Author Archives: joel

Just a quick story about something funny that happened at home the other night. Lori, Carter, and I were in the living room playing on the floor. Sean had just gotten up to go use the bathroom. So we're all talking, and suddenly Sean comes bouncing in the living room, drops his pants, throws his arms up in the air and exclaims, "Ta-da! Penis!" Lori and I just look at each other, and then bust out laughing. I have no idea what he did that for, but it cracked us up. I joked with Lori that I think it was his very first pick up line.

Carter is becoming quite the little ham. This photo was totally staged, but not by us. She was playing quietly in the living room, and found her props, set up the rocking horse, and climbed on. Then she called Lori into the room and said "Mommy, do you want to take my picture?" How cute is that? I remember Tracy being a bit of a ham when she was little, and it's adorable to see the same thing in my own daughter.

The kids have really started to take an interest in the dogs these past couple of months. For the longest time, Sean and Carter both treated the dogs as little more than mobile furniture, and usually couldn't even remember which dog was which. But lately, they love those pups. They pat them, talk to them, try to get them to play - this past weekend, Sean even helped me give them a bath.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Sean's preschool graduation ceremony. We were more than a little worried about him - sometimes these sorts of things give him a lot of anxiety, and he sort of melts down. But to our surprise, he did such a good job. He sang the song, pledged his allegiance to the flag, and even enjoyed the clown they brought in. I was so proud to see my little fella sitting there with all of his friends - it feels good to know that he's developing a little life and relationships of his own, outside of the family.

The other day the kids were riding bikes in the driveway, and Sean suddenly got it into his head that he wanted to run. At not just run, but race. So he set up the cones, and talked his sister into running with him. Although in all honesty, she didn't need much convincing. The best part is when he wins a race - he sings "I win! I win!", all which doing some kind of little dance. In one of the shots below, you can see part of that dance.

Here's a cute picture of Carter with Grampy-Big-Red-Truck. He came to visit the other day, and Carter was ecstatic. When I see pictures like this, it reminds me why we moved back to New England. I could live without the power outages all winter, the snow-shoveling, the sticky summer heat (without central A/C), and all of that - but family makes it all worthwhile.

This is just a cute photo I found on my computer last night, and had forgotten to post when it actually happened. I think it is one that Lori took the week before our vacation.

While we were on vacation, we told the kids that we were going to rent a canoe and take a ride on the Saco River. We also told them that along the way, we were going to find a nice sandy spot to have our lunch and a little swim. While we were driving to the canoe rental place, Sean kept asking if we could just go swimming without the canoe. So that's what we ended up doing. Both kids did great, but I especially loved Sean's goggles - doesn't he look hilarious? Those were his idea. I also love the photo of Sean trying to carry about five rocks at once. I was cringing the whole time, expecting one of them to end up on his toes. But he didn't drop them. Now as to why those particular rocks were so important - especially considering that the entire beach was covered in rocks - I really couldn't say. :)