Halloween Party

If Carey's second career as an insurance litigation manager doesn't pan out, she can always turn to party planning. Chez Merrill hosted a very well-received Halloween 2010 Bash yesterday. You know it's a good party when it lasts two hours longer than it's supposed to! 28 people total, exactly half of them under the age of 6.

Webbing the house in preparation. Yes, that's Spider-Man.

Requisite cookie decorating.

Duncan McVety's very red lips.

Charlotte Hayden in her lemur costume.

Power Ranger Lincoln poses for Charlotte.

The grub: Mac & Cheese, chili, cornbread.

Slide train!

Shaw McVety, just over one year old.

Duncan McVety, cyclops.

Emma Hayden tries to eat a donut with no hands.

Duncan McVety does the same.

Greta Merrill shows 'em how it's done!

Jeremy Kamber's vampire teeth.

Early Halloween

When Halloween falls on a Sunday, it's more than a one-day holiday around here. Today both kids had parties and parades at school. Tomorrow Carey is throwing a house party for 27 people (kids and adults) and Sunday, well, Sunday we actually trick-or-treat. Here are the best pictures Carey took today as she remembered how glorious life was before she went back to work.

Greta with classmates Sumner and Jamie.

Our Angel.

Emma Bailey the butterfly.

Gracie the cat.

Astronaut Max.

Dakota the cat.

Mrs. Mendez, Jets fan.

Principal Allen, with omnipresent megaphone.

Duncan, aka Luigi McVety.

Trick or treat!

Crashing Lincoln's party. He's a scuba diver, but wouldn't wear his goggles or oxygen tank. Wore the shark hat though.

Do-Gooder

Greta is almost creepily proud of not getting in trouble at school. Each kid starts the day on green on the classroom chart. They move to yellow as a warning and red when they have repeatedly done something wrong (talked without raising their hands, not following class rules, etc). Greta has never been on yellow and came home today with the bracelet below around her ankle. The principal visited their class today and apparently most of the class -- except Greta and a boy named Owen -- talked while Dr. Allen was talking. After the principal left, Mrs. Mendez gave Greta and Owen the bracelets. Carey and I were always good students, but did we respect authority that much? I can't remember.

Weekend update

We enjoyed a Saturday sans kids at Ithaca's All-Theatre Reunion. The theatre department invited back anyone who graduated from the program or is currently in it, so it was an interesting mix of the very young (Class of 2014, are you kidding me?) and the very old (Class of 1942). Carey reconnected with half a dozen friends who joined her to celebrate the re-dedication of the campus building where they took all their drama and acting classes. Didn't get any photos of the kids, who stayed in Syracuse with Grandma and the cousins. The girls went shopping (new sneakers and a winter coat for Greta) while the boys stayed home and played Wii. Lincoln waved his hand around on the car ride home Sunday and when asked what he was doing he said, "Playing Wii." This is the best shot of Carey and her fellow theater grads with Cayuga Lake in the background.

"You look nice"

In the crucible of daily parenting it's not always easy to notice your kids growing up before your eyes. We get so caught up in the little things ("Do Lincoln's glands look swollen?" "How did Greta get that scratch on her cheek?") that moments of maturity sometimes pass us by.

Not this morning.

7:45, Greta is still bleary-eyed as she makes her way to the bathroom. Pulls down her pajamas and sits on the toilet. Waits about 5 seconds and then mid-stream looks up, straight into my eyes, and says, "You look nice."

I'm wearing dark jeans and a navy blue cotton pullover with a zippered collar.

"Thank you, big kid," I say.

(We're off to Carey's college reunion in Ithaca this weekend, so no posts until Sunday night or Monday.)

Our little storyteller

Unprompted, Greta asked Carey for paper, a pencil and crayons a few days ago. She said she wanted to write a "book." This is her story, which Mrs. Mendez told us at last night's parent-teacher conference she will soon be reading in front of the class. (Click the image to make each page bigger.)

Parent Teacher Conference

We had our first with Greta's teacher Mrs. Mendez tonight. She said Greta is a joy to teach and always respectful. With 18 kids in class, she never has to worry about Greta, who is getting tired of putting her head down when the lights are dimmed for bad behavior. Literally, tired. She told me the other day that it never lasts long enough to take a nap.

As far as the kindergarten benchmarks, she's hitting them. Counting to 30, writing her letters, listens without interrupting, completes work in a timely way, fine motor skills, saying the alphabet, printing her name, yada yada yada. We left convinced our child is well on her way to a Rhodes Scholarship, or maybe a Watson Fellowship.

Halloween face paint

We stopped at Greta's old pre-school/Carey's church on Saturday after Emma's birthday party. They were selling pumpkins and had a woman painting faces for a donation. Carey happily paid $4 for these adorable feline faces. (Note: Click the X in the upper right of the annoying Super Poke ad to hide it.)

Be still my heart!

I wasn't there to witness it, but Carey tells me Lincoln is a natural dribbler of the soccer ball. There was a size 4 ball at Emma Hayden's 6th birthday party yesterday and Lincoln ran around the park like it was on a string tied to his feet. I mean, just look at the photos! Eyes up, scanning the field for defenders, balance on either foot... I  run out of superlatives. I'm sure he's already old enough to be in some sort of Junior Junior League, but we'll probably wait until next summer. I don't want to push too hard, like Earl Woods, you know?

Beach combing

First thing we did after arriving in Portsmouth (well, after lunch) was head to the beach. Greta picked a few dozen seashell bits out of the sand while Lincoln drew lines in the dirt.

Crazy Hair Day

Not sure why exactly -- just to keep kindergarten fun? -- our PTA declared today Marshall Crazy Hair Day and encouraged kids to "wear your hair in the craziest hairstyle you can create." Greta and her mother opted for 5 pony tails and some hairspray glitter.

Applecrest Harvest Festival

Trying a new slideshow option -- smilebox.com -- looks like it's mostly a pay-to-play app, but they do offer a freebie that forces you to display it with ads. Have patience while it loads. If all the images don't display before the first page turn, use the arrows to go backwards page-by-page. Enjoy.

Another photo album by Smilebox

This one goes to 11...

One decade and one year ago today, we stood in an old wooden church in Ithaca, N.Y., and recited these words to each other:

I will make my home in your heart from this day forward.
Carey, you are my closest friend.
I ask for nothing more from life than that I may live mine with you.
I promise to stand by your side forever -- through laughter and tears, when weak or strong.
I pledge to you my trust, my faith, my loyalty and my never-ending love.
You are my confidant, my soulmate, the one I adore.
Publicly and without hesitation, I commit myself to you.

As a writer who never stops rewriting, I'd like to change that last phrase, which now sounds a little stilted. How about:

In front of our family and friends, I commit myself to you.

Our visit with some of our best friends concludes today with an afternoon of picking apples. The sun looks like it's going to cooperate and I hope to get some amazing photos of my beautiful family. I'm a very, very lucky man.

Happy almost anniversary

We're celebrating 11 years of married bliss with some of our best friends, Aaron & Amy Reid in Portsmouth, N.H. Frolicked on the beach this afternoon and plan to pick apples tomorrow. Only took 124 photos today. Hope to double that tomorrow.

Like father, like son

My Charlotte

Charlotte, Charlotte

I like your dress

Charlotte, Charlotte

I like how you play with me

Charlotte, Charlotte

I call Mr. Steve Mr. Applegrin

Charlotte, Charlotte

Tinky, tinky, tinky, tinky, tink

Lincoln is about as infatuated as one can be at 3-years-old with his friend Charlotte Hayden. We reviewed yesterday's photos at breakfast this morning and he made up that poem aloud. Mr. Steve is Charlotte's father. Mr. Applegrin is a twist on Greta's Sunday School teacher, Mr. Applegrand. Tinky is just a little jabberwocky.