Jazz Concert

Here are a few shots taken at Alex's first Jazz Band concert. He is one of two 6th graders who were offered positions in the band, the rest are 7th and 8th graders. They sounded great, we found ourselves dancing in the atrium.

Transformation a la Nick

After seeing how much easier life has been for his older brother, Nick decided he too would take the plunge into wearing shorter hair. Here he is only moments prior to the complicated removal procedure.

 

One last look with everything intact.

 

Here we are, at the halfway point.

 

Ah yes, there's a kid I haven't seen in years.

 

Good to have you back home, son.

Grandpa and Grandma Rollin' Thru

 

Grandpa and Grandma rolled through last weekend on their way back to Iowa. We hadn't seen them since earlier this summer, and were glad to find them in good spirits and good health.

Transformation a la Alex

Alex has set his sights on the Parkside Wrestling Team which is open for tryouts later this week. After researching the requirements, he discovered his hair was too long. So today, he decided to grant access to his golden locks.

Here is the official before picture. I really didn't expect this big of a smile.

 

One final view of that hair, bangs and all.

 

We're halfway there, definitely light at the end of this tunnel.

 

Introducing, for the first time in years...Clean Cut Alex!

 

Welcome home, Son.

Halloween Fun

This year, Alex and Nick chose costumes that were much scarier than in previous years. Alex dressed up as an orc sword carrying crazed lunatic, while Nick chose to be a troll masked grim reaper. Definitely not your standard fare. They were joined by Danny (hockey player), Brian (Wrestler) and Sam (Dracula).

I dressed up this year also, well...not entirely.

I had a little accident while carving pumpkins. I've never been real handy with a knife, and on the night before Halloween I was attempting to slice open one of our gourds when my steak knife slipped...

Five stitches later...I became...

FRANKENTHUMB!

 

Here's another angle.

 

There wasn't much pain, just a lot of blood. I saw it as a good lesson for the kids, and for Dad too!

The kids ended up collecting more candy than they'll ever eat, just like last year, and the year before. And, as I did in those previous years, I'll step up as the father they can lean on...

...in these times of crisis.

Open House

 

We went to an open house at Nick's school recently to find out what he's been spending his time on. We discovered that he's been reading about the Age of Exploration (Vikings, Christopher Columbus, Cortez, Pizzaro, etc.), the vastness and beauty of Space, the fundamentals of Language, and faster techniques in Math. We also discovered a teacher who loves to teach, and whom Nick adores (Mrs. Shackley).

It's comforting to know that Nick is in such good and capable hands.