Christmas Day

More pictures from our Christmas:

Kids with their newly-unwrapped pajamas on Christmas Eve, right before going to bed.


And on the stairs getting ready to check their stockings Christmas morning.

Tori immediately caring for her new baby, with Charles looking on.

Charles, so excited about his new Lego Star Wars shirt that he immediately put it on.

Tori unwrapped the Mary Cassatt book and insisted that Liz read it to her right then.

Joey, excited about finally getting his hands on Kung Fu Panda.

Christmas Eve

We're busy today--but not too busy to post the boys' Christmas lists (with translations and links where necessary provided by yours truly).

Charles List:

Translation:

1. Make-your-own light saber.
2. Punch Gloves.
3. Star Wars oven.
4. Star Wars "The Clone Wars" book.
5. Lego Bionicle.
6. Transformer Set.
7. Cityscape Mural (not sure where he got "mural" from).
8. Construction Site Playset (this could be any number of things).
9. Darth Vader Toy
10. Jumbo Star Wars Darth Vader light saber.
11. Drum Set.
12. Guitar.

Joey's List:

Translation:
1. Punch Gloves (see above).
2. Swedish Fish (yes, the candy. Even though we don't think he's ever had it).
3. Ten light sabers (yes, our boys are obsessed with light sabers).
4. Dollhouse for my baby sister.
5. Everything in the world (as Steven Wright would say, where would he put it? Also, how is this #5?).
6. Pet Dog.
7. Make your own light saber (I almost bought him some pasta for this one).

Tori didn't make a list this year. That is probably okay, since she is in the 'saying no' phase of her toddler life. The funny thing is that instead of saying "no" she forcefully says "I DON'T WANT IT!" This is her response to most questions, even if she actually 'wants it.'

For example, most mornings she will get in her chair and Liz will say something like "Tori, would you like some yogurt?" Tori will reply, almost as Liz is still finishing her questions, "I DON'T WANT IT!......yeah, yogurt please." Normally a parent would want to correct this behavior, but I'm actually not opposed to her learning very well how to say NO, in the hope that it will carry over to the boys asking her out when she is 16.

Merry Christmas everyone.

'Tis the Season II

Holiday festivities are in full swing these days in the Kewish home. The cold weather outside makes it seem a little more festive (although we could use more snow and less -20 degree windchill). We will be posting a few more updates over the next couple of days (including some very funny Christmas lists), but here are a few quick pictures.

Kicking off the Christmas season (Thanksgiving weekend). Joey wanted to watch Polar Express together and have a "picnic" on the blanket. He also insisted on making hot chocolate for the spot in the movie where the kids get served on the train. It was funny to watch them hold their hot chocolate all the way up until that point. . . then pound it all at once when it finally showed up in the movie.

A few more pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits after church on Sunday:

In need of a thaw

In protest of my current temperature reading of 19 degrees, last night's ice storm, and even a few recent posts on this blog, I thought I'd share a few pictures from one of my recent trips to send everyone warm thoughts.

Last week I had to go to Tampa on business. Naturally, after my meetings I headed out to St. Pete Beach to one of Liz and my favorite places in the world, the Don Cesar. This is where Liz and I spent our first honeymoon, so I couldn't let a trip to the Cigar City pass without making a side-trip out to the beach to enjoy the sun and 80-degree weather.

The Don--from the waters of the Gulf.

One of the towers with the nearly-full moon.

Looking across the pool toward the beach (I waited for a while, but the German ladies wouldn't get out of the picture--and I don't know German).
The Don lobby decorated for the holidays.

'Tis the Season

Many of you may know that when it comes to classical music, I am a purist. I don't like it changed, adapted, interpreted, or otherwise messed with. The masters wrote their opuses the way they did for a reason. Do you really know better than Mozart how his music should sound? No? Then stop putting drums to it! Seriously, it drives me crazy.

This is also true with Christmas classical pieces. Any change whatsoever to the Messiah is an abomination. I'm convinced that Handel wrote it expressly for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Hearing it performed differently is like nails on a chalkboard. If that makes me a Messiah snob, so be it.

But non-classical Christmas music can be much more malleable. This does not mean that anything goes (I'm looking at you, Manheim Steamroller--the music that will be played in hell), but I eagerly accept Elvis and the Beach Boys singing their versions of Blue Christmas.

So, imagine my surprise when I happened across this adaptation of the Nutcracker Suite. Sure, Pyotr may be spinning in his grave, but I can wholeheartedly recommend this rockabilly version of a true classic:



P.S. As a follow up to the trivia question on the previous post, Jon and JT/Kristen correctly identified the Maltese Falcon, the giant robo-clipper owned by VC-extraordinaire Tom Perkins. It's amazing in so many ways, not the least of which is its submarine, which is more fighter jet than it is sub--straight out of a 007 movie. Word is that it's for sale--in case you had an extra $200MM laying around.

More Snow

After some errands today, the kids wanted to play in the snow. Charles went back into the house pretty quickly, but Joey and Tori were total die-hards. Here are some pictures:


Tori was very into the game of throwing snowballs at each other. The problem was that she would grab handfuls of snow and "throw" them, but the snow would go all over her face and down her shirt. She never complained.



Here's a good close-up that shows all the snow that got inside her coat.

Walking through the deeper snow.

When Joey wasn't throwing snowballs at me, he was eating the snow. It blew his mind to find out that it was made of water.

Special bonus picture: For no reason at all, here is a very cool shot of a notorious boat moored in front of some fires on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Bonus points for whomever can name the boat. She is amazing.

Snow

We had a great Thanksgiving. Here is a picture of part of the spread:

The Richmond Kewishes left Saturday morning after a somewhat subdued Black Friday (at least compared to previous years) and we decorated our house and got a Christmas tree. It was 51 degrees and beautiful. Then, Sunday morning, we woke up to this:

Here are the kids, mesmerized by something they had never seen before (or at least didn't remember):

They had lots of fun playing in it, and Tori even refused to come in. Something tells me that she'll have plenty of opportunities to play in the snow this winter.

Kewish Cousins

We are happy to be spending the holidays with the Kewishes who drove over from Richmond. The cousins are in heaven and running rampant in one quivering mass of humanity. Here are some pictures hot off the presses:

The older kids in a submarine at the Children's Museum

On the carousel at the Children's Museum. Joey was a little excited.

Sammy was also excited, and rode it a few times.

Spontaneous cousin hand holding.

Inside a structure they built out of PVC.

Charles in the cockpit of a real Indy car.

Tori and Lexie have had lots and lots of fun playing together. Tonight they were shopping together.

And going through their cart together.

And holding hands after their jammies were on.

and saying goodnight.

Sammie and the boys have had a lot of fun, but it's been so cute to see Lexie and Tori together. They are only 7 days apart in age, and clearly have a lot in common.

VEK

We did this six months ago or so, but figured it would be good to update Tori's image in each of your imaginations (since you never come and visit!).

Dim Sum Party!

Imagine our surprise when we were at our very own Costco in Indianapolis and saw a tray of Char Siu Bao in the Costco deli. With my parents having lived in China for two of the last three years, and Liz and I having both made separate trips there, we had to grab them. We had both made the requisite trip to a fancy Beijing restaurant where they displayed all kinds of fish/eels/snakes/frogs/turtles in beautiful aquariums for you to order (this was also the same restaurant where my dad would make us try chicken feet), but the steamed buns there were the best. So we grabbed the last tray and had them for dinner that night with some homemade chicken fried rice. The kids loved them and Tori kept asking for "more bread please" even after they were gone.

Joe Cool

Heard only a few minutes ago at the Kewish household, from the mouth of one very precocious barely-5-year-old:

"some people are cool, other people are not cool, and it's not that they don't want to be cool--it's just that they're not. Girls can't be cool because they are princesses and don't like Star Wars."

I shudder to think what he will think when he finds out about these princesses: