v a u g h n a u s t i n

u adults can keep yer ornj food for yerself its terubul -blv

yay i’m a haf yeer old i found this piksher can u find me im hiding in the flowrs -blv

Benjamin partakes in his first gourmet culinary experience!

Benjamin had his first professional photo shoot a few weeks ago and we just received the hi-res digital proofs. We’ve uploaded them to Flickr so all of his admirers can bask in his cuteness. We feel bad for all those parents in the world who think their baby is the cutest ever.

Now that the Holidays have passed and things are beginning to settle back down, we thought we’d post a new Benjamin video. We’ve gotta tell you, we’re having a lot of fun watching him grow up a little bit each and every day. We all know about “baby steps”, but witnessing your very own baby grow up right before your eyes is truly an amazing experience. In this video, Benjamin wakes up from a nap in his swing (this was just too cute to leave out) and then shows us how he can raise his head and look around and smile and kick and coo and interact with his new best friend the lion and then, this morning, seemingly out of nowhere, he starts using his hands… even turning his wrist. Baby steps! How fun!

It should be relatively obvious at this point that all we do now is stand around and stare at Benjamin, and it’s actually quite delightful. Wow. How times have changed. =)

A quick production note on the video: The clip with Benjamin on his tummy by the tree was taken in mid-December when he was only seven weeks old, while all the others were taken within the last few days. Even though he’s only three weeks younger, you can see how his face hadn’t filled out as much and he was still working pretty hard to keep his head up. Also, if you look close, you can see how I keep moving the camera to where he’s looking instead of him following the camera. That’s why I really love the clip where he’s waking up from his nap, because you can tell he’s really aware of his surroundings and is able to focus on a particular object and study it. Do I sound like a proud Daddy?

Music by Aaron Shust and Feist.

We had some raw oysters left over from Amma’s masterpiece last night, so we decided to fry them up. We used one of Bobby Flay’s recipes for inspiration. After a quick test run, though, we decided the corn meal needed a little something, so we added several pinches of chipotle powder and other southwest seasonings to give it more oomph. We essentially turned the sauce upside down… We replaced the anchos with jalapenos, added a whole red bell pepper, halved the vinegar and tripled the honey. We also ran it through the food processor with a couple tablespoons of oil to get a more dippable texture. Good stuff!!

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Abbracciati - In hug, originally uploaded by Giuseppe Andrea.

Just a quick sentimental post from Lance.

First of all, while you’re hugging your guests and loved ones this Holiday season, give them a hug that’s a touch longer than usual. There’s no reason we have to walk in, squeeze and go. We’re not computers. We don’t just [squeeze] [release]. We’re humans. We hug. Hug like you mean it. God wants us to cherish our relationships.

I thought I was a long-hugger until I got to know my sister-in-law Deanna. I called her out on her performance many years ago and we still share a good laugh about that to this day. She’s a squeeze-release-squeezer. Regardless, she likes hugs. She’s a hugger.

Also, just a quick shout out to Flickr. They’ve been a great host to our photos this year and I’ve noticed that their algorithms are really maturing nicely. For example, tonight I was searching for a hug photo and I was blown away by what I found. Nothing but high-quality public photos float to the top, all based on popularity. Here’s my favorite. Nice. Thank you Time Magazine for declaring “You” as the Man of the Year in 2006. We appreciate the recognition and we’re doing our best.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Don’t forget the reason for the season!

Isn’t he just the cutest? This is his first smile on camera. It was brief, but we captured it! Thanks to Mommy for her excellent baby talk! We planned this little photo session for early morning, since he is usually the happiest that time of day. The nice lighting was achieved by turning off all the indoor lights to make the Christmas lights pop and the green wire fade to the back a bit. Opening the shutters on a nearby window let in the morning’s natural light to give him a nice glow.

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

I’ve been waiting all year for this post. And here we are, on December 1st, just as planned. Now I can finally say Merry Christmas!!

Serious rewind, here…

It was 1991, and I was a sophomore at Purdue University. When Christmas rolled around, I was painfully low on cash. I wasn’t sure what to do for my family for Christmas that year. I had been doing a lot of creative writing over the last few years, so I came up with the idea of writing a Christmas short story. Little was I to know that so many feelings… so much of me… would find its way into the story. When I read the story to my family Christmas night, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was a beautiful moment — one that I will remember forever!

Now, fast forward nine years…

It was the year 2000. I had spent almost every waking moment that year writing music for a studio band that I was in, so I decided to attempt writing a Christmas carol for my family’s traditional talent show that we do every year on Christmas night. Easy stuff, right? Ha! I was only able to write a couple verses in the few hours that I had, but it went over really well. It was fun when I asked my family to sing along after having only heard the song for the first time just a few moments before! I wasn’t even sure what key the song was in!

Well, the next year, I had a little surprise up my sleeve. Starting in late summer, I began collaborating with Brian Hazard of Color Theory to finish the song. It wasn’t easy writing a traditional-style Christmas carol — trying to capture the true warmth and magic of the season without being too cheesy — but it was incredibly rewarding when we finally wrapped it up! And what a wonderful surprise for my family that year! I couldn’t even wait for the talent show Christmas night. Christmas Eve hit and I was all aglow… I just had to share!

I had really started getting into the spirit of Christmas early that year and it was a long wait until December 25th! Since I had a small recording studio in my home, I had also decided to record an audio version of my Christmas story. It had gone through a lot of small revisions over the last ten years, but it was time to finally put it in stone. So, while I was working with Brian on the Christmas carol, I decided to ask him to write a short instrumental to include in the audio version of my story. It was designed as a companion song to my carol, but was meant to capture the deeper, more personal side of Christmas. I swear there was such an amazing degree of divine intervention involved, because Brian created the song with very little direction from me; yet, as I began to piece everything together — layering his music in with my reading — I must have cried a dozen times out of sheer joy! The timing and overall feeling of the music matched the storyline perfectly! Bravo!

Please visit Brian’s site at colortheory.com — beautiful music from an incredibly talented individual!

I am sharing these two productions with you simply because I love Christmas and I hope they will somehow touch you the way they have me all these years. Please feel free to share this site with anyone and everyone — it’s a great way to help your loved ones get in their spirit! Christmas is such a beautiful season! It brings out the best in us… reminds us of everything we take for granted.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Listen to the original Christmas carol and read the lyrics here: The Magic of Christmas

Read the original Christmas short story and listen to the audio version here: The Warmth of My Santa’s Beard

These pages will forever be available in the sidebar under Pages, so feel free to share the web address.