A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Some favorite news pics of my girls that speak to the power of sisters, friends, love and play.




And a ballerina for the moment nailing her pose...right down to her feet.

1st Grade Musings

Thursday night was open house at my daughter's school -- one of our favorite things every year. Skylar was so excited for us to go, she couldn't stop skippng and leaping around the house before we left. The school was buzzing with people everywhere, and was bursting with artwork and projects lining the halls.

I love open house every year because you can feel the creativity oozing from the pages hanging on the walls and the clay models resting in display cabinets and you can see that everyone around you is amazed and, yes, inspired. If only we could stay as open, free and optimistic as we were as children as we grow up. I snapped some pics of some of Skye's work, because you can't help but stop in your tracks when you see what's in a first grader's mind...and what I wish was in mine.

Here she says: I am proud of reading, writing, learning, I love school because you learn, you get to ride the bus.


Here, an anagram of her name: Sweet pumpkin pie, Kind to everyone, Yes I am cute, Likes to [play] baseball, Animals are special to me, Relly likes school.


Miss Cally made the family portrait, and fortunately, I did not get an orange, high-top ponytail.


This is my favorite, because where most of us would consider happy to be something fleeting, my first grader sees it all around her. Skylar's "Happy Poem" reads: Happy is smiling, Happy looks like family smiling, Happy sounds like my cat meowing, Happy tastes like ice cream, Happy smells like nuts (!), Happy feels like the sun warming me up, Happy is smiling.

New Music Saturday

Sometimes dads need time to be people, and you may have figured by now one of my favorite "downtime" activties is getting lost in iTunes user recommendations and "if you bought this you'll like this" suggestions to find great new music. My new playlist, "days off" may connect you with something new:

life is beautiful - vega 4
starting now - ingrid michaelson
mandolin moon - sister hazel
have a little faith in me - john hiatt
heard the world - o.a.r.
just (radio edit) - mark ronson
smile - lily allen
take your mama - scissor sisters
time is a runaway - the alternate routes
a good start - maria taylor
sideways - let's go sailing
undeniable - mat kearney
be be your love - rachel yamagata
is it any wonder? - keane
yesterday is calling - william tell
no myth - michael penn
human - jon mclaughlin
all i have - until june
words you used to say - dean & britta
all that that implies - michael penn