my iphoto runneth over

We have an insane amount of photos and videos from the past week to pore through, and not enough time to do it. So, here's just one of my favorite pix from Kenny's birthday weekend. Enjoy.

kenny turns one!

There are a lot more photos, videos and stories to come from the big weekend, but we at the "Rosenblog" just wanted to wish Mr. K a very happy 1st birthday!


YEAH CAKE! YEAH FROSTING! YEAH SUGAR!!!

neil cicada

Every 17 years about a gajillion cicadas come up from their loooooong hibernation and take over the landscape around here. 2007 is one of those years, and we're starting to get the first wave of these creepy little invaders.

Lemme 'splain.

The cicada makes his/her way up through the earth, sheds their fun little exoskeleton, then emerges into the world. If they're lucky, they're not one of the ones that immediately gets picked off by a hungry bird or malevolent child.

Scattered shells and cicda carcasses are littered about, making for a constant game of "hope I didn't just step in that," but more importantly, I can't help but marvel that the next time we'll see these guys Kenny will be heading off to college. Yes, college.

a stairy proposition

Kenny is growing more and more adept at scaling stairs. While this is admirable, it is also terrifying. You know, sort of like most developmental milestones. Just when you get used to managing one skill set, the kid unleashes a new one on you and changes the whole game.

I'd probably be slightly cooler with this if it weren't for the fact that our stairwells have babygates on them, but no railings.

A few months back, Our Man in LA was kind enough to inspect said railing-less stairwells and pronounce with an ominous tone, "And this is where Kenny will jump from the stairs to the floor! And here. And here. And probably here, but that would be pretty adventurous of him."

I wonder if I can convince Overboard to redo all of the floors in the house with a layer of foam rubber. Either that, or make sure Kenny gets dressed every morning in his Michelin Man costume.

overboard's birthday

What if Overboard had a birthday and nobody was smart enough to take any pictures?

While Kenny and I did give Overboard a number of clever and touching cards (both real and of the electronic variety), and I did manage to take her out to a fancy-shmancy dinner, we didn't manage to snap a single photo of the day.

But did I mention the dinner? We met up after work and went to Blackbird, where the food is high-end and so is the dinnerware and server's couture (the menu was kind enough to give a sponsor shout-out to both). I will say this, the food was excellent, as was the celebratory champagne and sparkling conversation.

Now, while it was no Larry Bird birthday cake, I think it still went over well.

Of course, it's tough to plan a big event for Overboard's birthday when Mother's Day just happened, and Kenny's first birthday is right around the corner!*


*That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

now that's a big wiener

I got a fun email at work the other day announcing that the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile would be parked out front of the building at 3pm. I couldn't very well resist checking that out, could I? Hell no.

apparently, all ponce de leon really needed was a head cold

Overboard came down with a head cold a few days ago, then gladly shared it with Kenny and myself. This afternoon, I went over to Walgreens to get some more cold medication and the woman at the register carded me. For cold medication. Which you now have to be all of 18 to purchase. The exchange went something like this:

REGISTER LADY: Um, we can't sell this to anyone under 18.
EVENKEEL: That's admirable of you. Can't trust those kids these days.
RL: Yes, well, um...
E: Hang on. You don't think I'm 18? How old, exactly, do you think I am?
RL: Well...how old are you?
E: I'm not telling you now. You have to guess.
[uncomfortable silence]
You wanna see my ID?
RL: Okay then.
[Evenkeel hands over ID, RL scans and looks sheepish]
E: That work for you?
RL: Have a nice day.

So, for those of you keeping score at home, as Overboard pointed out, I was last carded for not looking 18 while buying lottery tickets in Atlanta about six or seven years ago. Good to know I've aged so much since then.

I told Overboard she'd better be careful. The older we get, the more people will think she's robbing the cradle. After all, those two months she's got on me are gonna start getting farther and farther apart at this rate...

unkie mike!

Uncle Mike was just in town for a conference and got to swing by the homestead to spend a little quality time with the boy (and us). Check out some action shots from dinner and the somewhat-successful post-meal portrait shoot.




Unkie Mike plays a rousing round of "got yer nose" with Kenny

"Um, that's funny and all, but can I have my nose back now?"




"Did I ever tell you about the time Unkie Mike tried to use me as a football?"

overboard's first mother's day part 2: the meal

My gift to Overboard for Mother's Day was to bring our raw-fish-savant chef buddy, Sushi Mike, to the house to make dinner on Monday night.

Mike came over around 6:30pm and set up shop in the kitchen, while Overboard, Sadie and I watched and drooled in unison as he whipped up one amazing dish after another. When he was done, we ate outside on the porch, taking advantage of the incredible weather. Overboard informed me that we were dining "al fresco," which she said meant "naked." Seeing as it was Mother's Day, I took her at her word.

The meal was, as Overboard would say, "Yum Delish," and having Mike come to the house to make a private dinner was a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself...which I did...just there).

The only problem? Next year I have to figure out some way to top this. At least I have a little bit of time to plot and scheme.


Sushi Mike, hard at work.

Overboard is giddy with excitement.

Evenkeel feels smug at coming up with a clever MD gift.

Overboard takes notes from the sushi master.

Sushi Mike makes one of Overboard's favorites: The spicy Jo Jo handroll

Overboard helps plate the fish.

Getting ready to eat!

Finally, allow us to present some delectable food photography (which tasted even better than it looks)...

overboard's first mother's day part 1: the portrait session

The house was all a twitter for Overboard's first official Mother's Day. In addition to the cards from Kenny and Evenkeel, Sadie gifted Mommy by attempting to keep her grumbling to a dull roar. We also set up the family portrait studio (aka, the couch) and got some great shots of mother and son in dueling hockey shirts...

some playtime paparazzi shots

Evenkeel caught Kenny and Overboard having a raucous play session a little while back. Don't believe me? Hey, I've got pictures to prove it...

Of special note: Kenny has his new set of colored shape blocks, but he has a definite preference for the purple ones. We think he might get that from his Grandma Jackie.

now, imagine if adam was a dog...

Sadie is generally barred from the kitchen while Kenny is having a meal. This is done by use of a small baby gate, which the Sadist is forced to sit on the wrong side of, so she can moan, cry, whimper and bark her frustrations at not being allowed anywhere close to the near-mythic proportions of food being so carelessly discarded onto the floor. When Kenny is done with his meal, we allow the fuzzy hazmat crew to come in and "mop up," but not while the meal is still in progress.

Why? Well, if you think the boy drops enough things on the floor now, you ain't seen nothing when the pooch is in close proximity.

Kenny thinks it's pretty hysterical to watch Sadie eat whatever he drops, and even more so when she licks his fingers. Consequently, on those rare times that we don't cake-block the dog out of the kitchen, you get instances where this dynamic duo like to re-create great works of art. Like, let's say, the Michaelangelo piece pictured above.

Sure, it's impressive, but it's also counter-productive when it comes to making sure that the boy is fed, and not the dog.

That makes us full-on parents, doesn't it? The no-fun approach of, "I don't care if you can mimic one of the masters before you have even turned a year old! Stop feeding your &^%$#@ peas to the dog!" *sigh* The parental (r)evolution rolls on...

like father, like son

Kenny is like his daddy in that he can't stay awake for long when enjoying the soothing motion of the backseat of the car (or in my case, the Metra train). Check out the classic, "hands behind the head" technique.

the hockey playoff blues

It was a rough post-season for Professor Evenkeel.

First, my much-beloved Thrashers finally made the playoffs, only to get bounced by the &^%$#@ Rangers in four straight games. *Groan*

Then, I had two chances to win it all in the HNA league playoffs. Unfortunately, Los Phantasmos lost in the semi-finals and the Phantoms couldn't pull the trigger after forcing a "game 7" situation in the finals. The good news is that there were two bids for the HNA Championship tournament in Toronto for each tier, so the Phantoms are heading up north after all. Would've been nice to do it as the champs, but what the hell.

Check out the fantastic photos taken by a member of the hockey press in attendance at the monumental game 7 (which, to our credit, was a one-goal affair, ending 3-2).


Evenkeel lines up for a faceoff and tries to envision taking the puck end-to-end.

Evenkeel sits on the bench and wonders how much of a bribe to offer the ref.

yes, this should have been a video...

...No, we're not as smart as we thought and didn't want to "recreate" the moment.

Grammy Shirley got to read Kenny one of his favorite bedtime books, "Goodnight Boston," in an actual Boston accent, as opposed to Evenkeel's much-lauded interpretative vocal stylings. Now, while some might say that Kenny didn't seem to notice the difference, I think he appreciated the authenticity.




By the way, check out Mr. K's super-curly-post-bath 'do. Looks like his Uncle Mike.

And, yeah, next time we'll shoot video. Let it go already.

i'm on top of the world, ma!

We decided to take Grammy Shirley downtown so she could check out the view from waaaaaaay up high. Now, while tourists may make a beeline for the Sears Tower, locals know that's for suckers. Nope, the good folks of Chicago know that if you want to see all the way to Wisconsin, you don't need to shell out $12 a head for the privilege, as that too is for suckers.

Nope, if you're looking for the view, you head on over to the John Hancock building and bypass the observation deck on the 93rd floor (where they charge the suckers just like at the Sears Tower) and visit the bar on the 95th floor instead. As Overboard says, "The extra two floors totally make a difference." Besides, if you're gonna shell out cash for the vertigo, you might as well get some drinks in return.

Afterwards, we went down to the Cheesecake Factory on the ground floor and had a lovely lunch. While there, Kenny amused himself by dropping as many objects as he could on the ground (at lunch, that is, not from the 95th floor...he's not that cruel, and we're not that lax on security).



The Aon Building, aka, where Evenkeel now goes to work.

The Sears Tower. If you look closely, you can see an aforementioned "sucker" looking at the camera through one of those 25-cent telescope thingees.

North Avenue Beach. Where Evenkeel used to play inline hockey during the summer.

"Damn paparazzi just won't let me be."

The staff didn't harass Kenny for bringing in his own drink.

"Hmmm...$35 for an appetizer seems a bit steep. Let's just get two."

"Hey, Ma...you think there's a 99th floor?"

Overboard's reaction when I tell her we can either pay for the drinks or send Kenny to college.*



*Actually, Grammy Shirley picked up the tab and Kenny will still be able to go to college. Most likely.

somebody ask for a wake-up call?

There's getting up in the morning, and there's letting Kenny wake you up in the morning. Grammy Shirley opted for the later. Wise choice.

takin' a stroll with mr. k

grammy shirley!

Grammy Shirley came to visit the other weekend and got some nice quality time with Overboard, the boy and myself. It had been a little while since her last visit, so it was fun for her to see how much Mr. K had changed.


GS joins in the fun of mealtime with Kenny.

Not even a year old, and already trying to act like a teenager with a mouthful of food. I am so proud.

Washin' it down. (Notice the blocked-out, despondent pooch in the background)

At one point, a conference-Skype call was initiated, with family checking in from Boston, St. Louis, Israel, and Florida. Needlesstosay (but I will anyway), this was entertaining in its mass confusion and repeated cries of, "I can see you, but I can't hear you! Can you hear me? What about now?"

look ma, no hands!

Kenny has been gradually working on standing on his own two feet. After pulling himself up on the crib, pack n' play, couch, parent, or whatever is available, he now likes to let go for a few seconds at a time. Generally, this moment of freedom lasts until he either falls forward, and grabs back onto said object, or he falls backwards onto his butt. Occasionally, he will fall sideways, but he's more of a forward/backward kind of guy for the moment.