Match, Match

For the past calendar year, I've been one of two male teachers in our ward's Sunday School hours, with my friend John (not pictured). We are teaching the Primary Valiant 9 kids, which in non-Mormon lingo would be kids who would turn 10 during the year that they're in our class. Confusing? Yes. Well, to me at least. 

They are a really insightful, spirited bunch of kids, and I'm fortunate to have Our Dear Goose in this class. Her good friend E. from our neighborhood is also in our class, as is this cool, Star Wars-loving dude. Today, in the third hour of church, we sat next to each other. At one point in a lull of chaotic excitement over the New Year, A. said to me, "Hey, we match!" Looking down at my socks and then at his sweater, it was really fun to see our color-coordination.

I am grateful for this first experience of being a Primary teacher in our church, after 15 years of being LDS. I've yet to serve in the 18-months-to-3-years-old Nursery, and that's fine with me so far! 

And the blessing of being Valiant 9's co-teacher will continue in 2018, as John and I will migrate up with this whole group of kids to Valiant 10.  

"Okay, mister nostalgia, where in all of your solo and kids-focused highlight reels of your favorite blog posts over the last decade are there any posts about your awesome wife?"

Fair question, readers: I definitely selected posts that focused on Becky and me, or just on her. Believe me, she's not intentionally overlooked. I admit, though, that over the history of this blog, kids have been the main focus of my posts. Maybe I'll analyze that in a future post. But for now, here are some of my favorite entries over the last decade featuring the beautiful, kind, energetic, and praise-worthy Becky:

My wife, the star (as a new mother)

Becky and Tim's roadtrip across the U.S., seen from the distance of 10 years

Date in the Quaint Saint Peters, Pennsylvania

Just the Two of Us in Newport/Dreaming It All Up Again

The Brains and Beauty Behind It All

Becky's School Store 

Becky's 40th Birthday Trip to New York City 

I'm so looking forward to the next ten years and more with Becky at my side. In ten years' time, we'll be almost empty-nesters (unless our kids move back in with us during or after college!). I hope to do a better job at chronicling Becky's life, our married life, our adventures together over the next stretch of time.  

30 Years: "Empire of the Sun"

This movie, Empire of the Sun, was one of my favorite films when I was a teenager and through college. Though I have not seen the movie in years, it remains etched in my mind. Not until I was in my mid-20s did I start appreciating the soundtracks to motion pictures, and Empire of the Sun has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, especially its song Cadillac of the Skies. 

This movie debuted in theaters 30 years ago today, on Christmas Day. I didn't see it in theaters, but part of its charm and nostalgic stranglehold on my memory is that my Dad and I watched it together one sunny fall afternoon in 1988, after the movie was released on video. 

I can still remember my Dad coming home early from work one sunny afternoon. His office was a ten-minute walk from our home, so his routine was often to get to work around 5:30 in the morning, work until breakfast, bring us to school, back to work, home to nap, back to work, and home for dinner. I loved that he had that arrangement.



I'm not sure what prompted my Dad to have this particular father-son bonding experience. But I still can see in my mind's eye that the sun was shining through my west-facing bedroom bay windows. My dad pulled up an old, straight-back chair while I sat on the floor feet away from and in front of my TV set.

At some slow point in the film, my Dad broke the silence by kindly suggesting, "We should do this every now and then...Watch a movie together right after school!" 

And of course, we never did that again. 

But it was a lovely thought, and even then I appreciated my Dad's effort to connect with me and make time with me. I think the fact that it was so random -- not on a Friday night, or at any sane point on a weekend, but here right after I came home from school and when he would customarily still be at work -- made it extra special to me, even then.  

Other things I remember about this time and this movie: I loved the Welsh lullaby at the beginning of the movie, Suo Gan. It's one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard. I'd sometimes allow my mind to drift off when I was a teenager and envision me walking through a vibrant green field in Wales, with this song in my heart.

As a lifelong history lover, the film's depiction of life in World War II China captivated me. The old clothes, cars, parties, military vehicles...Steven Spielberg did wonders drawing on these artifacts to make the whole feel timeless.

Another thing I remember? Christian Bale, who played the young English student Jim. He was such a young expressive actor. Growing up, I (perhaps like most kids) had a fear of being orphaned; to see Jim become separated from his parents was heart-wrenching. He gave a dynamic performance, and then kind of dropped off the scene for a few years, re-emerging in movies I had no interest in seeing (Newsies, American Psycho, etc.) and I didn't see another of his films until Batman Begins, almost 20 years after Empire of the Sun. 

But his performance in this magnificent movie has always stuck with me. Some of it is because of the film itself, the soaring soundtrack, the history flowing through it, the beautiful cinematography. 

Another reason why it resonated so strongly was that, at the time I saw the movie (I was 13 years old), Christian Bale (13 when he filmed the movie, 14 when I saw it) was one of my first guy crushes. But certainly not one of my last. Ahem. I'm comfortable enough to admit that and think that society needs to loosen up a bit on this for all of us. The terms "same-sex crush" and "bromance" were decades away from entering the cultural vocabulary. And the idea of telling friends that I dug Christian Bale in that way mortified me. So, no chance I ever did that. In fact, no one knew this until just this moment. And there's no crush on him now.

My own sons aren't yet old enough to watch Empire of the Sun, but it's definitely on my mental "must-watch" list with them for the short years ahead. Maybe, in a nod to nostalgia, I'll do what my own dad did in introducing this awesome film to them: coming home from work on an afternoon and fire it up. It's only a few more years to go!

Flashback, and Flash-Forward

No, we did not have another baby this year and intentionally kept the news from our readership or social media. This is Our Dear Goose, just before Christmas in 2007. You can find the original post here. For a period of a few years, I made a habit of selecting one photo I liked that, to me, captured the Christmas season in our family. The posts were always titled "The Start of Christmastime." 

Here is 2008's, then 2009's and 2010's. Four consecutive years is a good stretch, though now I wish I had made the effort each year. 

The other day, I was chatting with my Dad ("Bumpa" to our kids), and we spoke about this photo, which was snapped on my sister's front porch. In our conversation, a shudder went down my back when I verbalized the following realization:

"That baby girl is now closer to going off to college than she is to her first Christmas!" 

Bah humbug!

In fact, let's re-launch my "The Start of Christmastime" blogging tradition. Here is Our Dear Goose, tonight, at her family-and-some-friends Christmas party in our home. This was all her idea, from the activities to the decorations to the small cluster of friends we had over. She had a grand time planning this party and pulling it off, with Mommy's help. 

10th Anniversary of Blogging: The Existential Stuff

My original sub-heading for this rewind-the-clock post was "Life, Death, and Other Fun Conversation-Starters." Ha! Some of these posts featured reminisces of important people in my life who have passed on. Other posts are about world events, or ancestors, or tough stretches in my own life. 

If I may say so (and no one is stopping me, since there's no other editor around), these posts represent some of my best writing. This blog has always been, first and foremost, an electronic family journal. But it feels so refreshing and invigorating when I can stretch my writing and editing muscles and post thoughts, experiences, impressions, memories about existential stuff unrelated to my kids or vacations or whatever. 

About my childhood best friend's mom passing away (on her 20th anniversary in 2009

Another post, on the 25th anniversary of her passing

Taking my daughters with me to vote in the 2016 presidential election

My paternal grandfather on the 35th anniversary of his passing

Ebola victim Saah Exco and the unfairness of life

Yours Truly feeling stagnation in trenches full of sh*t

Longing for Ireland and "ancestral memory"

Looking Back in Time   

Solitude on Our Babymoon in the Fall of 2014

I

10th Anniversary of Blogging: I Gotta Have Faith

My personal spirituality has come through in many posts over the years, but as I review my blogging history, it's clear that I need to devote more space to this piece of my identity. For example, my conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fifteen years ago this month needs its own full post. I'm excited to journal it here, in time.

For now, here are some of my most cherished posts about faith. The first two posts highlighted below might be among my ten most favorite posts of all time across all topics. The first one is proof to me that God hears and answers prayers. It's certainly not the first, last, or only time that I have this witness, but the blessing of how that prayer was answered and the form it took to return to me is priceless. 

And as a former Catholic, I still retain some trappings of what Catholics call "Marian Veneration," the adoration in images, prayers, texts, and music of Mary, the Son of God. Luke 2:19 is one of my most beloved passages of scripture: But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. I am so grateful to have a mother who instilled in me a strong sense of faith, in her words and deeds, by taking me to church every Sunday. 

The topic of women in scripture, in church history, and in faith greatly interests me. I tried to give a creative outlet for this subject in 2017's post on Mother's Day about Mother Eve.

An Act of Grace

Mother Eve, for Mother's Day

She Knows Him

Visiting the Philadelphia Temple Open House, summer 2016

Peace be with you.

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Music

My blog of over 1,500 posts since January 2007 has mostly focused on our children and family. It's been an intentional approach to have this blog serve as an electronic family history treasure chest. But over time, the writer in me (and the readers in you, thank you!) tired of just posting about the routines of life and the ups, downs, and sideways of raising a family. #keepingitreal

While holding on to this blog as a family milestone recounter has been important and fun, I've also loved the posts that provided outlets for my thoughts and feelings on other topics. History, photography, some current events, faith, LGBT issues, cryptic posts about career and landing-spots, and music have breathed life into my desire to keep blogging.

So today, let's revisit some of my most favorite posts about music, the ones where my writing came easily and the tunes flooded my mind:

Music for Driving

10 Beatles Songs for their 50th Anniversary of Arriving in the U.S.

Not-so-Favorite Church Hymns

Interstate Love Song/hat-tip I Got a Name

Freddie Mercury 

David Bowie

That Scene in "Goodfellas"/The Crystals' Song of Innocent Love

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Timo's Childhood

Being in one's forties is a very dynamic, topsy-turvy journey. I've found the last almost three years to be a time of considerable personal transition in outlook, mentality, and vulnerability. Longstanding attachments to the foundational structures of my life - homes, friendships, likes and dislikes - are changing, evolving. It feels both frightening and liberating. 

For someone like me who has lived most of life with a strong sense of nostalgia ("I have to keep in touch with so-and-so because we've been friends for x number of years!" "But I like living near that park, even if I only visit it once every two years"), breaking the emotional links to the past is challenging but necessary. If I may quote Star Wars: The Force Awakens: "The longing you seek is not behind you; it is ahead." There will be new days, in new settings, with new experiences and obstacles and routines, to come for me and my family. That makes me feel alive more than any literal trip down the old memory lane.

Still...on the 1oth anniversary of blogging, I permit myself a slight stroll through the past, re-posting old odes about places from my childhood. These settings have a strong resonance in my mind and on my heart. And while I've been on a journey to gain control over the hold they have had on my life for so long (for good and bad), I'm not such an iconoclast toward my own past to appreciate their contributions to wonderful memories and warm feelings.

To maintain that sense of control, I limited myself to selecting just five "Timo's Childhood" posts. Many of these posts, and others under the "Timo's Childhood" umbrella, quoted the lyrics "The man said childhood. It's in his childhood." Those lyrics, from a super-early U2 song called Out of Control, spoke to my heart when I was posting a bunch about my earliest years on our blog. 

St. Basil's Catholic Chapel, the church I grew up attending

Catch, on playing baseball in my childhood backyard

Our neighbors' house

The "Carpenters' House," near my parents' home

A Salute to Ken Griffey, Jr., in which I ooze nostalgia for baseball, what might have been, and my own childhood all in one.

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Our Super Grouse

Not to be left behind, Our Super Grouse deserves his own run-down of my favorite blog posts about him. He's on the cusp of four years old and silly as can be. Grouse can oftentimes be my whip-cracking manager, bossing me around over toys and books and doing chores around the house for him. Yes, we need to work on that! 

But he's also a very fun little guy, and he's the only child who runs to our back door each night to welcome me home!

Grouse's first morning

The Big One

Starter-Standing

The Big Sleep

Buddies on the Front Porch

Daddy and His Littlest Dude

Be Afraid!

Brothers' Teamwork

A Big Summer for Grouse!

Grouse in His Fuzzy 

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Greatest Hits About Our Mighty Moose

And now, it's Our Mighty Moose's turn for a electronic stroll down the blog memory lane, recapping some of my favorite posts about the last six-plus years of his life! It has zinged by. After he was born, I bought a photo frame at Target and added some photos to it of his first days of life. From where I'm standing now, typing this post, I can still see that photo frame and the photos that have not changed in almost seven years! Time for an update, right?

 Here he was in the fall of 2011, out-of-it for our family photos because I had woken him up super-early from a mid-morning nap. And now, this dude sometimes needs a nap but doesn't ever take one, so full of energy and all-boy is he to jump into any activity, especially when friends are around.

And Baby Makes Three

Moose's First Motorcycle - would you believe, he still remembers this and asks about it.

The Moose at Two

Just Me and My Boy

"Pay Me" - how Moose would ask me to play a game or play anything with him! So cute. I miss hearing that phrase.

Charlie Brown Slouch

How Lord Vader Rolls

Hiking with the Moose

Moose's Swim Time

Crush

Moose and His "Cousin" D in Pennsylvania

Transition

Free Entertainment, After a Scare

Wrung Dry

Triple-Decker

Father and Son

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Greatest Hits About Our Little Mouse

I had so much fun reminiscing while scrolling through our blog/electronic family history record for the most memorable posts about each of our children for this 10th anniversary of blogging series. Going in birth order, Goose started it off on Friday, and today is Our Little Mouse's turn. 

My mini-me is now nine years old. She is a lover of books and writing and drawing and, lately, asking, "Can I go on Amazon and look for" x,y,z? Here is a look back at Mouse through the years in blog posts. 

   Fall 2009

Mommy is pregnant with the Mouse

Mouse is born

Feeding "Baby Mia"

Breakfast-time

The Mouse visits my office

"We are odd..."

R.E.M. song "Half a World Away"

Amelia Earhart

The One About the Middle One

A Warning on the Next 14 Years?

Spittingly Excited for Pre-School

Mouse and Me at the Franklin Park Zoo

Mouse Starts Kindergarten (Oh my, get out your tissues again, Tim, thinking about this moment in Mouse's and your lives)

Head Gear

Ear Ache

The Mouse and Her "Cousin"

Eight is Great!

Mouse's Baptism

Be Kind

Nicknames for Our Youngest

I don't know their exact origin, but over the summer several nicknames came to my mind for our youngest one. Each nickname is a simple derivation of the original nickname, which was Mister Crackers. Years ago, my Dad ("Bumpa" to our kids) told me that someone he knew was "completely crackers," questioning their judgment about something they had done. That line has stuck in my head ever since. I trotted it out earlier this year because my youngest child was driving me crackers with his clingy behavior toward me.

Mister Crackers from there easily turned into Mister Bananas and my current go-to, Mister Bubbles. Really, if nothing else I've ever said or done in Becky's presence drives me away, my extremely liberal use of the nickname Mister Bubbles -- said in an intentionally mashed- together way -- will soon cause Becky to kindly suggest that I pack my bags. But like the Little Richard-sampled chorus of the decade-old Fergie hit Clumsy goes, "Can't help it, the girl can't help it, can't help it, the girl can't help it." 

...except, you know, I'm not a girl.

Oh, never mind.

I've driven Becky bonkers in the past with other oft-repeated phrases, like "I'm Canada-crazy!" That one, creeping up during our honeymoon in Canada's Atlantic provinces, was especially poorly timed. 

But for now, my son is Mister Bubbles. It is enjoyable to have a nickname unique to my relationship with him, even when I'm feeling more like he's driving me bananas!

Or crackers.

10th Anniversary of Blogging: Greatest Hits about Our Dear Goose

2017 marks the tenth anniversary of Yours Truly starting this family blog. I christened it TimBeck3 in January 2007 in anticipation of our family growing from just the two of us to three, with Our Dear Goose's impending arrival in early March. 

So, what's more fitting to kick off a series of tenth anniversary recaps over this last month of December than to post some of my self-selected greatest hits concerning Our Dear Goose? I've spent a little bit of time throughout this year scouring our blog to identify the posts that resonate well across the decade - the ones I cherished writing, the ones I still remember, the ones that best encapsulate our first child.

Here are the links to these posts. I'm terrified of how quickly the next decade will pass!

 April 2008 - I still remember this moment

Goose's introduction to the world, via our blog

My first day as a stay-at-home dad for 2 weeks

Ode to being awake most of the night

Goose's "special dress"

To My Dear Goose

Lovesick

Goose's first day of pre-school

Goose's first pet (which I accidentally killed)

Goose's note to the Tooth Fairy

Goose at seven

Goose's Letter to Santa

Little House on the Prairie: The Wisdom of Solomon

Goose's tenth birthday party

So Far, Far Behind

I feel so far, far behind in blogging lately. As a form of writing and family history, blogging has been essential to my life since 2007. It pains me to think that, due to the pace of family life and changing demands on my time, blogging - and writing in general - pays a big price. 

My blog has easily, quickly become the first casualty in the battle of competing demands.  

Is there a good answer to make an adjustment to my time, so that I can fit blogging in as routinely as I used to? Thinking about that takes time and effort, precisely the commodities that get appropriately re-directed and dispersed and which, far too often lately, mean that they don't get sent in any supply to writing. 

There are undoubtedly little tweaks I can make to my daily routine so that this outlet gets air-time, and my writing muscles get flexed, and more additions to our family record are made...but they'll come at the expense of something else, of course. It's a trade-off. I've always known that, but historically I felt like I was able to better adjust trade-offs so that no one area of my life felt starved for oxygen.  

Speaking of things that need oxygen, take a look at this beautiful tree! Its soaring, multi-branched glory spoke to me when I was out for a solo stroll near my parents' home on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I've seen this tree a thousand times in all of the years I've been living in or visiting that area, but it never caught my eye like it did this last time. 

Porch

We visited some great friends in Vermont earlier this month. They, and their six kids, lived in the Boston area for three years, and moved this summer to start a new chapter of their life. Our four kids line up exceptionally well with theirs, especially their five boys. A few times over the long Veterans Day weekend, I stole away from the crowds and the noises made by ten children and four adults to meander around our friends' property.

They live in a huge farm house, with one section of their house having been converted from an existing barn. This quaint, weathered, wooden porch appears to be a structural link between the original house and the converted barn. I snapped this photo on the Friday afternoon of our arrival, just before our friends' kids came home from school (unlike our kids, their children didn't have observed Veterans Day off from school on Friday the 10th). 

The rustic, quiet appearance of the porch and chairs beckoned to me. I never did get to sit outside in the chairs, on the porch, during our 3-day stay, but that's alright. There's always next time! And there will be a next time, perhaps on a spring weekend or a summer vacation or a visit in autumn, the best time of year in New England. 

And I plan to bring a book to read, or a notebook to jot down some reflections and journal, while sitting on this porch as the laughter and squeals and bickering of ten children ring out across this 6-acre homestead!

35 Years Ago: Vietnam Veterans Memorial

35 years ago this week, Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. was dedicated. The Gold Star Mothers' view of the then-controversial memorial in 1982: "Nowadays, patriotism is a complicated matter. Ideas about heroism, or art, are no longer what they were before." 

Patriotism *today* in our time is complicated. 

Having just finished Lynn Novick's and Ken Burns' incredible "Vietnam War" 10-part documentary, I am grateful for two messages in the last episode: "You don't get closure, but you get some peace." And "Meaning can be found in the stories of individuals who lived through it, through forgiveness and understanding, and, ultimately, reconciliation."

The series is phenomenal. To me, it feels like a national service by directors Burns and Novick in helping our generations, our country, better understand such a tumultuous era. It balances respect for the millions who served, fought, died, were injured, or otherwise impaired, with a frightening, maddening accounting of the calamitous decisions made by succeeding U.S. presidents and military/government officials. I can't recommend the series highly enough. Were I king, it would be required viewing. 

Each episode made me cry at the staggering loss, angry at our lying politicians (on both sides), stunned by their decisions, and grateful both for those who served in and those who spoke out to end the war.

A New Family Rule

The whining, bickering, tattle-telling, and mote vs. beam antics of our four young children are probably pretty typical for their ages. In our small traveling zoo, our kids' ages range from 10 to 4, and there is a naturally wide variance in how well each child can do things on their own, be responsible for their chores, listen and obey to Becks and me, and momentarily be the helpful, patient cherubs they were destined to be (right?!). 

So in the temporary chaos of meal prep, eating, getting out the door to school or church, doing chores, and playing, we've seen and heard lots of tattle-telling. Far too much of it lately, to be precise. Maybe the heightened level of this watching out for what their siblings are or are not doing is a result of the size of our family, or our relatively cramped home (made tighter by the number of people in our tribe?), or their ages, or some combo of all of these top-of-mind elements.

Whatever the reason(s), as parents we've certainly had our fill. So lately, in an effort to save our vocal chords and be direct and encourage our children to modify their tattle-telling, we have instituted a new family rule:



"Police Yourself!" That's the simple, direct message we have offered our kids when the bickering and tattling get too much. It has worked wonders in the sense that Becky and I sometimes don't get sucked in to family drama and petty arguments right away. We say these words, and then we step back from the fray. Our kids hear these words, and sometimes they will stop their tattling. It's not fool-proof, but it has made a positive difference.

And maybe the next step is for me and my better half to order two of these t-shirts and wear them at home. Constantly. We'll stop saying the words and just point to our shirts! 

Behind a Shield

This...is me. No, not some stunt-double on a Hollywood film lot. It's me in two very specific places in life, where I hide behind a shield made up of my children. As readers and people who know me outside of this blog are aware, I'm an introvert. At social settings, especially large ones, I hide behind my children so that small-talk with strangers is a non-threat to my enjoyment of the festivities. 

The shield is either specifically one of my children, or it's their need for me to get them food, or take them to the toilet, or make sure they don't fall out of a tree, or...or...or... a hundred other scenarios that ensure that I really don't have to chat with people I either don't know, are unsure about, have had difficult interactions with before, or simply just don't have enough courage or self-confidence to approach on my own.

The other place where I strap on this shield is in the home. And again, it involves my children. But unlike using them as a shield from other people, I use the shield in the home to avoid my children's antics. In this scenario, the shield is laundry, the dishwasher, folding clothes, tidying up the joint, and any other mundane but necessary household task that surely can wait but immediately needs my attention so that I don't have to often referee our small traveling zoo's squabbles. 

Believe me, I still get sucked-in to their sibling rivalries, but the shield gives me at least a temporary reprieve. And sometimes, being able to take a deep breath before being drawn in on their tractor beam is all that this dad needs. I believe it's helpful to admit this about myself: that I'm human, that I have limits, that I have things in my personal life and conduct as a person and a father that are slightly embarrassing to carry on - and just as embarrassing to put out on this blog. But it feels healthy. 

And after many years of not really allowing the self-deflating sides of myself be given their own breath and time, it feels like a needed dose of healthy vulnerability to let it out. 

Hi, I'm Timo, I have four kids. And sometimes I use them as a shield, while other times I and have a shield to protect me from them. 

Mouse is 9!

I think this picture perfectly captures the joy and silliness of our youngest little girl. She recently turned nine years old, and it was a delight to celebrate her special day.

What is she up to now? She still loves books. There are small piles and big stacks of books scattered around her bedroom, which would be more OK if she didn't share the room with her sister, who is lately feeling cramped by Mouse's cluttered collections. Mouse is also having more play dates with her own friends at our home. Since the school year began, we've instituted "Friday Friend Day," when our daughters have one of their friends come over after school. It's great to see Mouse forming good friendships with girls in her class. 

She remains our calmest child, going along with a lot of plans in our family. But sometimes she just has to make her voice heard, and boy does she have a way with words! "Whatever" is one that Mouse likes to toss out, for example. We also bought her a new hamster for her birthday. Originally named Stella, Mouse changed its name to Alex, and that's about the extent of her time commitment to this little guy. I'm the one who checks on his food and water, while Goose cleans Alex's cage. 

Mouse reads her set of scriptures on her own and has even brought them on the bus. She is the most consistent attendee at our family's morning scripture reading. Mouse makes the most varied and hilarious faces out of anyone in our family, and often lightens a gray mood in our home with kooky antics, like eating her meals off of her brothers' wooden building blocks instead of using a plate (below):

Parenting four kids is rough. The routines of daily life, to-do lists, and the sameness of some things in our lives can be trying. So I am thankful for Our Little Mouse and her quiet, cheery, unique attitude. We need it any time. Sometimes we desperately need it, and she often delivers a shot of crazy sayings or comically befuddling antics that make us remember that she is a gift from above in many ways.   

Mommy and Mouse to Utah for a Wedding

They had all the fun, Mommy and Mouse, in Utah recently. Our first of the youngest generation, nieces and nephews, got married in early September in Utah, and Mommy and Mouse flew out there for five days of fun. 

I stayed back in Boston with Goose and her brothers Moose and Grouse. There was some sadness with our kids over not being in Utah, not getting to travel, etc. Goose missed cousin-time, her sister, and Mommy. Moose missed cousin-time and the mountains. Grouse? He missed Mommy and his sister, but otherwise he was oblivious to it all because he got me for hours of undivided attention. And frankly, isn't my presence a balm for what you're missing?! Ha! 

We hold out hope that someday, we'll be closer to our Utah family geographically so that we will all be able to attend weddings and reunions and general cousin-time! 

Double-Tiger Costume

Because some days, some times in life, just call for doubling-up on your Christmas costumes! Here is Our Mighty Moose, age six-and-a-half, wearing his cheetah costume underneath his tiger costume. 

The tiger get-up is actually pretty heavy, and hot, so the poor kid - who brought this upon himself - must have quickly second-guessed his costuming choice! 

But it's a fun slice of life, and bittersweet to realize that Moose is aging-out of his little kid costumes. He's been into costumes since the fall of 2014. It's been a fun three-year run, and his kid brother is happily continuing the family tradition, so no use putting the animal costumes away anytime soon.

Tree Across from My Old Home

This towering tree has stood opposite my parents' home for decades. It was there long before they moved in, in March of 1974. Its wide-ranging branches and canopies of leaves greeted me each morning from my bedroom bay windows when I'd open the curtains for the day. 

On many afternoons in junior high and high school, I'd play alone or read or draw at the waist-high bookshelf that fronted the three windows. It was a perfect high and width for me to array my Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures in various battle configurations, pretending they were fighting or were all thrown together in a WWE wrestling match. On these many quiet afternoons, all by myself, this singular tree stood opposite the windows. The setting afternoon sun's rays would jut and poke and stream through the countless branches and off-shoots of this tree. 

I never gave the tree a name, although I had bestowed names on other trees in my parents' yard. There was never a rhyme or reason to these names. Years ago, my good friend Hugh told me that, while he was growing up, he selected a favorite tree in his hometown. He'd trek to it in good times and trying times, talking to it and sitting under it. I loved that image, and it made me wish I had found a favorite tree in my life. Hugh told me that, under his favorite tree's shelter, he would mull over major decisions in his life and, usually, settle on the course he would take, while contemplating and meditating at his tree.

So if I could go back in time to select a favorite tree, one of meaning and quiet presence for many years throughout my life, it would be this tree. 

About 25 feet up from the trunk of this tree, the property owner installed a strong bar of iron, like a tire iron for a car, linking the several huge branches together so that the individual weight and directional growth of one branch over time would not imperil the whole tree. This iron is still there, barely visible. I love that someone cared enough about this tree -- and anticipated its longevity -- to install this saving mechanism. I played with friends like Jimmy Bumpus and Timothey (yes, with an "e") Sullivan and Gerard Meyers under and around this majestic tree at times in my childhood. 

I count it a blessing that, through hurricanes and blizzards, lightning and wind, this tree has stood tall and strong all of my life. I'd hate to see it go, whenever that time comes, as it surely will. The yard, my parents' house, the view from my old childhood bedroom windows, will not be the same. So, my plan is to enjoy it whenever I can. 

Grouse Upgrades His Bike!

Last month, Becky and Our Little Mouse flew to Utah for five days, to attend our niece Brynn's wedding. Brynn is the first of our nieces and nephews to get married. Becky did not want to miss it, and I wanted to support her attending. We also decided that one of our kids could go with her; since Goose had a big field trip with Becky in the spring, we felt that it was Mouse's turn.

I took days off of work to be with our other three kids, which was a blast. It was pretty simple on school days: get Goose and Moose ready for school, get them out the door, and then Grouse and I had hours to play together. Really, this was a delightful time for all of us, and it felt like a stay-vacation.

One afternoon, Grouse pulled a new trick out of his bag ... he ditched his old balance bike, which he'd been using for about eight months, and hopped on his big brother Moose's bike! I was shocked, and admittedly nervous, watching Grouse spin around our backyard and driveway, feet pumping like pistons and a huge smile on his face! 

I took some photos of this stunning development and texted them to Becky in Utah. Neither one of us could believe he was spinning around like he'd been riding this bike for ages!

Go Little Rider!

Basement Lunch

My better half, the good ol' Beck-ster, always needs a home project going on. It's an emotional, mental, and creative outlet for her. We have been in our home for 11 years as of this summer, and believe me when I say that we've tried to squeeze just about every possible square inch of possible living-space out of this century-old wonder. 

All things have a shelf-life, of course, and our shelf-life as a family in this specific house is undeniably winding down. The last significant parcel of livable, usable real estate in our wonderful home is the basement. For many years, this classic New England basement - cobwebs, cold floor, drafty windows, the works! - has been our on-site storage unit. 

We've tried to turn it into a playroom, but our kids didn't really take to it. We tried to turn our attic into a playroom as well, so we trucked the storage that had been in the attic down to - where else? - our basement! Came a time when we could barely navigate our way around the mounds of food storage, toys, boxes, yard work stuff, Christmas boxes, Halloween boxes, Easter boxes - you get the picture!

So, ever in need of a challenge, Becky dove head-first into renovating our basement, all by herself! Over a series of days while our kids were at school, she re-configured sections of the basement, moving boxes onto shelves; de-cluttering and donating years' worth of littler-kid stuff; buying carpet squares to cover our cold basement floor; and lucking into a free Foosball table! The finishing touches were completed on a sunny while all four of our kids were home from school and had some neighborhood friends over. 

It was, and is, a masterpiece. It would be blasphemous (both to Becky's creativity and to my wallet!) to say that our 2012 kitchen remodel was dethroned as our family's ultimate masterpiece. So, while our kitchen remains our greatest home achievement, the new-to-us basement is a worthy runner-up.

Here are Our Little Mouse and Our Mighty Moose enjoying a new tradition: weekend lunch in the basement! It's wonderful to have a quieter place to unwind and to see this new gem through our kids' awestruck eyes.