Jacob's Basket

I have figured out a way to include video on this blog. My test video is a basket Jake made while playing basketball earlier this year in the Upward's Basketball league. Click here to see Jacob's Basket.

Graduation Day!

I'ver never really been a fan of preschool graduations, but Audrey looked so cute in her cap and gown that I'll make an exception this time!

She made us proud by leading everyone in an opening prayer.

Audrey with one of her teachers, Ms. Jamie.

Audrey in the back row, all smiles!

Ready to take on the world!

Spring School Pictures

Here are the spring school pictures of the kids.

Spaghetti Dilemma

Katie had a tough decision to make. She was two bites of spaghetti away from the promised land. She could nearly smell the candy that was awaiting the final gulp of tomato sauce and pasta.
The problem was, she didn't want the final two bites of spaghetti. She wanted the candy.

So, she did what all well trained 21 month old kids do...

She threw a fit...

She screamed and flailed with the best of them.

I tried reasoning with her. I told her two more bites of spaghetti and the candy is all yours.

Again, she liked the candy part of the reasoning, but wanted nothing to do with the spaghetti part.

She figured, if I cry enough, he'll eventually give in and let me have the candy. If he can just see how upset it makes me that I don't have the candy, he'll realize giving it to me is the best option.


So, as I explained to her the situation, she turned it on... puppy dog eyes... big lower lip... tears...

Then, when I walked away, to clear the table, or to go get something, she put the tantrum on pause, almost like flipping a switch.

She didn't want to waste the theatrics on herself. She wanted to make sure she had my full attention for the show.
And sure enough, when I returned to the table, the show resumed.


And what a good show it was! I especially liked how she dramatically put her face in her hands, as if the lack of candy was too unbearable to take.

It was all I could do to keep from giving her a round of applause.

I wish I could say this story ends with a mouthful of candy, but it doesn't.

Instead, it ended with a warm bath, a bed time story, and a goodnight kiss. (Of course, I'm sure there was also a late night brainstorming session in the crib as to how to improve the show for next time!)

New Digital Camera

Why I've gone so long without a digital camera, I'll never know. The whole idea of taking pictures without worrying about cost of film and wasting money on developing bad pictures, encourages you to take more pictures. I think I took 100 pictures yesterday, just to get 5 "keepers".

Take for instance this picture of Katie. I probably took 10 pictures of her as she was playing at my feet. Some were blurry, or she wasn't smiling or looking at the camera. But this one captured a little of her essence. There's no forced smile, and she looks natural. It wasn't a special occasion, I was just testing my new camera. It's a snapshot of my daughter in a time and place I wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

I snapped this picture of Audrey right as she walked in the door from a friends house. She was laughing and chewing gum (yes, at the same time!) and I thought it turned out cute.

For anyone interested in buying a digital camera, Consumer Reports provides some great resources to help choose. I bought the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. It's an 8-megapixel digital SLR they rate a Best Buy. If you don't want to spend that much (more than $600), they offer some quick picks: Canon PowerShot A510 ($170, CR Best Buy), Olympus D-580 Zoom ($240, CR Best Buy), and Sony Cyber-shot s60 ($200). You can get information on virtually any camera at the Consumer Reports website. I highly recommend them.

Joining the 21st Century!

It seems like just yesterday I was licking an envelope and mailing an illegible letter to a family member, hoping the pictures didn't get ruined along the way. Oh yeah, it was yesterday. Well today, I've decided to take our family to the world wide web!

I still don't know how in depth I'll be able to get with this, but I hope to be publishing all the latest stories and pictures of the Texas edition of the Berns Clan.

I hope you enjoy,

Kevin