How Time Flies!

Caitlin and Isabel turned four today. We took them and big brother Aidan to Build-a-Bear Workshop and then to the Airport Restaurant for a date with Papi.

Here is a video that Dan put together from video and pictures taken today.

Aido Potato: Boy Genius!

Dance Recital: Spring 2009

Startling New Research Results

Race to Wrigley Field: April 25, 2009!

Cubs. April 16, 2009

Enjoy.

Easter 2009!!!!

April Snow & The Meaning of Easter

Saying Goodbye

Most of the time when people find out we have an AuPair they comment that they would not be able to have another person or a 'stranger' live in their home. The comment has never made sense to me.

During the matching process, you learn about different AuPairs through detailed essays and pictures. Where are they from? How many brothers and sisters do they have? Have they ever lived away from home? Religious background. Driving ability. Why do they want to be an AuPair?

When you begin this process, you usually set-up personal criteria that are important to you. For Dan and I, we wanted an older AuPair (23 or 24), who was a competent driver and spoke excellent English. As we started our interviews, we met Melissa who was 19 (!), did not really drive and whose English was rudimentary at best. I knew she was the right fit for our family because of her laugh. I wish I could be more precise, but there was a infectious and gentle element to her laugh that quieted my practical concerns ane let me know she was the one.

By the time Melissa arrived, we did not feel like she was stranger. Not at all. More like we were welcoming home a relative we had not seen in long time. The kids were very excited and helped to make a Welcome Melissa sign that still hangs in her room. We embraced and started the transition process to incorporate Melissa into our family.

After almost two years, Melissa left us today to lay down roots for her own family. As she leaned against the kitchen wall waiting to leave, I lost my breath for a moment and was filled with sadness. I believe it was a glimpse at the maternal sadness you feel when a child moves to the next stage of their life.

Maybe having an AuPair is not for everyone. Opening your home and life to another person makes you feel vulnerable. As for us, we never had a stranger in our home. Only another daughter who we love and wish the very best.

Daddy/ Daughter Dance at Our Saviour's: January 31, 2009

When Karen read the notice in the church newsletter about the Daddy/ Daughter Dance in January and posed the question to me, I could not say, "No." There is no telling the level of embarrassment they may feel towards me when they will actually have the choice of telling me that there actually will be a dance of this sort at their middle school or high school.

The dance was on a Saturday, and I had just spent two days in Effingham, IL, hopped up on Old Style, Wild Turkey, and Steak and Shake food (the latter having longest adverse effect on my constitution) and recording weird versions of familiar songs. I made sure to curtail my intake early afternoon on Friday, and I made the three-and-a-half hour trip well-rested and healthy!

Karen took the girls out and bought them the special dance outfits you see in the pictures and videos, and talked this event up like it was Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve or something! The girls were primed.

Isabel is the more thoughtful and reserved of the twins. At three years old, she already has certain things figured out: her favorite animal is the elephant, she likes syrup on the side, NOT ON top of her pancakes, she would much rather sing than dance - you know; the essentials of life.

Caitlin is kinetic, sensitive, and quickly emotional (i.e. waterworks factory in situations). She is the dancer, practicing her moves and facial expressions in the mirror. When she throws a fit, she looks behind her to make sure the area she is about to fall upon (her stage) is clear of debris.

They are both incredibly affectionate, and they both adore their mother. I hear all these stories that my friends who have daughters tell, how their daughters dote upon them and focus all their attention on them. In my house, I am second banana, most of the time. If Karen is home, she is the center of attention with all the kids. Since she was laid off in December, she's been home much more than I have, and the kids have not become sick of her. In fact, she's hearing her own name in her sleep, then children say it so much, even when I am in the house and doting upon them!

For this dance, however, Karen worked some kind of mojo with the babies that really made them excited about this date with their daddy. They behaved as if they knew that this attention meant as much to me as I was trying to hide behind my dumb, wet-eyed grin.

As you can see from the pictures and video, when we got to the gym, and they walked into the room, they almost intuitively knew how to behave. It was awesome and frightening at the same time, as I admired their grace and flashed forward to their adolescent years and my nights of worry, for them, about them and my boys. It was just overwhelming for about three minutes.

Throughout the night, they found treats, books, toys, friends, and had a wonderful time. The people from Our Saviours who put this night together should receive an award of some sort. It was absolutely perfect, from the pictures to the DJ to the arts and crafts provided to the punch bowl and the treats. It made for a night that was way beyond what I'd expected.

This night was one of the highlights of my life as a daddy to daughters.