Catching Up

Here's a few of the things I've been doing with the girls since the last post...

Daddy/Daughter Dance: Stef and I had a great time at the Daddy/Daughter Dance. This time we actually spent most of the time dancing with each other. She had such a great time that she said she wants to stick with girl scouts another year so we can go to the dance again. Funny line of the night - we were one of the first ones there, so we went through the buffet line and ate, and were finished before any of her friends showed up. So Stef and I are just standing around - music is playing but without a DJ, every one's still eating, the place is half empty. After about three minutes, she asks me to bend down and she says, "Daddy, I don't know what to do." At that moment, neither did I. We got a cookie.

Soccer: I've been able to sneak out of work to check out Jessica soccer practices the last two weeks. She is still very aggressive going after the ball; I think it's because she's been playing for a couple of years now. There's two looks that crack me up - one is the scowl when someone blocks one of her shots, the other is the distain she shows towards anyone who tries to push her off the ball. She has the eye of the tiger (notice it's tiger with a lower case "t"; not eye of the Tiger, which is evidently an extremely wandering eye.)

Class Trip: I was a chaperon for Jessica's class trip to Jenkinson's aquarium on Friday. We learned all about seals, sharks, penguins and all different types of fish. Prior to the tour, we played some arcade games where Jesse informed me that "if there was a professional skeeball team I would be on it."

I was in charge of keeping an eye on Jesse and one of her friends, who would be on a pro Rock Paper Scissors team if there was one, as evidenced by her repeated domination of Jess and I throughout lunch and the bus ride home. She leans toward paper but knowing this didn't help me.

Talent Show: Stef and Jess were amazing in the talent show. Stef did a solo ("The Climb") and a dance number with three of her friends - both of which were fantastic. Jess did a group number to The Gummi Bear song - and was dancing and smiling the whole time. She told me that next year she wants to do a solo herself and also a song with Stef. She also told me at dinner that celery should be called "watery" because I told her celery is mostly water, a fact that didn't make her want to eat celery any more than I do.

Games: Jess and I have been playing the World's Longest Game of Balloon Lagoon, a very fun game that we have been playing in five minute increments over the last week. At the very least she gets ready for school quicker so we can play.

Music: The Bruce Springsteen channel on Sirius is the default radio station I play in the car. I'm a sucker for any bootleg version of Kitty's Back. Anyway, Stef still believes every band I listen to features a singer that screams rather than sings. I recently played her Nirvana live to show her that screaming singers is a relative term.

The Trap

Jesse and I spent a lot of time this past weekend talking about her plans to trap a leprechaun the night before St. Patrick's Day. The trap involves a shoebox filled with a number of rooms and furniture made out of construction paper - a bed, a couch, a television, windows...there's even a small ladder for him to climb to get up into the shoebox. She also has a note for the leaprechaun that says "don't be afraid" because she doesn't want to hurt him, she just wants him to grant her a wish. We're in the midst of figuring out how to set the trap so that when he enters the shoebox to eat the lucky charms we've left, the lid of the shoebox will close shut. I have watched "Survivorman" so I think I can figure something out. We also plan on placing it near a nightlight so he won't be trapped in the dark.

Steph, who started this a couple years ago, came up with her own elaborate trap for the leprechaun, which is about five times the size of Jessica's.

I'm not sure if we will be successful in catching the elusive little guy, but the girls are hoping that at least the leprechaun messes up the house, becasue we all know how much mischief they create. I have a feeling he'll be able to pull that off.

The Path

Lewis and Clark. Neil Armstrong. The Lombardi-era offensive line of the Green Bay Packers. Each in their own way blazed a new trail, created a new path, made a lasting difference; whether it was going west, landing on the moon or clearing a path for Bart Starr to get in the endzone and win the Ice Bowl.

I bring this up because in their own way, the girls created a path for the rest of our town to follow when we had the big "Snow-tacular" on Wednesday. We were so excited to get to the golf course and sled down the hills that we were the first ones out there. Our first oh, 20 attempts or so consisted of Stef and Jess sliding about ten feet, much too slow and much too disappointing for either of them. But I eventually convinced them that if they created a smooth path they would slide down the hill very fast and very easily. I kept thinking of that Lombardi locker room speech where he drew a play on the chalkboard: "We want to create a seal HERE, and a seal HERE, and run the ball UP THE MIDDLE."

Anywho, back to "Snowmageddon" (actually, a side note first. With global warming causing much harsher weather, will newscasters feel obligated to jazz up every storm with a ridiculous name? And yes Drudge, it's so funny that we're talking global warming and it's snowing out. The people of Arizona and Texas certainly thought so, especially since they haven't seen that much accumulation since...never.)

Okay, so we're back on the hill on the golf course. The girls and I continued to make a path, helped by a friendly woman who let us borrow her giant inner tube to make the path wider, more quickly. Soon after, dozens of people came up the hill, following the path that we had so earnestly created. Soon, the girls experienced their customary luge-like runs down the hill, followed by frequent hugging, laughing and pushing of each other in the snow.

Whatever you decided to call it - "snowmageddon," "snow-tropolis" or "Olympia Snowefall," the girls and I had a blast.

The Kitchen

Yesterday Steffi wanted to help me with the various appetizers I was making for the Super Bowl. Of course I didn't start making the food until 5 o'clock, and since my cooking skills generally stop at pouring soup in a pot I felt very much like a chef on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. Luckily Stef was there. She knew where all the different ingredients were, knew where the various pots and pans were located, and basically "took over" the kitchen as Gordon would say.

Thank you Steffi; not only did you help me in the kitchen, you helped me get to the couch by opening kickoff.

Super

Two years ago, the best part of the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl was how much the girls got into the game. Okay, maybe that's not entirely accurate. The best part was the actual win by the Giants, but still, I was excited at how excited they were. We went to family swim at the Y to get our minds off the long wait for the game. We bought enough snacks to feed an NFL team. We cooked various kinds of apps. We cheered Eli, booed Brady, discussed why Tiki Barber wasn't there and why Michael Strahan had such a big gap in his front teeth. The girls were in bed by halftime but were excited to know what happened when they got up the next day.

I generally have a serious post-Giants-Super Bowl letdown, so last year I could not get into the game at all. No watching the game together, no talk of Tiki, nary a chicken wing to be had. But since Eli's older brother (as he is referred to in this household) is playing this Sunday, I'm thinking of getting back in the game, so to speak. Steffi is already on board; I just have to convince Jesse that Peyton is as cute as Eli.

Body English

The girls and I have been doing a steady amount of Wii'ing since Santa Wii'd down the chimney on Christmas Eve. We're very big on Wii Sports, and as the girls found out from the beginning, I'm very big on body English, particularly with bowling. The first time Jess saw me lean over on one leg to nudge a pin for a spare, she said, "Dad, what are you doing?" I replied, "It's body English - it helps move the ball where you want it." She looked at me like I just told her I was the President. I can't help it that I watched "This Week in Baseball" religiously as a kid, which ended every broadcast with Carlton Fisk waving his shot to left field fair to win Game 6 of the '75 Series in the 12th inning.

Anyway, the last few times Jess and I have played I have seen a tremendous amount of body English from her, including the twirl, the fist pump, the hip check, and "the Pele" (falling on her knees and extending her arms and face to the heavens). Tonight during out fierce bowling match (won by her) she finished off a strike with a twirl - and a warning - "Don't mess with the Jess!"

True Blue

Yesterday I was playing Madden Football when Jess walked in the room. The Giants (my team) were playing the Chargers in the Super Bowl. She asked if I always chose the Giants as my team and I said yes. She was quiet for a minute, then said, "Um, daddy. A lot of people at school are Jets fans." I told her that the Jets are close to the Super Bowl and a lot of people are rooting for them. She had this 'I have to confess something' look on her face. "Um, Daddy?" she began. "A lot of people were cheering for the Jets at school yesterday, and I did too because everyone else was, but on the inside I was rooting for the Giants." I told her she can root for any team she wants. And to myself I muttered, "As long as it's not the Dallas Cowboys."