The Austin Boys

Into the winter months...

2012-01-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

Middle of 2011...

2012-01-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures through the summer of 2011, including Abel's 7th birthday (!) and Teddy's first trip to Maine!

The early months...

2012-01-04T20:09:00.000-05:00

Many Months Late... Teddy Pants!

2011-12-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

Our second beautiful baby boy was born on April 2, 2011. We have decided to keep this blog rolling to chronicle his early days, much like Abel's.

Feeding chickadees

2011-02-16T14:13:00.002-05:00

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was to sit out on our back porch with some sunflower seeds and feed the chickadees right out of my hands. Today, Abel went on a homeschooler hike and got to hand-feed some chickadees himself. Little did he know how much a taste of Maine this was. But he was pretty thrilled anyway.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T15:39:00.002-04:00

Still two peas in a pod. :)

2010-06-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

Teeball!

2010-05-27T20:22:00.003-04:00

Abel has been really enjoying playing teeball this summer.

He has a great time practicing in the backyard with his buddy Troy. Note the high leg kick Troy taught him!

When it's game time, he's all business…

…except when he's not.

And after the games, he loves to watch the big kids play.

A flashback

2010-04-20T00:22:00.001-04:00

On a lunch date two years ago:

Church Bells at Lunchtime from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Blueberry Italian Soda

2010-04-10T09:47:00.002-04:00

Recent Pictures!

2010-04-10T09:32:00.000-04:00

South Carolina Visit!

2010-03-08T22:10:00.003-05:00

We had a great time in February visiting with Grandma Zoe, Grampy, GG, and Gram! These pictures were taken at Congaree National Park. What a beautiful place for Abel to run around in as he acted as our tour guide through the boardwalks.

More SC moments...

2010-03-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

Making cookies with Grandma Zoe.

Eating real southern bbq, it was everthing Abel was hoping for, and us too.

Being silly with Grampy.

Great visit to the zoo! He loves this place.

And the city slicker milking a cow.

Reading the Sunday Paper

2010-02-09T08:31:00.003-05:00

Our boy is getting too big. What a wonderful little person he is, and so interested in comics.

Iceskating!

2010-01-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas in Maine '09

2009-12-29T21:34:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas '09

2009-12-29T21:31:00.001-05:00

Frosty frown

2009-12-01T20:33:00.001-05:00

We had lunch at Wendy's yesterday, and one of the boxes said, "It's impossible to frown while eating a Frosty." So I decided to test that claim, and I asked Abel to take a bite and then try to frown.

Turns out they're right.

My Envelopes

2009-11-19T16:48:00.003-05:00

Abel.sa.1q.G.2q.sp.1q

Sticks

2009-11-19T00:15:00.001-05:00

We can't stop looking at this photo and laughing.

Abel's money envelopes

2009-11-18T09:30:00.003-05:00

We've been talking with Abel about money lately. Some of his school work has been in learning how to count coins, and he also likes to watch us when we make our monthly budget and fill our cash envelopes. (You can read more about our family's money journey here.) So we made him three envelopes of his own, one for each of the things money is good for. He's pretty excited, and when he earned a dollar for helping clean the house out yesterday, he happily distributed each quarter into one of the envelopes.

Incidentally, he had to choose one envelope to put two quarters in. He chose the giving envelope.

Down by the river

2009-10-31T19:35:00.002-04:00

We had a nice family walk down to Ellison Park yesterday. We took the dog and threw the ball in a big empty field. Then we walked down to the creek bed, where Abel immersed himself in building a dam for a good solid forty minutes. He was like... well, a boy in mud.

I think this is maybe the best image I've ever captured with the iPhone camera, which frankly is not much good unless the light is just right. I touched it up with some filters, and I really like how it came out.

Leaf crazy dog and boy

2009-10-30T10:33:00.000-04:00

Me 'n Grampy

2009-10-24T17:43:00.002-04:00

At the zoo in Columbia last year.

Muddy Abel

2009-10-03T13:33:00.003-04:00

This is an older photo, maybe from early spring or so. I just edited it using a cool application called CameraBag. Maybe a little overboard on the filters, but it was fun. (Click to enlarge.)

School days: veterinarian

2009-09-30T15:40:00.003-04:00

When Abel first saw the word veterinarian, he read it as vegetarian. Good guess...

Check out the cool Luma tattoo!

More homeschool fun

2009-09-23T20:17:00.002-04:00

Abel's first art project: a custom kindergarten t-shirt. (He wrote his own copy.)

And a science project: a homemade bird feeder. (The instructions are here.)

We hung the bird feeder on the cable line that holds up the grapevines in our backyard.

First day of school

2009-09-21T16:47:00.003-04:00

Today was Abel's first day of school! We started kindergarten homeschool today. He was extremely excited to get started and kept asking me how many more minutes until it was time to start. Soon it was 9:30, and he sat at his desk—a real school desk from my uncle Dan's elementary school that Dan salvaged, refinished, and gave Abel last Christmas. We worked on writing lowercase letters, mostly. For about two-thirds of the time, I worked with him and showed him how to do them, and then for the last part of his day he worked alone, doing a great job figuring out the letters himself. Afterward we did some exercise sheets from his BrainQuest book. I gave him a sticker with a dog saying, "Excellent!" and he was thrilled.

*Note: One of the benefits of homeschool is that you don't have to comb your hair.

"Abel Says" in the sidebar

2009-08-24T18:43:00.002-04:00

Notice the new item to the right of this window? It's a Twitter feed where we're posting the funny/cute/profound/bizarre things Abel says. You can check the blog to see it, or you can find it at the AbelSays Twitter page.

Hit me on my hip, girl

2009-08-10T22:35:00.002-04:00

I found this photo in our iPhoto library, don't know from when. Gave me a flash-forward to Abel talking to his girlfriend on the phone as a teenager. Of course, teenagers don't talk on the phone even now, let alone in ten years. So Abel will probably beam radio messages from the chip in his brain to the chip in his girl's brain. But still. The picture made me think.

5 years of birthdays in Maine....

2009-08-09T18:34:00.007-04:00

Every year our week in Maine seems to fall on or within days of Abel's birthday. What great memories! It was fun going through all our old pictures digging these out. I was bummed because I couldn't find the Maine pictures from '06 so I used a different birthday shot. But hopefully Abel will remember his birthday with fond memories for multiple reasons. And we hope we can keep the Maine tradition alive for years to come!

'09

'08
'07
'06
'05

'04 - didn't make it to Maine this year, born the day before we would have been leaving!

some funny cake shots...

2009-08-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

Abel's 5th Bday Bash, Survivor Style!

2009-08-09T16:37:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Auntie Beth and Uncle Josh for the pictures... :)

Satchmo, tired from scrounging for food...

Ben getting in the partying mood with Uncle Scott...
Vi and Lolo hoping for a spray of candy from the pinata...
The challenge...
More sugar....

The cake!

Always, dude

2009-07-08T10:30:00.001-04:00

Me: Abel, will you always be my little buddy boy?

Abel: Yeah! Well... not always.

Me: Why not?

Abel: Because I have to grow up, dude!

Me: Oh.

Abel: But don't worry. I'll still love you.

I'll take it.

Happy 4th!!

2009-07-03T19:41:00.000-04:00

Abel reading

2009-06-15T14:18:00.000-04:00

He loves to read, just like his dad and his Gramma Zoe.

First sprinkler fun of 2009

2009-06-11T20:42:00.001-04:00

Believe me, he's not as underfed as his ribs look. He eats constantly, as a matter of fact.

Ducks on the canal

2009-05-27T13:02:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Tracey had the day off—her fourth in a row, thanks to an extra vacation day taken on top of the Memorial Day holiday. We decided to take a Super Fun Family Outing.

So we packed a lunch and hopped on our bikes, attached our Burley trailer for Abel to ride in, and took a 20-mile round trip bike ride. We rode down out of the city through Genesee Valley Park, and then out to Pittsford, where we stopped at Shoen Place, a little shopping district on the canal. We sat on benches and ate our lunch, and Abel fed the ducks.

Sore legs today, but it was the most family fun we've had in ages.

Yes, Tracey was a little nervous about how close to the canal Abel was perched. But he only fell in twice, so it turns out she was worried for nothing.

Lilac Festival 2009

2009-05-15T21:00:00.002-04:00

We went to the Lilac Festival with Violet and Aunt Lolo. Here are some photos:

Sometimes, others have better words

2009-04-27T08:56:00.000-04:00

In this case, it's Tony Woodlief, describing a hug he gave his son after getting home from a business trip: "I squeeze Eli harder, trying to press into his flesh all the love he will ever need, while there is still time, while he is still a boy and the sun is still shining."

Abel and his Pup

2009-04-19T17:49:00.000-04:00

At baseball class...

2009-03-21T10:35:00.001-04:00

Our new pup

2009-03-14T09:41:00.001-04:00

In case you're not following Scott's blog, here are some pictures of our new puppy, Satchmo.

Dreams

2009-03-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

Abel: "I had a dream I could fly. I flew to Africa. My wings didn't need batteries, though. They were real wings, like a bee."

Feeding the lorakeets

2009-02-18T09:56:00.002-05:00

One of the highlights of our vacation was going back to the Riverside Zoo in Columbia, SC. (See photos from the original trip, when Abel was tiny, in this post.)

The zoo has a walk-through lorakeet exhibit where you can buy a cup of nectar to feed the birds. They fly right down and land on your hand (or your head) to drink the nectar. This time, Abel got in on the fun. He took it very seriously and had a great time!

Abel feeds two lorakeets

Birdbrain

Not sure why they didn't land on my gut...

Pretty bird

The Austin Boys

2009-02-15T19:40:00.004-05:00

Tracey caught this great image, shooting from her hip while we were riding in a horse-drawn carriage, touring Savannah, GA. It's three generations of Austin men: my dad on the left, Abel in the middle, and me (well, my beard anyway) on the right. Great shot, Tracey!

Some vacation pics....

2009-02-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

Sick pup

2009-02-05T16:12:00.002-05:00

I should have known something was wrong when this happened Tuesday afternoon:

Abel hasn't taken a nap in... well, I'm not sure he ever took naps, actually. But on Tuesday, he fell asleep on the floor while watching Cars. He started to get a little warm and quiet as the night wore on, and then about an hour before bedtime, he barfed up about a gallon of grape juice and blueberries.

At age four and a half, this was the first time Abel had ever thrown up.

We got him settled down and into bed. It was a long night. His ears began to hurt. Thankfully, he didn't throw up again, but he didn't get much sleep, either. When he woke up, he couldn't hear very well.

We took him to the doctor yesterday, already knowing the diagnosis: double ear infection. So he's on amoxicillin and Tylenol, and he's doing better already. And we're pretty glad this is happening now, instead of next week when we are in South Carolina.

Video game dreamin'

2009-01-15T08:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Abel woke up sobbing at 5:00 a.m. I went into his room to see what was wrong, and he told me, "I had a dreeeeeeaaaaam..." When I asked him to tell me about it, he said, "I dreamed we went to Chuck E. Cheese's, and we DID have money, but we STILL didn't play any games!"

Video game loss: a classic nightmare, right up there with falling and showing up at school in your underwear. I think it is symbolic of the fact that everyone has a Wii except us.

recently...

2009-01-07T18:59:00.004-05:00

At the King and I...

At home...
At weirdoville...
At grandma and pop-pops...

Cousin Ben

2009-01-01T10:33:00.000-05:00

Abel's cousin Ben is visiting. He liked playing with my iPhone.

Polaroid Christmas

2008-12-29T21:18:00.002-05:00

I got a cool photo application for my iPhone. It's called Camera Bag, and it very simply applies filters to photos taken with the camera to make them look varying degrees of Old Timey. Check out examples here.

Here's one using the "Instant" filter, which is designed not to infringe on the copyrights of the good people at Polaroid:

Super Mario Galaxy!

2008-12-29T10:40:00.002-05:00

Since we don't have a Wii, Abel and I get our (well, his) Super Mario Galaxy fix from YouTube. At some point in the morning on most normal days, Abel will come over and ask if we can "watch a few levels." We've spent enough time doing this that I've even found the very best videos available. Some people just hold a cheap cell phone camera in front of the TV and upload it to YouTube, but that's not good enough for us. We only go for the good stuff.

Here is Abel's favorite level in the whole game, where Mario gets to transform into Bee Mario for the first time. This video was uploaded by a YouTube user named "eishinki," whom Abel now knows by name because he has uploaded high quality videos of every level in the game. Thanks, eishinki, whoever and wherever you are!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T16:10:00.002-05:00

Since we will be with family tomorrow Abel opened his gifts at home this morning. What fun!

Christmas and winter, together at last

2008-12-20T12:21:00.002-05:00

After a few years of dud weather around Christmas, it looks like we're finally going to have a very white Christmas. (If you'd seen the three of us dancing to Christmas music this morning, you would place extra emphasis on "white.") Anyway, here are a few photos apropos to the season.

Breakfast at Gram's

2008-11-27T08:39:00.002-05:00

Gram (my grandmother): Abel, did you wake up at all last night?

Abel: Nope! Just at seven-oh-oh.

Gram: Then I think you must be a very happy little boy.

Abel: And smart, too!

...

Gram: What should we do with all these leftover pancakes?

Abel (obviously): Um, compost them!

Toy Heaven

2008-11-13T10:08:00.000-05:00

Bye, warm weather. You will be missed.

2008-11-10T08:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween '08

2008-11-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

2008-10-25T20:13:00.002-04:00

On our ride home from a halloween party, Abel was going through his goody bag...

Abel- "I can't get this thing to work. The balls won't go in the spots!"

Me- "Sometimes those things don't work well."

Abel- "No, I want to play with it! Why doesn't it work?!" (increasingly exhausted)

Me- "Those games are cheap."

Abel- "But we love cheap things!"

Me- hahahhaha

Abel- "That isn't funny, Mom."

An autumn walk

2008-10-25T10:13:00.001-04:00

Ellicottville '08

2008-10-11T11:07:00.002-04:00

Abel, Uncle Mike, and I went to Little Rock City.

Abel and Violet had fun playing games!

Aunt Shawnie being extra creative with the pumpkin carving.

Sweet Violet.

Pumpkinville

2008-10-11T11:03:00.000-04:00

Aunt Lolo shows her distain for the tractor ride.

Crazy friends

2008-10-02T23:45:00.001-04:00

Here's a photo of Abel and some of his friends after a wedding on Saturday. I think it captures each kid's personality really well.

Abel, Troy, Bryn, Gavin, Fred, and Jaron

A photo of Cousin Violet

2008-09-26T23:36:00.002-04:00

We all recently made the trip to Buffalo to celebrate Abel's great-grandma's 80th birthday party. While we were there, I took this photo of Violet, who was finding comfort in a rice cake after a few sad moments. I like how Abel is blurred into the foreground. You can still almost tell from his body language that he's concerned for Vi.

Late last night

2008-09-21T20:04:00.003-04:00

As I was finishing up some work on my sermon last night, Abel woke up with a start. His urgent yell "Daaaaad!" broke through the silence of my sleepy house, and I ran in to see if he was okay.

He was just lying in bed, and when I said, "What's the matter, buddy?" he just rolled over toward the door and said,

"Can you sleep with me?" He pronounced it "sweep," which pretty much sealed the deal.

"Sure," I said, "I'll lie down with you for a few minutes." So I did.

After I had lain there for a few minutes, I got up and started toward the door. "Good night," he said.

Abel makes the newspaper

2008-09-15T12:15:00.003-04:00

Not for breaking some record or curing some disease. Not yet at least. Just a cute photo of him at the ArtWalk Alive! festival.

Click to enlarge:

Funny: the first thing I thought when I saw this was, "Wait, Abel's 4?!"

Oh, I forgot one!

2008-09-15T11:06:00.002-04:00

"Since you've been very nice lately, do you want to get me a cookie?"

This has to be a variation on something we've told him... if only I could figure out what it is.

Abel in the rain

2008-09-13T23:29:00.004-04:00

Abel had a blast and a half today at Amelia's first birthday party. He had fun even when it rained. In fact, judging from the state of his clothes and shoes—soaked to the skin—he had even more fun when it rained than when it was dry.

Abelisms

2008-09-12T20:30:00.002-04:00

Abel's use of language is getting more advanced all the time. As usual, it takes a few tries to figure out new words, phrases, and concepts. Lately, the definitions of "later" and "today" have been a source of much consternation. When faced with the reality that something he wants to do won't happen until "later this week," Abel defiantly reminds us that "Later means TODAY." And when I tell him that he can't watch something until just before bedtime, he'll lament, "Awww, but that will be NIGHT, not TODAY!" It's, um, fun.

When he was coloring a cookie and went outside the lines, he shrugged it off, saying, "I guess this is a cookie with brown lasers coming out of it." Such a boy.

Abel has two imaginary friends. The first one to arrive was named "Abelo," which is pretty easy to say: just add an "o" to the end of his name. When he says it fast, it sounds like "eh blow." Shortly after his arrival, Abelo invited his friend "Sticks" to join him. When Abel is playing in the backyard and the other kids aren't around, he says, "I'll just play tag with Abelo and Sticks." Pretty cute.

Recently he asked Aunt Lora, "Have I ever steered you wrong?!"

When frustrated by a toy, or the button on his jeans, or just about any inanimate object he can't master right away, he loudly complains, "I can't get this thing to OBEY!" I know the feeling...

Abel and Tracey at the playground

2008-09-02T19:29:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2008-09-01T20:59:00.001-04:00

Copying Daddy's way of relaxing after a busy day... ayiyi.

2008-08-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

Peace

2008-08-24T16:53:00.001-04:00

After a weekend of sleeping outdoors, Abel was ready for a nap in the car on the way home. You can pretty easily tell from this picture what his favorite things are.

Summer, Stop!

2008-08-21T21:38:00.003-04:00

You are ending too fast!

We want summer to end in a slow sort of bang...
So we will hold on to every last warm day...

2008-08-21T21:35:00.002-04:00

And spend time with friends in the backyard...

Enjoy our huge sunflowers...
Blow lots more bubbles...
And continue to take daily baths...
Until the last popsicle is eaten...

Real Gone

2008-08-06T11:04:00.002-04:00

I think it's hilarious that Abel sings Sheryl Crow's "Real Gone" (well, kinda sings it anyway!) from the movie Cars whenever he plays with his cars.

My guys...

2008-08-05T19:27:00.001-04:00

Abel fishing

2008-07-31T16:18:00.001-04:00

This is Abel casting his fishing pole at Hogan Pond in Oxford, ME. (He doesn't have a hook on there, just a bobber.) His Grampy taught him how to cast. It took Abel about three tries before he got it down.

Abel Fishing from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

More vacation video to come, I hope!

Vacation recap

2008-07-28T23:31:00.007-04:00

We recently returned from one of our best vacations ever. We went to Yankee Stadium for a baseball game (as mentioned in the previous post), and then headed to Maine, where we did all sorts of fun stuff: visiting family (including Cousin Ben) up at the lake, watching sunsets, teaching Abel how to cast his new fishing pole, checking out the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum and the Gray Wildlife Park, and lots more.

Here are a bunch of pictures, some taken with my iPhone and some taken with our Canon DSLR.

At Yankee Stadium:

On the waterfront:

At the Railroad Museum:

And some fun with Ben (who I took to calling "Bendy," because he was squirming around all the time, and flipping sideways when he was being funny:

Yankees win!

2008-07-20T22:32:00.006-04:00

Abel had his first trip to a major league ballpark today, taking in a Yankees-A's game in the final season of Yankee Stadium with the whole family. We had such a great time, and despite the 93° heat, Abel held up like a champ. We were saved from the heat by two strokes of luck: our seats were the first row in the shade, and the game was a real pitchers' duel. It was all over in a speedy two hours and twenty-six minutes. Oh, and Uncle Josh took Abel for a walk and bought him a sweet foam hand, which kept Abel happy for the final three innings. He had a blast.

But by the time we left, he was exhausted. We exited the stadium to the strains of Sinatra singing "New York, New York." A very happy day indeed.

A great weekend

2008-07-12T23:51:00.003-04:00

Weekends are precious time for us Austins. Tracey gets out of work a little earlier on Fridays, and we keep Saturdays clear of other responsibilities as much as is possible. This weekend was unusually terrific; we had good weather and spent a lot of time together doing extra fun things.

We went to Best Buy on Saturday morning to buy a new refrigerator for one of our tenants. Of course, you can't go only to the appliance department when you go to "the yellow store," right? You have to get in some time playing on the video games. Abel is a big fan of Rock Band, so we spent some time at that display.

Later in the day, we helped some friends move into their new house in the city. It was 90+° and very humid, so needless to say we worked up a sweat. After the unpacking was done, we drove to Shortsville for the Rock the Park festival, where some other friends of ours were volunteering. These friends were kind enough to offer the use of their pool, even though they had to stay late and clean up after the festival. It was incredibly refreshing to go for a dip after all the hot work earlier in the day. Abel is learning how to be brave in the water, even when we toss him in the air.

This last photo was taken on Friday afternoon, when were walking around Eastview Mall. It's good to see such big smiles on the faces of the people I love most.

(All these photos were taken on my new iPhone, which I nerdily waited in line to buy Friday morning.)

2008-07-05T23:08:00.001-04:00

Questions

2008-07-02T11:13:00.003-04:00

"Daddy, are bats okay to chase?"

"You mean the kind of bats that fly around?"

(Matter-of-factly) "Yeah, in a cave. Are they okay to chase?"

"Um, I guess so."

* * * *

"Daddy, why is our car a Subaru?"

This one is probably a daily question. I truly didn't know how to answer it for a long time—nothing would ever satisfy his curiosity. Then Tracey told me, "Just say it's because we like Subarus." Um, okay. But apparently that's the answer he needs.

* * * *

"Daddy, when will we go get Mommy?"

"At 5:30."

"How long will it be 5:30?"

"Uh, that's about six hours away."

"Six hours?! That's ridiculous. Six hours! Grrr."

Working on his tone

2008-06-30T23:19:00.003-04:00

Abel was learning the finer points of guitar tone earlier today. He had fun telling me which combinations of pedals to turn on and learning how each one affected the sound of my guitar. ("Okay, now press the second green one and the silver one!") Pretty soon he was ready to step up and give it a go with his own guitar.

His favorite pedal was the wah, which actually belongs to his Grampy:

And here he is stepping on the delay pedal. You can see his fretting hand getting ready to shred. Pretty soon he'll be on YouTube, I guess.

A still from the butterfly day

2008-06-30T23:14:00.000-04:00

Video: Catching a butterfly

2008-06-14T15:13:00.000-04:00

We like summer.

The Backyard Butterfly from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Daddy, can I have some chives?

2008-06-09T10:32:00.001-04:00

Abel loves to pick chives out of our garden and eat them.

2008-06-08T21:37:00.001-04:00

This kid is almost as big as me!

2008-06-08T21:35:00.003-04:00

The little cuz ... :)

Hiking

2008-06-08T21:31:00.001-04:00

Lora and Violet gearing up...

Abel identifying leaves...
A perfect day with Grandma and Violet and Lolo...

It's a s'more!

2008-06-03T08:11:00.005-04:00

Two things to notice here. First, Abel says that his s'more is "deliciouser." And second, the title is inaccurate because he actually says "s'more-er" (in response to the neighbor, who walked by and said, "Cool Abel, you guys have a fire!" He was correcting her. "It's a s'more-er!") But "It's a s'more-er" would have seemed like a typo.

It's A S'more! from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Par-tay!

2008-06-02T22:19:00.003-04:00

We were shopping in Wegmans last week when a voice came through the store's PA system: "Jessica Smith, your party is waiting at the front of the store, Jessica Smith, your party is waiting at the front of the store."

A minute or two later, Abel asked me, "Dad, where is the front of the store?"

"Uh, at the cash registers, where we pay for our groceries," I replied.

"There's a party there! Can we go?"

Church Bells

2008-05-28T22:07:00.001-04:00

OK, so this is basically Abel's video blog lately. Anyway, he loves church bells, especially the ones at Christ Church Episcopal, which has a courtyard where we sometimes meet Tracey for lunch. This is from our lunch date today.

Church Bells at Lunchtime from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

That was fun!

2008-05-25T14:19:00.001-04:00

Sorry to inundate you with video, but it's just so fun and easy. This one is of Abel rolling down a hill in a wagon at church.

Three Kids in a Wagon from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Abel says "Good night"

2008-05-25T07:32:00.000-04:00

Good Night, Abel from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Winkie

2008-05-22T21:17:00.002-04:00

I went to P.F. Chang's with some other pastors for lunch today, and Abel rolled along with me. While we were there, I took a few quick videos with our new Flip Ultra video camera. (By the way? Bye-bye, DV cam. The Flip is a game-changer.) Anyway, here's a very short clip of him winking.

He really impressed a woman at the next table over with his winking skills, and when we left, she insisted he do it again so her entire table could see. It was a corporate luncheon with about twenty people. He brought the house down.

Abel Winking from Scott Austin on Vimeo.

Recent Times

2008-05-11T21:29:00.004-04:00

Abel is really growing up now. We can't keep up on this blog anymore! He is learning quickly that life is full of play and fun and bumps and scrapes. He is super happy that winter is over once again and ready to tackle summer time with his increasingly coordinated body! He enjoys playing independently for parts of the day now and we laugh at his imaginative conversations with his toys. With him we know every day will continue to be an adventure. Here is an example story of how I know...

Abel and I were walking at Ellison Park the other night...
A: "Mom, what does the wind look like?"
M: "What do you mean?"
A: "What does it smell like?"
M: "Ah, what do you think it smells like?"
A: "I think it smells like horse poop."
M: "I think you are right."

Some other recent times...

Thanks for the tracing book GG!

First game of hopscotch...

A beautiful spring night, last night...

After a walk through the secret garden, which is actually the George Eastman House gardens, but secret makes it sound cooler...

Good point.

2008-05-09T19:16:00.002-04:00

Abel: Mom, can we get Life cereal?

Tracey: No, Abel, we just bought all kinds of cereal at the other store this morning.

Abel: But I really want Life cereal.

Tracey: OK. After we finish all the cereal in our house, we'll get some Life cereal.

Abel: But where will we get it?

Tracey: Every store has Life cereal.

Abel: Not the pet store!

2008-04-22T21:39:00.001-04:00