Andy Smallman

Quick, who is Barbara Gordon? That’s right, Barbara Gordon is Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. That’s 10 points for you! Well done. Now who is Commissioner Gordon? Commissioner Gordon is the police commissioner of Gotham City. Nice! Another 10 points. What is Gotham City? Gotham City is the city Batman protects. 10 more points for you.

25 bonus points are available if you can put this all together. Ready?

5 years ago when Ella was in 5th grade she wanted to be Batgirl for Halloween but her public elementary school didn’t allow kids to come to school wearing masks. So she had the brilliant idea to come to school as librarian Barbara Gordon, Batgirl’s alter ego, and change into her Batgirl costume to go trick or treating.

Did you get the bonus points?

Three times each school year the high schoolers at PSCS engage in what we call “Intensives Week.” We stop the regular schedule and for a week the students participate in just one activity all day long for 5 days. Yup, it’s intense.

Ella chose to participate in a cake-decorating intensive called “Icing” so she spent the week learning how to make various icings and apply them to cakes. Her final project was to conceive of and decorate a cake, the end result being shown in today’s photo. As you can see, she went for a seasonal theme.

Oh, if the blog title isn’t resonating for you, think of the song “My Country ’tis of Thee.” There’s “sweet land of liberty,” followed by, “of the icing.”

Melinda & I just watched the most recent episode of the TV show “Parenthood,” one of our little indulgent pleasures. There’s a character on the show named Haddie who recently left for college so the show has had story lines that remind us of Chloe being at college. On top of that, Haddie is a mature and thoughtful young woman, another reason her character reminds us of Chloe.

So, yeah, having a kid away at college is one of those events in life you anticipate as parents. It’s a big deal and exciting and you are just so proud. Your relationship with your child shifts and, hopefully, it’s in a good way. I certainly feel that’s the case with Chloe and us.

So tonight we’re thinking about Chloe and missing her a bit, and thinking about her and stuff like that.

Everyone should have a few Jonathan Chens in their life. You know, the kind of person who is just decent and kind, a person who helps you connect with that best part of yourself. That’s Jonathan.

I connected with Jonathan through PSCS. When the school moved in to the International District in 2008, the staff and I wanted to make connections with other organizations in the neighborhood. Of the several we made, the one with Jonathan has been golden. You see, until tomorrow he has been in charge of the Danny Woo Community Garden, which is located just a short walk from the school. Jonathan invited us over to volunteer, and ultimately provided the school with a plot to garden.

Jonathan is moving to California and tomorrow, like I said, is his last day at work. Tonight PSCS hosted a going away celebration party for him.

Everyone should have a few Jonathan Chens in their life.

This is a funny story. At least I think so. Cute, too (maybe the “cute-off” continues!).

So Ella was eating some chocolate pudding, right? And as good chocolate pudding eaters are prone to do, she left some around the edges of her mouth (for later). But funny thing, the chocolate pudding ring around her lips looked a lot like my little moustache and beard. So I grabbed a baseball hat, at the time a signature piece from my wardrobe, and put my glasses on her. I then quickly got the camera and took this picture.

A pretty good likeness of her father, don’t you think?

That’s the question Ella just asked me and it’s in response to that question that I provide today’s picture. Just how cute is Ella in this picture from Halloween 10 years ago?

Okay, maybe “cute” isn’t the right word. You tell me. She was really getting into her character here, arms folded, eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed. You might say she is putting a spell on me.

As she has done every day since her birth.

If the “cute-off” is really over how about we start something new, like post photos of our kids (or ourselves) in Halloween costumes? The time is right, right? Join me on Facebook!

Actually, I know exactly where. I was standing in our driveway getting pelted by rain and hail when I took this picture this afternoon. It was pretty spectacular.

The rainbow appeared in the eastern sky at about the same time the hail hit. I grabbed the camera to see what I might be able to get photo-wise from inside the house, but nothing good came from that. So I dashed outside to take a couple of pictures and got this one. I know it’s not spectacular or anything, but having a rainbow outside your house is pretty cool.

What I was unable to capture was how bright it was and how big. It was a classic arch, the stereotypical rainbow, something a 5 year-old would draw in kindergarten.

So for years Chloe and Ella would head over to Brenda’s & Greg’s for a night of pumpkin carving, fun eating, movie watching, and sleeping over, an event dubbed “Pumpkin Weekend.” It’s legendary in the family, complete with special photo books to commemorate each year’s event.

Up in Canada, as she is now for college, Chloe is unable to participate. But that doesn’t stop her from thinking about it or doing her best to replicate it. Today’s photo came via email under the subject heading used as today’s blog post title and with the following text:

Today me and my group of girlfriends baked an apple pie, made caramel apples, and carved pumpkins (well just me and my friend Simone were up for carving!). Here’s a pic of the pumpkins (mine’s on the right)… we just finished! 🙂

Cheers! Love you all,
-Chloe

ps: It’s (lightly) snowing!!

6 years and 1 day ago Perrin was born, a big day for a lot of people in our family (but, certainly, biggest for Perrin). If you’re new to the blog or don’t remember, Perrin is the daughter of Brenda & Greg. Brenda is Melinda’s sister, which makes Perrin Melinda’s and my niece, and Chloe’s & Ella’s cousin. I’m sure I could complicate things further by adding more genealogy references, but I’ll leave it at that and try to stay focused on the fact the birthdays are tons of fun when you’re 6.

As it turns out, Perrin has had her share of celebrations related to this birthday. There was the kid party, the acknowledgement at school, the party with her grandparents, and then tonight’s present and cake consumption event with Melinda, Ella, and me and from which today’s picture comes.

What more can be said than a big happy birthday to you, Perrin!

What could be further from a “cute-off” than a picture of me, right? But just look at me! I’m actually hula hooping and the hula hoop isn’t just falling to the ground. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a still photo and I could just be leading you to believe (is it working?) that I was having some moderate success with the hula hoop through this description. But would I, the guy who told you he traded Melinda for Rick Steves, lie to you?

This picture was taken during our break time at the Nutrition & Fitness for Life class that Ella, Melinda & I are taking on Thursday nights, the class I told you about three weeks ago. About halfway through each session we take a break to get some exercise.

And, yes, I did a little hula hooping.