Hot Wheels

L's favorite Christmas gift this year arrived in a small package.

But there was more to it than initially met the eye...

Today we made good on the Christmas promissory note. L and I piled into the minivan and headed to our local bike shop to get L a much needed upgrade. Once we got inside the guy who assisted us took one look at L and groaned.

"She's right between sizes," he warned. She can fit on a 20", but not for long, but she might have trouble with a 24". We looked around a bit, not seeing much in the way of options, then he called us over to one section and showed us a more BMXy bike than I was originally looking for.

"This is a 24", but you'll notice the seat can be lowered a lot further than those cruisers and standard bikes we've been looking at." We plopped L on it. She looked swallowed up, but she would reach the pedal, and (more importantly), her fingers could reach the brakes. A few minutes and several dollars later L was sporting her own hot set of new wheels.

A new bike has to be shared, so we did a few practice runs in the parking lot across the street before venturing out to visit friends in the neighborhood. Things were a little shaky at first, but once she got the hang of using her hands instead of her feet to stop things went pretty smoothly and soon L was zipping up and down the parking lot like she'd been bossing her ride for years.  Inspired, N got out his bike too and the parking lot was ablaze with zig-zagging that occasionally zagged when they should have zigged.

Post pile-up pout.

Soon we were practiced enough for the big time, so off we went to visit some friends a few blocks away to show off our digs.

Among our ports of call, we stopped at the Acuestas.  They have a new puppy, Frankie, which is always more exciting than riding a bike.

 Frankie seemed to take well to N.

Then home again when our legs got tired.

New Still Life

I didn't paint much this last year. In fact last week I wrapped up the only two paintings I worked on all year. I think it was a combination of a really busy year at work that kept me from going to class as often as I wanted, and just a natural downturn in my enthusiasm. I think, having finished some long-lingering work I'll be more motivated to take up some new stuff this spring when classes resume again.

This one is an original for a picture I took of some roses Stacy cut and brought in from the front yard. I liked the texture and the coziness of corner of our newly remodeled kitchen, so I decided to paint it.

The second was a portrait, but I gave it way before I had a chance to get a final picture. I'll have to "borrow" it again and get my final shot.

Kiss and Tell (at least the Camera Does)

Found this when we downloaded Stacy's camera after Christmas.

My first paranoid-Daddy thought:  "Who's she pretending to kiss?!?"

"Live From the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Beautiful Downtown Los Angeles..."

L had a big night last night. Her choir, the South Bay Children's Choir, was invited to perform at the LA County Holiday Celebration, broadcast live on KCET from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center downtown. The LA County Holiday Celebration has been a free three-hour Christmas concert put on for 53 years bringing together countless bands, choirs and dance troupes from every cultural niche and enclave. Parking and admission are free and it is quite a big deal in town. L's choir had been rehearsing and rehearsing for weeks and emotions were high; she was a spastic bundle of nerves and we drove up the 110 to the Music Center.

The SBCC was slated to perform at 3:15pm, so we got to the Dorothy Chandler in good time to make our 2:00pm call. As the fateful hour approached L lost more and more color and it quickly became apparent she was terrified. She and I took a quick walk around the Music Center courtyard while we waited, hoping to burn off some anxious energy, but it didn't help too much. By 2:00 when the directors were waving everyone over she was clinging to her mother insisting she didn't want to do it. Thankfully she was swept up by the choir staff who evidently know how to do these things and once she got away from her family and was in the mass of other over-adrenalized kids she visibly calmed and even seems to be getting excited.

Having an hour to kill before the concert, Stacy, N and I wandered the courtyard among the throng lined up to get it. (We had reserved "parent" seats and were spared dealing with the great unwashed masses.)  The day was just emerging from an overcast cloudy mess and slim glimmers of a nice afternoon were poking their heads out.

Her adoring public.

Soon the doors were opened and we were ushered in.  The place was lit up like the Oscars.  Guys in headsets were running all over the stage; cameras on cranes were everywhere.  It was quite cool.

At 3:00 on the dot the stage director counted us in and we took air, the screens flashing and cameras swirling around for dramatic over-the-crowd shots. Then the stage lights came up on Judy Collins center stage with the Immaculate Heart of Mary Children’s Choir and "Silver Bells." It was a very brief opening act because as soon as they were done the cheesy hosts (Tia Carrere and Kent Faulcon) yucked it up for about 30 seconds while the South Bay Children's Choir filed in and took formation.

L was on the front row and soon the cameras were swooping and the massive digital backdrop was festively flickering to "Joyful, Joyful," "White Christmas," and "Pine-cones and Holly Berries." Mommy and Daddy were sad, slobbery messes every time the cameras would swoop by the choir and L's face would be 100 feet high on the jumbotron. ("That's my baby! On national TV!!!") My hand hurt from Stacy's powerful pianist grip every time L would be on camera.

The way I recon it, she still has 9 minutes of fame left her, as the performance couldn't have topped 5 minutes, but it was about all the concentrated Daddy angst I could handle. Afterwards Stacy navigated the cavernous halls of Dorothy Chandler and found our performing prodigy and brought her back up to our seats. We watched another 45 minutes or so of the show and then slipped out to head back to the South Bay. The stage-struck, deer-in-the-headlights, "don't make me do it" girl of an hour ago was long gone, replaced by a chatterbox who couldn't get the words out fast enough. The car fairly bounced down the 110 with L and N's personal rendition of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" on auto-repeat for the 45 minute drive.

Merry Christmas!

Bearing the Consequences

We are going though the long arduous process of reducing and cleaning out, getting 4 people and all their junk to fit into a Southern California bungalow. It's been a painful retooling of all our concepts of sentimentality — what is worth clutching and what can be let go. Stacy and I have taken the brunt of the burden, but even the kids have been called on to re-evaluate favorite toys and books and trinkets. They've surprised me with the things they attach value to and have trouble giving up, and the things they quickly offer up to Goodwill that make Mommy and Daddy cringe. But all in all they've been surprisingly willing to pitch in and make the sacrifices.

As she was going through L's room they had to address the pile of stuffed animals that proliferates in that room. (If real endangered animals reproduced at the rates the pandas and lions and dinosaurs do in L's bedroom, we'd really have no extinction worries.) L has a set of shelves that have become the defacto animal shelter and it seemed reasonable to all parties that we should keep only the animals that could fit on those shelves.

The Perkins Family Menagerie

Sorting through the pile Stacy offered up a particularly large teddy bear that would have consumed a lot of shelf space and precluded a lot of the others. L's face momentarily fell, but after a moment of thought she steeled herself and agreed to the parting. The bear was packed up and delivered to its future home with no further discussion.

L, preparing to part with Mommy Bear.  Oh, if we only knew...

A day or so later Stacy walked by L's room and found her gazing at the shelf of the stuffed survivors with a solemn expression.  "What's wrong, L?" asked Mommy.

"I'm just sad," she said.

"Why?"

"Well, when we gave away the Mommy Bear, it left all the little bears orphans. We gave away the Daddy Bear last time."  Stacy was a guilt-ridden sobby mess when she told me the story later.

Mommy?...   Daddy?...

Sheol

I heard the first news about today's events driving into work.  And then more when I had to leave one building to go to a meeting in another midday.  And then the deluge on the drive home and I had to turn off the radio.

My kids can't understand why I keep hugging them and crying.  I can't stop crying.

Food for Body and Soul

Our church, Grace United Reformed Church, had our annual Christmas party last night. It was, as usual, a great time of fellowship with family and friends — and the fantastic food didn't hurt either. After dinner we were treated to a showcase of talent as the kids provided the evening's general entertainment. Pianists, violinist and flutists. Oh my!

A Congregation of Kids

Miss Nancy knows how to get a party swinging.

We are expanding our church facility, and last night we got to use the new space for the first time.  It is still a work in progress - no furniture, no carpets.  But hey!  Spill all you want, kids!

Cole was the ring bearer in our wedding.
He's grown a bit since then.

The "Sounds of Grace" Quartet

The kids' choir.

Somehow I don't expect J's this mellow when playing at home.

"Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"
L left them wanting more

"Up on the Housetop" played down on the piano.

We're so grateful for our church family.

Merry Christmas, Grace URC!