Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day 241: Ask and You Shall Receive
Whelp... our video is too large to post on blogspot...
BUT, it is on my facebook page!
BTW: Today Grayson told me that his mama drives like a Serbian. I am not joking... he really said it. I’m not sure what that means... but it made me giggle.
BUT, it is on my facebook page!
BTW: Today Grayson told me that his mama drives like a Serbian. I am not joking... he really said it. I’m not sure what that means... but it made me giggle.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Day 235: Rock Out, The Saga Continues
So, as per my previous post, “Rocking Out” has become a Schutz Happening... on a regular basis. But, Cake is no longer. For some reason Grayson now finds “The Distance” scary. Now, I do understand... the band Cake does have a bit of a creepy sound if you don’t understand their lyrics... but alas, “Rocking Out” has not ended... but evolved. Grayson now has two favorite bands... “Barenaked Ladies” and “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy”. And for the latter... for those of you who know me well... I couldn’t be prouder. Grayson likes swing music!
Now, the point of this story is the cutest conversation that we had over dinner tonight. Whenever i play a song for Gray, he is now very interested in knowing “who is signing this song”. And of course, I tell him the names of the person or the band. If he likes them... he will request them by name. Tonight we eat dinner to “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy”.
Oh, and one other distinction I give these bands is whether I have seen them in concert.
Me: “Oh, Dada really likes ‘Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,’ I have seen the in concert.”
Gray: “You’ve seen them?”
Me: “Yes.”
Gray: “Oh.”
Now, although Gray understands the concept of a band as friends getting together to play a song... he has yet to grasp the concept of a concert... not that he should at 3 years old... but this level of confusion tonight at dinner achieved a whole new level of cuteness.
Gray: “Daddy, you’ve seen them?”
Me: “Who?”
Gray: “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.”
Me: “Yeah, I’ve been them.”
Gray: “How did you see them?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Gray: “How did you see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy? Did you stand next to them?”
And thus... cuteness achieved!
Now, the point of this story is the cutest conversation that we had over dinner tonight. Whenever i play a song for Gray, he is now very interested in knowing “who is signing this song”. And of course, I tell him the names of the person or the band. If he likes them... he will request them by name. Tonight we eat dinner to “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy”.
Oh, and one other distinction I give these bands is whether I have seen them in concert.
Me: “Oh, Dada really likes ‘Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,’ I have seen the in concert.”
Gray: “You’ve seen them?”
Me: “Yes.”
Gray: “Oh.”
Now, although Gray understands the concept of a band as friends getting together to play a song... he has yet to grasp the concept of a concert... not that he should at 3 years old... but this level of confusion tonight at dinner achieved a whole new level of cuteness.
Gray: “Daddy, you’ve seen them?”
Me: “Who?”
Gray: “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.”
Me: “Yeah, I’ve been them.”
Gray: “How did you see them?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Gray: “How did you see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy? Did you stand next to them?”
And thus... cuteness achieved!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Day 231: He's Going the Distance
Have I taken the opportunity to declare how proud I am of my son? Definitely not often enough. So, can I just take a minute to brag and tell you how proud of that 3’3” tall 3 year-old I am? Not only is he a big boy and new going to school 3 days a week... but he is adjusting amazingly to this new adventure of our... he can count and knows his letters... he’s making friends easily... and he has amazing taste in music. Right now he is obsessed with the song “The Distance” by Cake... which is one of my favorite bands.
I know what you are probably thinking... one of your favourite bands... of course he is going to attach himself to a song if he hears it all the time. Not true. Those of you who know me we know that I have a very eclectic music taste and I have no problem putting my entire music collection of shuffle and simple enjoy what I hear.
So, how did this obsession begin? Well Grayson and I really enjoy “Rocking Out”. And cute as it is... that is what we call it, “Daddy? Can we rock out?” It’s awesome. And frankly, rocking out is pretty much what it sounds like: loud music and lots of dancing.
I can’t remember how it all started, but I am pretty sure I was trying to distract Gray from bugging Serena while she was making dinner... and I wasn’t interested in turning the TV on... I think I was in the mood for listening to music. Anyway, I don’t like silence, so I wanted music and whenever I would ask Gray if he wanted to listen to music he would say “no”. So, this one evening, instead of asking if he wanted to “listen to music” I asked if he wanted to “rock out”... this new phase instantly intrigued him. “What’s rock out”. Me: “I’ll show you”. So, we ‘rocked out’.
Really, all I do is scroll through my iPod and play fast upbeat music... it is also a great way to tire him out at the end of the day. Most of the time when we ‘rock out’ we don’t finish any of the songs... when I start to see him getting bored I change songs... and sometimes he doesn’t like songs and he requests a change. A couple weeks ago we were doing this and I played “The Distance”. Now, you need to understand that I did not tell him the name of the song... he figured it out on him own. We danced and listened to the whole song... and when it was over, he asked for it again. I think we danced to it about 4 times. And that was it... so I thought. The next day Gray kept asking for something... and finally I realized that he was asking for “a distance”... and then quickly realized that he was referring to the song. I have to admit it is a very catchy song... but I didn’t realize how attached to it he had become until this afternoon, we were out running some errands and on our way home I heard Gray singing in his car seat, and the following quote is not an exaggeration, Gray was singing “he’s going the distance, he’s going for speed, he’s all alone, all alone, in a time of need.” Once Serena and I realized what he was saying the car erupted into the rest of the song. It was awesome. And I love the fact that Gray even included the “all alone” echo from the back-up vocals. It is really great and terribly cute. I will have to shoot some video of it.
-JP
I know what you are probably thinking... one of your favourite bands... of course he is going to attach himself to a song if he hears it all the time. Not true. Those of you who know me we know that I have a very eclectic music taste and I have no problem putting my entire music collection of shuffle and simple enjoy what I hear.
So, how did this obsession begin? Well Grayson and I really enjoy “Rocking Out”. And cute as it is... that is what we call it, “Daddy? Can we rock out?” It’s awesome. And frankly, rocking out is pretty much what it sounds like: loud music and lots of dancing.
I can’t remember how it all started, but I am pretty sure I was trying to distract Gray from bugging Serena while she was making dinner... and I wasn’t interested in turning the TV on... I think I was in the mood for listening to music. Anyway, I don’t like silence, so I wanted music and whenever I would ask Gray if he wanted to listen to music he would say “no”. So, this one evening, instead of asking if he wanted to “listen to music” I asked if he wanted to “rock out”... this new phase instantly intrigued him. “What’s rock out”. Me: “I’ll show you”. So, we ‘rocked out’.
Really, all I do is scroll through my iPod and play fast upbeat music... it is also a great way to tire him out at the end of the day. Most of the time when we ‘rock out’ we don’t finish any of the songs... when I start to see him getting bored I change songs... and sometimes he doesn’t like songs and he requests a change. A couple weeks ago we were doing this and I played “The Distance”. Now, you need to understand that I did not tell him the name of the song... he figured it out on him own. We danced and listened to the whole song... and when it was over, he asked for it again. I think we danced to it about 4 times. And that was it... so I thought. The next day Gray kept asking for something... and finally I realized that he was asking for “a distance”... and then quickly realized that he was referring to the song. I have to admit it is a very catchy song... but I didn’t realize how attached to it he had become until this afternoon, we were out running some errands and on our way home I heard Gray singing in his car seat, and the following quote is not an exaggeration, Gray was singing “he’s going the distance, he’s going for speed, he’s all alone, all alone, in a time of need.” Once Serena and I realized what he was saying the car erupted into the rest of the song. It was awesome. And I love the fact that Gray even included the “all alone” echo from the back-up vocals. It is really great and terribly cute. I will have to shoot some video of it.
-JP
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day 226: The Trifecta!
So, it has been a while yet again. Life has been very busy for the Schutz’s... February has been a month of travelling. We made it to three different countries in three weeks.
We started the month off with a wonderful trip to Opatia, Croatia. It is on the Adriatic coast and I highly recommend it. The Croatian coast will be a place I will return to... and often I hope.
The following weekend it was off to Rome, Italy... which was... well... really expensive. Too expensive actually. Don’t get me wrong, I was breath taking to see the Coliseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain... but Rome is just expensive. Listen... I love bourbon... and someday I might treat myself to a glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label... just to enjoy it once and say that I have had it.
I have been to Rome.
Now, I would definitely go back to Italy... it is such a beautiful country and there is so much to see... I just don’t think I’ll be dying to go back to Rome just for the Gelato.
Anyway, we finished up our trifecta of travel with a very special trip to Budapest where we met up with our good friends Kirby and Heather Winters, and their son KJ. And there is one thing I will say about Budapest... the food is amazing... we were in Budapest for less than 24 hours and every meal was one of the best I have ever had... except for the breakfast at the hotel. We had turkey, duck, fuagra, and wild boar! It was amazing... and my meals were cheaper than a taxi cab ride in Rome (big plus... yes, I am bitter).
If you are a foodie... believe it or not... go to Budapest! You will not regret it.
After our amazing meals we all (Kirby, Heather, and KJ included) ventured back to Belgrade for a few days of wining and dining... It is nice to actually show people that we are not messing around when we say that Serbian cuisine consists of meat, stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon.
It was a great trip... and it was really nice to see old friends... it is hard to believe that it has already, almost, eight months since we left Georgia... it is even harder to believe, now that I have done the math, that we have been in Belgrade for over three months (going on four). Time sure does fly when walk to work in the snow. Seriously... the snow just melted yesterday... it was on the ground for about two months. But beautiful.
Anyhow, we are back in Belgrade... and the Winters’ hadn’t even been gone for a week when we received the next reservation for a room at the Casa de la Schutz... Serena’s best friend from Peace Corp, Erin, will be joining us for a little over a week at the end of the month. We visited with Erin last year, when we were in Geneva... so it should be fun... and there is some talk about hitting Romania. Which is another interesting prospect... I hope the food is good!
We started the month off with a wonderful trip to Opatia, Croatia. It is on the Adriatic coast and I highly recommend it. The Croatian coast will be a place I will return to... and often I hope.
The following weekend it was off to Rome, Italy... which was... well... really expensive. Too expensive actually. Don’t get me wrong, I was breath taking to see the Coliseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain... but Rome is just expensive. Listen... I love bourbon... and someday I might treat myself to a glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label... just to enjoy it once and say that I have had it.
I have been to Rome.
Now, I would definitely go back to Italy... it is such a beautiful country and there is so much to see... I just don’t think I’ll be dying to go back to Rome just for the Gelato.
Anyway, we finished up our trifecta of travel with a very special trip to Budapest where we met up with our good friends Kirby and Heather Winters, and their son KJ. And there is one thing I will say about Budapest... the food is amazing... we were in Budapest for less than 24 hours and every meal was one of the best I have ever had... except for the breakfast at the hotel. We had turkey, duck, fuagra, and wild boar! It was amazing... and my meals were cheaper than a taxi cab ride in Rome (big plus... yes, I am bitter).
If you are a foodie... believe it or not... go to Budapest! You will not regret it.
After our amazing meals we all (Kirby, Heather, and KJ included) ventured back to Belgrade for a few days of wining and dining... It is nice to actually show people that we are not messing around when we say that Serbian cuisine consists of meat, stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon.
It was a great trip... and it was really nice to see old friends... it is hard to believe that it has already, almost, eight months since we left Georgia... it is even harder to believe, now that I have done the math, that we have been in Belgrade for over three months (going on four). Time sure does fly when walk to work in the snow. Seriously... the snow just melted yesterday... it was on the ground for about two months. But beautiful.
Anyhow, we are back in Belgrade... and the Winters’ hadn’t even been gone for a week when we received the next reservation for a room at the Casa de la Schutz... Serena’s best friend from Peace Corp, Erin, will be joining us for a little over a week at the end of the month. We visited with Erin last year, when we were in Geneva... so it should be fun... and there is some talk about hitting Romania. Which is another interesting prospect... I hope the food is good!
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