Aidan & Bryce's Blog

Happy Independence Day!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:37:00 +0000

I'm still working on catching the blog up, but wanted to post this picture from tonight's 4th of July Fireworks display over downtown Nashville. This is one of the few pictures I was able to snap before the really big downpour rolled in and we all had to head inside. But it was a great show, all the same-- and a nice cap to a great day of food and family!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!

School's Out!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Today was the last day of school for Aidan and Bryce.
Amanda met them at pick-up with these cool leis, sunglasses, and squirt guns! (in case you didn't know, she's just the *coolest* mom!)
The boys had a great year at school-- it's always a little sad to see the end of a grade-- especially for Bryce who's graduated from Miss Michelle's *amazing* Pre-K program-- but the boys are sure happy to have some time off to enjoy the sun and spend some time at the pool!

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:38:00 +0000

"'twas Heaven here with you..."

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:29:00 +0000

Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you...
I loved you so...
'twas Heaven here with you

Isla Paschal Richardson

I miss you, Mom.

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:12:00 +0000

I still can't believe what I'm about to write. We lost Mom-- the boys' Gramma-- early on the morning of March 27.
I don't have what it takes to write anything worthy of her memory right now-- if I can muster it at all, it'll have to wait a while-- but I did put together a slideshow of these pictures collected over the years. For anyone who knew her, I hope you find a few images here that make you smile and remember her for the warm, loving-- and *so* strong!-- person she was. We miss her dearly.

The songs are by our friend, Geoff Smith.

Updates!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Updates, updates!
We've now updated thru September 21, 2008, Grampa's 80th Birthday party!.. go scroll down and have a look at what we've added!

Also, you'll notice we've finally updated the title of the blog to accurately reflect the *two* distinct childhood voices in our house. No change to the web address or anything so no need to update the bookmarks or RSS subscriptions.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:22:00 +0000

It's a New Year and we've got some resolutions around here at SleepyDad HQ-- first of them being that we're going to catch up this blog!

In case you were wondering, there has actually been lots happening around here, but I've just been doing a terrible job of keeping up with updates about all of it for close to six months now..

I'll do it chronologically with back-dated postings so keep your eyes open for new entries going all the way back to the summer time 2008-- starting with pictures (finally) of our summer trip up to the Smoky Mountains.

If you've got questions or think something's missing, feel free to post a comment here (or on any posting on the blog) or shoot me an email.

"... and visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.."

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:29:00 +0000

More Blinky Hijinx..

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Blinky is still up to his old tricks.. over the last couple of nights, he's snapped this picture with the Boss..

.. and made a mess out of Aidan's dresser drawers!

Gifts from Aunt Eileen

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:18:00 +0000

The boys received some Christmas gifts from Aunt Eileen today.. some cool play clothes and a couple of vests.. perfect for this mild winter weather we've been having..

and of course, the kittens had a ball playing with the discarded wrapping paper, tissue and boxes..

and then Bryce put on that vest and went all "Han Solo" on us! It was inevitable, really.

Lessons from the Master: baking cookies

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Bryce helped Gramma to make some Christmas cookies this morning.. he's learning from the master!

Santa!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:35:00 +0000

Our neighbors threw a great Christmas party this evening. I was only able to attend for the first hour or so, but when I got home later that night, the boys told me that SANTA visited the party!! And they managed to snap these pictures of him-- he gave each of the kids at the party a little present and told them to remember to be good between now and Christmas. Bryce was a little freaked out at first, from what I'm told, but eventually he warmed up to old St. Nick.
I can't believe I missed such a big moment!

Santa!

I love Bryce's expression here..

the kids *love* Santa..

Aidan could barely believe his eyes..

well, some of the kids were a little less impressed with Santa, I guess..

Bryce finally managed to climb into Santa's lap..

Even the neighborhood Mom's got to make a request or two of Santa..

Christmas Baking

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:07:00 +0000

The last couple of days, we've been doing some serious cooking around here... getting ready for the holidays..

oh yeah, and..

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:50:00 +0000

Blinky brought new Christmas-time bath towels for the boys..

Blinky's baaaaack...

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:19:00 +0000

You might remember Blinky from last year. He's an elf from the North Pole who came to join us for a few weeks before Christmas. His stated mission was to keep an eye on the boys and report back to Santa if any last minute changes in plans regarding present delivery needed to be made based on behavior and so forth. But as we saw last year, Blinky seems intent on mischief as anything else while he's here.
When he left us last Christmas Eve, the boys begged us to tell Santa that we'd allow him to come back if he wanted. We made him promise that there would be no more grand theft auto..

So he's back.. and he's back up to his old tricks..

pulling out all the Sale papers..

and he dragged out all the Christmas movies

a few mornings ago, we came downstairs to find that he had spent the night playing with a bunch of the boys' Transformers..

and of course he found the camera and took a cheezeball self-portrait..

and then he toilet-papered the Christmas Tree.. (see him up there near the top?)

I have a bad feeling about this...

White Christmastime...

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:09:00 +0000

we got a little snow today in Nashville...

Story Time

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:26:00 +0000

The boys get a kick out of reading stories at bed time.. and Aidan really enjoys playing up all the funny bits.

Gridiron Bryce

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:58:00 +0000

Playing football with Bryce in Gramma and Grampa's backyard...

The kittens like the tree so much...

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:42:00 +0000

The cats clearly really like having the Christmas tree in the house...

I think they like it a little too much...

Fireman Bryce to the rescue..

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:33:00 +0000

Bryce is a big helper.. he helped us trim the Christmas tree today.. and then he help to rescue some kitty cats from the tree too!

Sous-chef Bryce

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:14:00 +0000

Today we're making some potato chowder.. and Bryce helped me cut up all the potatoes

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:27:00 +0000

Helping Grampa make some pancakes...

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Trip to Notre Dame

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +0000

Dad and I went up to Notre Dame to see the Irish take on Syracuse.. should be an easy win, right? haha.

Well anyway, we had a lot of fun driving up to South Bend, despite the big snow storm that struck northen Indiana the day before the game. So it was COLD when we got there... and we had to bundle up for the game, of course. But it was nice to be back on campus after being away for so long. We hadn't been back there since the 2000 Nebraska game.. another close loss. On second thought, maybe *I'm* the bad luck for the Irish..

Famous (embarrassing) Irish Football Losses I've been present for:
1995 Northwestern
1996 Air Force
1996 Ohio State
2000 Nebraska
2006 USC
2008 Syracuse

I should just stop now..

okay, here are some more pictures from the trip..

"Welcome back to Notre Dame, Baby!" The ushers at ND are the best in the world..

Lucy gets into everything...

noreply@blogger.com (SleepyDad) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:04:00 +0000

She makes a good bookmark...

...and she does a pretty good parrot impression..