go to the archives
Here you will read about
<< back to home <<

---

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The boys (Galen, Finn and Ale) in matching stripes. This prison has popcorn and movies! :-)
posted by Dorothy 2:07 PM

The boys and Dorothy at Greenlake, February 2. Alejandro, as you can see, is the dangerous biker with an attitude. Galen is on the right, and his buddy Finn is just behind. Blader Dot is just trying to keep up with the speed demons.
:-)

posted by Dorothy 2:11 AM

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Galen just completed his Tie-advance (Darth Vader's ship in Star Wars 4). This was a kit he received for Christmas on the expectation that it would occupy him for a good week or so. The kit is labelled for "14 years and up." Today, the day after xmas, he is done. Next!

posted by Dorothy 6:54 PM

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas from Seattle! It is a dark day, with cold and rain, but we are verry very cozy here in our little home. The kids are playing with all sorts of new legos, and I went for a lovely run before the freezing rain began. We just had lunch of smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese, and later will make a roast chicken that was raised and slaughtered on a farm nearby, along with wild mushroom risotto. Tomorrow we leave for Whidbey Island for a few days away together. Life is good. Love to all!

posted by Dorothy 3:40 PM

Sunday, December 09, 2007
Conversation overheard yesterday afternoon. Galen and Alejandro are at the table, and Alejandro is reading the phone book:

- Galen, is this page 46?
- No. That's page 1,452
- Is this page 46?
- No, that's page 1,450
- Is this page 46...

I do not know if he ever actually got there.

Fun weekend so far. Anders and Anki came over for dinner on Friday night. Javier whipped up a little platter of grilled ribeye, peppers, asparagus, onions etc. with a handy little tortilla patata on the side. We all really had a blast. Favorite mind picture: Anders dancing around with my wireless speakers. Favorite quote, "Now that I think of it, what does it really mean for a parrot to 'practice'?"

Last night was my office holiday party. At the actual moment that the party started, our babysitter called and tearfully informed us that there had been a death in the family. Javier took one for the team, and (rather too quickly, now that I think of it!) volunteered to stay with the kids and send me on alone. He had already called for pizza and opened a beer by the time I got my coat on... :-) Anyway, I went, dutifully fulfilled my duty and was home by 9:30. Javier was shocked to see me, imagining no doubt that the fake-money casino tables and the "all BeeGees all the time" dance floor would draw me in like a moth to flame until dawn. Anyway, we had a lovely date instead, sitting in front of our fireplace (#6 of my top-loved things about this house!), listening to music, enjoying the time...

Today we are contractually obligated to drag out the Christmas stuff. The kids have somehow already unearthed the creepy dancing Santa that plays an eerie computer-toned one-line string of half-finished carols. Yes, that was a gift. But the boys are so excited to embark on building some traditions in our new home. How lovely...
posted by Dorothy 12:11 PM

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Last night Galen and Alejandro disappeared downstairs for a suspiciously long time. Javier and I realized at the same moment that we hadn't heard a sound from them for... well, the requisite number of minutes sufficient to cause immediate alarm in canny parents. I went down to check on them, and discovered...

The Stick Army! The front podium is for Ale, Galen, Mama and Papa, presumably the brigadiers general... By the way, as an honest person I should note that the precious little figures just behind "us" are Sammy and Chuck, aka a wine cork and a champagne cork. Yes, only the very very best for our kids to play with (so proud...).

Galen, lord of all he surveys, arranges his troops

They are happy little troops...

...which bear a suspicious resemblance to each other. We suspect them of being a clone army.

Love to all!

posted by Dorothy 7:53 PM

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Moe is tricked into trying an $8 bottle of wine.
posted by Dorothy 11:17 PM

Javi develops permagrin

posted by Dorothy 11:16 PM

Baby sweeps up after dinner

posted by Dorothy 11:15 PM

Baby Gabrielle elects a new champion, Sir Javi. "Javi" is now her favorite new word.

posted by Dorothy 11:13 PM

Day-after turkey risotto. We made the mistake of trying to cook the rest of the turkey off the bones while drinking copious amounts of wine. We lost the patient...

posted by Dorothy 11:10 PM

hoo boy. We are still in recovery mode from last night's festivities. Not Thanksgiving, but the day after. Who knows what happened -- someone opened a bottle of champagne, then wine after that (repeat), and somehow the Calvados came out. Moe started to rock the casbah with his mix, and somehow we (adults) ended up dancing like wildcats on our living room floor. And the front porch, to the utter delight of our neighbors who might have rather done anything else at all at 1:00am than watch us carry on. But it was fuuuun! Until this morning, when somehow it didn't seem like the most stellar idea. Javi and Moe rescued the women by taking the boys out to the Odyssey Museum and elsewhere, while Erin sacked out with the baby, and I buried my head in the pillows and prayed for absolution from the gods of alcohol. That said, I wouldn't undo it if I had the chance. Life is about living after all, and we spend all our time and energy being good and doing good and living well and clean. With that, and a flourish, the final wine list of our weekend of debauchery:

Friday: Afternoon: Cafe cortado con calvados
Champagne - Diebolt Vallois Brut

Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay 2005

Roussette de Savoie Altesse 2006

ENTIRE BOTTLE OF CALVADOS (which we were, al final, drinking from the bottle...)

Pictures above are from our traditional day-after turkey risotto, various shots of the fams, and finally a couple taken of Moe's nose. :-)

posted by Dorothy 10:54 PM

Friday, November 23, 2007

It's 5:35pm and my headache is gone. It must be time to start drinking again yes? Whoever said that the average american gains 7 lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas never spent a Thanksgiving with this crew. My caloric intake is so skewed toward 11/23 that I better just eat soup between now and ho ho ho...
(moenonymous)

posted by Dorothy 8:35 PM

Here we are with the Doucets at Thanksgiving 07. Turkey was faaahn! Probably had to do with the chorizo and cognac that our Spanish chef stuffed it with. Pureed roots courtesy of the womenfolk. Wine... well. We have been keeping a bit of a list. So far...

Wednesday
LAN Rioja Reserva, 2001
Domaine des Terrisses Gaillac 2004
Maker's Mark in abundance

Thursday
Veuve Cliquot Brut
Laurel Ridge Reserve Pinot Noir 2002
Baron de Ley - Rioja Gran Reserva 1995 (turned out to be corked so it'll head back to la Tabla Espanola tomorrow)
Domaine des Terrisses 2004
Calvados :-)

Friday (so far -- it is 4p)
Cafe cortado con calvados

We are moving more slowly today for obvious reasons, but having a terrific time. The boys are in the magic lego universe, where women mostly cannot follow. So we didn't try, and Erin and I took baby Gabrielle for a long walk through Wallingford, puttered around some shops, drank coffee and generally kept the impact low. The kids came back from the lego store, slapped together a few x and z-wing fighters (some letters, I don't actually recall -- I call them all Y wing, because they obviously reside on that gene) and chased Moe and his junk-store repo lego ship around the house. I love our friends -- which is what the holiday really is all about, no?

posted by Dorothy 7:16 PM