Is there anything more fun than baby faces?
Last weekend we finally went to Miami to see Jasmine. I just got a new phone with a camera, so I took a bunch of shots. More on flickr.
Posts Tagged ‘family’
Funny Faces
November 30, 2009Boo!
October 31, 2009
10-31-09 032, originally uploaded by tim_elhajj.
Jason and the Argonauts, a Ray Harryhausen stop-motion masterpiece
October 25, 2009
I recently watched the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion masterpiece, Jason and the Argonauts, with the kids. The movie still delivers. The kids loved it.
Holly has been introducing the kids to classic movies and TV. I haven’t participated much, mostly because I haven’t been too interested in the picks—wacky old comedies, like Spaceballs or the old Pink Panther. The kids have never enjoyed movies too scary or intense. But if their recent reaction is any indication, some of that is changing. I thought it might be fun to post their reaction to my picks, for better or worse.
I was astonished to learn that Holly had never even seen Jason and the Argonauts. This 1963 film features some of the most compelling monsters in any film, even compared to modern films with advanced special effects work. I am not sure why this is. I suspect it has to do with the special effects being just real enough to suspend disbelief, but not so real as to make you squeamish. I love the grand finale battle with the skeletons and the first battle with Talos, the giant copper titan come to life. It may also be because the special effects that don’t work so well are cheesy enough to make you laugh—think: Jason’s battle with the multi headed hydra (especially when it has him coiled in its tail), and Poseidon, the giant sea god, who calms the Clashing Rocks.
The kids watched with one of their friends. All the children enjoyed the battles and special effects, but Kennedy and Aaron were particularly impressed by the Greek mythology. This is probalby because they’ve been enjoying the Percy Jackson series of books. Their friend hasn’t been reading Percy Jackson and his attention wandered, especially during the scenes featuring Greek gods looking down from on high.
In Sickness And In Health
September 30, 2009
Two weeks ago Holly got sick.
We thought it was the flu, but it was much worse. I won’t go into the details here, except to say she ended up in the hospital on antibiotics for a the better part of a week. She is home now, and mostly recovered. I was freaking out.
There are some things I do pretty good. At my best, I like to think I set the spiritual tone and cadence for the family. If there are schisms, I can usually work my magic to put things back together. I do this by acting goofy–having a seat on my daughter, as she lays in a snit on the couch. Or pratfalls into Aaron’s arms. I have no problem making an ass of myself, if I think it’ll do some good. When it comes to work, I’ve had a pretty good run. In the last ten years, I’ve only been unemployed once, maybe twice, and never longer than 6 months. Every month, I balance our checkbook to the penny.
But there are somethings I do terribly. Getting up early, for example. Or making breakfast. For middle school, the kids have to be out of the house at 7:20 A.M. With Holly gone, we were getting by on toast and Popsicles. Of course, this all happened a few weeks away from a major deadline at my work, which didn’t help. There is nothing more humbling than not being able to provide for your kids.
We got a lot of support. Holly coordinated from her hospital bed, using her cell phone. Our friends–the Francours and the Becks–pitched in to haul the kids around to various after school activities or feed them dinner. My mother-in-law jumped on a plane and came rushing to our aid.
Somehow we survived.
I took Holly to the ER in the middle of the night, when we first realized things were going sour. She was in pain and eventually the nurse offered her a shot of dillaudid. Holly always turns down the pain medication, which I have known about her for a long time, but it always catches me off gaurd when it happens. Who turns down morphine? I always feel like I have to explain to the nurse and doctors.
Holly, take your narcotics.
Four Browns And a Green
September 8, 2009
9-7-2009 043, originally uploaded by tim_elhajj.
This afternoon I found our first few eggs.
They were secreted above the nesting box, where no chickens are allowed to go, but where they all seem to go anyhow. I am raising scofflaw, renegade chickens. This is God paying me back for a childhood of rebellion.
We have five eggs, but can’t be sure that all four chickens are laying. The green one is definitely from one of the Americana’s, either Quack or Kathy. We suspect the other four brown ones are all from Shirley. Bob is supposed to lay big white eggs, so we figure she has not yet made her contribution.
Very soon now: four hens a laying.
My Girls of Summer
July 17, 2009
Holly, Kennedy, and a big floppy hat.
I think this photo is from the kid’s elementary school graduation celebration, which didn’t happen until late June because of the teacher’s strike.
Chicken in the Middle
July 16, 2009
Aaron and Dad playing football in the backyard–the defensive line is a bunch of chickens. (Yuk, yuk!)
Chickens can be amusing, but this positive attribute is largely offset by the fact that they are disgusting, smelly, nasty creatures. Mine haven’t started to lay eggs yet, so my feelings may change, but I doubt it. I’m not that big on eggs.
Our neighbors, who have chickens, too (What is this?), suggested that when we feed the chickens table scraps, we say something like, “Here chick, chick, chick! Here chick, chick, chick!” This trains the birds to respond to your voice. The problem is that now, whenever we say “Here chick, chick, chick!,” our dog comes racing out back for the table scraps.
Pace is our biggest chicken.
If you don’t give him some of the scraps, he looks at you with the saddest eyes. Nothing for me? Again?
The chickens like to sleep in the alcove over the nesting box, instead of going inside the nesting box (where it is safer) to spend the night. This means I have to pick them up and put them in the nesting box at night.
There is no good way to grab a chicken.
Chickens don’t have a scruff, like cats or dogs. If you grab one of the legs, they squawk and flap their wings. I find it best to just bat them off the top ledge and then scold them.
Soon I am going to do a post on chicken coop construction.
I bought the plans from one Dennis J Harrison-Noonan, who I have yet to pay (sorry Dennis!) and for whom I have promised to do a review of my experience using the plans. I’ve added a few improvements (hopefully) to the design, and it turned out better than I expected.
Stay tuned.
Napoleon Dynamite
July 8, 2009
Aaron watched this and loved it.
He insisted our entire family watch it together and so we did. I laughed when I first saw this in theaters. This time, though, I felt really touched, especially Napoleon’s last desperate, ultimately triumphant, act. How sweet. How kooky. I’m not sure why I was so touched. Maybe I’m nervous about the kids going into middle school.
Favorite scene: Napoleon grudgingly feeding ham to Tina, his grandmother’s pet lama. Now when we go to feed the chickens instead of saying “here chick, chick, chick,” we say “Tina, come get some ham!” In fact, we’re using this line a lot around the house lately. I hear it at breakfast. I hear it at bedtime. I hear it if Holly is trying to motivate the kids to do something and they want to wage a low-level rebellion. Yesterday I threatened to yell it at their swim meet, instead of my usual ”Go, go, go!” cheer. I would have done it, too, but I didn’t want Aaron to laugh in the middle of his heat.
Aaron does a really compelling imitation of Napoleon Dynamite saying, “Gosh!” If you see him, you must ask him to do it for you. If he doesn’t want to, he may say, “Tina, come get your ham.”
Which is just as good.
RIP: Don Mummert (1982-2009)
July 6, 2009
Bear died in a motorcyle accident over the holiday.
He was the father of two and a firefighter. Not much older than Timmy. How sad.
Mom said he wasn’t drinking and had his helmet on. Makes no sense. Don has been riding motorcycles since he was 4 years old.
The Countdown Begins
May 31, 2009
Timmy and Carrie went to the hospital last night. When we found out, there was much revelry here in Washington. But I called a few hours ago and it looks like they ended up getting sent back home. The due date is still a few weeks out, so I guess this is fine, except that I am excited and can’t wait for news of the birth.
When we got the call from Tim, we were all in a pizza parlor getting ready to eat after seeing Up (which is as fabulous as everyone is saying it is). This was Holly’s celebratory birthday dinner, even though her birthday was this past Friday. I thought we had an eventful weekend, with Holly’s birthday, a couple of Little League baseball games and a school production of the Wiz.
But think how eventful Timmy and Carrie’s weekend must have been, with a race up RT 1 to get to the hospital.
