Happy Mother's Day

What a better way to wish my wife and mother of my 2 children a happy mother's day than to show off a bit of what makes her so special. Lets begin with her creativity in sewing. For those who don't know, she sews alot. Below are 5 representatives of her great ability to take ordinary materials and make them extraordinary.

Ellie's Blessing Dress.

Ellie's Blue Dress
Ellie's Green Spring Dress - this one was recently made famous here.
Ellie's Red Dress.
A work in progress: Ellie's soon to be completed purple summer dress. I stole this away one morning to sneak in this shot.
I should mention that this is just a sampling of what she has done since I've known her. Besides little girl dresses, she has sewn bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses,fashion/designer shirts, quilts, curtains, herbal aroma therapy pillows, baby blankets, and the list goes on.

Sewing is not her only forte. She is also an amazing cook. You don't hear me complaining about food in my house. Since I have known her she has had a love for baking and decorating. I am always impressed with the detail and meticulous nature of her creations. This is expected in her sewing, but it also extends to her edible creations as well. The most recent cakes for the kids birthdays are exhibits 1 and 2. They tasted as good as they looked.

I should also mention that she is not limited to cakes. Her apple pie is amazing and looks the part as well.

I would seriously be amiss if I did not let your all in on her greatest creations. They by far the cutest, irreplaceable, and arguably difficult to contain creations. You can get your fill of her two greatest creations on her blog. I'll give you a bit of a taste below - no it is not Hershey's chocolate.

We love you sweetheart! You are the greatest wife and mother. I apologize if any of this has embarrassed you. Thank you for putting up with all of my goods and bads and loving me in the end. Thank you for loving our children and their own creations (aka messes, rips, art, etc). We are forever grateful for such a wonderful woman in out lives. You are a blessing to us all!

Let me make one final thank you to our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Your heritage lives on. We love you.

Josh, Harrison and Ellie.

Glass Blowing: Making an Ornament 101

Me making a glass ornament at Thames Glass on February 20, 2009. Thanks Kristen for taking the photos. A 2500 degree furnace was a welcome feeling in sub freezing cold.

Picking the colors gold, red and green

Melting the colors together

Blowing the molten glass through the pipePinching

Refining the top of the ball

The finished glass ball tapped from the blow pipe

Adding the top hook to the ball - red hot ironThe finished product - ready to be cooled

Perspectives on Marriage

Here was the conversation between Harrison, Elizabeth, Bonnie and I during lunch today:

Elizabeth: I want to get married like mommy

Harrison: I want to be a fireman and marry Ellie.

Josh: You can't marry your sister.

Harrison: Why not?

Elizabeth: I want to be like mommy and marry Harrison.

Bonnie: I wouldn't marry your daddy. We don't marry our brothers and sisters.

Harrison: Why not? I am going to marry Ellie.

Josh: Harrison, you can't marry your sister. It is against the law and just not appropriate.

Harrison: Why is that dad?

I think going into the genetic ramifications would have been a little too much. But, what do you say to a 2 and 4 year old? The question "why?" is a tough one to answer.

Journal Launch Finally

I am the editor-in-chief of a new journal entitled Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases (OED). The journal was made public last week and new articles will be published in the near future. I am excited to see this go forward after months in the making. I am grateful to the excellent group of editors who have joined me in this new venture. The introductory editorial should be available soon. Feel free to read my interview with the managing editor, Tom Hill. I have also added a link to the OED on here and a RSS feeder for new article releases. You can see that I am not very busy as there are no new articles. I should probably mention I am doing this as a service, so no, I have not come into my millions.......yet.

Only fancy cakes will do

I have two great kids with fanciful birthday wishes. Thank goodness for a wife who can make them come true.

Exhibit A (Hello Kitty)

Exhibit B (Curious George)

They tasted just as good as they looked.