raystrobel47: (Tx flag)
I love my wife. She'd convinced me to open my birthday present early this evening, and since I was husband/daddy-napped to a surprise dinner at Sonic I thought 'sure!'. Well, she managed to get me another Texas flag. The one I've had since I was in high school, that's been hung on the wall in my dorm rooms and bachelor apartments, had been flying proudly on our flagpole for the last three years or so, also thanks to my sweetheart. Well, the time had taken its toll, and it was faded and tattered.

So I got a new one! Not just any new Texas flag, but one that's been flown at the capitol building in Austin! And that's not all!! According to the certificate, which itself is neat, this new flag was flown on March 2, which is Texas' Independence Day, y'all. How. Frickin'. Cool.

Cool enough that this flag ain't flyin' on no flagpole, nowhere, nohow. I'll get a synthetic durable flag for that purpose. This one's getting framed and displayed. :-) I love my wife.

Oh, and I would be most remiss in dismissing the beautiful card my daughter drew for me, all in purple. It was beautiful and sweet, and her name is with [livejournal.com profile] fiannaharpar's on the certificate, making it even more special.
raystrobel47: (Lake not Rosie)
When Pookie first got the short haircut, she and her mom were... outside, I think, and both were wearing bandanas. We *had* to see if she'd pose for us this way, (which, is not of Rosie the Riveter, but in fact Geraldine Doyle) and OMG did this come out great!!

(this came about after finally uploading pics from the camera since December!)

Warming up

May. 8th, 2008 02:51 pm
raystrobel47: (Trumpet)
Ok, so during the school day I wasn't phased by this evening. Now it's two hours, 10 minutes until the recital starts (not even my recital) and I'm getting antsy.

Things I'm grateful for:
-I can pick up [livejournal.com profile] fiannaharpar 10 minutes early today, making arriving at CMU a much less arduous and desperate task.
-My piece kicks off the second half of the evening, again reducing the need to be RIGHT THERE AT THE STROKE OF 5PM. *whew*

Concerns:
-Pookie's behavior during the recital. She hasn't done this type of thing before, she'll be hungry (but she'll get snacks between now and then), and I'm just worried that she'll get over-squirmy and frustrated, and then she'll have to be taken out and they both will miss the performance. I have to remind myself that it's no more than 30 minutes before an intermission, and both she and we will be able to deal with this. Hopefully she'll find the instrument and music cool. :-)
-*headslap* I forgot to reload on business cards. I have two. That should be fine.

I will post a recap either tonight or tomorrow. Here we go, y'all!
raystrobel47: (Driving)
I finally uploaded pictures from August, when [livejournal.com profile] lordandrei, [livejournal.com profile] shimmeringjemmy, [livejournal.com profile] aiden_freeman, and [livejournal.com profile] elocinnuala came for a visit. Please for the clicky go --here--. I am afraid that sideways pictures are still sideways, and I can't fix that. Hmmpf.
raystrobel47: (Lake 'n Dad)
So Pookie-butt helped me put together her new Ikea dresser. It's pink in all of its three-drawer tracked goodness, and damn did she put in a lot of work for it. She followed the directions, got the screws/whatever else from the bag, counted them, and also did much of the screwdriver work. And on several of the bolts, not all of them, but a number of them, she tightened them all the way- I couldn't do any better. From the start to finish she was right there helping and she was really into it. That made me so proud of her and so happy to be there for that.
raystrobel47: (Lake-Me???)
"Fireworks are great!!"

-----after seeing Hampton Township's display, her very first 4th of July fireworks show. Lots of fun, especially with a [livejournal.com profile] baronalejandro around to share it with. :-)

Wave pool

Jun. 15th, 2007 09:43 pm
raystrobel47: (Lake 'n Dad)
Today Pookie and I went to the Boyce Park Wave Pool with three of [livejournal.com profile] fiannaharpar's sisters and Troy, Pook's 5 month old cousin. She loved it. She was visibly shivering nearly two solid hours but wanted to stay in the water, jumping with the waves, and had a blast doing it. She would go out of the pool for two, maybe three minutes at a stretch before wanting to go back in. I got to have lots of fun with her and spend some good time with her younger aunts. Troy? He slept most of the time. Easy. :-)

Unfortunately, I am now sunburned despite putting on sunscreen. I think having a daughter hanging on to you a bunch rubs the stuff off, or something...
raystrobel47: (Lake "So there")
This evening, in a moment when [livejournal.com profile] lstrobel was not acting like an insane monkey on acid, she proclaimed the following while 1) in the bathroom, 2) "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" is playing on the radio, and 3) I am having her stuffed hippo dancing in the doorway to the music:

L- No! It's a sad song!!
Me (as hippo)- But it sounds happy to me...
L- It's a sad song called, "Sad, Jesus, Sad" because Mary forgot to marry him.
Me/hippo- ...*snerk*..Really?? I thought Mary was Jesus' mother. And mothers don't marry their children.
L- But Jesus was all grown up, and Mary forgot!
Me/hippo- *bites lip*

Not gonna be one to get in the way of her theology...
raystrobel47: (Princess)
The pictures of our cutie-p'tootie girl as a ballet fairy can be found here! She loved posing for these, though she wasn't up to having her picture taken once at Tekkoshokon. And I apologize for the sideways shots, I don't know how to rotate them from LJ's uploading.
raystrobel47: (Default)
Things that are making me happy this morning:

-My daughter's fascination and excitement over Mary Poppins. She's watching right now, and got so enthused when Mary Poppins first appeared on screen that she had to proclaim, "DaddyDaddy! It's Mary Poppins!! Can you see??!"

-My wife. She helped make my birthday very special when I wasn't feeling special at all. It's just not cool to turn 36 on a Thursday. But with the cake and celebration on Tuesday, to the yummy dinner on Thursday, and the evening out at Red Robin while looking for a birthday gift at Pittsburgh Mills, I feel like I've gotten to celebrate. Thank you, sweetie!

-My niece, Kelly. She lives in Austin, TX, and is 40. But I got a birthday card from her, which hasn't happened in probably over 20 years, so I (with the gentle*cough!*nudging of my wife) called her up and we chatted for a good hour. We haven't spoken since Thanksgiving 2004. It was really nice. Kelly, fair or not, has always been my favorite of my 4 nieces. She sounds and looks the same as she did when she was 12. She's kind of a hippy, touchy-feely gal, quick with a smile and a kind or empathetic word (or 13), but that's her charm. She's sending all of us t-shirts that she's made and selling in Austin, which will be cool. I'm hoping to keep in touch with her more regularly.

-My brother Dave's condition. I am scared for him, and just want him to be well. But there is hope, which is wonderful for him, his wife, Mom, and the rest of his family.

-NPR. Scott Simon was interviewing Sister Julie, who keeps a blog on being a nun, on Morning Edition. When asked by Scott how often Sister Julie is in prayer or prayerful activities, her response was, "Oh, for about an hour or hour and a half, straight up no ice." Nuns like that are *cool*.

Happy Spring, and have a great weekend, y'all
raystrobel47: (Default)
We day-tripped Buffalo for Ice Dragon. (ok, technically it was only Hamburg, NY) Day-tripped it. We headed up ~7:15 this morning and arrived home at 10:30 tonight. The weather/roads weren't too bad heading up, not like tales we heard about them the night before. And coming back was dreamy since the sun was so nice an melted all the crap off the roads and dried them out, too! The Pookster was sleepy all day, and did fabulously despite it. She *slept* in the truck on the way home, and made nary a peep when I put her to bed. This hasn't happened in.... damn near forever. But I'm not complaining. And it's really nice to know that day-tripping an event like Ice-Dragon is doable, making it possible for all of us to go even if it won't be for as long a time.

It was great seeing so many people! [livejournal.com profile] ogamiakira, [livejournal.com profile] matsujo9 (will I ever see you in Pgh??), [livejournal.com profile] dicea (Next time, more than 35 seconds!), [livejournal.com profile] baronessekat (you too!), and others. The day went well, and I even got to toot the herald trumpets. I miss that.

Tomorrow is sleeping in some and taking my daughter to a birthday party at Gymkana for one of her classmates. Fortunately all the gifts, etc, have been taken care of. It's just a matter of packing her and the stuff in and going. Hope y'all's Sunday is good.
raystrobel47: (Lake "So there")
To my li'l punkin: Happy birthday!! You are 4 years old today, and you act every bit of it. You did magnificently at your birthday party yesterday, being so grown up and sharing your toys with seven or eight other kids over! I'm glad that you progressed beyond your "I wanna be three some more" phase, which lasted up until around December or so. This last year has seemed like the longest so far, but that's probably because you're doing so much. This year holds even more promise, more opportunities, and more growing. You're reading, you're dancing, and who knows what else you'll be doing by the time you turn five. I'm constantly amazed, confused, proud, and excited with all that you do. Love you, sweetie!

-Dad
raystrobel47: (Trumpet)
Must blog.... must share....

So, we as the fam were headed home and were listening to the radio (3WS for Pgh folks). To my enjoyment, Dr. John's "Right Place Wrong Time" came on with some righteous funk intro. Then, to my delight, I discover that I'm not alone in my appreciation, because from the back seat our little girl was proclaiming, in rhythm, phrasing, and spirit, lifted words from the Skatalite's "Simmer Down." Here's how it went:

I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time.....
"Simma down!"
I'd have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line....
"Simma down!"

It. was. great. She wasn't singing it- she was belting it like 'Retha. I think my daughter truly gets it- gets the music, gets the spirit, has the rhythm, has the imagination and creativity to create what she wants with it. Her musician father couldn't be more excited and thrilled. :-)
raystrobel47: (Starfruit)
It's cute. I like it.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, lrstrobel sent to me...
Twelve texas drumming
Eleven transformers playing
Ten backrubs a-singing
Nine autobots laughing
Eight fugues a-conducting
Seven sports a-teaching
Six decepticons a-composing
Five ho-o-o-ouston rockets
Four taiko drums
Three gabriel iglasias
Two houston texans
...and a homestarrunner in a being with my sweetie.
Get your own Twelve Days:


In other news, had yummy dinner at Jimmy Tsang's with my sister/brother-in-law and their friends, who had a 2 1/2-yr old named Taegen. She and Pookie did swimmingly together- dear lord, they were adorable. I swear my daughter ate more tonight than the last day combined. The two girls were getting along so well that when it was time to go, [livejournal.com profile] lstrobel got all teary and said, "I want Taegen to come live with us!"
raystrobel47: (Feh)
Today did not go as originally scheduled. Poor [livejournal.com profile] lstrobel gave her first "...I don't feel good" comment, and hearing as how she sounded like the glazed donut monster from Cosby fame when she was snuggled with us in bed, I didn't blame her. Dude, it was so sad. She couldn't breathe through her nose becuase it was so stuffed. Even mouth breathing, she was wheezing. So, I took the day off.

Now, of all the days coming up, today was the third worst day to have to take off. You see, Monday is District Chorus auditions and I'm taking a student to Latrobe HS to try out, and Tuesday morning is a Thanksgiving Breakfast that my HS choir is performing for. Today I was going to continue solidifying the choir's performance, do one last session with my District auditioner, and, oh yeah, do some needed grading and lesson plan completion. None of that got done. I had to balance the realization of needing to take care of my daughter with the nervous and skittish choir director going, "Ngaaahaahaaang...." I am also inclined to report I now have whatever ikkiness is going around. Whee.

So, what will happen will happen. It will all work out. Die Pookie had fun watching four episodes of Sesame Street, and I was really proud that she announced around 10:30 "It's time for my nap." She needed one, too. Two solid hours.

There were high points of the day, though, most notably marked by my dear sweet wife's proclomation of dinner consisting of pizza and popcorn. That was followed closely by loudly playing ska music on Pandora, with my daughter's help. Pookie asked to play the trumpet (she even got a C in the staff!), played the keyboard, while I was soloing over some mad rude tunez. [livejournal.com profile] shifrin15203, I am aching to play again!

The weekend is here, followed by a short week. The holidays, they's upon us.
raystrobel47: (Lake-Me???)
[livejournal.com profile] lstrobel, in the cart as we were leaving our from our first trip to Trader Joe's:
"Bob - the - Builder! Can we fix it? No we can't!"
...followed by...
"Bob - the - Builder! Can we fix it? Yes we can! [mopey voice]But I don't wan-na fix it![/mopey]"

Later that evening:
"Honey, you're going to have to put the football down to put your tiara back on."

You see, while watching the Steelers lose, I was playing catch with [livejournal.com profile] lstrobel using our mini-football. She was doing a fantastic job catching the ball and throwing it- overhand. She was also trying out the cloak [livejournal.com profile] fiannaharpar was making her for Halloween, to go with her Cinderella dress, and she was wearing the tiara while playing catch with me. Only our kid. :-)
raystrobel47: (Default)
I have to say that quite a bit got done today. Among the list:

-I graded all the pre-activities I'd brought home with me, and trimmed and labeled the folders of my first three classes (all but my choir classes). That will help me organize student work and pull out proof of grade come parent/teacher conference evening next month.

-Got to sing at church today, Jenn, Tim, and myself, on now standards of ours. It was so enjoyable to spend a Sunday morning with bagels and coffee, socializing in our choir director's office, with our daughter there, and rehearsing for about 10 minutes. It made the whole morning.

-I managed to put my car in the shop for a trunk that wouldn't close and a tire that was deflating, bring it back the same day, and have the total less than $30. Oh, if only they were all like that. I was told that my rear tires will need replacing soon, so I think we can budget winter tires to be put on in October or November.

-Since our entire routine is changing as of tomorrow and Jenn will be driving my car more, we cleaned the piles of trash and ...stuff... that's been accumulating for a number of months now. We even vacuumed it out with a mini-vac we have in the garage. It's sooo much better now.

Oh, much is still on the 'to do' list, but overall today has been a nice day. And I can't help but enjoy a day where I get to hear from another room, "I love you daddy! You're cute!" :-)

Kid news

Jun. 11th, 2006 09:30 am
raystrobel47: (Lake 'n me)
For what seems like months, [livejournal.com profile] lstrobel has been wanting to, and pretending to be, Cinderella. I've read her a generic Cinderella book she's had for a few weeks, maybe three or four times.

As I type, she's watching Disney's Cinderella for the very first time with her mother, and I will be joining shortly. The obsession continues... :-)
raystrobel47: (Lake not happy)
Found out today that LJ is blocked at work again. Don't know if that'll last for good now. Last time it was blocked, it became unblocked after a couple of days. I can only hope.

Party at Broom's was fun, and my daughter is a complete and total monkey- er, 3-yr. old. From stuffing an entire hunk of cheese into her mouth, to rolling on the ground and ripping up clumps of grass, throwing it on her plate, and eating it!, to running up and hugging tulips, prithee, she ist 3. And that's a magic number.

Two items

Apr. 18th, 2006 10:09 pm
raystrobel47: (Kanji)
1) According to our daughter, she is Cinderella, Jenn is Belle and I am Jazmine. Hmm, pooky gets to be frilly and dance, my wife reads a lot and I get to wear pants. More insightful than first glance.

2) Kosher Coke rocks my world.

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raystrobel47

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