Sunday, October 29, 2006







Dane's 6th Birthday
Belvedere Park, Tiburon






About the party:
Classmates and siblings and family friends (about 20 kids and lots of parents) showed up for pizza and cupcakes on Saturday the 21st. The main activities were remote control car racing, Trac-Ball, stomp rockets, the playground (with rope climbing, sand pit, huge playhouse), and cupcake decorating.






Pictured:

(1) Vincent

(2)Little Sam Javadi

(3) Andrew (from Kindergarten)

(4) two of the Javadi girls, Carolyn and Hannah

(5) Amelie with frosting

(6)Abby (Kindergarten friend Joshua's little sister)

(7) Makayla (from Kindergarten; her dad's a Sausalito dentist)

(8) Dane and pals, Mia, Joshua, and Amelie

(9) Aubrey

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Vibrato

Aubrey has started singing with vibrato. She’s four. So, it’s not quick and snappy “Mary had a little lamb,” it’s slow and pensive: “Ma-a-ary ha-a-a-ad uh-uh-uh li-i-i-it-uh-uh-uhl la-a-a-amb”

It’s pre-schooler sings the blues.

I’m not sure where she picked this up, but I will say it seemed to start after a 2-week visit from her Grammy, who, if I may be so bold, utilizes a wee bit of the vibrato herself.

But, then again, maybe she picked it up from me. While I try to stay away from excesses of vocal warble, perhaps my voice occasionally makes those dips and dives too.

I’ll admit that sometimes in the dark when I sit on the floor of my kids’ bedroom and sing up to them in their lofts, I let my voice take off. I belt out the lyrics to their (my) favorite song, Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue.”

In some parts, I sing fast and raspy, going somewhere edgy and rebellious. In other parts, I let my voice go slow and bluesy, somewhere unchecked and from the heart. And, so far, since they don’t ask what it means to work in a “topless bar” or why you’d light “a burner on the stove to offer me a pipe,” sometimes I let myself feel the poetry and music so deeply I could cry.

So when I hear “You are my sunshine” coming from Aubrey’s mouth like she’s channeling Ethel Merman, I admire the risks she’s taking with her sounds—and maybe even her feelings. I try to catch her eye with a nod and a smile as if to say to my girl, "That’s right--sing it, sister.”

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Mike's Latest Project

Not only has Mick's Dad, Mike (a.k.a. "Grandad"), designed and executed the remodel for my beloved alma mater of adolescent glee, Ballou Junior High, but he's currently the architect working on Garfield High in Seattle.

Here's an interesting link showing the process of the project: Garfield High. BLRB is his architectural firm; the contractor posted the website.







And this is a picture of Grandad on Valentine's Day 2005.

Thursday, October 19, 2006


HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, ROCCO!

The before-school party



The Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Miss Lisa (teacher's assistant) w/Charles & Geornae


Camille (Joshua's mom) w/Geornae


Maxwell


Aubrey & Mia (1 of 4 girls in Dane's class of 18)


Dane w/(L to R) Michael, Terrance & Jaylen

The Class Party


Mia, Michael, Jacob, Nick (Mia's twin) & Dane


Dane w/Nick

The After-School Party at Home & Pomodoro

Wore new jammies to pizza across the street,
played new board game w/Mom & Dad while waiting there.



A fun park morning party is also planned for Saturday.
(Lucky kid!)


Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Espanol-o-rama

Dane's been telling me for a year that he wants to learn Spanish. I think it really started when we met the neighbors who used to live below us, and Oscar, our favorite grounds-crewman. After every meeting on the stairway or in the parking lot, we'd always get back to our apartment and say we wish we could say more than just hello or have a nice day.

Lucky for us, Dane's school offers a Berlitz Spanish class on Tuesday's from 3-4pm throughout the school year. With the help of a school grant, students pay a mere $20!

On our way home yesterday Dane told me the class is hard, so I hugged him and told him that was great. At dinner, he told Mick that they learned to name face parts that day.

So it looks like my little bambino will be getting some quality escuela.

Sunday, October 15, 2006






(Really) Great America

We happily wore ourselves out yesterday at Paramount's Great America, which is about an hour south of here. It was the annual UoP picnic. (Last year's was held at the SFZoo--see blog archives for October '05.)

Lucky for us, the new dean was looking to make a good impression, scoring us tix for $5 each (with a value of $45+ each, including meal and parking).

We all had a blast on the rides--a great balance of kid stuff in Kidzville and adult stuff like "Top Gun," "Invertigo," "Drop Zone," and "Vortex," thanks to the tag-teaming we did with our friends the Javadis.

The biggest family fun, though, was probably the "Rip Roaring Rapids," a 6-person water ride with plenty of dipping splash. Not only did the little river soak us, but sadistic voyeurs could shoot water from dry land at our rafts for a quarter. Needless to say, we were drenched (hair, pants, shirts, shoes, socks) at the end of the ride, but it was such an adrenaline rush we went back twice.



Friday, October 13, 2006

(Click on it twice for best resolution.)

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Netty's Brag Page
Second Edition

Look out, Texas!
My cousin Karen's son, Connor, pitched
his very first game last weekend.
Three up, three down, baby.
Way to go, Connor, you little Amarillo stud, you!



Barritt is SEVEN.
Boo-hoo, we missed her fairy tea party
in Seattle last Saturday.
Happy Birthday, Little B.
xoxoxoxo


Big Share and Donny Daring
celebrated anniversary #23 (if I've done my math correctly),
proving that there is life after marrying someone with a teenager.
Congratulations!
(Obviously, I need a photo update.)


Andrew Schneidler passed the Washington State Bar exam!
His dad woke up at 6am just to get online and find the results,
and called Andrew right after to tell him the good news.
Perfect, since Andrew's dad is also his law partner and boss.


Mick and Anjie Reynolds kicked some serious booty
on Saturday for the Rose Petals,
their team in the UoP Softball Tournament.
Let's just say one of them stroked one out of the park
and the other had a perfect batting average.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Happy 9th Anniversary, Mick

So much good comes from giving my heart to you.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Mick started quarter #6 today. Break's over. That's a good thing. I'm ready for the kids to start emulating dental-student-dad again, rather than home-every-day-dad. When they pulled off their shirts and pants last Friday to run around the house in their underwear yelling "I'm daddy! I'm daddy!" I was definitely looking foward to Monday's shirt and tie.