( family / holmes / elizabeth ) continued from Hiking with ElizabethThe scariest part was when we stopped. Then he stopped. I had my phone in hand, looking at the map. There was a tense moment until he smiled and said, Y'all lost?Just trying to find our way back to the parking lot, I said. He walked on ahead, but not before ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Went hiking with my daughter, Elizabeth, yesterday evening. There's a nice little park in Thompson's Station with fairly extensive walking trails on the south end of the park, near the water tower. We saw an owl, so, with her new birthday-gift SLR camera in hand, Elizabeth shushed and gestured for ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Preparing to take Elizabeth to a skating party, I said, Here, take some money. Go ask your mom for more. I thought I had at least a $10, but only had $6. When she returned I asked how much she had now. Forty-six dollars.What?! Yeah, I'll need most of that back.... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Me (folding clothes): I need some of your hangers. Elizabeth: Here you go. Me: Wow, a variety of hanger types, thanks. Elizabeth: Well, I am diverse!. Her friends are diverse, actually, but it's an inside joke with us about her overbearingly liberal school whose biggest source of pride is its " ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I was explaining to my 9 year old daughter what networking is, and that I'm not very good at it. She said, That's because a lot of people judge you by your looks. And you're not ...You trying to say I'm ugly?I don't think so, she said, but other people do, yeah.Don't you just love kids? ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) It was father-daughter day (for me, my brother, nephew and our daughters) at NorthStar ski resort in Lake Tahoe. See vimeo.com/122485652... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) There's something on the kitchen counter. I'm thinking it's a shriveled, rotting potato. Not that we usually have that sort of thing on the counter, but that's what I'm thinking. I point at it and ask my wife, What is that?Elizabeth's rock, wife deadpans. She's convinced it's a fossilized dinos... read more
( education / language / elizabeth ) I love how my daughter, Elizabeth, 9, makes up words. Tonight I was complimenting her on what a good fruit smoothie she'd just made. I said she should always try to remember how much of each ingredient she used so she can make it again. So, she was going through the list of ingredients: two bananas ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth dragged me onto another one of her outings this morning. If nothing else, she keeps me in shape. This time, she was on her motorized scooter (the kind you stand on), while I rode my bicycle. No fair making the old man use pedal power while she rides a scooter, giving only her throttle hand ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I rode a rollercoaster for the first time in I don't know how long. It was a blast! The Raven has been voted most awesome or whatever wooden coaster several times in the past ten years. The Voyage, now the reigning champ of wooden coasters, was temporarily unavailable. Surprisingly, it was good ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / birthdays ) Elizabeth received a birthday card from Grandpa today with $20 inside! She said, I love your dad! Tell him thank you very much! Your dad is rich! I wouldn't have thought such an old old person would have so much money!... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / holidays ) My daughter just made my day. Here's her card to me.This article/post is copyrighted. Please do not reprint, reproduce or distribute it (or its images) in whole or in part (other than to share a brief excerpt with a link to the original) in any form without our consent. Thanks!... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) After catching a cricket and putting it into her bug cage (yes, she has a bug cage), my six-year-old daughter Elizabeth asked, Can you ... um ... look on the Internet and see what crickets eat? I just laughed and said, Yes, I can actually do that. So, excuse me while I go do that. And here's th... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I'll be spending all week (Spring Break) with my almost-6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. Woo hoo! Yesterday was supposed to be my only day off, as she was supposed to be in school (snow make-up day). But she's come down with the flu, so she stayed home with me. I took her to the doctor, and they co ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) This could get expensive coming here on a regular basis at $9-$10 every time, but Tara had a coupon that made it half price. We're at the new one in Brentwood/Cool Springs. Much better than the one north of town near Rivergate. Much more professional-looking. For one thing, all the bouncy houses hav... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Tara had a busy day off. Her basic schedule consisted of: 1) taking our pug Chandler back to the vet (for the fifth or sixth time the past month) to check on his ulcerated cornea; 2) awaiting delivery of our new used clothes washer; and, 3) picking up Elizabeth from school. Underlying all of thi ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / plays ) Elizabeth, 5, came up with the following play just as we were finishing dinner the other day. Dinner theater, if you will. :) We were in Sacramento visiting my Dad, joined by my brother Greg and his wife June.MOM (Tara): Where is the prince? There he is. Will he join me for dinner? DAD (Bill): Will ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) As Elizabeth likes to say, she and I were hanging out today while Tara had a girls' day out with Ronica. I think Tara's was a belated birthday thing. Hers was on the 10th. Anyway, once Ronica finally called - after Tara had started to worry - I was left alone with Elizabeth. We went to the animal ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) ... of kindergarten! Tara's getting Elizabeth ready now. Elizabeth has been ready to go, already jumping into bed with us, then jumping out almost immediately, I guess because she couldn't sleep. Tara will usually be taking her in the morning and I'll be picking her up after. Yes, she could take t... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) You will not believe what I've been through! :) Okay, maybe it's not been that bad. You single parents out there are laughing at me, I'm sure. But I went an entire week taking care of Elizabeth, our 4 year old, while Tara not only had to work all week, but also came down with a cold. So, I've had to... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I can't believe I made it. Of course, it's not over yet. It's only dinner time. It's been a LONG day. I'm at McDonald's as I write this. I tried to get online with their free wi-fi, but you have to have an account already before you can use it. Now I know. For some reason, this McDonald's reminded m... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth and I went down to the creek this cold fall morning. With all the recent rain, Indian and Mill Creeks both had a lot of rushing water. We walked along the edge of Mill Creek. Usually, we stick to the closer Indian Creek. Elizabeth went as far as she could (or wanted to), then I had to carr... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) In the twenty minutes that Tara and I left Elizabeth alone, she found some (child-safe) scissors and cut off all her hair. At first I thought it was just wet. Then I realized she'd cut it all off. I laughed and said I was just glad she hadn't hurt herself. A few seconds later, Tara came into the ro... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) We had a list of stops to make. First came Ace Hardware for a clothes line and a no-pest-strip. Elizabeth had rediscovered her Barbie electric guitar earlier that day and brought it with her on this trip. She wanted to bring it into the store, she said, so everyone can hear my music. I said OK. Su... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Tara just brought me back from the pharmacy where I'm having a prescription filled. We used CVS pharmacy because Tara had a coupon. She is the coupon queen. Doesn't buy anything without a coupon these days. It's a hobby. You should check out her blog at tarasfavorites.blogspot.com. Anyway, the rea... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) The other day at the house, we had this conversation:Elizabeth: This is my house.Bill: Your house? I thought it was my and mom's house.Elizabeth: No. It's mine. I'm sharing it with you. Tara and I cracked up.... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / birthdays ) It's this Sunday! Just FYI if you want to send an email or call or whatever. We should have pictures up here from tomorrow's party at Chuck E. Cheese's.... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth's directorial debut. A probing, provocative, sometimes introspective look at a typical weekend around the house with Mama and Papa and the pugs. vimeo.com/2172691... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) We had a scare a couple of Wednesdays back with Elizabeth. She was at pre-school/daycare when she tripped and fell head-first onto the pavement outside as everyone was told to get in line to go back inside. We figure, being so competitive, she was racing to get in the front of the line when she trip... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Tara, Elizabeth and I just returned from a trip to California. Ostensibly, we went for my nephew Thomas's wedding (to bride Heather at Lake Tahoe), but it was also a convenient excuse to let everyone on my side of the family, especially her Grandma and Grandpa, finally meet Elizabeth. No offense to ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I delegated the responsibility of reading Elizabeth her bedtime story :) By the way, she slept great! I put her to bed at 8:15 and she was asleep by 8:30. We woke up at 8:00 this morning. - Ronica... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Just because I liked it, I'm posting it here! :) This article/post is copyrighted. Please do not reprint, reproduce or distribute it (or its images) in whole or in part (other than to share a brief excerpt with a link to the original) in any form without our consent. Thanks!... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / birthdays ) Well, Elizabeth's birthday party is this Saturday. She'll be 3, and it'll be her first real party. It'll be outside at a covered table next to a playground in a nearby park. I can't tell you here on the Internet exactly where this park is because you might be a murderer or child molester. You know... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) It WAS a good Friday. There was nothing religious about it. If you know me at all, that wouldn't surprise you. I was just reading my previous post and wanted to have something more positive this time. We're all still adjusting to each other and getting better at it every day. That last post was thr... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth spent her first official full day at daycare yesterday. The teacher went on and on about how wonderful and good and helpful she was. I say first official day because Tara took her to a free trial day last week. Daycare is probably a lot like the orphanage, which is why she flourishes the ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I can't believe how nice my coworkers at Franklin are. On Friday, they had a luncheon at work for Elizabeth and Tara. They invited me, too. :) Great food, several gifts, and the biggest surprise: a money tree. Tara and I were speechless at that. It's not like my coworkers have any more spare money... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I just thought I'd mention that Elizabeth is settling into her new life pretty well. Tara is her full-time parent, I just appear after work and on weekends. :) Even then, it's Tara who does most of the work. Elizabeth's biggest hurdle so far has been getting used to our pets, three pugs and a cat. ... read more
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