The girls and Ben were getting a little rambunctious and fractious this afternoon as they tried to crowd around the limited space of the chalkboard easel. That’s when Melanie had the inspiration to suggest that they all move outside and “chalk” on the driveway, especially since the afternoon sun had moved to the western side of the house and left most of the driveway in cooler shadows.
(Yes, they use “chalk” as a verb. After all, we paint with paint, so we chalk with chalk. “We’re chalking!” is a common joyful refrain in our house.
To preserve the joyous moment of tranquility, I pulled out my iPhone 4 and used the video-recording capabilities. then I cut and edited the footage together, slapped on titles and a soundtrack, and the uploaded it to YouTube. All from within the iPhone. Amazing. I love living in the future.
One particularly nice feature of the new phone is the camera on the same side as the screen. This makes for some fun footage of the kids as they see themselves and react to it, as you can see from Ben and Sophia. Plus it allows for some fun angles like shooting the kids from below their eye level.
Oh, and speaking of tranquility, I spent an hour this afternoon driving around Holbrook, checking out all kinds of side streets I’d never seen while I tried to get Ben to calm down. He’s been teething something fierce for weeks now and woke up from his nap just screaming and screaming. It so distressed Melanie and Isabella that I volunteered to take him for a ride in the car. He didn’t fall asleep like I’d hoped, but he did remain calm most of the time, whimpering along mainly.
But now he’s in bed and Melanie is getting the girls down and I’m cleaning up the dining room and kitchen. We had a nice meal of grilled chicken in fajita marinade over a green salad full of fixins’ we got at the farmers market this morning. The farms are finally producing a bounty of fruits and vegetables and our Saturday night dinners are benefiting from that abundance: fresh lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and more.
