Recently in theo Category

Theo and Francis play lifeguard

More pics over on the Flickr account. The afternoon ritual is to run off to an outdoor adventure when Francis wakes up from his nap. Favorite spot: the lake park. Here are the boys on top of the lifeguard stand.

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Categories: francis , kids , photos , theo
 

Couch talk w/Martin & Theo


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Finally, some real snow!

Finally some snow!  Finally some snow

Finally some snow

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Categories: francis , kids , photos , theo | Tags: backyard, fun, snow
 

But of course some photos....

...are worth taking:

Big brother needs some cleaning Time for bath

Apparently the best part of making Christmas cookies is the mess afterwards.

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Categories: francis , kids , photos , theo
 

Putting the $ back into Chri$tma$

A boy of lettersSorry I've been awol on the blog lately. What a crazy few weeks this has been, as those who know my alter-ego can probably imagine. Not to be a scrooge but when did Christmas become such a monstrosity? I'm looking forward to a few stolen moments with family, hopefully with minimal sniffles all around.

Anyone liking music might want to try out Jango.com. It's the best implementation of a social music playing/recommendation service I've seen so far. It's in beta testing and there's still some kinks to work out. My user account looks to be here, though I should give warning that the current band list is overly influenced by a jokey classic rock lineup I put in (next up: a high school highlight station only Pam might love).

To the right: gratuitous cute kid pic. Theo traced all the letters in black ink. There's an accompanying video too. Update: and here it is below.

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Categories: kids , theo
 

Sights around the house

Around the house
Around the house Not too afraid to climb again Around the house Top: The Architect at work. Left: the stitches; monkey Francis au natural in the morning; another view of The Architect.

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Categories: francis , kids , media , theo
 

No pictures please

Since I use this blog as a bit of a personal journal, to remember dates and happenings, I should dutifully note that last night was the time four year old Theo pushed two year old Francis off the footstool while brushing teeth, causing said Francis to fall precipitously against the bathtub and open a nasty gash in his chin. Three hours and a Martin/Francis emergency room visit later there were four stitches in the poor guy's chin. I'll spare you all a description of the initial mess or the difficulty of holding down a screaming child while the doctor tries to put the stitches in. Everything is fine now. And no, no photos or Youtube videos of the proceedings. Maybe I'll snap a picture of the stitches so Francis can see just where that scar came from!

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An Autumnal Halloween

Butterfly Genus Theodorableus Butterfly Genus Francis Captured butterflies

The Batsto Village Halloween party wasn't quite so much fun this year: their website didn't mention that most activities ended part-way through the afternoon so that the organizers could sit in front of the old houses giving out candy. We arrived on the late side so no face painting or pony rides for the boys butterflies. We still had fun in the first really autumn day of the season and Batsto was looking more bucolic than ever. More pictures (including some of the cool gearing in the old Batsto gristmill) over on yesterday's Flickr page.

Right: rare video footage of a Genus Franciscus Butterfly in migration.

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Categories: francis , kids , southjersey , theo
 

Butterfly Love

Butterfly Love
The town parade was postponed by rain again last night but as the butterfly boys were all dressed up we ducked into our favorite pizza shop for some mozzarella sticks and a slice of bruchetta-topped tomato pie. We got out without inflicting any major structural damage or physical injury, though Theo was only a twist or two away from destroying one of their neon signs. Rumor has it that the parade will happen next Tuesday though if the weather cooperates we should have pictures of the Batsto Village halloween before that (last year's pics).

(Still working on getting comments and Twitter to show up properly.)

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Categories: francis , kids , theo , town
 

Railroad & farm weekend in Lancaster

Our only full-group shot, outside Strasburg RR This weekend we took off for a family trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania--Julie and me, the kids and my mother Liz. I won't have time to do a long blog post, but highlights were the Verdant View farm B&B (link) where we stayed; the Strasburg Railroad (link) whose line runs through the farm's backyard, the Choo Barn model railway (link); and the amazing Cherry Crest Farm (link) with its corn maze and its simple games for kids of all ages (who knew you could have so much fun with a hill and a piece of burlap?!).

See the See the photo set on Flickr for more pictures and stories. Every shot is mapped, with links.

Large photo: Family at Strasburg RR: Martin, Liz, Theo, Julie, Francis. Below: Julie and the kids walking through fields at farm, Francis playing kung-fu with the farm dog, Theo running in terror from said dog, Engine 90 ready to pull out.
Verdant View's verdant views Verdant View Farm dogs Verdant View Farm dogs Locomotion

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The ascent of Apple Pie Hill

Yesterday the kids and I took a road trip to Apple Pie Hill, a summit of loose gravel that towers over the South Jersey pinelands from a dizzying height of 209 feet above sea level. A fire watch tower on the summit adds another few dozen feet, enough to get a visitor over the treetops. On a clear day it's said you can see the skylines of Atlantic City and Philadelphia. Fortunately for me it was an quintessentially beautifully fall day--clear and crisp. It was easy to spot the cities, both thirty-two miles away (mostly to the south and mostly to the east respectively) and here's blowups of the two resultant photos:
Trip to Pine Barren's famous Apple Pie Hill
Sand road to Apple Pie Hill Trip to Pine Barren's famous Apple Pie Hill Trip to Pine Barren's famous Apple Pie Hill Trip to Pine Barren's famous Apple Pie Hill
More pictures, from left: Sand road to the hill, the fire tower, the view down through the steps of the tower (the kids were left in the car), two year old Francis eager but thwarted attempt to repeat Papa's climb up tower. Click individual photos for enlarged and geotagged versions. More photos of this and out stopover at Atsion later in the day on yesterday's Flickr page.

For those interested in repeating our journey, here's a map showing our route up and back. I was mostly winging it, depending on these directions from NJPineslandsandDownJersey.com starting from nearby Chatsworth NJ, self-styled "Capital of the Pine Barrens."



Other map views: View Larger Map | Satellite with Route Map

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Categories: francis , photos , southjersey , theo , trips
 

Let's go fly a kite

Let's go fly a kite Let's go fly a kite
Theo with his first kite, a dollar-store special from his birthday party. Note matching shirt: is the kid flying the kite or the other way round? Shortly after the second picture was taken Theo let go of the handle and the kite flew away into the trees. I'm happy to report recovery was successful!

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Categories: kids , theo | Tags: birthday party, dollar store, kite, theo
 
Scenes from a birthdays party: Theo (4) & Francis (2)
Photos clockwise: Theo blows out the birthday ice cream cake's “4” candle; kids huddle around when box opens to reveal Thomas the Tank Engine related toy; independent Francis surveys the scene; cousin M. plays pattycake with Poppop while her mom looks on.
Scenes from a birthdays party: Theo (4) & Francis (2) Scenes from birthdays party
Pictures from Birthdays Party

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Categories: francis , kids , photos , theo | Tags: birthday party, francis, photos, theo
 

Francis turns two

Martin and Theo celebrated Francis's second birthday with an afternoon outing to fav spot Batsto Lake.

Francis turns two Francis turns two Francis turns two


Photos: Francis laughs by the lake, Theo making ripples, group shot, video speech.


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Some gratuitious family pics

In the What a Difference a Year Makes (or Doesn't) Department:

Julie took the kids out to South Jersey's fabled Storybookland last week.The funniest discovery were the pictures that matched those from Theo's class trip last year.

20062007
Theo's class trip to StorybooklandTheo returns to Storybook Land
Theo's class trip to StorybooklandStorybookland 2007
Theo's class trip to StorybooklandStorybookland Return 2007

We all went together on a family trip this weekend to reacquaint ourselves with one another: our schedules haven't been syncing well lately. Julie picked a farm B&B out in Lancaster County full of chickens and goats and an easy commute to Strasburg PA, a good place for those who like to look at trains, trains and trains, then drool over trains, trains, trains and trains (we haven't seen trains or trains up close yet). Pictures from around the B&B are here; strangely we forgot the cameras on our steam-powered outings so you'll have to look at old pics. Here's a shot of the kids on top of the playhouse barn's slide:
Trip to Lancaster Co. B&B


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TV love songs

As promised the other day, Francis singing the Elmo song:

For fairness sake, here's Theo with the Thomas/Gordan song:


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Marvin K Mooney redux

When Theo was a one year old his favorite book was Dr. Seuss's Marvin K Mooney Will You Please Go Now: it was required bed time reading. Now that baby brother Francis is of that age Theo is starting to read it himself, at least in theory to Francis. Here are two readings, from August 2004 and October 2006.


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Theo makes a call

Summer Fun 2006 Theo's class trip to Storybookland Fun at Busch Gardens Williamsburg


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Categories: theo | Tags: theo
 

Theo's class trip to Storybook Land

Theo's class trip to Storybookland  Theo's class trip to Storybookland  Theo's class trip to Storybookland Theo's class trip to Storybookland


Julie took Theo on his class trip to Storybook Land, a South Jersey icon that recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary (maybe sometime we'll raid the photo albums from Julie's youth and post pictures of her childhood exploits there!). Martin and Francis stayed home, alas, with high temperatures, part of a family-wide cold that's affected us all at some point over the last ten days.


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The Theo Show

I've finally started getting internet video down. Next up will have to be Francis's "sleepy song."


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Categories: theo | Tags: internet video, sleepy
 

How to tell if your child is obsessive-compulsive:

How to tell if your kid is obsessive-compulsive: cars all face forward Line 'em up
Arranging the cars just right.

Theo is very precise about lining his toy cars up just so on the windowsill. This is the window that looks out into the street, which means his car parking is routinely interrupted by his shouts of "V! V!" (S.U.V.) and "uh-uh-Ss pup" (U.P.S. truck).

We've had a couple of visits lately:
Visiting friends Visiting friends Pics

That's my high school friend Rui with Francis; Rui's daughter Kia holding Francis while Jorge and Ann look on; a week later Jorj read to Theo and his own son Jacob while Sue talks with Julie (unseen) in the kitchen. Earlier in the day Jorj pointed his camera back on us.

Here's Theo learning how to ride his own bike (courtesy the townwide yard sale earlier this month) and Francis with a sleep smile and grimace:
Visiting friends Awww Oooh no!

Update, 10/18: Today was Theo's first day of preschool. Here's the photoset


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Trip to the Blue Hole

Trip to Winslow's Blue HoleA few days ago my two-year old Theo and I took a meandering bike trip that brought us to the charmingly-named Piney Hollow Road (alas, not quite as rustic as it sounds). We stopped on the unassuming bridge over the Great Egg Harbor River and I looked for a trail into the woods. We found one about a hundred feet north of the river, hiked in another hundred feet and picnicked along the river. When I got back home I started Googling around and discovered that our sand trail was the Blue Anchor Fireline Road and that we were on one of the main paths in to the famed Blue Hole.


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Baby Francis!

Welcome Baby Francis!Just the quickest of announcements to let everyone know that Baby Francis was born Monday morning. Stats: a boy, 8 lbs, 15 oz., 20 inches long, 14.5 inch head (he was not going to be coming out of Julie the old fashioned way!). Everyone's healthy, Mom's recovery is happening more quickly than last time. Theo's first two visits have been encouraging. Here's the official Baby Francis homepage and here's the Baby Francis Flickr page

I have to run right back to the hospital now to visit Julie. Thanks everyone for all of your prayers! More picture soon.

Welcome Baby Francis! Welcome Baby Francis! Welcome Baby Francis! Welcome Baby Francis!

Update: we're all home!
Baby arrives home


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A linguistic guide to the two-year old

Ad-ada-aa-yeeOne piece of preparing for the birth of the second child is passing off temporary responsibility for the first child to a relative or close friend. In preparation we've prepared a dictionary of Theo'isms.



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And Baby Makes Four

New baby, t minus four months
A Flashback to TheoReader
For comparison, Theo in Second Month 2003 and last week
They say second children don't get as much attention and that parents forget to take many photographs of them. We want to avoid that so we'll get an early start with some ultrasounds. They always look a little scary to me but I take solace that Theo looked just as skeletal but turned out pretty cute.  

 

 

 

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Categories: francis , photos , theo | Tags: parents, scary, solace, theo, ultrasounds
 
www.flickr.com

Click on any of the pictures above for captions, etc. Here's the photoset of our whole trip. Apologies to all the Theo fans (you know who you are) for not getting these up sooner.


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PATCO almost squashes Theo

Your retroactive prayers are in order. Julie, “Theo”:www.nonviolence.org/theo and my mother just came to visit me in the fgc office on our way to see the Philadelphia Flower Show. When they were walking out of the “PATCO”:http://www.drpa.org/patco/ train, the doors closed on Theo’s stroller, pinning his arms.


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Theo says Ah-ha

Get your own MP3 of Theo's laugh!


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A Summer of Social Events

Theo had quite the social calendar this summer but made sure to get in some hang-time too. Here he is in the car, "come on, Mom, come on Dad, daylight's burning, let's go!" July 11.




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Categories: photos , theo | Tags: friends, photos, theo, wedding
 

Houses Old and New

This summer we started house-hunting in a nearby town.

Theo has the instincts of a natural-born negotiator. He loves to growl a lot, especially in this particular snorting heavy-breathing way that's just too cute (don't tell him that though, say "Oooh nooooo, I'm so scaaared!"). He's also started looking at you then swinging his head side to side--this is a house hunter that knows when to say "no". One of his favorite sounds is "a-haa"--he's not just a nay-sayer.




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About Martin

a little picture I’m a Quaker from South Jersey with a love of outreach and ministry. More bio and my contact information in my about Martin post.

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