Author: Andy Smallman

Yes, the space in the title between birth and day is intended. 19 years ago today, Ella was born, making December 18, 1996 her birth day. Every December 18th since then has been one of her birthdays. But you only get one birth day, you know.

And how about those sisters on the day in which they officially became sisters! Pretty darn cute…

It’s been very dark in Seattle lately so I thought I’d post a picture of when it wasn’t so dark. Here’s the back of our house, along with Christine, Celeste’s mom. The photo was taken in 2013, back when we had sunshine in Seattle.

Ah, the amazing soccer run came to an end tonight with the Tsunamis falling to the Cougars 1-0. They surrendered the goal late in the first half on a mad dash in the box after a corner kick, a goal made all the more maddening because the half ended seconds later. And then the Tsunamis had at least a half dozen solid opportunities for the equalizer in the second half and couldn’t find the back of the net. Hugs, laughter, and a few tears followed the final whistle, as did this photo of Celeste and her coaches. That’s Rob, the head coach who has been more than kind, on the left.

Dry your eyes, Celeste. The Tick may be returning to TV with new episodes. I know I said you couldn’t leave Seattle until you finish watching the original 9 episodes from 2001 with me. And, yes, I know how much you like it when I pause the show to point out the puns (Arthur: “Tick, that’s bigamy!” The Tick: “I know that’s big of you.”). But just think how much we’ll have to look forward to if it’s true and Amazon makes some new episodes.

Will Arthur return? Captain America? Batmanuel? I.P Daley?

I know you do, Celeste. I do, too.

Celeste’s soccer team is on some kind of roll and continued it today with a 1-0 win. This pushes them into the semi-finals, meaning their team is one of four remaining in the tournament. If you care to study the photo above, her team is the Tsumanis. The one game they’ve lost in the tournament is to the Cougars and it was decided by penalty kicks. They’ll be facing the Cougars again on Tuesday night with the winner slated to play in the finals next Saturday. Can they make up for that PK loss, a game in which they hit the goalpost in the first 5 minutes?

And let me just say we hit it off just fine. Later in the night she demonstrated extreme wisdom for one so young. She learned to just go unconscious, or fake unconsciousness, when I’m talking to her. It seems some other members of the family could take a cue from her!

Want to create your own manga image, one that looks like you? Here’s your chance.

Last night, after Celeste’s soccer game (her team won and has moved on to the next round of the city tournament), we drove her through Candy Cane Lane, a small neighborhood of houses near ours all decorated in holiday lights.