This is just one of those twisted moments in parenting -- dressing your kids up in the same clothes and then taking photos of them.
Cute but ouch.
And the ouch isn't only dedicated to the general nature of the photo but also if you look closely at Cian's face you can see the scars of a recent faceplant on the sidewalk/footpath. No it's not food leftovers.
Cian got to dress up as his favourite character for school one day -- and he picked Tintin. Of course that left quite a few folks at school pretty confused.
"eh, Tintin?"
Heathens.
I couldn't resist doing this -- I had to do the early comparison.
Cian is on top and Cillian is below --- kind of similar, eh?
Wow -- what's happened around here then? First post of the year and it's already the 23rd of Jan?
Yikes....
Anyway, Monday was MLK day here and Cian's school had a "service day" -- most schools were closed for the day but Cian got to go in and work on a service project. His project was to make scarves which could be distributed by the cafe across the road that serves the homeless. Nice, eh? Particularly given the frigid temperatures around here recently.
Then the school made peace posters and we all marched through downtown to go and perform an African dance (A Senegalese healing dance to be exact) and sing some songs (see the videos below).
We love this school.
Christmas had a distinct soccer tone this year...
Anne continued the fine tradition of home made costumes this year (hmmm -- just occurs to me that starting next Halloween, she will have to make two costumes every year).
As a refresher Cian has been Elvis, Thomas the tank, a dinosaur, a dragon and this year he was a bat. Amazing what you can do with a black umbrella and a sweatshirt (and a whole lot of creativity), eh?
Our recent trip to New Mexico was a blast -- and one of the highlights was Cian's soccer games with Nonno. See below for all the fun:
International Peace Day saw Cian's school put together a "Peasce Protest" in downtown Portland.
Every kid made a "Pinwheel for Peace" and then amidst the Friday evening downtown traffic they staged a sit-in along the park blocks with each kid planting their pinwheel in the grass.
A slap in the face for our usual apathy. (Photos below)
So general mayhem has started -- our local soccer club started their soccer practice for Kindergarteners (Kick and Chase they call it).
Picture 75 5-year olds running around the pitch and that should esily sum up the mayhem.
Anyway below are some photos of the session which are worth comparing to the April 2006 soccer photos we posted:
So it had to happen sooner rather than later, right?
I was dropping Cian off to school this morning (his first full week of school) and as I left he got upset.
Now, not the melt down, angry, frustrated upset, but more of a gentle, shy, "please don't leave" breakdown. He was embarassed to be in the classroom with his new friends and getting upset but he just couldn't stop the tears welling up.
He whispered and sniffled and cried. "I want you to stay..."
Broke my heart as I left the room.
I knew this was going to happen -- I just didn't fully realize it'd be this heart wrenching.
So I feel I am a little obligated to stick up some photos of Cian's first week at school.... It has been a good week -- he has really taken to it and seems to be enjoying it. We got a copy of the school handbook on our first day -- and one of the sections is "Homework Policy: Homework will be kept to a minimum and will not be like traditional homework". You gotta love that! Anyway here are photos (click on the play icon (arrow) below:
So it has been a fun few weeks here -- Cian has kept us both entertained and exhausted.
Two funny tales to tell in fact...
The first one is one I am almost reluctant to tell about -- I can only imagine the abuse that'll come my way.
(Note -- read on only if you are somewhat familiar with my taste in English football)
After watching Chelsea and ManU play in the Community (when did they stop calling it the Charity Shield?) Shield last week -- Cian and I went off to play soccer in the local park. Needless to say he wanted to role play -- but the heartbreaking thing was that he wanted to be Ryan Giggs when he played.
*GULP*
Knowing it was only a fleeting burst of insanity, we swopped roles and he wanted to be a goalkeeper (it has to be Lehmann, right?). "No, no, no Dad. I want to be Van Der Saar".
Jesus.
How the hell am I supposed to handle that one (aside from pretending to be Van Persie and score a hat-trick on him...)?????
Anyway, I suppose it could've been worse -- he could have wanted to be a Chelsea player.
And no, I don't need any youth sized ManU shirts sent my way thank you very much.
On a more "natural" note... He has been tending to some gardening recently and this is year #2 of his tiger lilly. He is pretty proud of it. Here are some shots...
(No smart arsed comments about lillies and ManU either, please)...
So it has been a hectic but fun few weeks...
Cian turned 5 -- which, naturally, led to heightened excitement throughout the house. We had a joint birthday party over at our house -- a party shared with his friend Hannah. It was a great time -- and some great photos of apple bobbing etc can be found by clicking here.
During the course of the party, it seems the dog managed to somehow gobble down one of the delectable chocolate cupcakes. (For the uninitiated -- chocolate and canines do not mix)
So after a Sunday of a very sick dog (I will spare you the mopping up stories from 4AM), the vet decided to admit him to hospital on Monday morning.
The long story short is that he is now home and (still) recovering.
Needless to say -- lesson learned.
Good job birthdays only happen once a year, eh?
And of course amidst all this we had easter -- we managed to get up to the grove of magnolia trees in Hoyt Arboretum -- and it was just at the right time. Some great shots can be found by clicking here.
here is a taster:
The great excitement of course was the "real' birthday -- as opposed to the day of the party at home and the day of the party at school (typically excessive) -- and Cian graduated to a big bike. He has been flying around on his other bike, knees clattering into elbows and generally pedaling like a maniac. So he got a great surprise -- check out the following:
And away he went!
The whole story in photos can be seen by clicking here.
So all in all -- a great few weeks.
Not too sure what this implies for us (or our style of parenting)...... but the Easter bunny delivered a plastic Cerberus to Cian this morning..
And even more worrying was his delighted reaction to a plastic three headed dog that guards the gates of Hades...
"LOOK DADDY, I GOT CERBERUS FROM THE EASTER BUNNY"
Ah.. the innocence of a (soon to be) five year old.
When it is so simple it can be so fun!
A strange milestone was reached in our house yesterday (Friday). Cian arrived home from school and determined that he was ready for a sleepover at his friends' house - Miles and Carson. As we discussed it, his "closing arguement" was that, "you need some alone time tonight; where there is no one calling in the middle of the night; no one up early in the morning; no one asking "rub my back pleaaassseeee"; just time for yourself".
Wow. Couldn't argue with that one, I tell ya.
And so it was, he called up Jenn (Miles' mother) -- and invited himself over for a sleepover.
From idea to plan in less than 10 minutes.
And while one would then assume that the parents were free for a wild night and a long sleep in, it all ended with Anne asleep on the couch by 10.45 and me getting up at 7AM because, well, I just couldn't sleep.
The house felt kind of empty. Even the dog was confused -- walking into Cian's room this morning only to find an empty bed.
Anne's summary was, "this must be what empty nesters feel. Imagine what it'll be like when he leaves for good in 15 years or so".
Shit, it's no wonder I didn't sleep.
Well, with the kitchen the way it is (see below) -- we crashed in on Cynthia and Tom in La Center, Washington for Saturday night. We had a blast out there -- especially Cian...
He got to feed/chase the ducks, count the stars, go for a ride in Tom's Ford Comet:
Check out the headset, eh? Here are some cool "inside shots":
But the fun did not stop there -- tucked away in the basement Cian discovered the drum set... and it did not take him long to get into the swing of things....
That's what a weekend is supposed to be all about....
Thanks Tom and Cynthia!
OK -- so it has been a weird day -- started out with the basement flooding due to a problem with the sprinkler system -- Anne and the lawnmower ganged up on an unsuspecting sprinkler head. Needless to say the sprinkler head got Anne back by flooding our basement over the course of the night.
That put our plans for a day hike in the cooler mountains on hold. Such joy...
But at least this evening I got some time to put up some content up here. So in addition to the house update below - I also got around to getting some new photos of Cian and general summer adventures up too.
Enjoy!
Consider this dilemma...
Mother shouting for Switzerland...
Father shouting for everyone (except Portugal)...
Neighbour shouting for Brazil...
Conscience screaming for USA...
Hoping for Jose Antonio Reyes...
Singing Van Persie ditties...
The world cup was NEVER this complicated when I was four....
Maybe that explains this look:
Well thought I needed to update with at least a recap of some gems from Cian over the last few weeks:
Wise beyond his years, I say...