Nolan is Four!

Today is Nolan's 4th birthday! We went to San Jose over the weekend to help him celebrate! My parents and I chipped in to get him a drum set! He has been really wanting one for the longest time. You can watch his first concert by clicking RIGHT HERE .

Also, I just uploaded my favorite pictures from the weekend to my family flikr album which you can check out RIGHT HERE.

Summer's Almost Over (sniff)

Been working pretty steady on finishing up the Hislop album. We set out to finish the 10 song LP before school started. The tracking is finished (well, I think, there might still be a track on 2 we forgot about). but for the most part, we're in the mixing stage now. I have been trying to get mixes close as we've been going, so hopefully it won't take too long. (yeah, I always say that and then proceed to nit-pick over every element of every song...so we'll see!) In the meantime, please enjoy some really beautiful photos that Tad Wagner took at our house yesterday (while he was laying down some gorgeous layers of vocals, I might add!)







Photos by Tad Wagner.

Seven Years

Happy Anniversary Angela! I'm glad you said yes to this Velveeta classic! I found the original lyrics in an old journal. You can hear this deep cut right here.

Three Years of Pictures

Well, since Abby is three, and we've been snapping photos like crazy every since, I thought I'd compile some of my favorite shots from the past three years. There's a few in here that friends snapped...so, thanks to everyone who helped make these memories with us! We love you all. This is sorta big so it might take a minute to get going....I promise it's worth the wait!



As you'll see, I sort of focused on Abby picures. (She might have to share the spot light with baby brother come October!!)

Photos & Linkage

Quick update today....I've added some links to the left.

Link #1: BUZZNET FOTOS
This is where I casually post some more arty photos from time to time.



Link #2: HISLOPS
This is the home of Dan Hislop's family. I'm recording an album of some great adult alternative tunes this summer with Dan. Be on the look out for a Fall release of this 10-song LP featuring Dan's great song-writing...

Camping

That's right! We went to the 2nd Annual Ballard Country Campout. Ok, all this really is, is a bunch of people pitching tents in the Sieck's backyard. But hey, it's fun to hang out with the Siecks and other friends! Many thanks to Jeff, Kathleen and Vera for all the hard work they put into hosting all their friends. It was pure good times....Abby and I loved camp fire time!



How did Angela manage to sleep in a tent when she's almost 7 months pregnant? Good question. Well, she didn't. Jeff and Kathleen were nice enough to offer her their bed while the rest of us were "roughing" it. Abby and I set up our own tent and she even got to debut her new Princess Sleeping Bag! Needless to say, she was stoked about this sleeping situation. She went down without a fuss, and I have to say, she was pretty darn cute. I came to bed a while after her and half-awake she said, "Hi Daddy!"

"Hi Abby. Goodnight," I replied. Then she rolled over and went right back to sleep! A few hours later, I heard her tossing and turning like a tumbleweed so I asked what was wrong. "I dunno," she replied. Funny...just like me! I had trouble getting comfortable and somersaulted all night. Obviously, we were all happy to be back in our beds.


OK, I think that was the most boring blog update of all time. I hope you enjoy the picture of Abby enjoying her first S'mores. (thanks Julie Anderson for the pictures!).

Spanish Rap at Fiesta?!?

Today was our family's turn to viva la fiesta. We ofcourse went on the night that featured "Spanish Rap" for the "musical" entertainment. Do you think Abby enjoyed it? You'll just have to watch the video below. Thankfully, the evening was redeemed by meeting up with the Sieck's for dinner. Jeff's summary was, "If I knew Spanish and liked rap, I think I would have REALLY enjoyed that." Well put Jefe.




Abby & Vera enjoying good company...


Cute girls and Cool Daddies...


Post "confetti egg head smash" picture...


Return of the Fiesta Cutie!

Clark Tour & Potty Wars '06

Clark is having a lovely time on it's first tour. Here's a recent pic Ange took at one of our shows! Being a part of the tour was a real treat for me. It was especially fun to play in San Francisco at The Make Out Room....a cool vibey place dedicated to good music. The Clark Tour continues up to the northwest so please check the website for more info.

I wish I could join up for the rest, but alas, the family needs me home. Abby is on the move and Angela is less and less on the move every day. It's exciting to think that we're only a couple months away from meeting Baby Brother, or "Magical Boy Pony", as Abby likes to call him. (No clue on that one). However, we now realize that I will need to step it up as Ange takes steps towards the couch. This was especially true today as Angela's back woke up on the wrong side of the bed. The few steps she took resembled a Granny's! Get all the info HERE AT ANGELA'S BLOG.

In other news, we have been at war lately. Not with Iraq. Not with Iran. Not even with Ipods. My new Video iPod , thanks to the generosity of a phenomenally kind parent from Elmo, is working like a charm! Who are we at war with!? None other than Abby!

It has been "Potty Wars '06" and she is more stubborn than Bin Laden and Saddam combined! If she's downed 3 milks, an OJ and a couple waters, we tend to think it's time to go. Not her. If it's our idea, she'd like to have NOTHING to do with the plan. She'll hit the jon when she is good and ready! A couple days ago I told Ange that we either need to fight harder to win or give up. Well, we of course fought harder. We're grown ups, right!?! Yes, there were owies on the bottom, loss of play time...all the heavy artilery! We won the battle that day, but alas, we've lost the war. After several hours of debate and hard fought battle, I was still losing and finally decided that it just wasn't worth it. Today, I've waved my white TP and surrendered to my more stubborn opponent.

Why? Well, she's a good kid. To be honest, an angel (almost all the time!). She also has a phenomenal track record. I think she's only wet her chonies 3 or 4 times. If she were in the Army, she'd be promotted to General or something! What was I thinking? I can't beat Captain Underpants! From now on, she can go to the potty whenever she feels it's go time. If she has tons of accidents, then I'll recalculate. But for now, what a relief (ahem, sorry) to be under the skilled leadership of Abby's bladder. Tommorrow will be a happy day and we won't spend 2 hours crying on the pot. phew.

Feel free to leave a comment....or shall I say a vote! Either vote "Good Move!" or "You loser!". I'm curious what you all think.