The Lost iTouch

About a month and a half ago, on a Tuesday afternoon, Brian admitted that he couldn't find his [2 month old] iTouch. Before getting frantic, I calmly stated - "Oh, don't worry, Brian, I'm sure it will turn up - we just need to look for it harder".

That evening, we searched every little nook and cranny in the family room. I moved couches, stuck my hand into the deep recesses of both couches (not a pleasant activity I'll tell you), and even searched the trash (worse than the couch, by far). Over the next days and weeks, we recounted the days leading up to that Tuesday - where the iTouch had been, who had played with it, etc.

I finally relinquished that it was lost, that maybe I had thrown it away with the papers on the desk. [Because, once upon a time, I accidentally threw away Erica's cell phone along with the Sunday paper - you know, those devices are SO small and light! A total accident! One I am still reminded of from time to time...]. I started to admit to co-workers and friends that buying an expensive electronic device to an 11 year old maybe wasn't such a great idea. I started to think about the impending cell phone purchase and how to mitigate the risks associated that.

[Truth be told, we have very responsible kids - we had never experienced any major issues with belongings and they treat their stuff well. I started to hear all sorts of stories from other parents and realized that we weren't alone!]

Fast forward to Tuesday. Brian's best friend, George, is over. Brian has been spending a lot of time at George's house because George has been grounded from electronics use, and things are "too tempting" over here. Today is the last day of his ban and the two of them are in the basement getting out the board games when Brian discovers his missing iTouch, sandwiched between the board games. Excitement ensues. We laud the discovery. We charge it up a little bit and the two boys start to play with it. I take pictures of the boys, filled with such joy.


Oops - George is still banned from electronics....



The irony of it all - the only reason why they found the iTouch was because of George's electronics ban. And now he'll be banned for another day. Sorry about that!

But Thank You! We'll make sure you get to play with the iTouch in a couple of days...

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340/365 - Friends

I love that George will let me take his picture, even with heart bokeh.
He takes direction well, too - I told him to stand by the window and look out it.

Brian definitely has a good friend in George.

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Day 302 - Halloween

A perfect Halloween evening - clear and a little cool (but it is the end of October - it's supposed to be cool).

I drove Erica to her friend's house and then wove back home, passing by the endless stream of parked cars in the 'hood. I know people come to our neighborhood to trick or treat, but didn't realize the magnitude until today. No wonder our huge stash of candy goes quickly.

Erica and her friends are dressed up as a tennis pro, a bum and a sports fan:


[note - I do not endorse those Yankees. She is a product of her father when it comes to this baseball stuff.... and Go Red Sox!]

As usual, Brian and George went out together.

Brian's costume is a result of the past two years' costume meltdowns. So this year, I refused to put much time into it and he came up with his own costume idea. The boys only visited three houses - ours, George's and our next door neighbor's. I think they are at the age where they don't care about trick or treating. It's a phase that will pass in about two years.

At least George's brothers dressed up appropriately:


Part of the reason why Brian doesn't want to walk around the neighborhood, is he would rather spend time at George's house handing out candy and working the spooky "tricks" of the house:

After all, Jill has her house decorated to the max:

Brian's favorite activity - hiding in the coffin, making noises and jumping out to scare the visitors. If you look carefully at the above picture, you can see Brian peeking out of the coffin - he has the Elmo mask on his head.

It was another fun Halloween in our little town on the prairie! A great end to October.

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257/365 - Open House

It was Open House night at Brian's school. The last one we'll do at his current school! I think the highlight of the evening was the boys playing on the jungle gym:



Goofy kids!

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August 21-24 Photos - Days 231-234

I'm starting to skip more days as I head into the last part of year two, taking a picture a day. Really, I'm feeling a bit "pictured out". I'm pretty sure, however, that the feeling is temporary, and with the onslaught of fall, school, soccer, football and other "fall" things, I'll snap out of it.

But on to pictures captured last week.

Saturday, August 21, Day 231

Another "normal Saturday" of running, yard work, and housework. Oh yeah, Erica experienced her first "rock concert" - she went to see Selena Gomez perform at the local State fair. She had a great time, but didn't take any photos!
Brian took advantage of his sister not being around to get into a water fight with the boys next door.

I'm not sure who has the upper hand here, George or Will.....


Sunday, August 22, Day 232
Hey, who's that in the mirror? That would be me. I love the morning light in the bathroom.



Monday, August 23, Day 233
Baseball game tonight. Brian's team won easily (at times the innings seemed to go on and on and on). Scott started a new "tradition" of taking the crossword puzzle to the games. We work on them together, and it's quite interesting some of the answers we come up with. (Like tonight's "Woodland Creatures" - Scott insisted the answer had to be "bees". Umm, I don't think so!).


Tuesday, August 24, Day 234
I drove out of my way this afternoon, but picking up the first batch of Honeycrisp apples and an apple pie was totally worth it! So yummy and a great harbinger of the fall season just around the corner.

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103/365 - Chess Club Buddies

I was instructed to pick up the boys in the convertible so everyone could enjoy the ride home, al-fresco.



Their payment for my services - allowing me to take their picture, of course!

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13/365 - Apres Chess Club

I went to pick up the boys from chess club this afternoon, only to find them playing out in the snow. Apparently, they finished up a little early [well, maybe they only played two chess games instead of three].

I can't say I blame them - with abundant sunshine and [relatively] warm temperatures, it was perfect snowball weather. See, they created lots of snowballs on the bench:


Brian didn't want me to take his picture (what else is new?), but I took it anyways.


Back at home, the snow fort building continued. Let's hope the snow doesn't all melt over the next couple days.

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317/365 - Pick Up Football

Another gorgeous day and another session of pick up football in our neighbor's backyard. I envisioned some pictures in my head from their previous games and finally got my camera out.

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306/365 - Halloween Eve

It was cold, but sunny. I finished Brian's mummy costume at 4:30, with 30 minutes to spare. But he wasn't too keen on the head wrapping. Drama ensued. We ended up taping the bottom part of his "mask" to the wrapping on top of his head. You know how long that scotch tape lasts? Not very long. Brian and George went down the street and back before Brian decided he wanted to "change" into another costume - he wanted to put a brown sack on his head! I said no and that was the end of the night.

I managed to capture a couple shots of the boys in their costumes, before the drama started:


And the others were having a great time trick or treating:


We spent the rest of the night watching Coraline and Transformers.

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260/365 - Balance Beam?

Not really - Brian and George are walking along what used to be George's play set, newly dismantled from a big structure into pile of wooden pieces.



Why is it so much fun to take things apart?

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214/365 - Some Exercise - Kickball and An Evening Walk

Brian and George are at it again - hanging out, playing kickball.

Since we got back, George and Brian play in the afternoon, then they retreat downstairs to the basement and play Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. Scott moved the Wii to the basement the night I hosted our Book Club meeting a couple weeks ago and it has remained there [although Brian wants it back upstairs].

Later on, I went on a walk with Jill and Amy. Yes, I brought my camera along, because you never know when a great photo op will present itself.

The corn I run by in the mornings, lit up by the setting sun:


A lone duck in the pond:

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175/365 - The Boys of Summer

But I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

One of my favorite songs from the 80s - it brings me back to the summer of 1984, the summer before my senior year in HS. Fitting for the first day of summer, 25 years later (wow, I really feel old now).

Now we have a new set of "Boys of Summer" - my boy and his friends, hanging out, playing, doing whatever young boys do these hot, lazy days of summer:






What are your favorite summer songs and summer activities?

And Happy Father's Day!

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121/365 - Poetry to my Ears

A special event today at school - a poetry reading.

The culmination of their current literacy topic - poetry. I think it is wonderful the kids are covering this literary art form. Brian has been quoting poems these past several weeks and penned his own poem for today's reading.

Not the best picture, but Brian was quite theatrical during his reading:


Best bud George read a poem about a kid feeling sick - until he realizes it's Saturday. A very "current events poem", with all of the hullabaloo around the Swine Flu.


Brian and several of his classmates declare that "Poetry is Awesome":

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111/365 - Baseball Jamboree

Today marks the official start of the Baseball season. I know I've probably made that statement several times now, but today's difference is the teams actually play against each other in the Little League's "Jamboree".

But the coach refers to today's games as "practice games" (they are just 3 inning games), so there may be yet another "official start of Baseball Season" on Tuesday, when the Cyclones play their first "real" game.

Another element of today's Jamboree is the formal Team and individual pictures. Here are some of Brian's teammates, waiting for the team picture:


The actual Team picture:


Of course, the Professional Photographers also took the same picture and I paid $9 for a 5x7 print. Of course, I will compare my picture with theirs. I decided not to purchase any of Brian's individual pictures, because I am sure I can take my own, go to the Sam's Club and purchase the same trading cards at a fraction of the cost.

And I won't set up my shot with a big mini-van in the background.

Can you tell I am picky about some of these things? My philosophy - the difference is in the details......

OK, a couple more pictures from the actual games:
George is ready in the outfield


Brian, ready to steal from 2nd to 3rd base (which he successfully did):

The kids did a great job, learned from the two mini-games and split the two games - one loss, one win.

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More pictures - Illinois Expo, Krannert Art Museum

I posted on my photography blog some pictures from the day's visit to the Naturally Illinois Expo and Krannert Art Museum. Here are the rest of today's pictures:

Row of unearthed fossils


Brian inspects his fossil


George and his fossil


Henry shows me his fossil


Walking through the Krannert Museum


I love the curves of the main exhibit hall


Early African art

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A Little Bit of Love

Brian will deliver Valentines to his classmates on Friday, so we finished them up this afternoon.



Of course, he addressed George's first.

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"Formal" Baseball Pictures

Even though the Spring Little League Baseball season is over, I though I would post these "formal" pictures of Brian and George:




The back story - way back in April, Formal Team and Individual pictures were scheduled to be taken on Opening Day. The days leading up to Opening day were wet and rainy, so several games were delayed by a couple of hours. The photographer, however, didn't stick around, so our Team (the Cubs) missed the Official pictures. Our coach set up a Makeup session, only for that session to be rained out as well.

Since I had taken several action shots of the team, I got volunteered for the job. Coach Dan even made sample Baseball trading cards using some of my previous pictures. We could get very nice Trading cards, Magazine covers and Team composites at a fraction of the price.

I had a ton of fun setting up the tripod, getting some props (although the long grass makes it hard to see the ball) and posing the kids - they were great to shoot. And yeah, I used my new 24-70mm f2.8 lens (so I could feel like a pro).

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Opening Day - Little League

After several days in what I consider summer weather, with temperatures in the mid eighties, a cold front passed through last night, bringing ample sunshine and temperatures in the mid sixties. Scott thinks it is too cool, but I think it is perfect. And perfect for Opening Day for Brian and George's Little League Team.

The results - their team swept this afternoon's double header, winning 10-6 against the Pirates and 12 - 4 against the White Sox. Way to Go!!

Brian during a practice drill:


Practice at bat:


Poised out in Right Field:


George at bat (he had several hits today)


Brian makes the play at second base, fielding the ball and tagging the runner out.


Brian on second base, waiting for the batter. He eventually scored a run.


Brian really connected on this hit - he hit the ball over third base.


Overall, Brian had three hits, three RBI's and one run.
But most importantly, he had fun.

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