Independent Filmmaker

In the last couple of days Riley has figured out how to operate the video function on her camera. This has been a source of endless amusement for both her during "quite rest time" and myself when I see what she has been doing while no one but the camera is looking. This first one is one of the earliest clips she shot. It is a 4-year-old's version of a comedy routine.

This one is an interpretive dance to a Christmas song that just didn't have the tempo she was looking for. She is such a professional. Watch for the moment she whacks her hand on the closet door and continues on with her routine. What a trooper.

Our Budding Photographer

A camera is absolutely fascinating to a kid, so I was thinking about getting Riley one of those indestructible kid cameras for Christmas. Jeff then pointed out that we had an old digital camera collecting dust in the closet so why not give her that one. She was thrilled. I have enjoyed watching her explore photography. It's a lot of fun to view her pictures and see the world from her perspective. Here are some of her better/more interesting photos. There are many pictures of the the cats.

Hobbes' dazed look is caused by the constant flashes going off in his face.

Maebh's slumber has just been disturbed. She is now hatching a scheme to hide the camera in her litter box.

This shot cracks me up.

Tired of being followed around by a shutter-happy preschooler, the cats take out their frustration on each other.

Colin is not the most enthusiast subject.

Perhaps Riley is planning on selling this shot to the National Enquirer.

And finally some self-portraits:

Halloween

I feel like Halloween snuck up quickly this year. I had plans for all kinds of fun activities and we didn't get around to most of them. We couldn't let it pass though without carving a pumpkin. My folks gave us a huge pumpkin which yielded lots of pumpkin seeds for roasting and pumpkin guts for little fingers to squish. Riley used her queen costume from last year and Colin was a six-legged spider (apparently there was not enough room on the costume for two more legs.) On Halloween we went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood for a while before heading over to our church where they had snacks, crafts, games and inflatables. Colin liked jumping in the Shreck inflatable while Riley's favorite was the giant double slide that looked like the sinking titanic (which is kind of morbid if you ask me.) She and her friend Joel liked racing each other to the bottom. I'm glad the kids got good and tired and slept late the next day. I woke up ill and spent the next week with the swine flu. You'll be happy to know I survived.

You'll Never Guess Where We Went!

Did you guess the zoo? How did you know? OK, I know we go to the zoo a lot, but I thought I'd share these pictures of the kids' trip with their favorite aunt and cousins. The zoo was decorated for "Boo at the Zoo."

Maria and Colin on their thrones

The now famous rock climbing wall

Is this not the cutest cub you've ever seen?

Riley and Maria taking musical instrument from defenseless monkeys

Maria the penguin

Goldilocks, her cousins and the two bears

Mama's Mia (Hamm)

The plan is to play catch up over the next several days and give the highlights of the past three months. I'll start with a soccer clinic Riley did back in early October. We received a multitude of sign-up sheets for various activities in Riley's school book bag. She wanted to do everything so I narrowed it down to a creative dance class or a soccer clinic and told her to pick one. She enthusiastically picked soccer. In the weeks leading up to the clinic, she constantly talked about playing. When it came time to actually play, my little perfectionist was frustrated trying to learn a new sport.

Riley loved the warm ups and Coach Chico. She enjoyed the one on one drill time with Mommy briefly until the coach instructed the kids to work on improving their skills. Then it turned into something like this:

Me: Good job, Riley. Now kick the ball with the inside of your foot like Coach Chico showed us."

(Riley studies the ball, approaching it from several angles while she waaaaaay over thinks the directions. Finally she throws herself on the ground.)

Riley: Oooooohhhhh, I can't do it!

Me: Yes you can. Just give it a shot.

Riley: No, I can't.

Me: Just kick the ball.

Riley: NOOOOooooooooo!

Me: Riley, get off the ground and just try to kick the ball. It doesn't have to be perfect. I just want you to try.

(Riley stays rooted to her spot and gives me a defiant stare.)

Me: (muttering under my breath) I paid for SOMEBODY to play soccer and doggone it, somebody is going to play soccer.

(I step over Riley's prone body and unbuckle Colin from his stroller where he has been patiently watching from the sidelines and eating cereal out of a baggie.)

Me: Colin, do you want to play soccer.

Colin: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

After a few minutes of watching her brother play, Riley decided that she was ready to try (much to Colin's disappointment.) Her first scrimmage was a bit of a disaster. Despite the fact that she has watched Uncle Mike play in several alumni games, she seemed to miss the part where they only used one ball. She was pretty miffed when the kids were instructed to place all their balls on the sideline and just use one. I believe her words were, "But why can't we ALL have a ball." She spent all of the first game standing in the middle of the field looking surly while a herd of preschoolers moved around her as one unit jockeying for position so they could kick the ball in no particular direction. She looked something like this:

She became a little more confident as the days progressed and by the last day she was mostly into playing the game. It was on this last day that the coach introduced the concept of the goalie. He gave a very brief and precise description of a goalie's job all of which was missed by my four-year-old who was chatting with one of the other girls. He then asked for a volunteer to be their first goalie. Riley's hand shot up in the air and she was promptly chosen. She was a very enthusiastic and accommodating goalie. As the other team approached with the ball, she moved out of the way and cheered for them as they scored on her. After a few minutes, Coach Chico decided it was time to give someone else a chance to be the goalie.

Here is a little video of Riley in action.

There is an indoor clinic coming up in February and Riley has decided that she wants to play again. Colin will be happy to learn that he will be old enough to play too.