All my creative energy is going into my kitchen remodel. Well, most of it. Another high percentage of my creative energy is going into designing sets and costumes for the high school production of Grease (Jonathan will be playing the role of Sonny). And did I mention that we've torn up the downstairs bathroom? Probably not, because I'm ...
My Kids
The Biggest Insult
My kids are generally pretty nice to each other. Of course, there are the occasional sibling fights that crop up when someone's in a foul mood or has had a bad day and chooses to take it out on those closest to them. For the most part, they get along great and are friends. The exception being that the older ones would take advantage of the ...
For the love of Belle – Beauty and the Beast in 3D
When my daughter, Amy Kikita was young, she was completely enamored with The Little Mermaid, as probably most 7 year olds were at the time. Ariel was spunky for a princess and went after what she wanted. I think she identified with those qualities. Years later, Disney gave us Beauty and the Beast and when it was available on VHS, we promptly ...
Everything I wished for…
Happy New Year, everyone! I know some of you are wondering what happened with the Dark Christmas Tree. Here's the story: My son, Adam flew in from the Bay Area at the crack of dawn, landing at around 7:30 AM on Christmas eve. Lucy and Jonathan went to pick him up at the airport while Eric and I finished up the last minute touches around ...
Just Jon
I was hoping to have something profound to say about my youngest son, Jonathan turning 16 today. I wanted to compare and contrast the kid he was,to the man he's become.I wanted to write about what a decent person he's grown up to be. I wanted to tell you about the many qualities that he's developed that make him a great guy. ...
The Dark Christmas Tree
It's December the 24th and my Christmas tree is finally up. But there are no ornaments on it. My friends tease me because I don't like to decorate my home for Christmas very early in the month of December. In the Christmases of my youth, we would always wait until Christmas eve to decorate the tree. There's nothing like feeling the ...
The Great Christmas Card Challenge of 2011
I love the tradition of exchanging Christmas cards. I don't know if my parents ever sent out Christmas greetings, but I remember being 18 years old and buying my first pack of Christmas cards. My family had just moved to Orange County from the Los Angeles area where I had left all of my old friends. It was 1973 and I was still regularly ...
Teaching Generosity?
As you know if you've been reading this blog for a while, we have homeschooled our kids. I often say that one of the reasons we have chosen to homeschool is that we're not as concerned about their academics as we are concerned about their character. We have attempted to teach them kindness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and generosity - ...
No “El Tri-co-tri” for you!
My mom calls. "Van a ir al tri-co-tri?" She's asking if the kids are going out and Trick or Treating. El Tri-co-tri. You have to say it phonetically, TREE-COH-TREE. It's what Trick or Treat sounds like with a Cuban accent. The "El" is just to make it grammatically correct. El Tri-co-tri. Noun. (Or verb?) The act of dressing up and begging for ...
The Circle of Life – Lion King 3D and Eternal Disney Uber-geeks
Back in 1994, I took Amy and Adam to the premiere of the Disney film, The Lion King at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. This was obviously before Lucy and Jonathan were born. We all loved the film so much that we couldn't wait to own it when it was released on VHS. (Yes, this is waaay back in the day.) A few years later, when we added ...
