The Littlest Mr. Stoddard

Wouldn't our Champ be delighted with his newest great grandchild?! Born Sunday after many hours of hard labor, Brook, Netdahe and Losada are all doing well and the baby is cuter than the dickens; tiny with black hair and perfect little fingers and toes and a perfect little nose. So far I've only seen photos as I planned to go visit today but have decided not to brave the 30+ mile trip in what is shaping up to be a gorgeous snow storm. Hopefully I'll make it down tomorrow to meet the little bugger. The first time I met Netdahe he was very tiny and I was almost 6 years old and he pissed on me! Somehow the grownups in my world made me think this was a kind of honor. Now it is almost 34 years later and Losada is the 4th great grandchild (following Harper, Patrick and Nia) so this next generation is shaping up nicely.

When we were little, Netdahe and Henekis realized I was an only child and therefore would not have the opportunity to be an aunt. They felt quite sorry for me and let me know I could be their sister. So Losada is my nephew. We're going to love him forever, of course.

An Early Morning Tune

Nothing like running on the ridge at dawn with this tune in your ears.

Harper

Harper's first ski race. She's the figure at the top of the frame. You can go full screen to make it even better. Follow her down. She's freaking amazing.

Anniversary--Seize Ans

Altered Jesus

While visiting Montreal last June with some women friends, I came across a giant portrait of Jesus at the thrift store. I'd been looking for something for that blank wall in the dining room and thought it was worth $7 to surprise the heck out of my dad when he arrived in Montreal the next day. So I bought it and Karen helped me hang it. Trouble was, as soon as we got it on the wall I decided I really liked it! It really tied the room together, as you can see.

Sadly, my atheist father found it disturbing (once he finally noticed it, which I believe took him about 12 hours). I think he was also afraid of what our friends from NYC (who would be the next visitors to the condo) would think. He took it down and it was relegated to a bedroom closet.

Lucky for all of us, my friend Lore taught me about altered books a couple years ago. So I knew just what we had to do. Yesterday afternoon, between a stroll through and around Jean-Talon Market and dinner at Khyber Pass, I set to work altering Jesus. The whole family was skeptical, but after watching me for a bit, Neil and Harper got really excited and started working with me. Dad and Pat helped some, too (Patrick adding a key element; the astronaut in the upper right). Here is the final product, back in the frame and back in its rightful place on the wall.

Here it is before I put it back in the frame. It is hard to make out the astronaut unless you are actually in the room with it, but that's what that whitish blob is just above the head.
There are lots of details to look at up close. For example, the chain of the necklace are words to a song, which Harper wrote out in her nice handwriting. We love it and had such a fun time making it.

And here's a cool picture I took of Harper at Khyber Pass. I'm posting it here because she won't let me post it on facebook and she doesn't read this blog.

Mama Told Me There'd Be Days Like This

I Can Hear Their Laughing

Here are two older men, now gone, who delighted in our family, in each other, in their Cindy, in their experiences of their worlds and cultures, travels and jokes. I love looking at their faces here, except that I miss them both terribly when I look for more than a quick second. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken within days of Kali's birth. I miss them.