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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Happy Birthday to Sammy


Yesterday (May 23) was was Sammy's 5th birthday. He has the same birthday as my (Blaine's) dad. The little guy pretty much never gets up any earlier than 7:45, but he was up around 6:30 and making all kinds of funny noises and comments about it being his birthday, and thankfully he kept himself occupied because I was zonked on Benedryl (allergies) only half understanding him. He waited patiently till 9:oo when mom was done with her work before opening his presents. The coolest was one of those little styrofoam remote control helicopters.

Later we braved the weather (snow and fog in late May) and drove down the mountain to a place called "John's Incredible Pizza" which is like Chuck E. Cheese's on steroids with an all you can eat buffet to satisfy any glutton. Elisa's parents brought Danni and Michelle, Sammy's cousins, and Elisa's cousin Sylvia and husband Ralph brought their kids Lexi and David, and Jeremy and Nichole Dismuke brought Jaden and Austin (and baby Jonathan).

Among other cool gifts, Sammy got a little practice casting pole. Now he can start planning that fishing trip with Ace Harrison (see the Harrison blog), although Vanderschuits don't seem to have as much naturally occurring omega-3 fish oil in their blood as the Harrison's apparently do. On the fishing topic, Aaron did catch 3 or 4 blue gill last summer with just the broken end of a fishing rod, and kissed one of the fish on the lips for the camera (where is that blasted pic?). We'll see how Sam's love affair with fish develops.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Sammy's First Audio Story (copycat!)


Not to be outdone, Sammy also wanted to record an audio story (if you haven't heard Aaron's yet, it's in the post below from yesterday). Aaron was concerned because Sammy couldn't read, but I just said Sammy could just make one up on the spot. Sammy's 47-second story, called "The Bear Adventure" is almost point by point the same as Aaron's "The Mountain Lion Adventure" except Sammy came up with a surprise spiritual twist with Aaron in the role of hero rather than Daddy and Mommy. I also tried to come up with a unique soundtrack for Sammy's to capture what I felt was his spirit. Sammy's narration is sure to get you smiling again. Post a comment!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Aaron's First Audio Story


Probably about 6 months ago I told my sons that we could record a story in my studio, with sound effects and music and such (at the time I was recording an audio book project for an author friend--see my recommended links). They were really excited and kept asking about it for weeks, only to give up since Daddy was too busy all the time. Last night I was recording something for my upcoming recital and I opened my studio door and told everybody "Be quiet now, because I need to record some vocals." Next thing I know, Aaron gets all excited thinking that meant that I was finally ready to record one of his little stories. Well, he finally got me! Even though I didn't have much time today, I decided we'd better record, since he was home sick from school and I was beginning to feel guilty.

It's basically a one-minute story Aaron wrote that I made a quick soundtrack for. Fun enough for a little project (I remember making a few similar recordings with my Dad on his little recorder when me and my siblings were little). Aaron's reading is sure to make you smile or even laugh in parts. Have a listen, and post a comment if you enjoy it.