Basketball Season

John & Shannon have joined a local Christian basketball league sponsored by the Golden State Warriors. John's team just finished playing against one of his best friends and his team. We found out today they both have a #31 jersey.







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Our Tech-savvy IT Guy

John is the family's IT guy. That means if we have any questions about our computers, how to get them to talk to a printer, what's new with Apple products, or anything else tech-related, we go to him. If he doesn't know right away, which is VERY rare, he'll figure it out. He says he's in training for being a Mac Genius at the Apple Store when he turns 18. Imagine what he'll learn in the next 17 months!




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It's Show Time!

Crazy Kids

Having been inspired by Lynnette Kraft's blog entry today,

I decided to share some of the sillier pictures of my kids from 2008.

Here are Joshua & Shannon in a weightless condition

at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland.

Actually, they were simply jumping up

while the camera caught them off the ground.

A pretty cool feature of one of the exhibits.

The Center even emailed the picture to me afterwards!

John is just plain goofy sometimes.

He was simply putting a pencil in front of his face,

using his hood to hold it in place--that's all.

No interesting story.

Just a funny picture.

Just John.

We were having lunch at the IKEA cafeteria one day,

and David was insisting that the kids eat their greens.

They wanted us to take a picture to document the fact

that they DO eat (and love) their veggies.

Outside IKEA there is a huge sculpture

in the shape of a chair.

Here is their "Thinker" pose on it.

For John's birthday he received a pocket knife.

What it had to do with hijacking his sister's birthday crown,

I'll never know.

While I was out one day, David grabbed the camera

and shot a whole collection of pictures

of the kids making funny faces.

Here's Shannon's "Precious Moments" shot.

One of them all together in a truly nice photo!

...and then 3 seconds later...

John broke his finger a few days after his birthday

and had to have surgery.

I thought the little blue hair cap was adorable.

He didn't!

Of course, that's a 13-year-old boy for you.

After the anesthesia wore off,

he didn't care what pictures I took.

Joshua was desperately in need of a hair cut

but was enjoying the effects of some serious hair gel on his mop.

Here is his "scary" pose.

David's glasses indicate

that Joshua had pretty accurate aim!

One would think from looking at this next picture

that this is simply a sweet, adorable little girl.

Shannon was my helpful assistant for my 50th birthday tea

I was hosting at a friend's house.

She was so ladylike all day,

enjoying a fun book quietly in a corner

while the ladies chatted the afternoon away . . . or so I thought!

When we weren't looking,

she snatched my camera

and tiptoed into the back room

to make a funny video of herself

discovering treasures on shelves

and in the bathroom.

Here's a picture she took of herself

--a real close up photo!

I didn't know she had even done this

until I uploaded the pictures

from the day onto my computer.

SHANNON!!!!

New Year's Eve 2009

We typically spend our New Year's Eve quietly at home, watching a movie or visiting with family, and blowing on conch shells or noisy tubes at the turning of the year. This year we decided to try something different and joined a group at a New Year's Eve dance. The Quick Step Social Dance Club consists of a group of home school kids who have an interest in ballroom dance, and who share their talents with others. What a terrific time we had!

Our evening started with a one-hour dance lesson taught by Kirby Gowen and his lovely assistant and sister, Zoe Gowen. In a large circle around the gym, we learned the basic waltz, two-step, swing, cha cha cha, and polka steps with a few spins and twirls to boot. For many this was but a review while for the rest of us this was either new (Joshua and Shannon) or return to long-lost memories from high school or college (David and Liz). Kirby was an amazing dance teacher.

Each time we learned a new dance step, the girls would rotate to the next male partner in the circle.

Once the lesson was completed, the dance floor was opened up, and everyone got to practice what we had just learned.

John chose to spend the majority of his evening reading...

...and bending over backwards, it would seem, to stay away from the dance floor.

As 2010 approached, the bottles of Martinelli's Apple Cider were opened, glasses filled, and the countdown started.

Welcome 2010!

Here's a short video we made of the evening. Be sure to pause the Playlist at the very bottom of this page before starting the video.

Christmas Day 2009

We spent a quiet morning at home and then headed to Grandma Nancy's house in Berkeley. After a turkey dinner, we finished the opening gifts. Shannon was thrilled with the Webkinz each of her brothers gave her.

Grandma was delighted with the pumpkin spice candle that Joshua bought and carved for her.

Liz had crocheted a doll blanket for Elizabeth, Shannon's American Girl doll, to match the afghan for Shannon's bed that she finally finished a few nights ago.

Grandma has been busy painting the doll house and purchasing new furnishings and decorations. Shannon thoroughly enjoyed rearranging the furniture and laying down new carpeting in different rooms. They plan to get together to put up wallpaper and other special touches on the house in the near future.

Having just completed a couple crochet projects, Liz started a new afghan for Nancy using more homespun yarn which is so incredibly soft and colorful!

November

The beginning of November brought the close of the boys' Intro to Speech class with final presentations on the 5th. John amazed the crowd with his dramatic interpretation of the book, Shin's Tricycle, a story about affect of the Hiroshima bombing on a small Japanese family.

Joshua presented his expository speech about swords, complete with a graphics board.

The entire group posed for a photo at the end of the fantastic presentations.

For an activity involving fungus, the two Joshuas headed to our local Lake Chabot to search for specimens. Some fungi can be dangerous if ingested, so the boys donned face masks and gloves for their search.

Back at home, the boys carefully handled their discoveries while preparing slides for the microscope.

John provided a demonstration of the effects of dish soap on a bowl of cream with food coloring added. Amazing and beautiful!

November 14 - The children had their annual piano recital in the fall this year. They each played flawlessly, and Joshua shared an original composition he calls "Infinity" with the audience.

November 20 - Shannon and the Cunningham girls had much fun playing dress-up during a recent visit.

November 24 - Shannon is studying Eastern hemisphere cultures this year for Social Studies. During her week in New Zealand she learned how to make the scrumptious meringue dessert Pavlova which she decorated with fresh strawberries and chocolate chips.