We just took new family photos today, so I updated our website with the new image. Check it out www.kyrachris.com!
My Girly Boy
This morning Luca was helping me with laundry. As I was putting away clothes he was putting hangers around his arms. This was the ensuing dialogue:
"Luca, what are you doing?"
"I put on purse. Bye Mama!"
"Bye Luca. Where are you going?"
"I put on makeup."
Oh, my darling little girly boy.
"Luca, what are you doing?"
"I put on purse. Bye Mama!"
"Bye Luca. Where are you going?"
"I put on makeup."
Oh, my darling little girly boy.
Randomness
Chris has been criticizing me of late for not having much of a presence on our blog. I blame him, he's just too darn efficient in posting about the stuff that we do. Leaves me little to write about. Anyway, since I have started my new blog, Image in Stone, I have made a commitment to post at least twice a month to it. I'd like to do the same for this blog, essentially one post per blog every other week. I'm hoping that will be a minimum and I will actually get around to it more frequently, but we'll see, it's all determined by the three foot tall overlord who rules my existence.
Since Chris already wrote about our trip to Minnesota, it doesn't leave me much to write about lately. So this post isn't about anything in particular, just a random observation I made during Chris and my "Sherlock Holmes" night last Thursday.
Every Thursday night "Sherlock Holmes" (the Jeremy Brett version) airs on PBS. For those of you that don't know, I am a total Holmes nerd. I read the massive anthology Barnes and Nobel publishes in the last weeks of my pregnancy. I read them again to Luca the first few months after he was born to rock him to sleep. And our bedtime book is currently the "Children's Classics" edition of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". So every Thursday Chris and I sit down to watch "Sherlock Holmes".
Another series I am fond of is Agatha Christie's Poirot. I've read most of these as well, and up until recently, PBS broadcast them on Sunday nights. However, much to Chris and my disappointment they stopped running them through most of the summer. But last Thursday, we were delighted to find that they resumed showing Poirot, and put it on right after Holmes! My two favorite detective shows all in one night!
As we sat down to watch both shows, what struck me was the huge differences between the two. Not so much in the characters; though their appearances are nearly diametric opposites, their methods and eccentricities are quite similar. What fascinated me was the contrast between the two worlds in which the characters lived:
The intro to "Sherlock Holmes" is a horse and buggy clipping through the noisy, cobblestone streets of London. Poirot's compatriot Hastings's hobby is acquiring the latest and fastest cars. In Holmes era, human flight was still a thing of fantasy. Some of Poirot's cases deal with the theft of plans for a secret fighter plane. Homes is frequently summoned to his cased by hand delivered message or telegraph. A phone call is all Poirot requires. 221B Baker Street is lit by gas lamps, while Poirot's stylish flat has electric lighting. And perhaps most shockingly is the change of attire, especially for women: the Victorian everything-covered-up-to-your-eyeballs look in Holmes, while the women of Poirot often sport revealing flapper-girl attire.
To really appreciate this huge contrast, consider the publication dates of the two series: The first Holmes novel "A Study in Scarlet" was published in 1887, with stories taking place in the 1880's and 90's. Hercule Poirot first appeared in Christie's fiction in 1920. That's a difference of only 40 years. Chris didn't find it particularly shocking, stating it was like the difference between when my mother grew up and now. That's true, but the contrast in technologies wasn't as stark. My mom grew up watching television like I did. Though there were no cell phones, telephones existed and were in common use. She got her driver's license at sixteen, just as teenagers do now. And although she didn't have a computer in her home, or use one until she was an adult, she at least knew that such things existed and what they were. The world of my mother seems to me old fashioned, but not archaic. And that is almost certainly how the fashionable, modern Hercule Poirot would have viewed the horse-and-buggy world of Sherlock Homes.
Such are my random thoughts for the day.
Since Chris already wrote about our trip to Minnesota, it doesn't leave me much to write about lately. So this post isn't about anything in particular, just a random observation I made during Chris and my "Sherlock Holmes" night last Thursday.
Every Thursday night "Sherlock Holmes" (the Jeremy Brett version) airs on PBS. For those of you that don't know, I am a total Holmes nerd. I read the massive anthology Barnes and Nobel publishes in the last weeks of my pregnancy. I read them again to Luca the first few months after he was born to rock him to sleep. And our bedtime book is currently the "Children's Classics" edition of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". So every Thursday Chris and I sit down to watch "Sherlock Holmes".
Another series I am fond of is Agatha Christie's Poirot. I've read most of these as well, and up until recently, PBS broadcast them on Sunday nights. However, much to Chris and my disappointment they stopped running them through most of the summer. But last Thursday, we were delighted to find that they resumed showing Poirot, and put it on right after Holmes! My two favorite detective shows all in one night!
As we sat down to watch both shows, what struck me was the huge differences between the two. Not so much in the characters; though their appearances are nearly diametric opposites, their methods and eccentricities are quite similar. What fascinated me was the contrast between the two worlds in which the characters lived:
The intro to "Sherlock Holmes" is a horse and buggy clipping through the noisy, cobblestone streets of London. Poirot's compatriot Hastings's hobby is acquiring the latest and fastest cars. In Holmes era, human flight was still a thing of fantasy. Some of Poirot's cases deal with the theft of plans for a secret fighter plane. Homes is frequently summoned to his cased by hand delivered message or telegraph. A phone call is all Poirot requires. 221B Baker Street is lit by gas lamps, while Poirot's stylish flat has electric lighting. And perhaps most shockingly is the change of attire, especially for women: the Victorian everything-covered-up-to-your-eyeballs look in Holmes, while the women of Poirot often sport revealing flapper-girl attire.
To really appreciate this huge contrast, consider the publication dates of the two series: The first Holmes novel "A Study in Scarlet" was published in 1887, with stories taking place in the 1880's and 90's. Hercule Poirot first appeared in Christie's fiction in 1920. That's a difference of only 40 years. Chris didn't find it particularly shocking, stating it was like the difference between when my mother grew up and now. That's true, but the contrast in technologies wasn't as stark. My mom grew up watching television like I did. Though there were no cell phones, telephones existed and were in common use. She got her driver's license at sixteen, just as teenagers do now. And although she didn't have a computer in her home, or use one until she was an adult, she at least knew that such things existed and what they were. The world of my mother seems to me old fashioned, but not archaic. And that is almost certainly how the fashionable, modern Hercule Poirot would have viewed the horse-and-buggy world of Sherlock Homes.
Such are my random thoughts for the day.
Kyra’s New Blog
During our trip to the Twin Cities, Kyra decided to start a project she had been thinking about for some time. She decided to create charcoal rubbings of gravestones, with the first being her grandfather's. Here's the description from her new blog:
On this blog I hope to present my rubbings, such as they may be, in an artistic fashion. I'm still working on the "artistic" part. Ideally I would like to find some information concerning the people on the stones, reviving my old fourth grade project. But I also wish to look at some deeper issues: how we look at life and death, deal with our mortality, remember our loved ones.Check out the blog here: http://imageinstone.blogspot.com/. She will be posting her first rubbing soon.
Late Summer Family Events
Our friend Carla had an IV-free party in late August. It is an amazing accomplishment for her to go for a year without intravenous antibiotics for her lungs. We are so happy for her and proud of her! We didn't get any pictures of the party, but we did get some of Luca at the swings.
The next day, my brother, Kenny, had a family gathering to celebrate his wedding to Joana and wish him well on his tour of duty for the Army Reserves. We're not certain where he's going, but he'll be gone until next year. Congratulations on the wedding and we wish you a safe return!
Luca was interested in the kids climbing the tree...
Uncle Todd and his daughter (my cousin), Samantha (Sam)
Grandma Bea, Uncle Gary, and Aunt Laura
Back: Kenny, me, my sister Megan, and my dad Stewart
Front: Joana, Kyra, Luca, and my mom TeresaThe next weekend we traveled to the Twin Cities area to visit Kyra's sister (Sabrina), nieces (Liliana and Dalila), and mother (Nana). Liliana was having a birthday party in honor of her third birthday. We also spent time pretending to camp out in Nana's house. Liliana wore a special birthday princess dress:
Liliana' Princess Dress
We enjoyed spending time reading
Liliana's birthday cake with a castle perfect for a little princess
Our makeshift tentWe also read "Baily Goes Camping", which was extremely appropriate.
On the last day of our visit, we went out to eat for breakfast. There were these big statues of Peanuts characters, and Luca and Liliana seemed to like them. Luca was especially covetous of the cars at the feet of one of them (in the second photo).
Liliana was quite sad to see us go. She kept asking for us after we left. This was also the first trip in which I got to hold Dalila, and we really bonded. She's such a little cutie, and I think she needs a lot of attention. She would lean into my face for physical contact and enjoyed touching my face. I think my scruffy beard may have been ticklish. She is surprisingly strong, vocal, and independent. She played with Liliana and Luca, tumbling after them as fast as she could. I wish I could see both of them more often, like every other weekend...
On the way home, Luca was having fun playing with a map after Kyra tried to find us an alternate route when the traffic slowed to a stop.
When we finally got home, we were greeted by a silly cat named Mars. He likes the box now.
Silly catMore photos from our late summer events: Late Summer 2010 Album
The next day, my brother, Kenny, had a family gathering to celebrate his wedding to Joana and wish him well on his tour of duty for the Army Reserves. We're not certain where he's going, but he'll be gone until next year. Congratulations on the wedding and we wish you a safe return!
Luca was interested in the kids climbing the tree...
Uncle Todd and his daughter (my cousin), Samantha (Sam)
Grandma Bea, Uncle Gary, and Aunt Laura
Back: Kenny, me, my sister Megan, and my dad Stewart
Front: Joana, Kyra, Luca, and my mom Teresa
Liliana' Princess Dress
We enjoyed spending time reading
Liliana's birthday cake with a castle perfect for a little princess
Our makeshift tent
On the last day of our visit, we went out to eat for breakfast. There were these big statues of Peanuts characters, and Luca and Liliana seemed to like them. Luca was especially covetous of the cars at the feet of one of them (in the second photo).
Liliana was quite sad to see us go. She kept asking for us after we left. This was also the first trip in which I got to hold Dalila, and we really bonded. She's such a little cutie, and I think she needs a lot of attention. She would lean into my face for physical contact and enjoyed touching my face. I think my scruffy beard may have been ticklish. She is surprisingly strong, vocal, and independent. She played with Liliana and Luca, tumbling after them as fast as she could. I wish I could see both of them more often, like every other weekend...
On the way home, Luca was having fun playing with a map after Kyra tried to find us an alternate route when the traffic slowed to a stop.
When we finally got home, we were greeted by a silly cat named Mars. He likes the box now.
Silly cat
