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Henry, Tired

MNorthcutt — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:18:55 +0000

So proud of how my little man performed at the swim meet today!

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Miscellaneous May

Todd — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:52:03 +0000

Quick pop quiz! What do these three things have in common?

a dead hummingbird
an off-shoe camera cord
children playing in a box

Give up? They all happened to be in our house during the month of May in 2009.

Centennial Farm with Henry

Todd — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:54:02 +0000

I played hooky from work one day to go with Henry’s pre-school class to Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, laid down the ground rules prior to us entering the farm and then we were off!

First order of business: have lunch. Seems that no pre-K kid can make it past 10 AM without some sort of snack to tide them over. Once properly fed, the kids started their tour of the farm. We saw farm implements, learned how cheese is made and saw some cute newborn animals.

The star of the show was the fat sow and her dozen or so piglets. Whether running around and squealing or fighting for a prime feeding spot, the kids all had a great time watching the chaos in the pig pen while mama pig snored away.

The farm tour ended with a good game of chase, of course, and Henry and his buddies laughing, screaming and gloriously grass stained.

Royals vs. Rockies

Todd — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:48:48 +0000

Henry’s second t-ball game looked like it was going to be a win. This, of course, is tough to do in a league where you don’t keep score. The opposing team hadn’t shown up for the game so after 15 minutes of waiting the coaches declared a “forfeit” and launched into practice mode.

The kids batted around a few times, giving everyone an opportunity to work on their “fielding.” And by “fielding” I mean shoving one another out of the way as they all scrambled to get the ball.

Henry, despite being the youngest and shortest on the team, went head-to-head with Jack, the oldest and tallest on the team, for every ball hit. You can just make out him telling the older boy not to hog the ball.

The Rockies finally showed up a half hour late and the two teams squared off. After a fun three innings both teams were declared the winner and the kids happily ran to their benches for juice boxes which are the whole reason for playing the game in the first place.

Henry Owen: T-ball Super Star

Todd — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:05:40 +0000

With much excitement Henry donned his Kansas City Royal cap and joined his t-ball team on the field. There opponents were the dreaded Marlins.

Rumor had it they had a 6 year old on their team. Can you believe it? The nerve…

His palms grew sweaty and his heart pounded as he strode onto the field. The bases were loaded and the game was on the line. The whole team was counting on him.

He stood beside home plate and studied at the Marlin fielders one by one. The first baseman locked eyes with him. Henry stared at him, unblinking, unflinching. The first baseman snapped first and had to look away.

“Sucker,” Henry thought to himself as he knocked the dirt off of his shoes with his bat.

Coach called for time and strode out onto the field.

“Henry,” he said. “It’s all on you, son. Show ‘em how it’s done!”

“No problem, coach,” Henry said as he spit into the dirt.

Well, there was one problem, he thought to himself, as coach slapped him on the helmet. “This helmet is WAY too big and I can’t even see the ball!”

Student of The Day

Todd — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:48:04 +0000

On the day I came back from Japan in December the stars aligned and many things happened. First, Emma’s class performed The Ginger Bread Man. Second, we saw Emma’s first piano recital.

Happy Birthday, Henry!

Todd — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:25:29 +0000

Our little Henry Owen turned four last week. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that he was as tiny as one of Emma’s dolls and now he’s playing with Transformers, recognizes “Dark Vader” and loves running with a football almost as much as he loves falling down with the football.

On Saturday we had a birthday party for Henry. Half a dozen raucous boys from his preschool attended, along with older and younger brothers and sisters.

If you couldn’t guess from the pictures, a boy’s birthday party is far different than one for girls. Emma’s parties have generally been fairly orderly affairs, with lots of planned activities. We had intended to do the same at Henry’s party, with several games planned.

The boys, however, would have nothing to do with it and, after several half-hearted attempts, we simply ended up outside playing soccer, throwing the football and tackling the princesses.

Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch

Todd — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:21:25 +0000

We are no strangers to Tanaka Farms in Irvine. We’ve been for there for strawberry season, watermelon season and now we can add the fall pumpkin patch to our list.

I took the day off work to go with Henry and his preschool class. (Some boys-only time, you know.) We arrived a bit early and spent a good half hour throwing dirt clods at the sunflowers lining the waiting area. That right there was entirely worth the trip. I think both of us could have skipped the whole pumpkin thing and just kept right on slinging dirt.

At any rate, though, we joined the rest of the class and took a tractor ride around the farm. Henry was fairly nonplussed about the tractor since he’s an old hand at driving both tractors and backhoes. The rest of the class, though, seemed to be having a ball.

After a brief stop-over at the petting zoo we made our way to the main event: picking out a pumpkin. The kids could pick any one they wanted with one catch: they had to be able to carry it out to the car. Henry, being the sensible one, went and picked the smallest one he could find – literally no more than a few inches in diameter. Not so good for carving so I forced him to grab one a little larger.

We ended the excursion with a visit to Wendy’s for a Frosty. Henry loved it then spent most of the ride home napping with a smile on his little chocolate-covered face.

Birthday Boy Rides Again

Todd — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:42:02 +0000

Henry turned three in December and put a check mark next to one of the required rites of passage for children: getting a first bicycle. We gave it to him on his actual birthday and let him tool around for a bit ahead of his party on the weekend.

It was a frustrating experience, honestly. For some reason Henry couldn’t figure out how the pedals worked. He’d just stand up and put the brakes on. He was frustrated and so were we… so we called it a day after just a few minutes.

The next day, though? He magically figured it out during his sleep, I guess and now we can’t keep up with him. Ironically he’s also forgotten how to use the brakes and can’t stop anymore other than by dragging his feet on the ground.

His party was a few days later. Emma suggested the theme: a Tonka Truck party. Marla made a beautiful cake and we had a bunch of activities all revolving around trucks and cars. The kids played a little red light/green light. The crowd was small but the party was great!

Henry And The Tractor

Todd — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:33:22 +0000

If there’s one thing Henry loves it must be cars.

If there are two things Henry love they are cars and tractors. He was in luck, then, on this last visit to the farm where he was able to ride both on Granpa’s tractor and do a little digging on the backhoe.

He awoke from his nap on the way back from visiting the buffalo restored and ready to rock. He climbed all over the big John Deere while Dad and I worked to get the battery charged on “The Digger.” You’ve never seen a happier child.

We finally got everything started and warmed up and Henry and I took a ride through the pasture. (OK, now maybe you’ve seen a happier child!) He sat on my lap as we alternately plodded and raced across the field, bouncing along and grinning from ear to ear. He pretended to steer and “switched to the rabbit” to bump us into a higher gear and gain more speed.

After riding along with me for a bit we parked the tractor and Henry and Granpa climbed aboard “The Digger.” Warmed up from the tractor ride Henry was ready to dig up a few stumps. He sat, quiet in concentration, on Dad’s lap and soaked in everything.

After knocking down one stump he’d had enough, proclaiming that “The Digger” was too loud.

He climbed down from the backhoe and I do believe he looked a little manly knowing that he would be able to cross “Operate heavy construction equipment” off of his List of Manly Things To Do in Life.

Before we left for the day he was able to cross off one more: “Pee in the woods.”

It’s amazing what makes a father proud, isn’t it?