The Lewis Clan

California

2008-07-25T13:58:00.001-07:00

We went to California for 4 days a couple of weeks ago. Above are some photos of Kate. We had a blast. We spent one day in Santa Monica. Kate did not want to leave the beach. She had so much fun, and the weather was gorgeous the entire time we were there.

We stayed in Beverly Hills and walked the streets of Rodeo Drive, Beverly Drive, etc. Lots of fun. One night we even walked to the Abbey in West Hollywood for dinner. Kate was the only kid there, so she had a ball getting so much attention. She took photos of many of the patrons, with my iPhone, so I had fun looking at those the next morning. I am still laughing at how many of the photos had pictures of people waving away to Kate. What a nut.

Anyways, it was a fun trip.

Dancer

2008-07-25T13:52:00.001-07:00

Kate just finished her summer dance class (tap and ballet). She loved it. She starts ballet again in the Fall. She dances around the house constantly, and has many performances for us. Perhaps I will video-tape one of those. To the far left is Kate in her dance leotard, and of course she has to do a curtsy on the way home in her white dress. Mel and I are both tom-boys, so it is funny that we have such a girly child.

Michelle and Hero

2008-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, we just went to California for 4 days and then stayed in downtown Chicago the following weekend, so our friend Michelle ended up keeping Hero for over a week. The great news is that she spoiled him rotten and the bad news is that she spoiled him rotten. :-)

As you can see from the photo, he now wants nothing to do with his dog bed. He now thinks he is a person and belongs on the couch. Mel is quite pleased, as you can also see in the photo. He also thinks that when it is nightime, he should be going to bed with us. Talk about crowded!! Me, Melanie, Kate, Bart and Hero. Wow, let's just bring the 60 ants up, too.

Now I know why he is so excited when he sees Michelle, as he is obviously treated MUCH better at her house. Next, he will be on the computer buying us plane tickets so we will leave again.

Young Tiger Update

2008-07-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhikjTtSqt8

Here is the youtube video, with a little clip of Kate doing her punches. She just got her yellow-striped belt, so of course she is already asking when she is going to get her black belt.

The Ants are Coming!!

2008-07-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here is Kate, getting ready for her ants. She has two Ant Condos, and we connected them with a little tube. Kate wants them to be able to chit-chat and have meetings, so we connected them.

She has 60 ants coming in the mail, and she is already busy coming up with names and worrying about how she is going to care for 62 pets (including Bart an Hero). I will be sure to add more photos once we get them and they are tunneling.

New Bed

2008-07-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY bought a new bed for Kate. Of course, Mel thinks this is a waste of money, since she always insists on sleeping with us. She had her little toddler bed for over a year, and I think Hero and Bart used it way more than Kate.

Then, the nerve of the little rascal... Yesterday morning, she comes downstairs and tells me that she did not sleep very well the night before. Me, all concerned, asked her why. She replied that I was crowding her too much in bed. Me, the crowder. I cannot believe her. I just laughed out loud and told her that we are going to be sure she has LOTS of space in her new bed. I suspect no more complaining about the crowding.

I hope to have an update soon about how Kate is sleeping through the night in her new bed. Wish us luck. We bought her a trundle bed, and I hope Mel and I do not end up sleeping in the bottom trundle.

Kate

2008-06-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is just a new photo of Kate that I like. I actually just got her hair cut pretty short today, so it does not look like this, now. She is taking ballet, tap and tae kwon do right now. She is supposed to have her hair up, which she hates. What kid loves having their hair in a bun?!?!

So, here is Kate before the hair cut.

Keee-Yah!

2008-06-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Kate is loving Tae Kwon Do! She now has 4 skill tips on her belt. She should get a new belt in a month or so. Below are some photos of the little champ.

Young Activist

2008-06-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

I am such a proud mom!! Last weekend, I was scheduled to volunteer at the Midsommerfest in Chicago. I worked at the Equality Illinois booth, talking to folks about the Civil Unions bill and handing out Equality Illinois materials. Kate and Mel came with me and toured the festival. When they stopped by, Kate started handing out materials, too. Well, she ended up doing this for nearly 2 hours! She had a ball and I was so proud of her being a young activist for her two mommies. She proudly wore her Equality Illinois sticker and pin (next time we need to find a small Equality Illinois t-shirt for her!).

Above is a photo of Kate handing out materials.

Racoon Update

2008-06-19T16:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, there was MAJOR drama over the racoons. I wanted to give you all an update.

On the morning we were to leave for our Disney vacation, Mel discovered we had a racoon in the trap. We were so excited. Then, we realized it was 2 baby racoons!! See photo above. They are adorable! We called Trapper John and left a message. In the meantime, the mommy came out from under the porch and tried to pull one of the babies out of the cage! Yikes! See above. There is a photo of this. We were all freaked out by this. Mel was hanging her head out the window screaming at the mother racoon to let go. Kate was crying and very worried about the babies.

Trapper John finally called and came over. By then, the mother and 3 other babies had come out to screech loudly about the other two being trapped. We were a mess, feeling so bad about this. We told Trapper John we wanted all of the racoons trapped together and released as a family. He looked at us like we were nuts, but we could not stand the idea of them being separated.

So, he put the two babies in a cage and set out 3 more traps. When he came back, he had the mother and two other babies. He waited around for a while and caught the last little baby by hand. So, he released them all into the forest together as a family.

Man, what an ordeal. But, we at least know they are all together. Below is a picture of Trapper John putting the two little babies in a cage.

I Kissed a Girl

2008-06-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to plug this song. Who knew that there would be a #1 song on itunes called I Kissed a Girl?!?! Love the song.

Young Tiger

2008-05-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

Kate is now taking Tae Kwon Do. She is in the Young Tiger class. She LOVES it! She is a little in disbelief (and I bet secretly excited) that she has permission to punch in class. When the instructor tells her to do a double-punch, she always looks over at me like "Is this really okay?". Very cute. She still has her white belt, but she already has a red skill tip on it for learning her snap kicks and punches. She is the youngest and smallest in her class, so we had to do a number on hemming the uniform to get it to fit her. It is still giant on her, but it is the smallest they had. I will be posting some photos soon.

Racoon

2008-05-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is the scoop on the racoon. I will for sure post a photo once it is trapped. Last week, I was taking our brilliant dog Hero out for his dusk-time potty break. There was a large "kitty" on the end table beside the glider. So, being the animal-lover that I am, I start saying "here kitty kitty" and walking towards it. I am nearly at it when it lifts its head. NO KITTY!!!! It is a racoon! Yikes! Then, I do what I always do when I see a wild critter (or a spider, turtle, anything)... I scream for Melanie. She always comes to my rescue. She chased it away, thank goodness.

BUT, we have since learned that it is nesting under our porch. I figured our zillions of tax dollars would cover someone coming to help with this, but no, you have to hire a private Wildlife Control Company. So, Trapper John shows up last night to set up the trap. Kate is on high alert and wants to check the trap about every 15 seconds. She is very worried about this.

Back to the brilliant dog... He has already set the trap once. The food in the trap looks like chocolate covered sticks (I am tempted to set it off and try one myself). Whatever it is, it is also appealing to Hero.

Stay tuned for an update. We hope there will be a trapping soon.

Visit to Richmond - April 2008

2008-04-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

We went on our annual trip to Richmond this year to see friends and go to the Equality Virginia Dinner. It was so much fun to see everyone. And, of course, we always love staying with Jean - the best cook in America I am sure. Now for the photos... 1st one is of Kate on the plane. She named her elephant Katie Norman, and she made sure that he/she was strapped in with her. She always takes great care of Katie Norman. Actually, didn't Cindy help come up with that crazy name? Anyways, photo #2 is of Kate and Beth and Alice. Or, as she calls them... BethAlice. Kate had a ball with Beth and Alice. They even watched her on the morning of our race, and they spoiled her by serving her pancakes in bed. She is still asking me to do that for her. Yeah right. 3rd pic is of Kate and Melanie in Jean's hot-tub. This was Kate's favorite thing during the entire visit! She kept asking us when WE were going to get an outdoor bath-tub! She thought that was the coolest thing ever. Lastly, there is Kate being grumpy on Jean's stairs. Love that photo! I think she has a great grumpy look.

It was wonderful to spend so much time with everyone. And, thanks to Jean for taking Kate to see Horton so Mel and I could actually see an adult movie - Juno. A rarity for us.

I am glad I got to have breakfast with Sarah O. She looks great, as always. And, we got to spend time with Kat, Chris and Baby Emma. Man, that girl is beautiful. She looks like Baby Shiloh. I took a few photos with my iPhone, but she moves too fast. So, they are blurry. :-)

Royal Tea Party

2008-04-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this picture. One day, Kate was saying that she really wanted to have a tea party with Mel. Of course, Melanie was working. Kate insisted, so we called Mel at work and Kate told her she needed to be home at 3pm that day for Tea. Mel, being the big Executive that she is, cancels her afternoon meetings to come home and have Tea with Kate. Here is the picture of them.

As is typical, Kate is naked. If she is home, she is naked.

Chicago trip

2008-04-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

Kate and I recently took the train into Chicago. The 1st picture is of Kate on the train. She got to ride on the top section, so she thought she was very cool being up so high. We spent most of our time at Millenium Park, having lunch with our friend Amy. The 2nd picture is of Kate admiring the Big Bean sculpture. The last one is of her getting ready to attack me with her seahorse quirt gun. Very deadly.

Easter 2008

2008-04-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Easter is a very religious time indeed. So, what did we do to celebrate? WE WENT TO VEGAS! Woo-hoo! Mel and I went to Vegas with our friends Cindy and Jean, while little Kate stayed at home. What happens in Vegas really should stay there, so I will focus on the time that Kate had back here (even thouh Cindy has plenty of footage...). My parents flew in to take care of Kate. They took her to church, took her to the Easter egg hunt, etc. She had a ball with them.

And, of course, Kate thinks all holidays are about dressing up, so she wanted an Easter Bunny costume as her Easter present. And, thanks to Rosemary, she now has one. I included a couple of photos above of Kate in her Easter Bunny costume. Funny kid. My parents said she wore it the entire weekend.

Kate is 3 1/2!

2008-02-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

Since Kate has a summer birthday, they celebrate 1/2 birthdays at her school. So, here is Kate at school with her 3 1/2 hat on.

Britney Parenting

2008-02-10T16:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, there will probably be more "Britney Spears" parenting posts. Melanie and I went shopping one day. Poor little Kate hung in there as long as she could. Finally, she just laid down and took a nap. This is when we decided it would be a good time to go home.

Curse words...

2008-01-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, the brilliant parrot (Kate) has finally picked up on all of the curse words Mel blurts out all of the time. I have had a serious talk with both Melanie and Kate. :-)

Yesterday, we were in Target waiting in line at the register. Kate was in the cart and wanted out. I told her she had to wait. She looked at me for a few seconds and then blurts out "Get my ass out of here." Not good. It would have been less embarassing for her to scream out that I have an enormous crush on Jennifer Beals (actually, who wouldn't be?!?! She's hot!). My God.

Once we got in the car, I had the "curse word" discussion with her, but she began the debate by claiming that MaMel curses. Mel said she did not, and Kate then went into details about what she said and where/when. So, we spent the weekend having this conversation many times. I thought it was behind us.

THEN... I was just outside doing yardwork while Kate was playing. She has a little play-house outside, and apparently Hero pooped in it. So, Kate came running up to me telling me that her play-house smelled like dog-shit. Next year, we might want to buy that insurance for school where if your kid gets kicked out, you can have a pro-rated refund. :-)

I suspect we are in for many discussions on this topic.

Hero's Sweater

2008-01-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Hero got a new sweater for Christmas. And, as you can tell by the photos, he loves it. :-)

The 2nd photo shows what he usually does when we put it on him - plays dead. He is such a baby, but when he strolls outside in the sub-zero temperatures here in Chicago, he might grow to love it.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

Kate smiling proudly after decorating the gingerbread house
Hero helping to open his present
A rare sighting of Bart (with Hero)

Kate with her cash register. She is licking her lips with excitement
Kate ever-so-grateful for the cash register!

Boy, this is a Christmas to remember for sure. It started with Rosemary visiting the Friday before Christmas. I was at school with Kate, so Mel picked up Rosemary. Now, the night before, Mel was up all night puking her guts out. By the time she went to pick up Rosemary, she was getting worse, so Rosemary then drove her to the emergency room. She was so dehydrated that she took 3 IV bags!! So, even though she vomited all night, she still gained 10 pounds from all of the IV solution!! :-) I think Mel looks good with an extra 10 pounds.

Anyways, after an exciting evening in the ER and a diagnosis of food poisoning (from her work lunch the day before - NOT my cooking!), we were on our way to an enjoyable weekend.

Kate was a sheep in both her school Christmas play and the one at church as well. She was a great sheep. Perhaps next year we will work up to a speaking role.

On Saturday night, we took Kate to her 1st Chicago Bulls game!! We were so excited and convinced that she would love it. The seats were right down on the floor. Well, the music and speakers were SO loud, that it actually frightened Kate. So, we ended up sitting outside in one of the restaurants at the arena, eating fries. Mel and Rosemary enjoyed the game. Kate and I enjoyed it on the TV.

To ensure we never have a dull moment, we of course had a house fiasco. Mel went downstairs Christmas Eve to do laundry (because she constantly has to be doing something) and notice we had water - a lot of water - on the floor. The basement is finished, so this was not good. It was all in the carpet and in the various closets as well. Several pieces of furniture will probably bite the dust over this. We finally got a plumber to come out Christmas day to fix the problem. It was a bit of a disaster, though. We have spent the last couple of days having workers here digging up the flooring, cutting out walls, etc. Yes, never a dull moment.

Christmas was a blast, though, even though we had no water for a day. We were smelly, had bad hair and could not use the restrooms. But, we had fun hanging out and of course watching Kate opening up her many presents. She was so sweet after every present. She would talk about how it was what she always wanted and then want to play with it. So, after much nudging, she finally opened up her last present around 7pm Christmas night.

General Update

2007-12-21T08:33:00.001-08:00

Just a few updates...

Kate is loving school. She can now write all of her numbers, her name and most letters. She is singing constantly. She is singing a lot of Hanukkah songs right now, which amuses us.

I am working at Kate's school today. This morning, I was about to get out of the bath-tub when Kate informed me that I needed to shave my legs. She said I should not have hairy legs for school. Nice. She also told me that she wanted all of my hair to be brown, to match my roots. And, that it needs to be longer. Wow. I am not sure how I feel about all of the style tips from my 3-year-old, but I am going to try them out. The next time you see me, I will have smooth legs and long brown hair.

And the acting update... Kate is going to be a sheep this weekend in the church Christmas play. It is a non-speaking role. I am a little worried, as expecting Kate to sit around in a sheep costume for a long time while not speaking should be something to see. I am the play videographer, so I will share this at a later time.

We just started with a house-cleaner, so I feel like a pampered princess now. Mel must have overheard that I was going to shave my legs, so now I am being rewarded... :-) Now I have more time to learn Kate's spanish and Hanukkah songs.

More soon...

Benny

2007-12-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Kate has a new best pal. Actually, she calls him her cousin. His name is Benny. She wants to have a play-date with him EVERY day. She might become a stalker when she grows up, as she will not let him out of her sight when they are together. They met in the summer at a Messy Arts class and have been hanging out ever since. Below are a couple of photos of Kate and Benny. At Thanksgiving, we went to NYC. We went to FAO Swartz and Kate adopted a baby there. She named it Parker Benny.

Visiting Tamara's Parents

2007-12-21T05:33:00.000-08:00

Kate and Great-Granny Kate with new loot! Kate and Great-Pappy

Kate and I visited my parents for almost a week in mid-December. It was a bittersweet time. It was great to see my family (parents, grandparents, cousins, etc. all pretty much live in the same small area). The sad part was that my grandmother was in the emergency room much of the time and was diagnosed with Stage II Alzheimer's over the weekend. We visited my grandparents every day, so spending this much time with them was awesome.

We also had Christmas #1 with my parents, brother Calvin and his wife Virginia. I was worried about the amount of stuff Kate received, but then her last present was a suitcase - genius! So, we were able to carry the loot home on the plane. Brilliant, Mom and Dad!

Below are a few more photos of Kate hooking up with a stranger at the bowling alley. Cute kid. I think his name is Tyler. She put nail polish, lip gloss, beads and a crown on him. Not a good
thing to do in rural West Virginia. Most of the adults were appalled, but the two kids were
having a blast!

Nail polish application Lip gloss application Off to Royal Tea Party!!

My Life as Paris Hilton

2007-11-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, i just had the best 3 nights of my life - in a row, anyways... :-) And, let me just say that Mel's company is awesome!! It paid for the entire weekend. I felt like a star

November 1st - My mom flies in to watch Kate. I take the train downtown to meet Mel at the Ritz. Our room there was awesome. Pepsi fully stocked our room with lots of water and soda and gave us a huge gift basket (wine, chocolate, cheese, etc. - yum!). After a long bath in the giant tub (with no kids toys), Mel and I were off to a great evening of drinks and dinner with her fellow team-mates.

November 2nd - I had to get up in time to have breakfast at the Ritz with Rachel and then off to my Ritz Spa treatment at noon. I was rushed for time... :-) I had a wonderful time at the spa, including a great massage. Mel got one, too! Then, we were off for some shopping. We had to be back in time for afternoon drinks before going to dinner on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. What a view!!!! The windows are floor to ceiling, so after a couple glasses of wine, I thought I was going to fall out of the building. Then, we were taken to see Wicked. What a phenomenal performance. I loved every minute of the oh-so-clever production. Afterwards, we went to the 96th floor of the Hancock building for drinks. I am too old for this.

November 3rd - A car service picks us up in the morning, as we are off to LA!!
We go there for a celebrity charity event that Pepsi is sponsoring. There were
celebs there from Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, etc. It was so much fun!! I have never seenMelanie so extroverted. After a couple glasses of wine, she went up to everyone tochat! She went right up to Judith Light and told her she was her first crush!! Veryfunny. Judith hugged Mel and told her she was very flattered.

The next day, we flew home. It was a fun time to live the high life for a
few days, butit was also wonderful to get back to our little Kate. The
pets were especially happy to see us, as they acted like my mom
starved them to death. Pigs.

Kate's Halloween 2007

2007-11-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Rosemary, Mel and Kate
Kate at her school
Kate on her way to trick-or-treat!

Kate had a big time this year for Halloween. She was Dorothy, as she is a bit fixated on the Wizard of Oz movie. She went to Charlie's birthday party, which was a costume party. I have a picture of Kate giving Charlie a kiss. He did not seem too interested in the kiss, but this did not stop her. The girl has good self-esteem.

Rosemary was in for Halloween, so she attended Kate's festivities at school and also took Kate trick-or-treating with Mel. Rosemary dressed up as the Wicked Witch.

Kate's new Vans

2007-11-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Rosemary, Kate has a "hip" new pair of Vans. I think Kate has more shoes than us.

Kate's 3-year-old photos

2007-10-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

We found a great photographer in the Chicago area. I HIGHLY recommend her. She even made me look decent, so she must be a pro. :-) Her name is Lesley Arlasky, and her link is over to the right. If you go to her link, click on "your story" and put in Lewis as the password, then you can get to our photos that we just had done. Of course, I love the story-board that she did above of me and little Kate.

Photo Update

2007-10-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post some initial photos of our family. Kate is our daughter and just started pre-school in September. She is the youngest in her class, and by far the smallest. Poor thing, she has my genes. Her latest thing to say when we tell her "no" is "Please, Mom, this is a hard time for me." She is also in Spanish classes and walks around the house speaking in Spanish. We have no idea what she is saying.

Hero (dog) and Bart (cat) are our pets. It has been a challenge keeping Kate's toys out of Hero's mouth. Of course, at times, it has been difficult to keep Kate out of Hero's mouth, too. Bart is difficult to capture on film, so stay tuned for a photo of him later. For a cat so large, you would think he could not hide. We just took Bart to the vet, as he was looking like he had a bad skin condition. We paid $55 for the Vet to tell us that he was just really fat, and therefore not cleaning himself. Okay, I thought being a lesbian meant that I would not have some fat old man living with me that I would need to groom. :-)

Spain - 9/07

2007-09-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in Spain. We stayed at a fantastic resort in Marbella and traveled to Granada, Mijas, Ronda, Gibraltar and Morocco (see separate post for Gibraltar photos). I highly recommend all of the places we visited. I think our favorite was Mijas, though. We loved the views and the charm of the old town.

Our favorite might have been Ronda, but we nearly died on the way there - NO KIDDING!! If anyone has been to Ronda, then you know it is miles and miles of a windy, steep road to get there. Scary driving on it, for sure. Well, we were running out of gas, so we pulled over to get more. My Dad and Mel handled this task while Mom and I stayed in the car eating chocolate. It was a good time, given Kate was napping. Once we were fueled, we started back on our way. We were going down a pretty steep hill, coming to a very sharp turn. Then, Mel noticed the engine was off and she had no brakes and no steering capability. I think I saw the white light, as we should have been dead. All of a sudden, we noticed a small dirt road to the left, with no oncoming traffic, so I yelled for Mel to turn into this to stop. Thank God this worked. Then, Mel and my Dad hitched a ride back to the station to see what they did wrong and try to find some help. Well, leave it to us Americans. We put regular fuel in a Diesel car. Ooooops. The good news, besides being alive, is that it only cost us a couple hundred dollars to get the car towed and drained, new filters put in and our car refueled. I felt this was fair, given it was a Friday late afternoon. Oh, and thanks again Mom and Dad for paying... :-)

We did love Spain, though. The weather was phenomenal. And, Kate practiced her Spanish over there. She even practiced it in Morocco, although they speak French and Arabic. :-)

Gibraltar - 9/07

2007-09-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of us in Gibraltar this year. Kate loved the monkeys on"the Rock" and of course enjoyed all of the caves and tunnels for running around. The views were spectacular from the Rock. We had fun walking the busy streets of the town - lots of pubs and shopping.

Hero

2007-09-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hero is our little french bulldog. Kate named him. She almost went with Big Bird, so we are thrilled she settled on Hero. Pretty comical, given that he is afraid of his own shadow.

I love the picture of him reading with Melanie. I think they are both honked off reading how this f$#%ing war is going to cost us $2.4 trillion. So much for healthcare and social security for our children. I know Hero is thinking this, too. :-)

Hero does not get along with Bart (cat), so he is constantly getting bopped on the head by Bart. He loves to eat Kate's toys, especially her beads and Polly Pocket parts. I know this for a fact, as I have to pick up his poop on our walks.