Home Run

Olivia put on her mom’s iPod before setting out for her run around the house.

Out on Bale

Olivia popped a squat on a hay bale during our trip to the nursery, but of greater significance, Beni emerged from the sick ward for her first extended trip out in over a month. In her brief public appearance, she helped us select our family pumpkin and other seasonal items.

Here’s that rare Beni sighting:

A mom among mums

Like a Doornail

Having missed significant portions of preschool in the last two weeks because of illness and travels, Olivia looked forward to her return today, as did her friends.

Beni: "How was your day?"

Olivia: "Good. My friends were excited to see me."

Beni: "Oh, yeah? Did they miss you?"

Olivia (nodding): "They thought I was dead."

Holy Matrimony, Batman

My brother, Erick, was the best man at my wedding. I had the distinct pleasure of returning the favor today.

I’m thrilled he’s found someone who’s as quick to laugh at him as she is to laugh with him. The ease by which the two of them banter and share laughs is refreshing. To the cynic, the playfulness of their interactions can be chalked up to the fact that they’re newlyweds, but I see it as their foundation for a long and happy marriage. Six years ago I married my best friend; today Erick married his.

To the happy couple, I wish you a future together as lovely as your wedding day.

Every Dog Has His Day

Tomorrow happens to be Max’s: our guy turns 10, and Olivia’s seriously bummed that she and I will miss celebrating with him in person—in dog, in Max’s case—because we’ll be out of town for my brother’s wedding. (Beni, who continues to be as sick as a dog, will miss the wedding but not the birthday.) Olivia’s requested that we pick up a card and bag of bacon strips so that we can present them to him in belated celebration on the night of our trip back home.

Kitty Glitter

The cat’s out of the bag, sort of speak. Well, technically…the cat bag’s out, as in out in public. Olivia proudly held up her bejeweled kitty purse for all to behold. She’d gotten it as a gift from my aunt over the summer.

Constructive Comments

When noticing the construction barrels lining the sides of a road we take on our route to her preschool, Olivia remarked, "Those things are over there because it’s almost Halloween."

Kegler Party

Questions: In bowling, is someone who consistently misses the headpin considered a pinhead? Does someone who keeps leaving the 7-10 combo suffer from a bad case of the splits?

[Insert groans here.]

The lack of sound, most notably of laughter, is so pronounced that you could hear a pin (or several) drop. Spare me, you say, from your gutter-al remarks, and strike such inane inquiries from future posts. To that end, I’ll keep striving to perfect my game so as to avoid missing the mark so badly in the future.

I’ll push the reset button now to tell you that Olivia joined Aiden this afternoon for his birthday-bowling bash. The kids had a ball. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Homecoming to Grips With

Homecoming is that time when we reconnect with old friends, whether they be classmates from yesteryear or the school mascot we find so fascinating that we spend most of the third quarter of the football game chasing him in the stands for the opportunity to hold his hand.

Et Tu, Zoe

(Background: Zoe is a new girl at their preschool who Olivia’s quite fond of.)

From Olivia’s lips to your screen:

"Zoe thought I was perfect. She said I was a perfect, nice girl."

Scarecrow Tactics

My hometown of Midland, Michigan loves to adorn its downtown streets with public art exhibitions created by local artists. The idea is nothing new: these displays started in Zürich in 1998, moved (moo-ved?) to the U.S. with Chicago’s Cows on Parade in 1999, and have since been a staple on many Main Streets.

Midland has gone with trolls (don’t ask), foxes, and now scarecrows—these straw men and women spun and decorated by employees of local businesses. Olivia, like many a crop-bound crow, was scared at first by their presence, but she eventually showed that imitation is her sincerest form of bravery.

Shady Ladies

When Olivia saw Grandma Randi rocking her sunglasses, she insisted on getting hers out. The bespectacled pair were bedazzling on their recent trip to a home improvement store.