Category Archives: Photos

The photo evidence that will one day be our ruin.

Leaving the Nest

Posted on by

So it started with Kindergarten orientation – no, wait – make that soccer – no, no, no back that train up. Make that day camp. Day Camp is when we started seeing the writing on the wall. The writing that said “Oh Here Go Hell Come”.

The last couple weeks with Little P have broken down like this:

Day Camp:
1st week number of days signed up = 4
1st week number of days actually attended = 2
Through some miracle of I-don’t-know-what, we seemed to figure out just the right combination of clicks, whistles and twirls that got us through the remaining weeks without incident.

Soccer:
Number of practices attended = 2
Number of practices participated in = 0
Number of games = 1
Number of games participated in = 0
Number of times the uniform has been on his person = 0

Current Theory: He may have more of a future as the team photographer.

Team Photographer

Team Photographer

Kindergarten Orientation:
Number of minutes it took to put on the nametag = 20
Number of pictures the teacher’s aid was allowed to take of him for the bulletin board = 0
Number of pictures I had to take of him for the bulletin board = 1
Number of times he was more than 6 inches from my body = 1

Here is the singular photo I was able to take of him while attending orientation (it was the only time he was far enough away from me that I could actually focus the camera to get a shot):

Kindergarten Orientation

First Day of Kindergarten:
Number of times we barely averted chaos before leaving the house = 2
Number of hours I anticipated being late to work = 2
Number of times I expected to receive a phone call once at work = 5
BUT…..
Number of minutes it took to put on the nametag = .0025!!!
Number of whines and/or leg clings = 0!!!
Number of photos taken = 11!!!
Number of hugs/kisses/waves goodbye = 1, 1 & 3!!! (respectively)
Number of phone calls to work = 0!!!
Number of tears shed (by either of us) = 0!!! [I felt so much relief and joy that I was, literally, unable to feel sad or sentimental.]

And as for that other girl of ours, well 3rd graders tolerate their mothers for about 5-7 minutes before giving them the side-eye and telling them to move along already. At least that is my first-hand experience.

And so there I was – watching the one who I had to gently scoot from the nest and the other who bolted at a dead run. I can’t help but wonder if this is how it will always be.

First Day of Kindergarten & 3rd Grade
(click the photo to see the entire set)

Summer Vacation, blar-de-blar-blar.

Posted on by

Okay folks, I’m going to make this quick because quite honestly I’m already over it just from rounding up everyone’s photos. And when it comes to the “What I did for Summer Vacation” posts, we’ve all kind of been there and done that. At last count, I’ve written about 10 of them, and they have all started sounding pretty much the same. Unless we end up stumbling across a bigfoot or one of the kids grows a third arm, I think there’s not much new to say.

Yes! Steve and I went to Paris, and yes, it was awesome – IT WAS PARIS FOR GOD’S SAKE! AND, we were staying with friends. Yeah, it’s like that. We ate all the great food and drank all the great wine wine and saw all the great history stuff and spoke all our horrifically horrible French.

Yes! The kids were treated like royalty by their doting relatives and given everything short of matching blue ponies.

Yes! We saw the mountains, the beach and the finer points of the Central Valley.

Yes! We are tanned, and tired, and all 5 pounds heavier.

The pictures will sum it up much better. You can click through at your own pace over on Flickr, or you can watch the exquisitely crafted slideshow (not really) over here – but be warned, it will take you a while (about 14-ish minutes at last count) – and it has audio. Oh, and you probably don’t want to watch it unless you really like looking at our kids. Just sayin’.

(Photo credits go to Grandma Judy, Grandma Dani, Aunt Celene and myself – taken with various cameras and phones – accordingly, quality will vary. Amended photo credit: Shannon S. Yodowitz, because she threatened to sue me if I didn’t give her credit for the four photos she took. Effing lawyers.)

Putting the Memori in Memorial Day

Posted on by

An hour after Stella and Steve left for the rollerskating party I get a phone call:

“Um, so we just left the party. Stella fell pretty hard on her wrist. She’s being a trooper, but I’m thinking we should probably have it checked out.”

So, 4 hours in the dearth of human existence – otherwise known as the ER – and she emerges with this lovely ensemble:

Fashion Accessory

We still don’t know if it is a sprain or a fracture because, well, Humboldt County healthcare just doesn’t roll that way. Rural is good when you are talking about bucolic hamlets nestled amongst the redwoods. Rural is NOT good when you are trying to locate someone who knows how to read an X-ray on a holiday weekend.

I have had to stop just short of bungee cording her to her bed to keep her from performing any of the long list of prohibited activities from her discharge orders. No playing, running, skipping, skating, jumping, walking, breathing, or looking at her. She has been a quick study on the 1-handed maneuvering of life-without-use-of-one’s-dominant-hand, and has successfully managed a shower (extra fun with the hefty bag!)

Now, to just decide if we will need to sequin and glitterize it for next weekend’s dance recital….

Passing the Torch

Posted on by

Last Thursday was Stella’s open house at school. Here is her self-portrait from the portrait wall; she obviously has her father’s ears.

Self Portrait

Then there was this little gem.

If I were...

I gave her some grief about the little brother crack, especially considering what happened next.

We figured that, as long as we were there, it would be a good idea to also visit the kindergarten classrooms for a certain other young Walston who will be entering the ranks of public education this fall. As would be expected, this young male Walston was resistant when presented with the idea. So, we kicked in to quirkiness-management-mode and manipulated the situation. Next thing you know we were strolling into the kindergarten rooms and saying, “Hey! Look at this, I think this is Stella’s old Kindergarten classroom – what a coincidence!” Damn, we’re good.

Then, the most heart melting sibling moment occurred: As Steve and I feigned disinterest and chatted with the teacher, I off-handedly suggested that Stella show Porter around. She caught the hint, and started pointing out the various projects on the walls, and he scooted up shyly behind her and reached for her hand.

Orientation

Ugh. Could you just die?