a pocket full of rye

postcards via email

2009-10-22T00:12:00.026-04:00

Dave is at a week long course in Cape Cod. Each day he as emailed me a beautiful photo of his surroundings with a little note: "Miss you", "Wish you were here" - you know that sort of postcard talk.

Today I replied back with some photos of my own:

"MISS YOU!!!"

"WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!"

bundle...

2009-10-15T14:58:00.000-04:00

...of joy

Malcolm's (latest) Drum Sets

2009-10-12T21:55:00.005-04:00

9/5/09

9/24/09

10/7/09

Brothers and Cousins

2009-09-26T15:37:00.005-04:00

gone fishin'

2009-09-05T13:42:00.004-04:00

Three hours, three fish. Cumulative length: 14". The largest made it home with us since he swallowed the hook. If you consider the $6o worth of new fishing gear, that's $10 an inch for dinner tonight. Can you say "gourmet"?

sweet feet

2009-08-22T07:18:00.003-04:00

It is such a mom thing, but I love these feet.

happy birthday!

2009-08-06T10:40:00.030-04:00

It took an act of God to get our blog up and running again. Harrison Starr Smith was born on Sunday, August 2nd to two proud parents and one big brother. Here's some shots of the little guy. The picture of Malcolm and Dave is a late night rendition of "Happy Birthday" for pillow drums and ukulele.

The girl in our attic

2008-07-01T13:08:00.005-04:00

We enjoyed a visit from Sarah's sister, Hillary, for a couple of weeks while she attended a chamber music camp at CIM (Cleveland Institute of Music). Here's some shots of our adventures:

We have a living room again!

2008-07-01T12:59:00.003-04:00

Another coat of stain, some polyurethane, new shoe moulding, paint, and the furniture could come back in. It only took nine months...

Dave has the week off so...

2008-02-28T13:57:00.008-05:00

We left this,

and this,

for this,

and this,

and this.

Thanks to the Sunshine State.

BTW, the floors are NOT finished. They are close, not as close as we would like them to be, but they are progressing. If Dave wishes, I'll let him be the one to write more on the subject. Right now it is just nice to be far removed from the whole thing.

Thanks Ammie and Jonathan for letting us stay at your place while our house was filled with sawdust and fumes. We would have been out on the snowy curb without you.

It feels really good to be getting some vitamin D. We have a day and a half left to soak it up.
See more notes on Florida here.

A Valentine's Dinner

2008-02-14T19:01:00.002-05:00

butternut squash soup
biscuits
salad
apple juice
chocolate covered strawberries

by candle light, of course

Welcome Home

2008-02-13T10:38:00.004-05:00

It was a full day of airports and airplanes yesterday. 10am-12:30am - Salt Lake City - Las Vegas - Baltimore (we couldn't land in Cleveland due to ice rain) - Cleveland at last. I am just so grateful I did not have to figure out how to spend the night at the airport with a 19mo. old or get to and from a hotel, AND that Dave was there waiting for us when we were coming down the escalator - with food AND chocolate chip cookies. Dave's smile was a sight for sore eyes.

So anyway, we are back. Dave and friends got some good sanding done while we were gone. It tells you a little of the morning we are having to say that Malcolm got two chocolate chip cookies for breakfast (along with some strong food). While Malcolm was happily eating his cookies I had some time to lay down some plastic. I - tell - you - what - when these floors are done, we are going to have a PARTY. But for now we are going to do with out furniture on the main floor. Dave has a week off coming up in a few weeks. Maybe we'll get the floors finished then, in the few days we will have before we fly to a sunny place.

BIG shoes for a BIG boy

2008-02-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Malcolm and I made a stop at my Aunt Paula's house to check out her pots, the night before she would set up for this Art & Gift Show. As I was oooh and ahhhing over all of her amazing pots, bowls, vases, jars, and tiles, I heard some "clomp, clomping". We turned around to find that Malcolm had slipped on Paula's shoes to take them for a walk. As you can see, he was very happy with himself.

I'm finding myself with a whole list of things to blog about while I'm here. If you haven't found it yet, check out my other blog, little starr, a place where I chronicle the creative ventures of myself, my family, and my friends.

the cupcakes

2008-02-04T19:10:00.000-05:00

Here are the cupcakes I made the other night for a Young Woman activity. Yum. You should all know about Lars Own Imported Swedish Pearl Sugar, look in the sugar section. It was a step up from sprinkles - if there can be such a thing, sprinkles are pretty great.

Tomorrow morning Malcolm and I fly to Utah for a visit to family. Packing looms.

2008-01-29T14:57:00.000-05:00

I'm back from a little break. Breaks have seemed to happen often around here. Please excuse me for taking them unannounced. Sometimes I need to do a little regrouping before I can do any outputting. Dave's is the best at "regrouping" in our home and I am learning a thing or two from him. He can't fix dinner if there are dishes on the counter and in the sink. He always takes th 5 or 10 minutes it takes to regroup before making another creation (mess). Me? Well, if it has got to go in the oven NOW, I'll just scootch the mess over and pile higher until I have a portion of workspace as I continue to add to the mountain. This is just one example that can be applied to so much of the business of the day. It is so much easier, and dare I say funner, to make a creation=mess rather than clean one up. In order to create order you must create some amount of disorder. That's entropy for you. That's just the way of things. That said, I think it's a worthy goal to strive for a "regrouping" habit, and so I will continue to try. Funny though, because as I type, I see dishes from lunch we ate and the cupcakes I made. All this to say that I'm back at the blog.

Here's a few highlights since I last posted.
* I gave Malcolm (18 mo.) his first haircut - I should really say trim. He doesn't have much hair to start with, it's just over his ears that hair shoots out a little faster than the rest. While he was in the bathtub he got a little snippy snip and that was that. Nothing picture worthy, it all happened so fast. I did think to save it in a little bag. A small token of my baby turning into a boy.

*My sister Amy came for a quick visit from Boston. We had a really good time. Malcolm was enchanted by his Aunt Amy.

*Malcolm was earning his keep. Actually, with his snow boots on he hardly moved from where he was planted.

our mid morning walk

2008-01-09T13:31:00.000-05:00

buckeyes

2008-01-08T12:49:00.000-05:00

I will be the 1st to admit. Sometimes I get a little excited. Which sometimes leads to getting ahead of myself. And then I crash - most often on the couch. Yesterday for example, I was off to such a kick'n start. You know, you heard me brag all about it. Well as it turns out, Malcolm woke early from his nap - cranked. We got home late from all the grocery shopping (Costco AND Dave's Market - I hadn't been shopping for awhile). It was time to eat and I was tired hungry. Luckily the pork was cooked, but it did NOT turn out like I was hoping. (Actually, I should be the one asking you for your BBQ recipe Jen.) We ate it, put Malcolm to bed, and started making buckeyes with the game in the background (Dave brought down our little TV and put it in the kitchen). That's when it hit me - complete exhaustion. I was able to make it as far as rolling out the peanut butter candy and dipping a few, but then Dave had to completely take over the rest of the buckeye dipping. That's when I crashed on the couch. Eventually I made it to my bed and Dave cleaned up the kitchen. This morning I found he left me this.

Good idea, Dave.
Oh, and they lost, so much for sending them *luck*.

*NOTE TO SELF* Buckeyes alone do not make a good lunch.

GO BUCKEYES!

2008-01-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

(I really shouldn't be the one writing this post, since my knowledge on the subject is limited.) But, it seems that since we moved to Cleveland, OH all the teams seem to have made it to some sort of playoff - The Cavaliers, The Indians, and now Ohio State (the Buckeyes). Not bad right? Anyway, until last night when Dave filled me in, I had no idea that tonight there would be a big Ohio State playoff game. Oops. Well, what can I say, I'm thinking of other things. We decided we would try making BUCKEYES to for the BIG GAME (that I had no idea was happening) tonight. If BUCKEYES are new to you too, they are yummy peanut butter yum-ball dipped in melted chocolate only part way so it looks like an eye of a buck, or the nut - you decide. You then pop them in your mouth and enjoy. Sounds appetizing? Well we're going to give it a try, for *luck*.

Malcolm and I are headed out for *Monday grocery shopping*. I have the meals planed for the week. I have a list. Pork is in the crock-pot. The NEW YEAR is off to a good start.

cookies delivered

2008-01-03T14:02:00.001-05:00

NICE!

nice

2008-01-03T13:26:00.000-05:00

Now when Malcolm sees, or hears, or does something that he likes, he responds with "nice!". It cracks me up every time so I thought I'd share.

Snow Day

2008-01-02T14:15:00.000-05:00

We were going to try for a snowman today but the snow was much too dry so we made a snow mountain instead. We were pretty pleased with our efforts.

Boy

2008-01-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

Malcolm has started to refer to himself as "Boy".

For example:
"Mamma juice, Boy juice" - Mom's juice, my juice.
"Boy broom" - my broom.
"Boy cookie" - my cookie.

Cookies for our neighbors.

2008-01-02T13:34:00.000-05:00

We thought it would be nice to take cookie plates to our neighbors for Christmas. Christmas came faster than the cookies, so we figured it's fine if we take them out a few days after Christmas. No pressure.
I made the meltaways (the pink cookies) on Christmas night, made the dough for the gingerbread the next night, bought the cookie cutters and rolled them out the following night, and the next day (before and during Boy's nap time) I iced the gingerbread people and meltaways. While waiting to make cornflake marshmallow wreaths with Dave (it wouldn't be "Christmas" for Dave without them), many meltaways (the pink cookies) melted into my mouth and gingerbread families met their fateful end in my belly. Three days later the wreath treats came to be. We plated the sweets - but it was late, bedtime, so no neighbor delivery. We filled our cooler with the cookie plates. The next day, I was sick, Malcolm was sick, no delivery. The following day, still feeling groggy, big snow storm, no delivery. Today, the sun is out, we are feeling MUCH better, they just might get delivered tonight! "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, glad we're neighbors, hope you don't mind old cookies."

By the way, the meltaways and gingerbread cookies are my aunt Merja's recipe. They are my favorite. It wouldn't be "Christmas" for me without them. Since we were away from the fam this year - I made them myself for the 1st time. Some tastes are celebrations in and of themselves.

cookies

2007-12-29T17:40:00.000-05:00

2007-12-26T11:49:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas.

2007-12-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

Why, oh why is it that I always seem to make WAAAYYY more oatmeal than I need? Don't tell me to use the instant packets - I can't stand the stuff. Does anyone else have this problem?

pengle.esty.com

2007-12-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

New pretties in Paula's shop.

Sleepy Talk

2007-12-05T14:04:00.001-05:00

So Malcolm has been waking up in the night with "growing pains". He wakes me from a delicious sleep and I have to get out of my warm bed get him situated with blankets and a little rock-a-bye and then he is back in bed. Well last night it was totally worth the annoyance of being woken up because when I crawled back in bed Dave says to me in a sleepy whisper "The respiratory kid has a blocked nerve." I had a good laugh to myself. All Dave could respond with was "shhh". I love it when he talks in his sleep. It cracks me up!

Okay, so here's another one. We have been getting things furnished as of late. We picked out the wildest rug on the planet - full of life and rich colors: orange, greens, blues, yellow, and a deep purple. We also warmed up our windows with some orange wool blanket curtains. After we hung up the curtains, Dave zonked out on the couch - all the work and Thanksgiving festivities catching up to him. I let him sleep there for a bit while I straightened things up. When I kissed him on the cheek to gently wake him up he said "It's getting orange in here." For anyone who knows me and knows Dave, this is very funny.
I love hearing sleepy talk, so if any comes to mind, do share.

also, a Happy Birthday to Jen

2007-11-28T17:23:00.000-05:00

Jen's Birthday was on Thanksgiving, so on Saturday (after we had eaten all the pie) we had a belated party.

I must say, this cake was the prettiest thing I have ever made - and possibly the tastiest too. After everyone was served, the top slid off and fell top side down on the table. It was a good thing the table cloth was chocolate brown. I just scooped it up and put it back in it's place. The great fall did not stop us from devouring the remains.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

So I know, many of you have moved on to Christmas right now, but here is a little taste of our Thanksgiving. It was DELICIOUS!

This food makes me so happy...
And so do the leftovers.

We also had pie of course, yummy, yummy pie - apple and pumpkin AND we had Dave's specialty - creme brulee. YUM. When I eat Thanksgiving food, I can hardly hold a conversation past "ummm, wow, this is amazing, this is happiness, I love this food, I'm in heave, yum, ohhh, wow".
We were lucky to have visitors - Jen & Cash from Milwaukee and Jenilee, Seth & Savannah from Valhalla. It was loads of fun to reconnect with these med-school buds.
With three women in the kitchen and two men to turn the turkey our feast came together in the most amazing way. Jenilee made - yum - her homemade rolls and Jen diced the carrots and celery (for the stuffing) to perfection.

Now really, have you ever seen something cut so beautifully? I thought they warranted a picture and praise here.

Cash and Savannah were some of Malcolm's first friends. It was supper sweet to see them "play". The kids had their own kid's table, but we soon found that Malcolm was the only one who loves to eat enough to sit and feast (he must get this from his mom). Cash and Savannah took a few bites and were off.

back from a break

2007-11-19T11:56:00.000-05:00

So how did you like my unannounced blogging break? Well, I'm back. Malcolm and I took a trip to Utah to visit family. Dave stayed, and when he wasn't at the hospital, he was sanding our floors (bless his heart).

We hoped they could be refinished in the time we were away, but alas, these things seem to take longer than our idea of them. So, with friends coming to stay for Thanksgiving, we rolled out some plastic, taped it down, and called it good enough for now. We moved the furniture back in and I can start to imagine Thanksgiving here (it was hard to think about when the oven wasn't even hooked up).

Taking this picture I was thinking "Thanksgiving = less than a week? HA!"
Well my list of things to do seems to be growing longer by the second. But I don't want to leave until I give everyone who reads this little blog a heads up about my Aunt Paula's new Pengle Pots and Such etsy shop.

She is the artist behind these beautiful pots. If your lucky, you will be able to make them apart of your holiday gifting (or receiving).

This beautiful set of bowls has already been snatched up. So check it out - pengle.etsy.com. I have been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of Paula's beautiful pottery on more than one occasion. My bowls, my scrubby pot, my vases, my square dish - I cherish them all.

2007-11-02T10:57:00.000-04:00

Pulling out of the drive way, I saw the mailman and gave a friendly wave. I promptly ran into the fire hydrant and punctured my rear tire. OUCH! So today Malcolm and I are on a quest to get that fixed. Wish us luck.

halloween 2

2007-10-31T21:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween to all, and a Happy Halloween it was!

We had pizza, hummus, and donuts at the girlfriend's house. Good times! Dave took Malcolm out trick-or-treating to a few neighbors. I put on some haunting Bach, lit candles, and dispersed some treats. When Malcolm came home he seemed a little stunned, like "We have never done this before, isn't it bath time?". It was nice outside so the three of us sat on the porch steps to continue our duty of passing out the goods. That's when Malcolm really go into it. He busied himself by putting all the treats from the bowl into his pumpkin bucket and then back again. When the t-o-t'ers would come by he would put a candy in their bags/buckets/pillowcases. When he would see them coming he would say "boo". We ended up running out of candy and giving away most of his (better that way, I'm trying to not get a sugar head). By the end of the night he was giving kids high fives. He thought it was great. We came inside, the lights were still low and we took the Bach off repeat and let the rest of the CD play through. Malcolm was feeling pretty silly by then. We were all on the floor playing "chase the dog" and singing "one little, two little, three little pumpkins". It doesn't get better than that. Bath, bed, our little dog was pooped!

Leave it to me to wait until Halloween day to decorate for Halloween. So it won't last long, but it's cool that it even happened. I must say I was inspired by this. I gathered some sticks and dried out black eyed susans and did some dead flower arranging. I pulled together candles from around the house and the most haunting of books from our shelf: Bram Stoker's DRACULA, GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES (these are chilling accounts, really), and Roy Porter's BLOOD & GUTS.

With the lights out it feels like someone is looming over the girl in the painting.

The mantel even got some attention. Spooky!

halloween 1

2007-10-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the Halloween party at the church.
Malcolm was a little dog. I was a big dog.
He thought it was funny that we both got doggie noses, thanks to my liquid eye liner.

Malcolm really went at it with the markers. I love the concentration in his face. He loves to draw. He has been mastering his circles this week. Some times he calls them "buntins", pumpkins. Oh, and they had donuts and a witches broom (he loves brooms) so he was really happy.

Dave was over night at the hospital so we stopped by to spread some of the Halloween cheer and candy. This is a good shot of the waggly tail.

Happy Sweetest Day!

2007-10-22T13:32:00.000-04:00

On our drive to the pumpkin patch we were so confused by signs announcing "Sweetest Day baskets for sale!" or "Sweetest Day roses!" in parking lots. Thanks Wikipedia for setting us straight. I did make chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so I guess we celebrated in our own little way. Next year we will be better prepared. Who knew this region has it's own holiday for sweets and all our sweeties? Not a bad idea. I love sweets and I love my sweeties, but let's not get out of hand. I do not want a basket.

Sweetest Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sweetest Day is an observance celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast United States on the third Saturday in October[1]. It is described by Retail Confectioners International, as "much more important for candymakers in some regions than in others (Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo being the biggest Sweetest Day cities)" and an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed."[2] Sweetest Day has also been referred to as a "concocted promotion"[3] created by the candy industry solely to increase sales of candy.

PUMPKIN time

2007-10-22T08:34:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went to Patterson Fruit Farm. It was a lovely day and Malcolm was in heaven. He has been quite fond of pumpkins ever since I picked up a plastic pumpkin bucket for him last week. There were pumpkins everywhere, he was delighted.

We picked out a few to take home and he chanted "buntin! buntin!" all the way home.
We also had donuts.

It was a good day.

2007-10-18T20:48:00.000-04:00

This morning I was getting Malcolm situated in his highchair and I asked him "would you like an egg?"
He looked at me and said "no-nut".
Donut.
Sorry Malcolm, no donuts this morning.

The day the wall came down

2007-10-13T22:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the new view from the dining room looking into the kitchen. Things feel more open already--now we just need a beam, a finished floor, a new peninsula, a finished ceiling, some drywall, some trim, some tile, some paint...

a walk

2007-10-08T23:25:00.000-04:00

The stroller stayed home.
We didn't go as far,

but we took in so much more.

finger painting...

2007-10-08T23:18:00.000-04:00

arm painting
shirt painting
mom painting
head painting...

bath.

Dave's week off

2007-10-08T23:11:00.000-04:00

was a productive one.

Malcolm helped whenever he could.

September

2007-10-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

September was the month of visitors.

The Sallay's came from Pittsburgh. We took a tour of the A Christmas Story house and went out for some Hungarian food. Yum, Yum Balaton. Thanks for showing us the cool things in our town David Sallay.

Annie and company made a special stop to see us on their move from South Carolina to Utah. It was wonderful. Since it was getting close to her birthday, I made an apple pie. YUM. Our first pie in this house. Why aren't we neighbors Annie? We could have pie all the time.

The Sorensen's came out from Utah. They stayed with the Palfreyman's and we all got together for pizza and fondue among other things. So after more than 12 years of friendship, Natalie and I realized that before our families moved to SoJo we lived about a block away from each other and even went to the same elementary school for kindergarten.
What a great time to reconnect. Anybody else want to come visit? Cleveland is where it's at!

the WOBBLER in action

2007-09-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

When Malcolm sees a fly he says "shoo, shoo" which you can see at the beginning of this clip. He also says words like "hop-ital" and "pretty" and "knee". What fun.

the night shift

2007-09-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

Dave has just started the night shift at the hospital. To anyone who has worked nights, do you have any advice for our resident?

changes

2007-09-05T15:36:00.000-04:00

How many clothes will you go through today? It all started with Malcolm feeding himself mush this morning *change*, followed by the zoo *change*, and after a chocolate chip cookie/before the nap *change*. It usually isn't this bad. I guess the laundry can't wait till Friday, the little one is starting to run out of options.

I love stripy little boy's clothes.

2007-08-23T17:38:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, SOMETIMES ... doing the dishes is interesting.

2007-08-22T15:07:00.000-04:00

One night last week Dave surprised us by getting home at 4:00PM! Apparently things were slow enough at the hospital that day that one resident got to go home early. It all came down to a game of ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS. Dave won after 10 tie games! That is pretty intense. It was a happy evening for our family.

On post-call Friday we picked Dave up from the hospital and went to the zoo. Malcolm loves it there. He says "zoo", and "eff-eff" for elephant, and "lola" for koala.

If koalas could read, they might look something like this up in their trees.

On Saturday we enjoyed the FEAST in Little Italy. THE BEST sausage and pizza! This Weekend is the Greek Festival, we can't wait.

Malcolm LOVES to draw. He says "daw-daw". When ever he sees a crayon, pencil, pen, paper, - "daw-daw". He loves his notebook. It's an artist's notebook I had and it is perfect for him. The pages are sturdy enough for his intense page turning and big enough for his grand strokes. It's great because day after day he uses it, layering his art work and there is no need for me to keep finding paper for him. He likes it when I join in too, writing his name and drawing faces, birds, trees, dump trucks, rocket ships, dogs, and yes, koalas.

after the rain

2007-08-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

Mom, you asked for a picture. This one is pretty sweet. I don't seem to have my writing muse with me today so that will be all for now.

swing

2007-08-02T15:23:00.000-04:00

We went out after breakfast to the swings before it got too hot. It's so nice to see you smile boy.

Malcolm with crayons

2007-08-01T22:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Grandpa-DAD!

the sky is falling...

2007-07-30T13:31:00.000-04:00

Dave had Saturday off so he tackled the ceiling. There had been a plastic grate drop ceiling covering a plaster ceiling with holes and pipes exposed. So we're taking it back, all the way back. And here we are...

Walking in the kitchen felt like the after math of an earth quake. Dave filled eleven boxes full of ceiling rubble. What a mess. It will be nice, someday, soon, I hope. This was just the next step I guess.

Dave is back on call at the hospital today. I'm wiping things down.

Here are some cool treasures Dave found in the ceiling.

This Little People toy is wood! How old do you think that is? I wonder who played with it. Did they miss it when it disappeared? What a fun find, everything is so plastic these days. I am going to try to find a way to incorporate it into Malcolm's room.

This is a very old sandwich wrapper tangled in a wad of cement. It reads:
"BAKED BY ELECTRIC HEAT
THE FIRST LARGE BAKERY TO BE SO EQUIPED
WHOLESOME
SANITARY
CLEAN"
hmmm...

puddles

2007-07-26T20:56:00.000-04:00

Who ya gonna call?

2007-07-21T23:10:00.000-04:00

So today we had some unexpected visitors.
Two cop cars pulled up. An officer came to our door. I answered, "Hello?"
- "Yes madam, we got a 9-1-1 call from this address. Is everything okay?"
- "Oh really?, oh my gosh, that was my baby who must of dialed, we're fine, I'm sorry, Malcolm you dialed 9-1-1?, yes everything is okay, it was my one year old, we were letting him play with the phone, I had no idea!, how did you do that Malcolm?"
The second officer joined us at the door. Luckily they were in good spirits. Maybe they were just charmed by the innocence of Malcolm.
- "Thank you for checking on us."
- "No problem. Have a good day."
Malcolm, I guess you don't get to play with the phone any more.

Happy Birthday Dave!

2007-07-20T08:29:00.002-04:00

M's wooden spoon

2007-07-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

Malcolm has a new favorite toy. It's a "bpoo", wooden spoon. He really enjoys the way it allows him to reach beyond himself. Spoon in hand and he is happy. He is even happier when he chases his ball with it. It's a fascination with ball and stick. I am beginning to understand the origins of baseball, tennis, golf, hockey...

more pictures from Malcolm's birthday

2007-07-16T15:03:00.000-04:00

Our friend Sarah came for birthday cake; she brought her camera and took these amazing photos. I love having talented friends. Enjoy the blue eyed wonder. Thanks Sarah.

1st Day

2007-07-16T14:45:00.000-04:00

July 1st was not only Malcolm's 1st birthday, it was also Dave's 1st day of residency. Here he is just before heading off to his first day of work.

Doesn't this picture remind you of your classic 1st day of school picture - all bright and excited, not knowing what's in store?
Well, we are starting the 3rd week of it all and as Dave says, "I'm hanging in there." The 80 hour work week sure is something! And to think that it is so much better than it used to be. Dave is tired, but we are adjusting. Last night we all went to bed early. Dave got 8 hours of sleep! That is happy. I hope it serves him well this week. The thing about starting out at a new hospital is that even the smallest of tasks takes double the time. "Where is the OR???" So now that he knows his way around a little better hopefully things can move a little more efficiently. Good luck Dave.

YOU'RE ONE!

2007-07-01T22:59:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALCOLM!

HAPPINESS

2007-06-23T14:20:00.000-04:00

Here's to the happiness (and the past month or so in review).

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

It was a beautiful afternoon in Central Park. What a great way to celebrate.

HAPPY GRADUATION DAVE!

Dinner and dancing at the Waldorf-Astoria with the graduating class.

You can't beat dancing to live music.

Yankee's game with the visiting folks.

All for this. Congratulations Dave!

The bike taxi was a sweet ride to the parking garage.

HAPPY and not so happy MOVING

Malcolm had a great time at the DQ stop on the way to OH.

A few days later, M checking out the grounds (ants, sticks, rocks) at our new place.

This made us very happy. Parade the Circle.

A special playdate with Cash. We had a great visit with the Isoms on their way to residency in Milwaukee.

HAPPY FAMILY visits to UT and CO

M and uncle Davey.

Smith family reunion

Train ride up to Pike's Peak.

Garden of the Gods.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY VISIT
with Aunt MaryJo!

This is what you get when you don't blog-as-you-go, the happiness just goes on and on...

to new heights

2007-05-09T21:03:00.000-04:00

Malcolm has been Mr. Energy Bags lately. Today was sooo beautiful, we had a little picnic on the porch for lunch. Malcolm was everywhere. Up, up, up the stairs he went. Look how proud he was of himself.

Boston

2007-05-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Amy! Master of Science in Nursing. You rock! It was wonderful to celebrate with you.

Dad, Mom, Megan, Ben, & Hillary all came out for the occasion too.

Can you tell we had a great time? I think we could get the hang of these family vacations.

Coney Island

2007-05-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

Our time is running out here in New York so we are out and about trying to take it all in. Last Thursday we went to Coney Island with some friends. It was great fun.

The jellyfish at the aquarium were mesmerizing.

It was a little breezy on the beach, but...

Malcolm loved playing in the sand.

And to top it all off, corn dogs of course. (I only shared a little with Malcolm.)

2007-04-25T10:42:00.000-04:00

It was so great to have Joe, Sara, Ian, Issak, and Amy here over the weekend. The weather was sunny spring. Beautiful!
Malcolm was so happy to play with his cousins.

The Nest

2007-04-25T10:18:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Joe, winner of the American Watercolor Society "High Winds Medal"! We were honored to have you and your family here in New York to receive your award.
See more amazing paintings here: josephalleman.com

Washington DC

2007-04-25T10:06:00.000-04:00

...at the Lincoln Memorial

...neurosurgery conference

...with the Kilgores

Happy Easter

2007-04-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

Malcolm loved his Easter basket. He thought the green paper grass was wonderful.

Here is a nice shot of his two front teeth.

Read about the making of his Easter romper here.

a house in the heights

2007-03-23T11:59:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we spent two days looking at over 40 houses in the east Cleveland suburbs. A few days later we bought one! Here's some photos of our home-to-be:

Fireplace, mantle, and built-ins.

Dining room with window seat and more leaded-glass cabinets.

Kitchen.

Breakfast nook off of the kitchen.

At the top of the stairs looking into 1 of 3 bedrooms.

Upstairs bathroom.

Attic family room.

Basement and corner workshop.

Backyard and garage from an upstairs window.

Mailbox?

View from the front...

...and the back.

All in all, considering a 1925 birthday, things appear to be in pretty good shape. Some window coverings, light fixtures, and a whole lot of wallpaper will have to go... but what's a home without a project?

Cleveland Rocks!

2007-02-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

Come June we will find ourselves in Cleveland Ohio. Dave matched with the neurosurgery program at Case Western University.

Malcolm's favorite toys

2007-02-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

yogurt lid
coaster
pink ring
spatula

flying south for the winter

2006-12-15T13:19:00.000-05:00

After a few days in Ohio and North Carolina, Dave takes the train to Savannah, Georgia to meet up with Sarah and Malcolm for Thanksgiving in Beaufort, South Carolina with the Edwards--Annie, Spencer, Miriam, and Sam. Here Malcolm tastes rice cereal and dabbles in the Atlantic for the first time. Enjoy some footage of our adventures.

howdy!

2006-11-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

Dave's in TEXAS for interviews this week. Yeehaw!

design mom

2006-11-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

Check out the design mom blog. It fills with wonderful things daily. Find the "Baby Betty Grows" post and you will see a little something I made for her baby.
S*

golden arches - just the thing

2006-11-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning, earlier than I even want to think about, Malcolm and I took Dave to the airport to fly out to Utah for his first residency interview. On the drive back it was a little rainy and I was really tired and hungry. I kept getting the feeling that I was spacing out. Not a good thing, so I got off the Hutch Parkway in Pelham and found what I was looking for: the golden arches. Now, I am usually not a huge fan of fast food (except for Artic Circle corndogs), but I have to say that McDonalds saved me. The drive through, the large orange juice, the sausage egg biscuit, ... it was just the thing. It powered me through the rest of my day, including a great haircut in New Haven.

malcolm's christmas stocking

2006-10-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

I have just started knitting Malcolm's Christmas stocking. It is fun because I am using all of my random yarns, mostly left over from other projects, all striped up. I am also knitting his name into the stocking, that's a new skill for me. - tricky- Any bets on whether or not it will be done in time for Santa to fill? Dave just wanted to make sure the opening would be big enough for an orange. We have orange clearance folks. Another question: any thoughts on whether or not moms and dads should have Christmas stockings? Growing up my mom and dad didn't have one. I am wanting to knit some up for Dave and I. There is just something magical about having your name on a stocking and pulling an orange out of the toe.
S*

happy halloween

2006-10-31T20:19:00.000-05:00

Trick-or-Treat-or-Spit-up?
Here is our little scarecrow.

to the tops of the mountains

2006-09-10T12:14:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the good folks at Delta, the last few weeks have found us in Utah so Dave can do a rotation at the U of U Medical Center. So far while we've been here, Malcolm has been able to meet all his cousins (one via video conference), get blessed, visit temple square, and attend (sleep through) his first Peter Breinholt concert up at Sundance.

welcome malcolm

2006-08-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

On July 1st 2006 at 12:54am we became a trio. At the same time, our new digital camera was in a FedEx truck en route to a timely delivery of a different sort. Enjoy the results...

take two

2006-08-01T19:41:00.000-04:00