself Matt. And take care of your family.
Present me
Last year I sent a future me email to myself on Zoe's birthday (which, as the audience of this blog knows, was yesterday). I was really touched to get a response. Even though I'm horrible with social niceities like staying in touch, it made me tickeled to do this for myself.
Here, in redacted form, is my futureme email from last year (warning, parts are kind of sad). Also, I can't spell very well.
Dear FutureMe,
So, Zoe turns two today! Happy birthday Zoe! And Owen will soon be four! I hope you and future B are planning something fun for them. Probably Linda and Lisa will come over for a big thing with the Andelmen and their new batch of kids. I guess the triplets should be celebrating their first birthday soon. Man, I hope that's working out well for them.
I also hope you're into the new house. As I'm writing this, I'm getting over a kidney infection (remember that?) and having trouble sleeping. We're moving into the new house in three days, and Bridgette is quitting her job at Wilmer at the end of this week. It's also Zoe and Owen's last week with Aster, which has me strangely very sad. Aster has been so good to them, expecially Owen, and I know they have a really strong bond. We've been lucky to have her. I really hope that you would (will? do?) say the same thing about their childcare as you read this.
. . .
Owen is absolutely wonderful. He's really into books and balls. His vocabulary is exploding like crazy; I love it! Today he asked if I still felt sick and when I said I did he said "I'm sorry to hear that Daddy" as though he was 50. He's such a caring boy, especially for his age.
Zoe is great too. She's doing more cruising on teh sides of chairs and furniture, and, more than anything, her personality is really starting to emerge. I think Owen is more like B in that he doesn't need a lot of external social interaction, but Zoe is definitely like me in that she wants to make sure she's interacting with everyone in the room. She's got the greatest smile too.
Gran's health isn't doing well, and I worry that'll be a challenge for you in the next year.
. . .
I also hope you've finally gotten around to a regular exercise routine. . . . I suppose I have some control over that.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to Zoe.
Take care of yourself Matt. And take care of your family.
Present me
Sunday, March 23
Easter egg hunt
It took a bit to get them into the hunt. Candy helped. Here, they divide the spoils. It was not civil.
Sunday, March 2
Wednesday, February 20
Sad comment
It's sad when you need to borrow your brother's camera to update your photo blog.
Sigh.
Hey, does this story have legs?
Sigh.
Hey, does this story have legs?
Dad surfs the internet with the children
The family that wastes time together, uh, wastes time together.
Sunday, January 6
New Hampshire
Here's an observation about New Hampshire (and, yes, I was dead wrong on Iowa. My analytical ability is highly suspect. And yet I persist).
Compare the polls from Iowa and New Hampshire at this page. You're note that the aggregate spread in Iowa at the very end was Obama by plus 1.6. Obviously, Obama blew the roof off, and the polling prediction wasn't ultimately very accurate (though, of course, it was more accurate than my prediction, as I've noted).
Why was the Iowa poll off the mark? Because Obama's turnout was significantly higher than any predicted by any of the polls.
Similarly, check out the spread on Obama in New Hampshire. He's plus 3.4 (as of Sunday, it may change later in the week). What this doesn't reveal is what the turnout assumptions are. But, assuming they're relatively standard, they may underpredict any Obama success if his turnout is like it was in Iowa.
Will the turnout be higher? I don't know. But this story gives one a reason to think it might be. As does this one.
Compare the polls from Iowa and New Hampshire at this page. You're note that the aggregate spread in Iowa at the very end was Obama by plus 1.6. Obviously, Obama blew the roof off, and the polling prediction wasn't ultimately very accurate (though, of course, it was more accurate than my prediction, as I've noted).
Why was the Iowa poll off the mark? Because Obama's turnout was significantly higher than any predicted by any of the polls.
Similarly, check out the spread on Obama in New Hampshire. He's plus 3.4 (as of Sunday, it may change later in the week). What this doesn't reveal is what the turnout assumptions are. But, assuming they're relatively standard, they may underpredict any Obama success if his turnout is like it was in Iowa.
Will the turnout be higher? I don't know. But this story gives one a reason to think it might be. As does this one.
Saturday, January 5
Something that sucks
I had intended to download all of our pictures from Christmas this weekend and do some serious updating to the blog. Sadly, I can't, because someone broke into our house and took our camera, along with our DVD player, and a game system we bought several years before Owen was born so that I could learn how to play video games in case we later had a son I would need to bond with as an adolescent.
It was a strange crime; we had a lot more stuff they could have taken (like checkbooks, or CD players, or the computer I'm typing this on now), but they didn't. As far as we can tell, they just took the three things I talk about above. Which is nice, but, of course, it would be nicer still if they hadn't broken into our house in the first place.
So, if anyone can recommend a good digital camera . . .
It was a strange crime; we had a lot more stuff they could have taken (like checkbooks, or CD players, or the computer I'm typing this on now), but they didn't. As far as we can tell, they just took the three things I talk about above. Which is nice, but, of course, it would be nicer still if they hadn't broken into our house in the first place.
So, if anyone can recommend a good digital camera . . .
Edwards' dad
I just learned in the democratic debate that John Edwards' dad worked in a mill.
Why didn't he share that with the American people earlier?
Why didn't he share that with the American people earlier?
Thursday, January 3
Caucuses - Wow!
Boy, I've never been happier to be wrong. It turns out, not only are the kids alright, but they also know how to get to the caucus. Nice! I'm really happily surprised to see a black man win Iowa by such a wide margin. I didn't really think it could happen until now. Regardless of where we go from here, it's nice to be here now, at least.
All day I kept thinking how beautiful it is that the way we choose our leader is by having folks stop by a school after work to be counted. In the week after Benazir Bhutto was killed while running for office, and while horrific election-related violence runs through Kenya, it's particularly profound to me that neither Mitt Romney's money nor Hillary Clinton's connections were sufficient to get them a victory. It's not money or a network that gets you elected, but the good judgment of the people (and by people, I mean, of course, Iowans). Obviously, the system isn't perfect. Not everyone votes, and not everyone can vote. Particularly egregious is the rule that merely growing up in Iowa isn't enough to let you caucus there. But our system is still beautiful because even when we disagree, even when we disagree strongly, there's no blood in the streets. God bless America.
All day I kept thinking how beautiful it is that the way we choose our leader is by having folks stop by a school after work to be counted. In the week after Benazir Bhutto was killed while running for office, and while horrific election-related violence runs through Kenya, it's particularly profound to me that neither Mitt Romney's money nor Hillary Clinton's connections were sufficient to get them a victory. It's not money or a network that gets you elected, but the good judgment of the people (and by people, I mean, of course, Iowans). Obviously, the system isn't perfect. Not everyone votes, and not everyone can vote. Particularly egregious is the rule that merely growing up in Iowa isn't enough to let you caucus there. But our system is still beautiful because even when we disagree, even when we disagree strongly, there's no blood in the streets. God bless America.
Tuesday, January 1
Iowa Prediction
Here's my prediction for the winner in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday. A few caveats are in order first:
(1) This is not what I want to see happen, just what I think will happen. By way of example of this principle, I think Virginia Tech will win the Orange Bowl (Thursday night's other big event), though I would rather see Kansas win it as a matter of Big 12 loyalty.
(2) My predictions are more often wrong than right.
(3) My prediction has been agreed with by a political operative I know in Iowa. I will not mention his name, because he is hungry for any media exposure he can get in places like the New York Times or my blog, and I don't want to feed that egotism, but he has very good judgment about all things political, as evidenced by his agreement with this prediction.
(4) This prediction runs counter to the recent poll from the Des Moines Register.
The Prediction:
Edwards will win by at least 5 points. Obama and Clinton will finish within 2 points of each other.
(1) This is not what I want to see happen, just what I think will happen. By way of example of this principle, I think Virginia Tech will win the Orange Bowl (Thursday night's other big event), though I would rather see Kansas win it as a matter of Big 12 loyalty.
(2) My predictions are more often wrong than right.
(3) My prediction has been agreed with by a political operative I know in Iowa. I will not mention his name, because he is hungry for any media exposure he can get in places like the New York Times or my blog, and I don't want to feed that egotism, but he has very good judgment about all things political, as evidenced by his agreement with this prediction.
(4) This prediction runs counter to the recent poll from the Des Moines Register.
The Prediction:
Edwards will win by at least 5 points. Obama and Clinton will finish within 2 points of each other.
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