Thanksgiving 2009

Penn stirred the Pumpkin Pie together.


I made seared salmon, grilled asparagus, portobello mushrooms and a salad.


I made popovers that didn't "pop." Sad little muffins. But they did taste pretty good. I think I beat them too much.


This is going to sound off the subject, but let me tell you about my dental work. I'm having some dental work done.

That's all I really want to tell you. But the aftermath requires vicodin. It's come to my attention that I should not cook when taking vicodin. If I cook when taking vicodin I forget to put sugar in the pumpkin pie. And pumpkin pie is pretty much a side dish without sugar. And then I add even more insult to the dish by overbaking it. (That might have been me overcompensating for underbaking a pie a couple of weeks ago.) And you know what? This is store bought pie crust and canned pumpkin Pumpkin Pie. This is supposed to be a no brainer. This is more "assembly" than it is cooking.

Dessert Fail.

(Although Penn ate a whole slice before realizing it was sugarless.....)


We thought, Margot is cute. Maybe we should just have her for dessert!


Ringo was thankful for his bone.

I still want to pull off some huge complicated meal with expensive ingredients shipped from exotic lands and everything ground and kneaded and spiced with my own two hands and warmed over some primitive fire. The more pressure there is on me to cook a "good meal" the less savory it is. But I'm a great every day cook! Our family sits down to a meal at the table every night at 7 and it's usually totally yummy and usually involves actual cooking. I can't quite make the feast in my head......yet.

I have a lot to be thankful for. I can't imagine my life any other way or comprised of any other people than the fine folks I am surrounded by every day. Truly. My family is amazing for who they are as individuals and how they fit into the puzzle around the table. I love them. They inspire and make me a better person every day. They are grateful when I am winning and they are forgiving even though I make them wear socks and a coat.

Also vicodin. I love vicodin.

Click here for more photos.

Chasity and Kelly Engagement Photos!

I am really excited about Chasity and Kelly's upcoming wedding! This will literally be my first wedding of 2010 (January 1) and I always have a bit of extra emphasis on the first shoot of the year. It sets the tone for things to look forward to.

I feel really fortunate to get to work with such creative, cool and laid back couple! Thanks so much guys and BIG Congratulations!

The Internet is Mad at You

You are just a regular person with a non-tech kind of job. You like The Internet. Specifically, you used to have a tricked out Myspace page but now you have a Facebook page with lots of boxes concerning farm animals. You have a lot of "friends" because you dedicated a good chunk of time hunting down your graduating class. (You can't believe she married Him!)

The words "Amazon," "Google," and "Twitter" are in your vocabulary but you're no expert in using them and/or understanding their value. Creative Commons and copyright are not theories you practice regularly.

You think the internet is cool, but you still write checks and shred every document with your name on it and despite having invested so heavily in anti-virus software you think your computer is slow because of a virus you caught. Maybe it's because, "Hey, is that you I see in this video? ROFLMAO." Or maybe it's because you're on dialup. (Is there still such thing as dialup?)

You LOVE pictures! You have the fastest right-click this side of the Mississippi and it's really fun to show off on your blog what you've stolen in the name of "cute." Even better, upload it to your Facebook profile and use it as your avatar!

Now look, I think you probably mean well. But ignorance is no excuse. Do you remember writing research papers in grade school? Does "citing sources within your paper" ring a bell? You have to put quotes around something someone says and attribute the author of the words. Otherwise it's plagiarism and you totally FAIL.

If you are using a photo on your blog and you don't credit that photo, even if it's a pansy fluffy anonymous blog about your deep dark feelings, it is plagiarism. I'm having a hard time explaining this because I'm having a hard time understanding why people don't understand this logic.

There are people whose entire job exists thanks to the beauty of the internet. There is the sometimes genius ability to layout a website so that it is both beautiful and thought-provoking and usable. There are the masons who lay down computer languages brick by brick and build the bridges connecting us all and turning that into a searchable content goldmine.

Content! It's what you're reading right now. It's all useless without somebody saying something. Blogging and digital cameras have perhaps done their part in blurring the nonobjective lines of good/bad/art/shit. Regardless of the caliber, everyone deserves credit for their piece of the puzzle.

So if you want to share with the world a whole post about sleeping puppies wearing wigs and how that really lifts your spirits, do it! But give a line of credit. Better yet, instead of showing off what someone else has done, go say something new.

But stop insulting your intelligence and the art that is out there and the people who make it available to you by stealing it. The internet is getting mad at you.

Raspberries

Raspberries from carissa byers on Vimeo.

Margot has passed the pesky fussy caterpillar stage and butterflied out into adorable. She is wide mouthed smiling happy most of the time. Her powerful cuteness causes entire grocery store aisles to spontaneously line up and goochey-goo. Her dimples can draw an entire crowd of kindergartners from a playground. Her eyes still twinkle a mystery of colors. Golden nugget giggles drip out of her mouth when we manage to kiss the right toe. She is so chubbalicious she can't fit in her bathtub anymore. She is so hubba hubba that her breathing becomes growley and labored when I put her in her Bumbo chair. When she sees something really neat her eyes grow wide and her mouth makes a little O and her arms shake because DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT RATTLE?!

She has a special smile for each of us in the house. She has a special Haughty Princess look for the dogs. Her mouth says nom nom nom when I eat something or when I pull out her cereal box.

Also, she makes raspberries ALL the time and as long as you're not sitting directly in front of her, it's really cool.

Penn's Birthday Invitation

I can't believe he's turning SIX. What an incredible year. I was newly pregnant when he turned five.

We've been to more birthday parties since he's started Kindergarten than we have his whole life. Each party is so extra fabulous and full of energy and sugar-filled kids running up costly rented venue walls. Perhaps exactly what a kindergarten birthday should be.

Part of me wants to keep up with the Jones'. Part of me wants to drop 200 clams on something exciting that might come with people to clean up afterward. And then I think back to my sixth birthday and...

...wait, I don't remember my sixth birthday.

Exactly.

So, we're going to the park for some playground time with the handful of friends he wanted to invite and his visiting family. I'm going to make pizza (I think) and cupcakes. Then we're going to take he and his best friend to the aquarium and anyone who wants to tag along is welcome to tag along.

It's going to be fun and casual and low key and focused more on friends and family and less on OMGPRESENTS! (I hope.) Anyway, Sunday! Be there or be square.

Kindergarten Thanksgiving

Penn's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast 2009 from carissa byers on Vimeo.

I can't remember a single school holiday party or friends birthday party. Not a single one. And either lunch with your kids wasn't an option or our parents just didn't want to see us. But in my day we didn't do it like Lakewood Elementary.

Perhaps that's because at Lakewood the parents are so powerfully involved. The Thanksgiving party for Penn's kindergarten class was a Feast. An entire turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie and chocolate cake.

All of the parents were there and the kiddos did two little pieces for us. (See video taken on my phone.)

The class also donated money to purchase an animal from Heifer.org as a way to celebrate our good fortune with others.

Sidenote to the feast: I thought it was supposed to be yesterday. So I made green beans yesterday and mad rushed it there with Margot in tow wondering where the hell her nap went. Oops. Today I was there but forgot my money for Heifer.

I swear sometimes I am So That Parent.

Holiday Special Postrcard

Holiday Special Postrcard, originally uploaded by carissabyers.

It's that time of year again! Only I have opposite news this year. The
Holiday Special is not happening. The new baby *still *eats every 2 hours, even through the night. Three hours of sleep in a row is the most I've had since July 23rd and three hours is a *luxury*. I wish I were kidding or exaggerating or something. I've hired someone to help, but Margot would rather cry for HOURS and LOUDLY then even look at that darned bottle. We're just not there yet. The hectic shooting and editing constantly is an impossible feat for my family this year.

I'm really going to miss you though. I love seeing you all come through with your new babies and puppies and extended families!

Regularly priced portraits are available in limited quantity.

Fret not, Margot won't be a baby forever! But I'm going to relish in all
her new baby smells and smiles for now.

Halloween 2009

I don't like Halloween. Never have. I have a memory of being a cat (my dance leotard + tail + ears) (a couple of times) a "man" (cowboy hat + boots + mustache) and a gypsy (last minute + friends insistence). But I don't think I ever really enjoyed dressing up.

And I don't like scary or gross or morbid things of any kind. I don't understand the zombie or vampire obsessions at all. Not even a little bit.

While we're at it, I loathe almost all holiday decorations of any kind for any kind of holiday. :) Can't help it. Unnecessary clutter and too many primary colors in my home make my eye twitch. Knick knacks make my eye twitch. Bahumbug. (Mind you, I reserve this sterility for my home. I don't really care how many Santas you have or how many blow up characters you have in your yard.)

But I've done my best not to hint at such so that my children might have the most normal traditional holiday experiences I can muster. This year, Penn was GI Joe.


We went to a Halloween carnival at his school. It was packed full of K-2nd graders overdosing on sugar and mayhem and screaming.


Margot managed to enjoy herself and take a meal in a quiet classroom.


Penn played all of the games 10 times each.


It was crowded and loud and the amount of stimulation aged me 4 years at least.


Our neighborhood held the annual Halloween parade. Everyone gathers at one place and the costumed children trick or treat the lane and houses on the way home. Margot got to lead because she was the youngest. That was pretty fun.

For Halloween, anyway.

So you know what will happen now. Penn and Margot are going to grow up and Halloween will be their favorite holiday ever. They'll dress as zombies and vampires and put fake spiderwebs all over the yard and see who can scare and gross out their old mom the most. Ha ha, can't wait.

Click here for the rest of the photos.

I turn my back for one second!

I turned my back for one second and when I came back into the living room Penn and his friend were replaced by magic marker ninjas.


After some rowdy playtime and some hand prints through the house I hauled Penn into the shower. As I was saying goodbye to our friend's mom I heard a ka-thunk! and a wail and ran into the bathroom. Penn had slipped and planted his face on the bottom of the tub. It was hard to tell which was the blood and which was the marker.

Between he and Margot there was screaming and blood and marker and soap and snot and poop. It was loud. I didn't feel in control. There were too many people in the bathroom and none of us could fix it. Mostly because we couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong. I started getting us ready for the emergency room in my head. It looked like Penn had bitten a big hole right through his mouth. I handed my phone to my friend and asked her to call Daniel and tell him to come home now.

My friend said it wasn't that bad.

My head said emergency room.

And then I became more comfortable with the idea of handling this at home. I got us all more under control. Then Daniel came home and was like, "Why aren't you at the doctor?! That needs stitches!" And so off we hauled to a nearby Primacare, a much better option that I had not even thought of.

The doctor wanted to send us to another hospital where they could do something with plastics to minimize scarring. The doctor was very concerned about this whole scar thing. We couldn't think because Margot was crying and hungry. I popped Margot on the boob to quiet her and decided that it was so small and under his lip, scarring wasn't really an issue. Get it over with.


Penn is tough. Remarkably tough. He hated the lidocaine shot and when the doctor said they were going to need another to finish he said, "No shot. Just do the stitch."

He has four stitches and a fat lip.

And now if the universe could give my little guy a break please? He's had a hard month with one non-serious medical thing after another. But enough is enough!

Not Parent of the Year

I picked Penn up from school last Friday and he greeted me at the door with, "I hurt my chin on the slide and need a band aid." Sure enough his chin required some tending. So we went back inside to the nurse's office and she fixed him up.

On the way out he was thirsty and stopped at the water fountain. Then back outside. He was walking on one side of a pillar and I was walking on the other. We should have met on the other side. There should have been three feet where I would lose sight of him but after that space my kid totally should have been standing right there.

But he wasn't. I looked and looked. I enabled surrounding parents to "Keep an eye out." He wasn't lost, damnit, it was only three feet. I walked to the playground. I walked towards the car. No Penn. Someone let me know he was inside.

He was sitting on a bench with the Principal. He was crying. Devastated. I had lost him. Another person came up to tell me that they had called my cell phone to tell them about the missing Penn, but I hadn't answered. I was so confused. IT WAS THREE FEET! They showered him with protective arms and tissues to help him feel better about being left by his mom. I was sweating and toting Margot the Heavy assuring the counselor that no really, I don't make a habit of losing track of my kid, but it was only three feet....

We get back outside and Penn tells me what really happened. (Mind you, he told the Principal I HAD LOST HIM.) To me he says that he had made a fatal mistake at the water fountain and laid his halloween treat bag down. He went back inside to get the bag and didn't bother letting me know. That whole time he should have been occupying that three feet of space he was actually in the school discovering some evil doer had stolen his treat bag. THAT'S why he was crying.

So. We go BACK INSIDE AGAIN. Maybe the bag is still there, I say. It's not. We pass the counselor again. She has treat bags. Penn perks up. We pass Penn's teacher. She has more treat bags. Penn perks up more. There couldn't possibly be more concerned looks being thrown at me

Meanwhile, I am so not winning Parent of the Year this year.