In case of emergency, use for good

Last week brought some unsettling news in to the Twench household. I always knew Lauren was born with an innate power I would have no chance of controlling. I could only hope to train her to use this power for good rather than evil. Unfortunately, the training has to start a lot earlier than I had ever imagined. You see, last week, Lauren's day care provider told us about a little incident that occurred when they were at the park. Lauren has 2 friends about her age, we shall call them Shy & Sensitive and Little Caveboy (both boys). Shy & Sensitive is exactly that, but is starting to come out of his shell. He likes to talk, especially with lauren. Little Caveboy likes to grunt and scream as boys like to do. Lauren used to hang out with Little Caveboy all the time, but lately has gravitated towards Shy & Sensitive. Thus begins "The Incident". At the park, Lauren gave Shy & Sensitive a hug, but not Little Caveboy. If you were Little Caveboy, how would you react? Yup ... a fight ensued between the two. With her blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and slender physique, I knew Lauren would hold tremendous sway over those of the male gender in her surroundings. I just never in my wildest dreams figured we would hit that point at 3 years old.

Happy Birthday Lauren

It's a day late, but I forgot to mention that, yesterday, Lauren turned 3 years old. In the past year, her hair has gone from thin and whispy to longer and little thicker. Her height has reached to over 3 feet. Her vocabulary just grows by leaps and bounds and her pronunciation get clearer every day. She's also gone from an only child to the big sister. What a year.

Name That Relation

Weddings are a joyous occasion, especially in my family. The blessed events do tend to cause interesting situations thanks to my unique family tree. My sister’s wedding this weekend was no exception. Thanks to my father’s 4 marriages, my mother (wife #1) got to introduce Denise (wife #3) to Fina (wife #4) at the wedding of the daughter of wife #2. With 4 of my dad’s 5 sisters attending with their respective families, and Fina’s rather large Italian family, the afternoon was a wonderful game of “Name that Relation”. There really needed to be some flash cards.
The wedding was beautiful and specifically designed for the benefit of the audience. Procession to 1st kiss, the ceremony lasted about 15 minutes. With all the children, it was a perfect time span. Just long enough that by the time they thought about getting fidgety, the ceremony had ended. Even the ring bearer and flower girl (my nephew, Ryan, and niece, Catie) didn’t have time to get restless.
The reception was great, and the kids loved running around and dancing to the DJ. I think the best part was when Eric fell asleep in my dad’s arms. Since Mr. Antisocial (a name we use in love, of course) likes to sit in a corner, Debbie and I got to mingle without either rugrat in tow, since Lauren was doing her best whirling dervish impression on the dance floor. Towards the end of the party, I got to teach Lauren the Chicken Dance! How cool is that!

We Theme Because We Can

As Heather opined, it is quite nice to be able to theme your children's halloween costumes. Here we are about ready to set off on the grand Trick-or-Treat Adventure.