6 strings closer...

To being the best guitarist in the worrrllllddd!! So far she knows the C and G7 chord. Daddy is having her teach him so he can learn also...

Her teacher plans on having her recital be opening for him at Open Mic Night at Starbucks!

"I would have tripped him with a big root!"

Says, Dandeelyon when responding to the news of a mass shooting in Tucson Arizona last week.

The conversation happened next to a TV which was streaming the most recent headlines at a restaraunt.

"That man...he's a bad man. He's... well, grrr...I would have tripped him with a big root!!!"

A part of me was proud of her for being willing to stand up to the "bad" in this world. Another part of me wanted to shield her from it. Protect her from the thought of anything bad. Anything less than perfect. At the one hand, she needs to know in the right age appropriate context. On the other hand, I hate watching her wrestle with this new reality.

After dinner we went home and watched a fairy tale princess cartoon to regain some of the lost Innocence (daddy inlcuded)

MMmmmmmDessert!!

It has been said that children have an insatiable appetite for all things sweet. I ran across a diagram explaining the anatomy of a kid's stomach and I have say, it's spot on!

...while dreaming of a white Christmas, Dandeelyon woke up, and saw it was REAL!!!

A Bulleted list of highlights from Christmas 2010.

Snow... 16 inches of it. Record amounts in Hampton Roads.

Santa drank all of his milk...took almost all the carrots for the reindeer and dropped one in the Fireplace. Guess Prancer didn't get one.

Dandeelyon woke up with a soot print on her forehead. Santa left his very own mark on her beautiful little face.

Remote Control Helicopters.

Vet Puppy in a pink bag

Barbie Barbie Barbie stuff

and lots more!

Had a great time with family. Grandma, Dadad, Kimberly, and Matthew were a ton of FUN!

Christmastown in Williamsburg was amazing as always.

Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis ( or uhmm Merry Christmas!!)

Said the night wind to the little lamb,

"Do you see what I see?

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,

"Do you hear what I hear?

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,

"Do you know what I know?

Said the king to the people everywhere,

"Listen to what I say!

Pray for peace, people, everywhere,

Listen to what I say!

The Child, the Child sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light,

He will bring us goodness and light."

Thank God for Jesus, the sacrificial lamb who made the gift of grace possible. Merry Christmas!

IPhoto fun....

Dandeelyon routinely sits in front of the laptop and snaps crazy photos of herself. Occasionally, she strikes at brilliance. I especially liked this one...

7 years, 3 months, and 4 days ago...

I received this in the mail

A few days ago, I showed Dandeelyon this letter we recieved a few days after she was born and ...well she was very impressed with herself.

Very impressive indeed. :)

Folding Old Glory

So Dandeelyon was sick and was home from school when I realized that we were short on all of the essentials ( ginger ale, salteane crackers, soup, etc) so off we went to the local grocery store.

While walking out to the parking lot we saw the manager ( or at least a dude in a tie) showing some of the bag boys how to properly fold and fly the American Flag.

Perfect teachable moment...

so Dandeelyon stood in as well, helping fold the flag into triangle "just so" and leaning to never never ever ever let the flag touch the ground lest it be destroyed by burning. She started to understand what it means to honor our nations flag? Dandeelyon started to understand that the flag means alot to alot of people for different reasons. Now she loves to stop and stare at it whenever we pass... which has turned a quick trip to the grocery store into, well..a not so quici trip to the grocery store.

What does a skinned knee and some determination equal?

Training wheels OFF!!

One of the most proud moments I have had as a parent is when I saw Dandeelyon steer through the uncertainty and fear to find that inner confidence. Once she found it, she kept going and going and going...and going.

Anyone seen Dandeelyon? :)

Dashing through the snow in a one...errh, uhm giant cardboard sled..

So we decided to head to Byrd Park to try out the giant hill with the mysterious fence at the top. Anyone know what is over that fence?? Anyhoo, I digress. Dandeelyon flew down the steep hill and did all sorts of twists, flips , and hard landings... what a tough kid!

Since everyone bought all the sleds up from Pleasant's Hardware, we decided to make do with what we had...cookie sheets from the drawer under the oven, the top of an igloo cooler, and a laundry basket. All served their purposes, but the find of the night was when we encountered a massive broken down box which 3 people could easily ride down the hill on...

check out what happened next.. ;)

Here's to wintertime...it gets such a bad rap.

Balloons anyone?

Balloons are a lot of fun initially , and then they deflate and then take over bedrooms!! :)

Chaaaa--Chinnngggg!!

Dandeelyon opened her very own savings account today with a banker friend of mine.  She'll start to deposit her "chores" money and begin watching her money work for her. According to Dandeelyon, the most exciting thing for her was

A.  The sucker....Duh!   :)

B.  The Bank Statement will come in her name each month telling her how much money she has ( or doesn't have)

When asking her how much she wanted to save, she said enough to buy herself a horse. Anyone know what a good horse goes for these days?

 

BIG Girl Gauze at the Horse Races!!

So Dandeelyon accompanied her daddy and his "circle of friends" at Colonial Downs for a stellar day of horse racing ( Colonial Turf Cup) and what an eventful day it was. Dandeelyon pet a horse which proceeded to smile at her (not kidding--look at the pic) and she had a mis-hap on the green ( skinned knee) and landed herself in the infirmary where Dr. Shaun helped her recover so we could catch the last raceof the day...

She off course now wants a horse of her own. My friend Brit thinks it's doable...maybe she can help me figure out how to make that a reality??I think we'll start with some lessons... ( baby steps)

Dandeelyon's Loses her first tooooff !!!

So Dandeelyon was a little bit nervous but received tons of encouragement and support from her friend Eilidh, Fiona, Alexander, and Deb as her mommy pulled her first toof!!

So proud of my baby girl!!  

Swine Flu and Convertibles..

Yeah FAKE smile, cause Dandeelyon had swine flu. Yuck...we pulled her from school the day before, she started running a fever of 102 and they confirmed it this am. They had to make a call to report it to the health department. Wierd...  She is fine though, just hot and bothered. I told her one day she could forward to feeling this way all the time and it would be called menopause. She asked what men went through and I said mid life crisis...she asked what that meant and I said we would wear hawaiian shirts and drive convertibles...

Dandeelyon just realized life is NOT fair. Indeed it's not.

Memorial Day in DC

So Dandeelyon and I go to DC to visit my cousins from the North who now live in Alexandria, Virginia. My cousin has been in the Navy since about 2000. He has been from the Persian Gulf aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, to Alfghanistan, to Pearl Harbour, to most recently Tokyo, Japan. He and his wife ( they dates since like the 6th grade) are now parents to a beautiful little..who Dandeelyon absolutely adores!!

We headed into DC for the National Memorial Day Parade..and Dandeelyon being Dandeelyon had to get so close that she could beat the drums for the Marching Bands... a great time indeed!

The most memorable quote of the day was when Dandeelyon said the WW2 Veterans ( Pearl Harbour survivors) "looked old...like Skeletan Old" but also sweet like Dad-dads ( her code word for grandaddy)

Dandeelyon's First Race!!!!

So it all began several years back when Dandeelyon was just 3 ( 2006) when her daddy reached over the barracade and carried her across the finish line at the Marine Corps Marathon. Dandeelyon recieved her very own medal that day and has been watching daddy run races..but also chomping at the bit to run herself. 

Dandeelyon had her chance at the Carytown 10k on May 17th. Her proud daddy ran hand in hand with her until the end. My proudest moment came when she looked at me, about 100 yards from the finish line and said, "Daddy, let's turn it on!!"---and we ran as hard as we could across the finish line!!!

Atta Girl!! Looking forward to running many more with her... 

2009 Monument Avenue 10k

So as I ran the race, Dandeelyon teamed up with some friends at the Mile 2 Hydration Station handing out power-aid and water to the runners.  She had a BLAST, but was a little miffed that the Kenyans did not take water she offered them... to quote her, "The Nerve!"

Afterwards, she joined me and all of our Area 10 Church friends at the 1st Annual Post Race Chile Cookout for some chile, hot dogs and veggie burgers!!  Yumm...

 

Box Car Drive In night!

So Dandeelyon and some of her closest friends got together at our favorite Carytown hot spot, Carwheels & Coffee to decorate their own box cars and then have a drive in movie night. Dandeelyon. Dandeelyon won the prize for box car with the most windows...

It's snooowwwiiinnggg!!!

...says Dandeelyon as we exit the Byrd Theatre this afternoon...and boy was she right! 

The view from inside the Byrd Theatre of the snow outside with the lights accenting it was amazing!! I wish I had a camera on my at that moment..

I took a picture as soon as I got home...Baked Mac & Cheese and cuddle time under the covers tonight. Winter has Finally arrived in RTown.

Dandeelyon explains why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day...

So tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day and Dandeelyon is very grateful to Dr. King because she gets out of school because if him...so when having a discussion about why else he matters she tells me a little story.. it went kind of like this. 

Dandeelyon: Daddy, do you know Martin Luther King?

Daddy: I sure do, why do you ask?

Dandeelyon: Because we get out of school to celebrate his day.

Daddy: Oh is that so?  Why is he so important to have a whole day named after him?

Dandeelyon: Because when he was alive, white kids had to go to white schools, black kids had to go to black schools, and chinese kids had to go to chinese schools.

Daddy: Wow, and then what happened Dandeelyon?

Dandeelyon: He gave a big dream speech, now they let the black and chinese kids come to the white schools. 

She had it kinda right....kids are so funny.

Tomorrow night we are going to a candlelight Vigil at Boaz and Ruth...5 Corners. Should be a neat thing for Reagan to experience. 

Dandeelyon made a Christmas "Funny"

So I am having a discussion with Dandeelyon about the Christmas story, when she tells me that baby Jesus was visited by wise men and they gave him gifts....when I asked what the gifts were she said, "Oh daddy, everyone knows that, they were gold, myrrh, and a sentence."

BREAKING NEWS!! Dandeelyon endorses her candidate!

OK, so I am sitting there and watching the "Obamercial with Dandeelyon and she says 2 things which take me by surprise. 

1. She likes Barack Obamas kids...and wants to hang out with them. 
   
2. She thinks Barack Obama is quote, "probably better than John McCain because, he stays up and talks to the country, and she was pretty sure that John McCain was already in bed."
   

And so it begins.... God indeed has a sense of humor.

Meet Mr. Jack O.Lantern

Wallahhhhh!!

Fall Fun with Family in Alexandria

So we visited some relatives in Alexandria, Virginia on a cool damp fall day...we visited the Pumpkin Patch,  ate some "5 Guys" Burgers (which is always a hit) and cooked and decorated some Halloween Cupcakes... it was a fun mess!!!! Here are some shots of the Pumpkin Patch and Cupcake fun with Dendeelyon's cousin.