January 2008 Photos
The January 2008 photo galleries for Berkeley, Eliana, and Olivia are now closed. The galleries can be reviewed at Berkeley's web site, Eliana's web site, and Olivia's web site. Or just access the galleries directly using the following links:

Berkeley's January 2008 Gallery ... (5½ years old)
Eliana's January 2008 Gallery ... (3 years, 10 months old)
Olivia's January 2008 Gallery ... (1½ years old)

Berkeley's First Three Fillings
At Berkeley's dentist appointment last week, the dentist found that Berkeley has developed three cavities - each between his first and second molars (upper right, lower left, and upper left). The lack of flossing is to blame... so, yeah, we better start doing that at least one a day.

Berkeley was a real champ while getting his cavities filled. I thought he would tense up, but he was calm the whole time (the nitrous oxide probably helped a bit). Berkeley's dentist, Dr. John Liu of Eastside Pediatric Dentistry, was great during the half long procedure. He was constantly communicating with Berkeley and reassuring him every step of the way. I was very impressed with Dr. Liu's chair-side manor.

Berkeley has three (resin) fillings now... quite a mouthful for a 5-yr-old.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Millwork Masking
The painting crew spent the entire day masking around the millwork today... yes, the entire day. I was going to snap some pictures of the beam today, but they wrapped it up as well to keep any over-spray from settling on the newly oiled surfaces. Prime tomorrow.

Captain Berkeley Flies in a Double Jet Airplane
Here is a scan of some artwork Berkeley created today. Berkeley explained that one day he wishes to become a pilot that can fly "double jet airplanes".

The items on the right are a vacuum and two "spare" jets.

Seattle Center's Children's Museum
Today is Wednesday. I have been taking every Wednesday off lately and spend it with the kids. Today I had to run downtown to do some errands (for the attic), so we stopped by the Seattle Center and attended the Children's Museum. The kids have been there before (once or twice), but it was the first time I had been there. My first impression of the museum was that is quite obviously the inspiration for the Discovery Gateway that is located in Salt Lake City (not far from my parents house). I think my friend/classmate Lisa (who works at Discovery Gateway) mentioned as much to me during our reunion last summer. The Seattle Museum may be the original, but it certainly is showing signs of wear.

Regardless, the kids had a great time. At one point I was standing in the toddler area watching Livy play with some toy with pegs and off in the distance I could see Berkeley playing with the vacuum tubes and ping pong balls on my right and Eliana playing with the grocery storefront on my left. All of them were engaged and playing with other kids who were complete strangers to them (even Eliana... who often prefers to keep to herself). At that very moment, I was struck by the temporary nature of my situation... my three young kids, my brood - all under 5 - and all still content to spend a day with Dad.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Beam Finished
The beam received the last of three coats of the SeaFin Teak Oil treatment today (the first coast was applied last Friday and the second coat was applied on Monday). We started the beam façade and the roof install at the same time. One month later the beam is finally done. The roof? Still pending.

Movie Review: Cloverfield

The story is that of a group of friends that must survive an "event" that happens in downtown New York City. Of course, as is the nature of such films, not all of them end up surviving. Then the movie ends, quite abruptly.

(Update Sat Feb 16 07:24:12 PST 2008 // changed rating)

Movie Review: Sweeney Todd

The movie is wonderful - near perfect in fact. Tim Burton has done a fantastic job storyboarding the musical for the big screen. The story is easy to follow and flows effortlessly from one scene to the next. The film's style is unique to Tim Burton - gothic, surreal, and rich visuals adorn the screen at every moment (including during the whimsical "By the Sea" number). Burton took some license with Sondheim's original work (eliminating songs and the participation of the company cast) and has made welcomed improvements but remains faithful to the core of the story. The story is still Sondheim's but the storyteller is never in doubt... this is a Burton film, and it is a magical journey from beginning to end.

Johnny Depp is spectacular as Sweeney Todd. He develops the character from a simple man set on avenging his wrongful imprisonment by a corrupt judge to that of a detached homicidal killer with deft and nuance. Of course, Depp is starting with some wonderful material, but his portrayal adds that level of empathy required to connect with the character on the screen.

Helana Bonham Carter's Mrs. Lovett's is a perfect foil for Depp's Todd, in both a comedic and dramatic sense. Todd is the straight man for Lovett's quips and she sets the dark comedic tone for the film. Carter's Lovett also anchors the film dramatically by being the enabler, the co-conspirator, and the sympathetic (and even at times... remorseful) "normal" person of the pair.

And what about the singing? This is a musical after all. OK yes, much that I have read states that Depp's (and Carter's) voices are less than pitch perfect... but in the context of the big screen, the sometimes-discordant rendition of the songs is more poignant and heartfelt. If Depp and Carter were hitting every note perfectly, the performance would lack the emotional intensity that is required for the film (and is oft-times lacking on the stage BTW). In short, Depp's (and Carter's) singing makes Sweeney Todd the movie far better... not worse.

So what didn't I like? Why isn't this movie a 10? Well, I think Burton could have shown a bit more restraint with some of the violence. Even if the film would not have lost its R-rating, there were a couple of scenes where I felt a line had been crossed.

However, it was at these precise moments of extreme violence that I could not empathize with Todd... because I just couldn't go there with him. Perhaps this was the desired effect... to remind me how evil (and mad) the character was in his heart. So I recoiled despite the fact that I was laughing with him but a few moments earlier.

Summary: The best horror musical you'll ever see. I guarantee it.

Restaurant Review: P.F. Chang's China Bistro

Date of Visit: 15 Aug 2008

Kristy and I ventured to P.F. Chang's today to enjoy a gift certificate my parents gave us. The Belle Square P.F. Chang's is renown for long weekend night wait times and tonight was no different... 45 minutes. I did forget that P.F. Chang's recently started taking reservations and there was a big sign at the front counter reminding me of such. (Note to self: don't forget again!) Kristy and I enjoyed some pot stickers as an appetizer (always a favorite), then ordered up the incredible Crispy Honey Shrimp and Chungdu Spiced Lamb for our main meal. The Shrimp were as good as they ever are... incredibly delicious. The Chengdu lamb is something we have never tried. It was heavily spiced with mint and cumin and then wok-fried with tomatoes and onions. The lamb was very tender and not overcooked and the flavor was very good. P.F. Chang's still hangs on to my solid recommendation.

Date of Visit: 29 Jan 2008

Today I organized an outing with friend to see some movies. We met at at P.F. Chang's first and had a quick bite to eat.

I have been eating a P.F. Chang's for years. My first experience at a P.F. Chang's was in Las Vegas back in 1995 or 1996-ish. P.F. Chang's is a solid choice for Chinese cuisine. There are definitely many inferior Chinese restaurants out there, and only a few better in my humble opinion (this coming from someone who spent two years eating Chinese food every day in Taiwan). That being said, I've been somewhat disappointed with P.F. Chang's in recent years. For example, the stir-fried green beans used to be prepared with dessicated long beans instead of standard off-the-shelf green beans. As a result, the dish is not even close to as great as it used to be. But some of my P.F. Chang's favorites (Crispy Honey Shrimp, Mongolian Beef, and Kung Pao Chicken) are some of the best I've had in the States.

Today I mixed it up a bit and did not order one of my usual items. Instead I ordered up the Oolong Marinated Sea Bass. The bass was flaky, tender, and moist and served with a soy/garlic/ginger sauce. The fish was served on a bed of quick-fried vegetables. Will order again... very good.

Summary: A solid choice for Chinese cuisine.

(Update Fri Sep 5 16:10:27 PDT 2008 // added notes from visit)

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Stairs Lacquered
The painting crew sprayed the stairs today... they look great. The lacquer really brought out the red in the stain (I had been concerned that the stair rails and treads were looking a bit too brown). The newly finished stair rails and treads that are down in the family room area match perfectly with the wood floors adjacent to the room in the dining room passage and kitchen. Likewise, the finished chair rails and treads upstairs match well with the beam. Given that the material is different (red oak and ash), I'm very happy with the result. Kudos to the painting crew for doing such a fine job.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Paint Prep
The painting crew is getting ready to apply a water-based matte finish on all of the stair treads and rail. They have carefully masked off the entire stairwell in preparation for spraying tomorrow. They started this last task Friday. We have a plastic "tent" wall in our family room that encloses the bottom part of the stairs. We have another plastic tent wall on the second story landing. The entire stairwell is now completely sealed by plastic (with some entrances made to allow us passage). Navigating through all of the plastic gives our home a kind of "ET"-feel to it now.

Random Family Pictures
It's been awhile since I took some casual pictures of the family... well, a couple of weeks anyway. Here are a few pictures taken at what could be any random evening at the Berrett home. Enjoy.

Parent Proofing the Clothes Washer
We own an Asko W660 washer. I love it... it is compact (fits under a standard height countertop), it does a very fine job getting the clothes clean, and we have never had a problem with it since we purchased it back in 2000. Of the last point I was particularly happy about since we paid a premium for the Asko brand (versus comparable American-made models).

Well, I was happy about the service record until about three weeks ago when I discovered that the buttons that manipulate the LED control panel would only work if I held them down for longer than 3 seconds at a time. I have been making some weak attempts at diagnosing the problem; my hunch has been that perhaps the 205° wash temperatures finally fried a circuit board or something. But today I had another brainstorm... what if (I thought) there is some kind of "child lock thing" enabled somehow that is causing the buttons to only respond after sustained depression.

I consulted the manual and discovered that there is a 10 button sequence that I can press - within the first 15 seconds after turning the washer on - that will enable/disable the "Child-safe menu button" option that is built-in to the washer bios. So I power cycled the washer then quickly pressed "Enter" five times followed by pressing "P3" five times.

And guess what?

Yeah, everything is back to normal. The washer's service record remains spotless.

Kristy mentioned Olivia likes to play with the buttons on our clothes washer and dryer. But it seems somewhat incredible that she happened upon this particular 11-key sequence (power, enter 5x, P3 5x... in 15 seconds) that enabled the "child proof" option on the washer. She sure is a cheeky little monkey.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: SeaFin Teak Oil Finish (First Coat)
The painting crew put the first coat of "SeaFin Teak Oil on the ceiling beams. The crew chief recommended we go with an brushed oil finish over a sprayed lacquer. I guess it is a good product because Stewart (from Kenis Loven - whom I think very highly of) went out of his way to express his approval of the choice. After the painters brushed on the first coat, I snapped a couple pics:

Restaurant Review: Iris Grill

The Thurmonds got us a gift certificate for The Iris Grill (a gift in kind for an armoire I decided was too heavy to move back home). Kristy and I took an opportunity this evening to use the gift cert. Iris Grill isn't far, just down the hill in Issaquah located conveniently in Gilman Village (easy access, lots of parking).

The Iris Grill dinner menu features standard American fare. After giving the menu a quick glance I was immediately intrigued by the braised beef short ribs. The description of the dish reminded me of the slow-roasted beef short ribs my mother makes - one of my favorites growing up. I ordered the ribs and a beet salad. Kristy ordered the 8 oz filet mignon and a house salad.

My beet salad was quite good. I love beets. I don't think I liked them growing up. But now I find that a sliced yellow and red beet salad with a simple vinaigrette dressing really hits the spot. Whenever I see a beet salad, I'll order it. This beet salad was quite good, although the yellow beets were not as tender as I would have liked. Kristy seemed to enjoy her house salad.

My braised beef short ribs were quite good, in fact they were slow roasted just like my Mom's and just as tasty. The ribs were served with a mélange of steamed carrots, turnips, and potatoes all perfectly prepared and delightfully seasoned. It was a great dish. Kristy remarked that her dinner was quite good. I sampled her filet and agreed with her.

For dessert I had a slice of cheesecake. The Iris Grill boasts of cheesecake made on site. I suppose that this is rare occurrence or there would be no need to boast of it. The cheesecake was good; but seemed no better than others I've had. I can't remember what Kristy had now... something chocolate I'm sure.

Summary: Very good food; will make a great second option when JaK's is full.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Beams/Stairs Stained
The beams were stained today. It was an agonizing process getting the two-step dye/stain process just right. But I'm happy with the results. Here are a couple of pictures.

The beams look even more brilliant in person.

The stairs don't look quite as nice. We went with red oak for the stair material instead of ash. I think we had to go with red oak because the lead time for ash rails and treads just wasn't going to work with the schedule that we had at the time (<sarcasm>thanks Tad for planning ahead!</sarcasm>). The red oak didn't stain as well. Oak has kind of a "dirty grain" in my humble opinion, and so the rails and treads turned out much darker than I would have liked. Just another thing to sigh at I suppose. Can't do much about it now.

Pictures from Eliana's Ballet Class
We were able to attend Eliana's ballet class today. I'm not sure how often we will be allowed to attend, so we took the opportunity to snap some pictures.

There are more here.

(Update Sat Jan 26 09:29:24 PST 2008 // fixed pop-up height and width)

Ten Tortillas
Berkeley had his friend Fox over today and Eliana had a play date with Fox's sister Pepper. In the afternoon, I called up Zennie and asked if she wanted to swap Fox for Eliana and she consented. Both Berkeley and Eliana were thrilled. Berkeley and Fox played some trains and then we went to Issaquah Rec for Berkeley's T-ball class (Note to self: Berkeley throws better left-handed). Fox was allowed to participate since about half the class was absent. It was a fun time for the two boys.

When I went over to swap Fox back for Eliana, I think the two boys just thought that the play date was going to continue... but at Fox's house instead of our own.

"Berkeley, come upstairs to my room. I got a Nintendo DS."

This idea was quickly quashed by Zennie. It was 5:30pm... dinner time... and Zennie was on her way out to McDonalds. So we decided to tag along (Kristy worked late tonight). Berkeley convinced me to let him ride with Fox. After dinner, we separated the kids from the playground and made our way out to our cars.

"Daddy, can I ride home with Fox?"

"Nope. They are going home to their house, and we are going home to ours."

"But Daddy, I really wanted to play with his Tentor TS.", Berkeley whined.

"His ten tortillas?", I smiled. "We have tortillas at home."

"No Daddy... Fox has a Ten-tor T-S... Ten-torte S", Berkeley had no idea how to pronounce it.

I declined his request once more. Berkeley huffed and made his way into the car; the weight of the world pressed against his head and shoulders causing them to droop significantly. But he got no sympathy from me.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Paint Prep Continues
Much of the paint prep is now done. There is still much to do. Tad estimated the painting would all be done in two weeks time. But at this rate, I don't see how that is possible. The three trundle beds for the window seats were delivered today. They will also need to be painted.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Paint Prep Started
A two-man painting crew showed up today to caulk around all of the battens, doors, newell posts, cabinets, etc. It's a huge job. The two of them worked all day (from about 8am to 6pm) and didn't finish. I had hoped we would get a larger crew, but it didn't happen.

MLK Day
I took the day off and spent the day with the kids (no school) over at the Thurmonds while Kristy and Kathy had a spa day. We stayed for dinner (pizza) and caught up while the kids kept themselves busy. It seems that since we moved out of the Thurmonds home last month that we never see them anymore... even if we probably see them at about the same frequency as we normally do. Our life living there seems so far removed from our reality... even if it was just only about 8 weeks ago.

We gifted our baby furniture to the Thurmonds (we are done!). They are expecting girl #3 in May. I helped Matt set up the crib and the changing table and some other various little things around their home. Matt could use some additional help with their new home. They had a few trees fall in the past few weeks due to wind. He needs to chop it up and mend some fences. Many hands make light work as they say, but I just don't have any free time. There is still a lot of miscellaneous stuff that needs to be done around here. Of course, if I had my brothers living around here... it would be done like (*makes snapping sound*) that!

Why My Kids Won't Have a Video Game Console
I spent last night and most of today at winter camp with the local Boy Scout troop. It was cold, but not unbearable; temperatures were in the high 20s overnight and reached the high 30s at midday. I was only cold last night at about 4am, when I had to get out of my tent, walk across the camp site and tell a tent full of our scouts to keep quiet and go back to sleep. (This was a council camp, so there were several other troops camped in close proximity to us.)

The Klondike "games" were held today to foster troop cooperation and skill mastery. It's a pretty fun time for the boys and the healthy competition is good motivation to keep the boys involved. The games include team snowshoe races, fire building, timed lashing contests, orienteering, and the like. My own 11-yr-old patrol (that included a couple of the younger 12-yr-olds) struggled with the "iditarod", a contest where the boys must push (and/or pull) a sled of gear for about 1 mile around the perimeter of a frozen lake, stopping at several checkpoints along the way to demonstrate knot-tying, first-aid, and other skills. Since the snow at the camp was about two feet deep, I planned on doing this specific contest last... after the snow had been packed down. I think this worked to our benefit, but one boy, our 12-yr-old patrol leader just up and quit about halfway through the run. Since our time was measured against the slowest member of the team, the rest of the boys that were still running and pushing the sled were doing so for naught. So I put a lot of pressure on this boy to pick up the pace (which he did not do). I may have leaned on him a bit hard because after the contest was over and we had returned to our camp site, he walked over to the river and broke down emotionally.

I went over to this boy to try and cheer him up.

"Yo, what's up?"

"Just go away!"

"Hey, sorry for being so tough on you back there. I'm not technically your leader, so it wasn't my place. I won't be at your next camp..."

"I'm not going to the next camp. I don't even want to be here. My Mom made me come."

"Well, you can't say you aren't having a lot of fun with your friends."

"Yes I can. It's cold. I'm wet. I'd rather be home playing video games with my sister and my cousins."

"Playing video games instead of camping?! You can play video games tomorrow."

"No I can't. My mom won't let me play on Sunday. My cousins are in town just for the weekend and are probably playing all day today."

And he went on about his day-long video game opportunity missed.

So that's it. No video games at our house. I bought an XBox1 about, oh, I dunno... 6 years ago? It spends a lot of time on the shelf in the coat closet. Time to give it away... and never buy another console (or handheld) gaming system for myself or for the kids.

Note: When I got back home my wife said power in the area had been out most of the day. So this boy didn't "miss" anything.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Finish Carpentry Complete
Two separate crews of finish carpenters (Vlad/Vlad from Master Builders and Steward/Rob from Kenis Loven) were out today to put the final touches on the attic before the paint crew arrives next week. The remaining two window seats were installed, the last of the batten board treatment was completed (around the wet bar next to the recently installed counter top), and the remaining details of the playhouse were finished.

Rats!
A few nights ago while I was here sitting in my office at about 1am working on some stuff, I heard some noises within the wall that separates my office from the powder bathroom. The noise was quite obviously that of a pest (I presumed a mouse at the time) chewing away at some wood. I went down in the crawl space to investigate but didn't see any rodents, but I did see a lot of rodent droppings. I called a pest service (Cascade Pest Control) the next day... and they came out today for a site visit.

I crawled around with the tech in the crawl space. He pointed out quite a few things I probably would not have noticed, including rodent tracks on the tops of sewer pipes, rodent droppings that had been accumulating on the top of the main heating duct runs, and a cable wire that had nearly been chewed through (one that I just installed for the benefit of the attic last September). He also pointed out some droppings and rodent tracks in the garage (easily identified because there is so much dust everywhere in the garage).

The tech told me the good news is that we don't have mice... which are harder to contain and trap. The bad news is that we have a small but "manageable" rat infestation... probably just 2 or 3 rats. He set some big ol' rat traps in the crawl space and one in the garage and will come back next Friday to check the traps and do some intrusion management.

(Update Tue Jan 22 09:26:03 PST 2008 // several grammatical and spelling fixes)
(Update Thu Jan 24 21:25:13 PST 2008 // I went down to the "crawl space")

An Attic Preview for the Kids
We let the kids check out the progress on the playhouse and window seats this afternoon after the area had been vacated by the workers. They were thrilled to see the new dutch door hung on the playhouse and the mattress in the window seat.

It is is going to be a wonderful area for them to use and will be well worth the money (and hassle... and stress... and time) it has taken to make this project a reality.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: What a Mess!
The finish carpenters are just about finished. They will have everything done tomorrow. Painting prep will start next week. However, the place is just an absolute mess. They is lots of dust everywhere. All over the walls (especially on the brick) and in every little nook and cranny imaginable. For the last three weeks the carpenters have been ripping, sanding, and beating on that ash for the beams and MDF material for the batten board wall treatment. It should take Tad's hired help the better part of tomorrow cleaning the place up.

Here is a picture... but it really doesn't do the mess justice.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Wet Bar Counter Installed
The wet bar counter was installed today. We went with a solid surface Brazilian multi-color slate. É muito bonito!

(Note: the opening is for the benefit of an undercounter refrigerator and ice maker. The "tunnel" is for access to the back of the electronic cabinet in the entertainment area.)

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Window Seat Install
Kenis and Stewart showed up today with one of our three 8-foot wide window seats that will occupy the space below each of the rear dormer windows. It didn't take Stewart long to scribe it in tight. After he left I snapped a picture of it after the install was complete and then again after I put a twin mattress in it. (Side note: we had six twin mattresses delivered last Tuesday... at the time I scheduled delivery back in November-ish Tad had said "oh, [we] will be long done by then... don't worry." hrmmmph).

The window seat accentuates the breath of the rear dormers. I really like it.

The painting crew will be out next week to caulk it in and paint it white.

Sharks and Ice Cream
Today in the car... while crossing Lake Washington on the I-90 bridge:

Berkeley: "Daddy, do you know what would be cool?"

"No, what?"

"If we bought a submarine, then we could go underwater..."

"Yeah?"

"and see all the sharks."

"Yeah, that would be cool."

"How much does a submarine cost?"

"A lot. More than we have."

** a slight pause **

"Daddy, do you know what else would be cool?"

"No."

"If we bought an RV."

"Do you even know what an RV is?"

"Yes Daddy, it's like a house, but on wheels."

** I didn't think he knew. **

"And we could set up an ice cream stand in the RV.", Berkeley continued.

** /me looks in rear view mirror at Berkeley **

"And eat ice cream anytime we wanted." *big grin*

"Yeah, that would be cool.", I agreed.

** a slight pause as Berkeley looked out across the lake **

"But seeing sharks in a submarine would be cooler."

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Beam Façade Complete
The beam façade has now been installed on all of the five dormer ridge beams. I chose not to dress up the smaller dormer ridge beams with fake mortise and tenon joints. They are just mean to appear as a one single hand-hewn beam. I think they look great. Can't wait to see them dressed up with a dark stain to match the hardwood floors.

Snow Day
It snowed here last night. Enough snow fell to make the roads icy enough to delay school starting by two hours, effectively canceling Berkeley's AM Kindergarten class. He didn't seem to mind missing school for the opportunity to play in the snow.

Sunday Dress
Berkeley got a new suit (for Christmas?). He looks sharp in it despite my poor attempts to get a good picture of him before Church today.

I really like the picture of them with their arms on each other. Unfortunately, I think the camera's little "focus square" ended up on the couch behind them (darnit!) when I took that picture. I just had to share it anyway.

Movie Review: King Arthur

At the end of the 15-year term, a visiting Bishop from Rome informs Arthur that his knights cannot have their freedom until they rescue the Pope's godson that is holed up at an outpost north of the wall before the Saxons overrun the place. (Why exactly the Pope's godson would be living in unprotected territory is never explained.) Arthur agrees despite strong protestations and ventures north of the wall with his knights on their mission. Once they arrive, they discover the Romans have made the local farmers their serfs (including young Guinevere); an concept which is antithetical to the Roman coda as Arthur understands it. Long story short, they free the farmers, rescue the Pope's godson, and make it back just in time to see the Romans abandon their posts in their retreat from the invading Saxons. Their duty fulfilled, Arthur can now return to Rome and his knights are free to return to their homeland.

Instead (of course), they remain and fight the Saxons with their new allies... the Merlin-led northern tribes, of which Guinevere is the supreme warrior-princess ("Is she wearing a belt for a bra?"). The Brits prevail and Arthur and Guinevere marry, reign in a now-united Britain, and live happily ever after (since in this version of the story Lancelot is killed in battle... precluding the existence of the Arthurian love triangle).

Eager Readers
Berkeley brings home a "book" (which typically only contain three to four sentences) nearly every day from school. Part of his homework is to read the book to three separate persons. Mimi and Daddy are obvious choices. Eliana is a bit hard to pin down, so Berkeley will read to Olivia quite often. It is a practice that Kristy and I love to see. I snapped a picture of the two of them reading books today. Berkeley is actually reading the book he is holding. Olivia is just pretending to read her book in an effort to mimic her older brother.

"A-wha"
Olivia can communicate pretty well, either with gestures (pointing) or with words ("book", "mine", "Daddy")... and small sentences ("I tirsdee Daddy."). It takes some training to figure out what she is saying, but sometimes we can make a breakthrough. When we do it is really rewarding. We can see Olivia's face light up when we figure out what she is saying; it is a great way to connect with her lately.

For example, today I figured out that Olivia can say Eliana's name. She has been pronouncing it "A-wha" using it in sentences like "air A-wha" ("Where's Eliana?"). In just in the past couple of weeks she has really made some signifcant advances in verbal communication. It's fun.

The "Best" Birthday Party
Berkeley attended a birthday party for his friend Jake at Chuck E. Cheese today. I dropped him off and then took the two girls to the other side of the restaurant and found a table. I ordered up a pizza and a bunch of tokens from some coupons I got by joined the "Chuck E-Club" (which is the only way to get a pizza at Chuck E. Cheese for under 20 bucks... but I digress). We stayed there for the duration of the party - three (long) hours - but kept to ourselves for most of the time. On our way back home, this exchange took place:

"That was the best birthday party ever!", Berkeley declared.

(Now I was thinking it was probably just the best birthday party he could remember... so I decided to remind him of something.)

"Best party ever?", said I. "I think your cowboy hoedown birthday party was way better. You had pony rides, a shooting range, and it was outside in the sunshine."

"No. Jake's birthday party was better.", Berkeley insisted.

Eliana quickly cut in, "Guys, guys. Both parties were good. OK?"

I instantly found Eliana's attempt to be the peacemaker in this "argument" quite priceless. Usually Kristy or myself are playing the role of mediator between Berkeley and Eliana by uttering a line just like that. Funny.

Movie Review: Hairspray

The movie is fun to follow as Turnblad attempts to fulfill her dream to dance on the show. Because of her plus-sized frame, she is immediately dismissed despite her talent. Now as the victim of prejudice, Tracy finds she has something in common with her African American classmates (whom she meets in detention) and instantly adopts some of their groovy dance moves. And with that, the film advances the plot to address some of the social unrest that occurred in conjunction with the pro-integration and civil rights movements of the 1960s. But the film addresses these delicate topics without being preachy, but instead uses music (did I mention that Hairspray is a musical?) to treat the subject matter lightly while still emphasizing a "racism is bad" message.

I must admit that I can't remember much, if any, of the musical numbers, but they were fun and fresh and kept my toes tapping. It is an enjoyable film with a warm, fuzzy, happy ending. Recommended.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: More Progress Goodness
Here is an "on the ground" picture of the roof. The back side is just about done. One more day I'm told. The fake slate seems to have a higher specular scattering component than the real stuff, e.g. it is "shinier" than what real slate would be. That is my own impression with today's lighting. I wonder if the sun will dull the material over time, allow the material to give off a more "matte-like" sheen. Hmmm.

It seems like the finish carpenters have been here forever prepping material for the beam façade. Today they installed the bottom portion of the beam wrap to complete the ridge beam. I have snapped a couple pictures of the fabricated mortise and tenon joints.

They look pretty good right now... but the carpentry crew says they still need to dress up the edges a bit more to make them look even better.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Progress Report
The crew of four finish carpenters (Rob, Dan, Vladimir, and Vladimir) have been working hard on the beam façade. These last two weeks have probably been the loudest days of the project - as the four of them have been hammering and beating on the ash panels, giving them the "hand-hewn" look we are going for. They all wear ear protection because of the noise. Today they finished hanging the last of the side panels on the ridge beam and will start installing the bottom panels tomorrow. Here is a good picture of one complete side of the beam façade. The "holes" (that are only about ½" deep) will be filled with fake dowel pins built from end grain stock (like a 4x4 post or something); the pins will be raised about ¼" to add to the visual appeal.

Meanwhile, our one-man roofing crew (Jerry) is up all day on the roof in the barely above freezing 35-40° weather we have been enjoying lately (it is supposed to snow here tonight). Two of the rear dormers are now done and Jerry thinks he can have the rest of the rear roof done tomorrow (weather permitting). Here is a picture of the progress made.

Moving (the Last of the) Furniture Back In
I spent much of the day moving furniture back in to our home (like last Saturday). Some of it was still over at the Thurmonds. We are now pretty much "back to normal" with the exception of touching up some walls in our master bathroom and the laundry room (which have custom treatments that we did ourselves and did not want the painting crew messing with). I guess "back to normal" doesn't include the stairs, as the iron balusters on the stairs have yet to be installed - they are sitting in boxes stacked up in the garage.

Actually, the garage is not at all back to normal, but is instead a complete disaster... piled high with leftover materials and stuff that has yet to be installed. (And there is still some drywall repair required in the garage too.) *Sigh*

Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks

Summary: Good clean fun.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Ridge Beam Wrap Installation Started
The finish carpenters have been busy all week preparing panels that will wrap our huge attic ridge beam and the five smaller dormer ridge beams. They have been joining ash wood panels together and then taking hand planers and sanders and using other methods to roughen them up to given them a "hand-hewn" look. The panels for the ridge beam are all ready and the carpenter crew started installing them today. Here is a picture of the first panel installed on the ridge beam.

There are five more of these side panels (three for each side of the beam), and then there are three narrower panels for the bottom of the beam. The panel intersections will be dressed up with mock mortise and tenon joints complete with fake 2" dowel pins. The beam intersections will be dressed up with some stout antiqued brass hangers that we are having custom made.

Eliana's First Day of Ballet Class
For Christmas, Eliana received enrollment to a ballet class and new ballet clothes, a tutu, and shoes. Her first day was today. The ballet school does not let parents stay and watch. Kristy dropped her off and then went back an hour later. The report we got back from Eliana was positive. She is already anxious to return ("When is my next ballet class Dad?"). She loves to pretend to be a ballerina, so this was a perfect present for her.

Kristy snapped a couple of pictures of Eliana in her new ballet clothes. Here they are (click to enlarge):

Bubble Bath
Here is yet another post about the kids taking a bubble bath in the master tub (previous posts are here and here). They are just so darn cute all covered in bubbles.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Roofing Progress
The 1-man roofing crew is making slow but steady progress installing the roofing material. One of the dormers is now (finally) complete. Here are a couple of pictures.

There is still a lot of roof left.

Olivia's First Successful Potty on the Toilet
If blog software wasn't made to record the first successful turn a kid takes on the toilet, then I really don't know what blogs were invented for. Seriously.

Berkeley and Eliana are back at school today... which means that I spent the morning with Olivia. At one point this morning, I noticed that Olivia seemed somewhat preoccupied with the toilet. She stood there looking at it and pulling at her clothes... almost as if, I dunno, she wanted me to take them off so she could use the toilet (see first picture). I can take a hint on most days, so I obliged Olivia's request. I sit her down on the training seat and then tell her to "Go potty... push it out." I made a grunting face and she copied me (see second picture). My remedial coaching must have worked, because she actually did squeeze out a significant volume of urine - into the toilet.

It's a miracle.

New Year's Day
The new year started per tradition up here with the New Year's Day brunch over at the Thurmonds. They put out a magnificent spread with a few Thurmond quirks. Today's quirk was whatever you order... you get twice that amount: 1 egg = 2 eggs, 1 biscuit with gravy == 2 biscuits with gravy, etc. We stayed for much of the day and played some games, such as the recently reviewed Tikal, and Settlers. I drove my motorcycle home from the Thurmonds where it had been in storage for the past little while (like about 3 months). Moving all of the furniture out of the garage freed up some space. The bike is still riding as smooth as ever!