Happy Birthday Will!
Fourteen years old… when did that happen?! Well, we’re doing something right son, because you are growing into a fine young man. You make us proud, and we love you.
Happy Birthday to You!
Category: Family
Screaming Delivery
Here’s a flashback from the home video collection. It’s September 28, 1990, and we are a young couple in the hospital, awaiting the arrival of our first child, and using our new video camera to record the event. We had already been at the hospital since early morning by the time this clip was taken, and our daughter would not arrive until the very early morning of the next day. But it was a different story in the room next door.
Sweet Sixteen
It’s a Web Page!
Colleen turned 10 last week, and it was an occasion for thinking back over 10 years of wonderful memories. I recalled that I had built an ‘It’s A Girl’ web page in advance, ready to use it to annouce the news of our new baby on the web (a blue ‘It’s a Boy’ page was also ready), and I wondered if I could possibly locate it.
And poking around old photos and files on my web server, I found it! Old web pages never die, they just become harder to find.
10 Year Old
My youngest reached double-digits today. Yes, my baby girl is 10, holy smokes! We hosted a pirate-themed sleepover with 11 of her gal pals last night, and the walls are still echoing from the fest. A grand time was had by all.
Happy Birthday Baby! (yes, I’ll call you ‘Baby’ no matter how old you are). I love you.Greetings from Sea World
Caseys & Geltmakers have gathered here in San Diego this fine summer Mondsy. We’ve got about 30 minutes to wait until Shamu takes the stage. We’re seated in the “Soak Zone”, so I guess we’re gonna get wet. Should be nice.
St. Nicholas Snow Day
As a kid, there were a few holiday traditions brought over from the old world family roots in Bohemia. Some were food related, like the braided Hoska bread, or the Kolacky pastries. But the other meant gifts, and that’s why I enjoyed the fact that we celebrated St. Nicholas day in our house.
St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the 4th Century in what is today the country of Turkey. According to Wikipedia, he was known for secret gift giving and “is revered by many as the patron saint of seamen, merchants, archers, children, prostitutes, pharmacists, lawyers, pawnbrokers, prisoners, the city of Amsterdam and of Russia.” Happily, as a child, I fell into the child category and so was glad to celebrate his feast day on December 6th.
Although I’m not sure we really celebrated it as they did in the the Czech Republic. To me, celebrating St. Nicholas day meant an early visit by the historical predecessor to the coming visit by Santa which followed three weeks later. We’d get some toys and some candy (always a Lifesavers Sweet Storybook). That’s all that mattered.
St. Nicholas was known to travel with some less appealing companions. Good children would receive gifts from St. Nicholas, while bad once received beatings. My mother recalls that her Grandfather would dress as Black Pete to scare his siblings and later his children. Presumably they were beaten.
Yesterday we had enough snow that today the schools were closed and my wife and kids enjoyed a bonus day off. There was candy and gifts in their shoes (thanks folks), as there had been in mine. And while, like me, they know little more about the day than I did, I’m glad to carry on the tradition. Maybe this year I’ll try and make a Hoska. Next year, I’ll be Black Pete.
RISK
At the front end of our long Thanksgiving weekend, I was determined not to let it all be lost to mind-numbing hours of the Cartoon Network, or the isolation of our laptops. And so I found and dusted off one off my old favorite board games, RISK.
My older brother Sean really enjoyed this game, and I remember him teaching me to play on the set we had with armies made of small wooden blocks of different colors and shapes. It’s a great mix of strategy and luck. My current set dates to my college days, where many a battle was fought. But it’s been a real long time since my generalship has been tested on the RISK board. Colleen and Will were quick to take up my challenge to fight over the world. We’ve played two games so far this weekend. I won the first, but was the first to go in the second, and I’m typing this now as they engage in the final battle. There’s a special sort of fatherly pride to hear my daughter shout, “I’m coming into Irkutsk from Kamchatka with three!”. And she did.Fifteen Years Ago
On September 29, 1990, my wife and I became parents for the first time. Katie arrived three weeks early, and as a result spent ten days in the Intensive Care Nursury at Alexandria Hospital. Oddly, they weren’t days of worry, the hospital staff was wonderful and amazing in keeping us informed on Katie’s status and progress. It was a few days before she was disconnected from a ventilator and other stuff, and we finally got to hold her.
Today, Katie is fifteen years old. The thought of it blows my mind. She’s a beautiful young woman, a freshman in High School, an excellent writer and singer, and a smart/fun/loving person. Happy Birthday Katie! We love you very much.Bridging to Juniors
Bridging to Juniors
Originally uploaded by Chris Casey.
Colleen ‘bridged’ today from Brownies to Juniors. Her familiar brown vest was retired in favor of a fancy new green sash. The vest is full of patches commemorating years of memories, activities and achievements so far in scouting. The new green sash is bare, ready for many more yet to come.
My wife Jennifer has been a scout leader for our son and daughters; tigers, cub/wolf/bear, weblos, brownies, juniors and cadets. She’s a natural born scout leader, and the kids and I are lucky to have her. Congrats Colleen!