A History of Birthdays

Rory's First Birthday

2nd birthday

 

3rd birthday

Around her 4th birthday, on a class field trip...

 

Around her 5th...

And this morning, on Number Six!

Crafty Weekend

Its that time of our year again... The month of celebrations! Within about 10 days in February, we celebrate Rory's birthday, Jason's birthday, Jason's Dad's birthday, Valentines day, and Jason's grandfather's birthday. WHEW!
In preparation, we have had a weekend of craft projects. I'm prey proud of how they turned out, so I thought I'd share some pictures. included are Rory's envelopes that we made for her birthday invitations, bookmark Valentines for school, and shhhh...Rory's birthday presents!
Sorry that a couple of these are sideways.  I can't get them to turn around right now.

What everyone is getting for gifts

Once again this holiday season, Rory has brainstormed a list of gifts to get people.  Not to ruin the surprise, but here is this year's list, in Rory's exact words:

• Ella - one of our ornaments
• Iska - a new hat
• Mimi & Poppy - the DVD of Aladdin or a cooking pan
• Maira (who cleans our house) - a new broom
• Kendall - me to live with her all the time!
• Kinsey - a Slinky
• Jeff and Theresa - a new couch
• Grandma and Grandpa - soda.  Or me!
• Snow White - an apple (of course, it's not going to be poisoned)
• Sydney (our cat) - a dog to chase her
• Grandma & Papa - some new pillows
• Lynn - a relaxation CD 
• Miss Toybes (her teacher) - a pot holder
• Scott & Gloria (our neighbors) - a new dog

And when I asked Rory what she would want, she said she would like a baby duckling, like in the story The Ugly Duckling, so it would grow up to be beautiful.  I had to explain that I don't think St. Louis laws allow fowl as pets.

Click here to see Rory's gift list from 2009.

Harry Potter World

Disney. . More of Day Four

Day four

Magic Kingdom. Rory is on Cloud 12! She was first in line this morning to meet Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella! Pixie dust straight from tinkerbell's arm.

Disney day two

Disney day one

First recital

Back in June, Rory started taking piano and singing lessons.  Today was her first recital for both.  Her piano piece consisted of about 15 notes, so I didn't post a video of it.  Here is her singing "Beauty and the Beast". 

"Braaaiiiinnnssss!!"

Jason and I joined a few hundred strangers and headed to the Delmar Loop for Zombie Walk. Basically you get dressed up and walk around in character to entertain yourselves and the eclectic folks in the Loop. I have to admit, it was fun! After the walk, we headed to a bar to watch the Cardinals in the World Series.

Our Rocker!!

Today is Rock n Roll Day at Rory's school, and thanks to Grandma Cam's Christmas gift from last year, Rory was ready!!

(For some reason the preview looks sideways, but it plays correctly.)

Who needs an alarm clock...

...when you have Rory?  She is singing the Lion King theme from her bed right now.  Not sure I have written before about our chronic early riser, but 5:45-6:15 is her prime wake up time, seven days a week, no matter how late she goes to bed, since she was born. The good news...she wakes up as the happiest human on earth, usually singing!  We can't help but smile through our heavy eyelids.

However, for those of you who don't understand why I seem to NEED coffee, hopefully this has shed some light on the mystery.

This is not candy corn.

Do not be fooled. Don't let anyone tell you that you can make homemade candy corn.  Brachs, you are geniuses and we bow to you.

Waiting for the Tooth Fairy

Rory has her first loose tooth, so our preparations for the arrival of the Tooth Fairy have begun. To make sure she could find the house, we made her her own fairy-sized door to get into Rory's room. Now we just have to wait for that tooth to wiggle it's way out.

Lunch Packed with Love

There is nothing like a lunch packed with love.  This morning, I heard a lot of action in the kitchen as I was getting ready for work.  When I came out, Rory handed me the lunch she had packed for me.  And here it is (clockwise from bottom):

• One cheese stick
• A gazillion carrots (I detest carrots)
• A leftover chicken sausage
• 3/4 of an apple
• 3 blue corn chips
• A plum (I don't like plums)
• A pear/apple (I don't like pears)
• 2 Great Pumpkin cookies (VERY generous on her part)
• Grapes, already washed
• OH, and a note that says "Hi Mommy, are you having fun?"

Notice the lovely giant lunch bag I carried into my office this morning.  

Thanks, Ro!!

An Ode to Steve Jobs

I feel the need to write on our blog tonight, for historical purposes, about the news today that Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, has died.  I am typing this on the first Mac I've ever owned.  I may have had my frustrations with this computer over the years, but man, it's still sexy.  Sitting next to me is my Google Android phone, which looks a whole lot like the original iPhone.  On this computer, the majority of our storage speace is chewed up by Jason's enormous music collection in iTunes. 

Like the moment Barack Obama was inaugurated as president, I'm struck about how different Rory's life will be than mine.  Rory, now 5, knows how to use this computer, my phone, and Jason's iPod.  She will never know a world where they didn't exist.  While we have seen what trick this magician, Steve Jobs, has pulled out of his fancy imagination every year when he donned his black turntleneck and jeans announcing the newest innovation by Apple, these things will seem archaic to Rory.  The iPod will be to Rory what the 8 track player is to me.  Amazing.

Steve Jobs made that happen.  He was our magician, our rock star.  Our Henry Ford, our Alexander Graham Bell.  He created this world of digital information, photos, sharing, and apps.  He dreamed it, created it, and found a way to make it not only so useful, but damn sexy and simple.  It's strange to think about the fact that he created SO much of the world we live in, and now he doesn't live in it himself anymore.  It was a very special time for us to be able to live through, to watch the way the world has changed in the last 20 years, probably more than any other 20 years in history, very much in part to Steve Jobs.

My thoughts are with his family and friends.  I hope everyone takes a brief second to stand in awe of what this man contributed to our world.  I'm off to feed the fish on my phone now.

The Big K Day

After weeks of waiting, today finally came! She took her lunchbox, waited while I put in her pony tails, checked I had added apples to her lunchbox, made her bed, stood patiently for pictures, and hauled that new purple backpack onto her eager back.  Once we arrived, she saw her teacher, asked where to put her lunch and her backpack, and basically couldn't wait for us to go.  Quick hugs and smiles... and then kindergarten began!  I can't wait to hear about her day!