Christmas Tree

Today we went to Battenfeld's Farm to cut down a Xmas tree. The view was amazing. We hiked up a big hill and hunted around until we found the best tree. Graham's friend Baby Beluga helped up pick out the right one. Afterwards we went on a hayride and talked to Santa.

Mr. Krazy Dance

Thanksgiving weekend: while Clara rocked it on piano, Graham cut a rug.

Thanksgiving weekend

A few snapshots from our Thanksgiving weekend in Philadelphia PA. The Carousel was a highlight for Graham.

Picture Day

Pre-school picture day results. The goofy comb-over hairstyle was NOT my doing, but i do love the fuzzy vest.

Pre-Halloween snowstorm

I guess it really is time to put my sandals away. We were hit with a snowstorm on Saturday which has caused power outages and general mayhem around the area. Fortunately, we did not loose power at all but my roses received a good icing.

Bicycle

Graham received a new 2-wheeler for his 4th birthday, no training wheels. On his second try he was successfully riding around with great confidence and no fear. Stopping is next skill to be learned...

4 years old

Days of the week

Pre-school has been great for so many things. Graham is learning to sing the days of the week in English and Spanish.

Pumpkin Patch

Now that Beacon Open Studios is over, I can come up for air and resume a normal life. Today Graham and I had to go up to Chatham to return the kegs to the Chatham Brewery. They donated some beer for the Kickoff Party. On the way back we stopped at a pumpkin patch to pick some pumpkins. I had picked up a stick -on decorating kit for Graham the other day and he has been all about pumpkins ever since. He would not rest until we went to a pumpkin patch. I found one in Red Hook NY that was excellent. Grieg Farm.

10 years from now

10 years from now i can see this same scene being played out: Graham and his buddy playing pinball at the local burger shack.

1st day of pre-school

Some serious silliness on the first day of school. I tried to get him to pose for a normal picture and kind of succeeded once...

i know its been a long time since i've posted anything here. things have been pretty busy with me. Graham is getting bigger and has many more scheduled activities, he also wears me out in new and exhausting ways every day. But today is worth noting: he started pre-school! He liked the first day well enough and had no problem saying good-bye without any tears. He did not, however, warm up to the idea of going every day. We'll work on that.

August uploads

I know its been ages since I've uploaded any photos. We went on vacation and there's that whole batch of pictures I need to post. But I've been buried with work on Beacon Open Studios which seems to have given me a perma-headache and kept me from doing anything that resembles normal life. But I'm coming out of the woods, here are a few pictures I took this weekend. Graham eating a peach popsicle above, and below posing on the Walkway over the Hudson although he refused to pose with the view in the background.

New York Times

Liam and I finally made the New York Times. That's my hair guitar on the right, notice the photo credit.

slippin' & slidin'

it's that time of year again...

note to self

Note to self: early morning gardening and first cup of coffee do not mix! As I was trying to beat the impending heat of today (forecasted high of 99 degrees) I did some early watering and weed pulling in my herb bed while drinking a cup of coffee. I ended up with a big plop of mud in my cup.

row, row, row your boat

Action packed weekend...On Saturday we rented a rowboat and spent the morning on Lake Canopus. We had a great time, it was fun to do something different. Sunday we went to visit my cousin Chad and his wife Amy and their 2 kids in Connecticut, 2hours away. The video is in their backyard, Graham and Owen running.

bath

Love my new iphone! It takes pictures like this one and makes it so much easier to upload them for your viewing pleasure.

Headed to the museum

I shot this video at the train station just as Graham and Liam were about to leave for the city to go to the Natural History Museum, also known as the Dinosaur Museum to G.

baseball!

graham goes to a baseball class for 3-5 year olds each saturday. they stretch, run drills, practice hitting and catching. very cute.

playground

Graham has discovered the Big Wheel at the Cold Spring playground. He rode around and around only stopping to tell me how fast he is.

visit to DC

new bike

graham got a shiny new red bicycle. it has no pedals or brakes, it just glides but he is supposed to learn how to balance with it. he's pretty excited about it.

half birthday

yesterday was Graham's 3 1/2 birthday. I baked half a cake for him.

warming trend

Things are finally starting to warm up here in NY. Little by little. It will creep up into the high 60's only to follow up with a week of 40 degree rain. But last weekend we had a beautiful sunny Sunday morning so we had our first brunch of the year on the sunporch.

ready to camp

graham shown here in his Flying Moose Lodge tee shirt. Only 7 1/2 more years til he is a camper.

Isaac and Graham

Graham and Isaac build a bridge to nowhere at the stately Terry Manor in San Anselmo.

trampoliners

graham, maya and izzy bouncing in the wilson's backyard.

stuffed animal fight_no way

Graham and Sadie in the snow

alert!

we no longer have a home phone. From now on Liam and I can be reached on our cell phones

sledding

We have some friends here in Beacon, Ed & Betsy, who periodically throw waffle parties on Sunday mornings. With all this snow, they have been having waffle/sledding parties. After we are stuffed with bacon and maple syrup and pumped up with coffee, we all go outside and hit the sledding slope Ed has carved out on their property. Also take note of the "iced coffee" sculpture in the photo below.

friends

Graham has imaginary friends. One is named Becky and he is a boy. He comes over to play a lot. He used to have an imaginary baby that he would care for. We had to be quiet because the baby was often sleeping. If it got too noisy in the day care room, he would run to the corner to check on his baby. We asked him if the baby had a name. He said the baby's name was Johnny Cash.

the mama speaks or my 15 seconds of notoriety

I am featured in this video on tourism in Dutchess County. You have to sit through (or fast forward) 10 minutes of information about historical tours in the area but you will be rewarded by getting a few seconds of me not sounding like a complete idiot talking about my work.

Some winter pictures

We have had no shortage of show so far this year. There has been sledding. There has been cold. There has been crazy hair due to winter hat head. There have been many hours playing indoors.