Christmas 2015

Christmas morning: two pictures required prior to present-opening.

From Tess' point of view, on the final day of her birthday celebration there were a few gifts for her siblings.  Perhaps so they wouldn't feel left out.

Ready for dinner with the grandparents.

This toy is life-sized.

Tess is 2

Tess is two, and she knows it.

She saw what happened with Rosemary in May and Silas in October -- and it turns out she was paying attention. For the past few days she's been saying:

"My birthday! My present!"

And also: "I like my cake!" ("like" means "want").

Tess loved opening her gifts, though all of her toys wound up with Rosemary, who graciously tested them out.

The weekend fell right in between Tess' birthday and Grandpa Ray's, so we had a joint family celebration on Sunday.

Silas is teaching his tricks to Cousin Liam.

The birthday boy took good care of the birthday girl.

Tree Farm

On a chilly Sunday morning, we drove to a Christmas tree farm near Half Moon Bay and met friends for a tailgate.

The kids searched a bit for a tree, but mostly played with the other kids.

Failed photo op, but...

...a successful tree decoration.  More photos are here.

Thanksgiving 2015

Silas, Rosemary, and Tess were on cloud nine with both sets of grandparents for Thanksgiving this year.


Many more pictures are here.

Cub Scouts

You have to embrace those moments when your child's interests diverge significantly from your own.

Silas joined Cub Scouts with his two closest friends, and he has had a lot of fun.  He loves the camaraderie and even the uniform.

The den leader is fantastic and I have to say, the activities have been enjoyable.

Pictured here:

Collecting cans for a food drive (above).

Veterans Day ceremony at our PTA meeting (middle).

Some sort of Scout handshake (below).

The Scouts' prohibition on gays ended this year, in July. 

The prohibition on atheists and agnostics remains -- but seems not widely enforced.

The exclusion of girls has federal support, currently; the Scouts have a Title IX carve-out.

I've enjoyed the chance to discuss with Silas some of my views versus some of the Scouts' views.

Silas' views will be forthcoming, and meanwhile I'm happy for him to realize that parental philosophy is not black-letter law.

Halloween 2015

The kids on Halloween: bat, ninja, Hawk Girl.

Many more photos of this year's festivities are here.

Tess had a ball.  She seems to understand everything that's going on these days.

Last year on Halloween night, Tess took her very first steps.

Eight Years in the Maze of Life

On Silas' eighth birthday, we found ourselves at a Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch, on a school trip for Rosemary's preschool.

Meredith took the girls; Silas and I charged into the hay bale maze.

The maze was two acres in size and (we discovered) had secret doors within. 

Silas led the way.  To find out whether he solved the puzzle, see the extended birthday photos here.

 

Frank and Ellen flew out to the Bay Area and we were so happy to see them. 

They used to be our nearest relatives.  Now, as one of the sadder results of our move, they are among our farthest.

During their visit, we had a great family birthday party at the grandparent's house. 

Pictured here are Uncles Frank, Tsutomu, and Pete; Aunts Ellen, Hildie, and Theresa; Grandpa Ray and Grandma Charlotte; and cousin Liam.

Science Fair

The College of San Mateo had a science fair today, with college students on hand to teach kids about physics, chemistry, and biology.

Activities included creating slime in the chemistry lab,

playing the skull-guessing game,

and making new friends.

Student of the Week

As student of the week, Silas had to present a timeline of important life events.

I printed 14 photos and Silas selected the 6 he wanted to discuss.

On subsequent days, Silas had to bring in a prized possession (a book about Teslas), be interviewed by classmates, and talk about a person who had influenced him (his mother).

At week's end, Mrs. Murphy asked the class what they had learned about Silas, and wrote up the results (at left).

Students were particularly fascinated that Silas' first bed was a drawer and that
he had a lot of experience with snow.

Each classmate then wrote Silas a letter.

This one was a favorite:

"I didn't know that you had no pets.... I feel bad for you."