Old Dogs Can Get New Pics

The old folks got some new pics. You'd never know they're old as dirt, would ya??

Colson's Minecraft Adventures Part 3

Hopefully Colson's not being inappropriate in these videos, I haven't watched one all the way through yet...

Two Things

I sent the kids to bed the other night. Ava came down to find Eric, and I heard her corner him in the kitchen, saying in her cute little girl voice, "Dad, two things....One, hurry up and come tuck us in. Two, you HAVE  to tell us a story when you do."

Eric replied, "Oh, I HAVE to?? Or what?"

Still in her cute little girl voice, "Or I'll do something bad!"

5 minutes later he was upstairs telling them stories. He came downstairs afterwards mimicking her..."Dad, two things....two things."

The funniest part of this story is all that day I'd been getting all the people in my life to watch Homeland. I'd sent my dad, and Richard, and John and Karen Burns links and instructions on how to watch the whole season online. My dad had already watched a few episodes, Richard promised to watch them this weekend while Solomon was away, and John Burns was in the process of starting the first episode that night. I mentioned to John that my dad had already watched 4 episodes and really liked it. John said, "Good grief, do all the men in your life just do whatever you tell them to??"

I just smiled and typed..."Two things:"

(To Eric's credit, he is an expert storyteller. The kids die for his "When I was a little kid" stories. They'll do anything to get him on a roll at night...)

Is It Real, Or Is It Colson

Colson likes to make up words that don't exist. He always has. I know that's not unique, for a child to make up words, but there are two reasons why Colson's habit is different.

One, his words sound like they should be real words. To the point that even I have to take a second and say to myself, "Oh wait, that's not a real word..."

Two, he uses them with such confidence and ease it confuses you into believing the word is real. They flow off of his tongue as if he's heard and said them all his life. That's a gift he inherited from his daddy.

Here are two examples of these words Cole uses, and how he used them in a sentence. There are so many more, but I always forget them.

Instantarily:

"The pirate instantarily changed forms and became the Evil Doctor of Doom."

Mysterical:

"I have a mysterical power that lets me know when anyone around me isn't telling the truth."


Tell me those words don't sound real......

Musical Apples And Trees

Not that there was ever any doubt with my brother Andrew as his father, but my nephew @LittleRFL is going to grow up with the most eclectic taste in music. Here is his jamming out to the cool UK band, The Ting Tings... ...and here he is enjoying breakfast to the sounds of Lawrence Welk, understandably distracted from his Chex by the beautiful waltz.

 He'll never have anything in common with his peers musically, but I'm betting the ladies will always swoon over his progressive, alternative coolness. Like father, like son..........

This Is Your Birthday Song...

At midnight on my birthday, I was in a rehearsal room at the UCWDC World Championships in Orlando. Richard, John and Antoinette stopped dancing and burst out in song. It was something else. Then, Antoinette sang a little solo birthday song to me, the cutest song I ever heard. I tried to get her to sing it again on camera, but she wouldn't. I tried so hard, but that girl is STUH-BERN!!!!! She was awfully cute while refusing, though...

Clive and Emily, Triple World Champions

My mentor Clive Stevens and his partner, my idol, Emily Drinkall, made history at Worlds, becoming the first dancers to win Male and Female Superstars (the top line dance division) individually and Classic Masters couples together at the same event. Here are their videos. In Superstars, they compete male and female, not against each other. They dance two compulsory dances and a solo. Here is Dance A:
  And their Dance B: And here are their solos: In Classic Masters (which is the division Richard and I compete in), you dance a Smooth flight, a Rhythm flight, and a showdance. Here is Clive and Emily's Smooth flight: YouTube is blocking their Rhythm flight content, hmm....Well, here's their showdance (disabled audio, annoying). They chose to do a nightclub two step: Their wins were so deserved, sharing the floor with them was exciting as always.

Which M Wins?

Richard and I are creating a logo for ourselves. We need opinions on the "M"s. This logo will be on jackets and bags that our students will wear at competitions.

We also toyed with the idea of M and M Dance, but since we don't own/operate a dance studio and these items will only be used at competitions, I thought Team M and M was more suitable. Also, a lot of other groups use "Whatever Dance", so Team seems more original to me. But I'm open to other opinions!

Colson's Minecraft Adventures Part 2

Part 2 in Colson's Minecraft Adventure series:

Curly Sue Has A Flesh Eating Disease

The Friday night look. Sasha hit a homerun, my favorite hair to date.

Worlds 2012

Classic Masters, 2012. The best division in the UCWDC. The energy on the floor when we're all out there fighting for space is electrifying.