Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Last night, while I was uploading photos to Flickr, Jenny I heard a loud "I Rock!" coming from the great room. Alex was playing Guitar Hero III, and as you may surmise, doing quite well. I went out to inspect the commotion, and it seemed that Alex had earned himself a duel with devil; fittingly he and the demon had to strum "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," to see who was the best. We were excited that Alex was challenging the devil, and expressed our enthusiasm. To which he responded: "that's not the devil, that is my manager." Too which I replied, "same thing!" He lacks the context to understand that joke, but I found it hilarious. We cheered him on in his musical duel, but he came up short against that band of demons. Do not despair, true believer, for not all was lost. As fate would have it, his father was as at his side, stepped in, and well, I rocked.
RAP (1.21.2008)

Twister

Twister
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

When the boys were young we used to read to them every night. Now that the boys are older, we may read to them if there is something special to share (recently, I have read to The New Frontier and Runaways and Jen The Invention of Hugo Caberet). The other night, I surprised Jen with some of her favorite Lemon Gels; she loves them, but if she does not keep moving they sugar in them will make her tired. Alex wanted to read his Mrs Piggle Wiggle book to her, and she obliged. So while she was in bed, Alex read to her (Michael and I were in the same room working on the computer). When Alex finished reading we looked up and noticed that Alex had read Jen to sleep. RAP (1.17.2008)

Maria Alex

Maria Alex
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Last week, we had Maria over for a playdate. She has been pursuing a play date with Alex for quite a while, and, at last, he relented. This is a young lady who gets what she wants. The most noteworthy thing about the playdate was how Michael and Alex were competing for her attention; Jenny christened it the Maria Olympics. They boys wrestled quite a spell to impress the lady, but she also impressed them by joining in. During the playdate, Michael told Jenny that, "Maria is a fighting kind of girl." To which, Jen asked if he liked that. He responded with a big smile, "Yes!" Jenny is interested to see if this an omen of things to come.
RAP (1.15.2008)

Rose Parade

Rose Parade
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

One thing we really want to do is to have the boys help build a Rose Parade float. I think it would be a great experience that would tie them to something larger than themselves. Wherever they may be on New Years Days to come, they could see the parade on TV and know that they were part of that grand tradition. We learned that they can help under parental supervision as young as 7, but they must work at least a single four hour shift. Four hours for becoming part of the Rose Parade seems fair. RAP (1.10.2008)

Michael's Tree

Michael's Tree
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

At lunch today, Alex and I told Michael that one of the villains in his story should berate Kool Kid's trusty pet Kool Nine (He likes puns!). In a jam session, we came up with the idea that the foe should say "Why don't you have your little Kool-Eight (pun of Kool Aid) get us a drink" to which Kool Nine would respond "Arf Arf!" translated as "Oh Yeah!" The boys laughed each time I did my impression, but they said that I sounded more like Duffman than the Kool Aid pitcher guy. RAP (1.9.2008)

Bring It On

Bring It On
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Invariably, one of the highlights of the boys visits to California is playing with the Osgoods. In addition to enjoying baseball and tag, they engaged in touch football last week. Looking at the picture, you see a Michael that not many are familiar with. Perhaps he is uncomfortable being that aggressive as Michael and that is why he is wearing his Kool Kid glasses. I don't know, but is a much more intense Michael than we are used too, and that is not the end of it; this morning he asked to play tackle football. RAP (1.8.2008)

Playtime

Playtime
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

It was a good Christmas once more. In particular it was nice to share it with Jake, he is a good kid and he is just starting to get the hang of Christmas. I worry about how many more magical Christmases their will be for Michael and Alex. I think a few more, but I don't know how many more. I took lots of video this year, so there were fewer pictures than normal. Plus I need to clean the lens on the camera. I think there is some water dried on the lens and it is driving me nuts.
RAP (1.7.2008)