The Gazaleh Gazette

The State of New Jersey has formed a commission to increase tourism in the state by highlighting attractions in the local communities.  Mary and Katharine have decided to do their part to show you what East Windsor has to offer.

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It is hard to believe that only 4 months ago, Katharine started to playing the instrument she was born to play.  With her pedigree (from both sides of the family) it was only a matter of time.  We all knew that she would end up in this place.  Katharine took to the piano like a Clauss (Amy excluded, of course) takes to a garden.  She also practices alot (happily I might add).   So I ask the question.  Is it nature?  Or ….Is it nuture?

First Stop - Walter C. Black Dolphin Pride Assembly

Next Stop - American Piano Idol

This is start of something new.  It feels so right to see the the piano and you.  Oh Oohh.

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“Sufferin’ Succotash” is what she yelled.  Actually it was “It’s out!”  After months of working on that front tooth, Mary finally separated it from her person.  When she smiles, the gap is large enough for a double wide to drive through but she couldn’t be any more excited.  And as Mary does, she is hugging anyone (or anything) that will let her.

The adorable part is when she speaks, she sounds just like Sylvester the cat.

Most of you already know that Mary lost her tooth, but the back-story is Oscar worthy and must be shared.

Mary, in her infinite quest to be on par with her sister has talked about loose teeth for almost three years.  Generally, our response is “Really?  Well I bet it will fall out any day now.”  She would smile and you could just see the hope on her face.  After years of crying wolf, Mary told us she had a loose tooth about a week ago.  My response was the same, but Amy checked and confirmed that it was true.  This time Mary skipped the smile and went straight to grin.  You could see the bubble float over her head.  She was thinking, “I knew if I hoped long enough, it would come true.  Maybe I am a real renaissance princess!” (Details to follow in three weeks)

She was so consumed with the loose tooth that she decided that thumb sucking wasn’t necessary.  She switched to the pointer and rather than suck, she wiggled.  On Saturday evening, just before bed, Mary asked me to pull her tooth out.  I suggested we wait until morning.

She came in our room and woke me at 6 am on Sunday morning to ask if I could do it now.  After examining the tooth, I suggested we wait a little while to reduce the pain and blood.  She was not happy but didn’t get upset either.

She wiggled the rest of the day Sunday.  She wiggled all day Monday and talked to her teacher about it.  She wiggled all day Tuesday and talked to her teacher about it again.  She wiggled most of the day Wednesday and talked to her gymnastics teacher about it.  By this time she had had enough and asked Miss Chyna to pull it out for her.  Out it came.

Not only do they teach our kids how to do a round off onto the springboard, a half-turn onto the vaulting table, one-and-a-half twists and one-and-a-half flips in the layout body position, and stick the landing for a perfect 10, they also do minor dental surgery.  I call that full service.

That night, we celebrated Mary’s lost brethren by having ice cream sundaes.  She went to sleep that night without issue and had the tooth laying on her nightstand.  Fortunately, the tooth fairy remembered to come and left her some money.  Well, Mary had a bad dream that night and came in for some reassurance.  I walked her back, tucked her in, and gave her a kiss.  As I began to stand upright, she noticed the money and got real excited.  She had a smile from ear to ear and started to discuss the thank you note she wanted to send.  I didn’t think she would fall back asleep but thank goodness for small favors.

Being the second child doesn’t allow for Mary to be the first to do something very often. Given the opportunity, Mary either gets shy or acts so confident you would think our blood line has been bred specifically for new adventures. Which way she goes depends on who dictates the terms. Well, apparently Mary gets to call the Kindergarten shots. She woke up on her own about 7:05 and immediately made her bed. She came out to say good morning to everyone with a smile and then got dressed. After a good breakfast and lots of random hugs, she was ready a half hour early and wanted to scooter on the driveway while waiting for the bus. Here they are waiting for the bus.

As the bus pulled up, I thought about the possibility of a clam up. It wasn’t in the cards. She rushed up to the bus, paused for a picture, waved and sat right down next to her sister as the bus pulled away. It was a great morning for all, including Amy who got the tears out of her system earlier in the week. Next challenge will be getting off the bus. She may want to stay on the bus to be ready for tomorrow. Who knows? Here she is right before taking that first leap for Marykind.

I know it has been a while but Courtney just sent us this hysterical email and we thought you might all appreciate it.

Whatever the humans do, the dogs follow. As we float from room to room, you can usually hear Angel’s rumbling and Bindi’s jingling get louder until you turn around and they give you a look that screams, “Surprise! We are here too!”

A few weeks ago, we started the bedtime process a little early and the usual happened. The dogs followed. What they didn’t anticipate was that we split up and they were going to have to make a choice. Amy and Katharine went into Katharine’s room and Mary and I went into Mary’s room. At first, Bindi, which is short for bundle of energy, darted back and forth between the room looking for attention. Angel just looked for me and was happy to stay in Mary’s room.

One of Angel’s many strengths is getting into the perfect position on top of something that belongs to a human. It doesn’t matter if the item is hard or soft, as long as it smells like a person he wants to be covered in it. He also has an uncanny knack for getting into a tight corner and settling in without anyone knowing about it.

On this particular evening, Mary and I were sitting on her bed engrossed in a book. It was probably a princess book, but who really keeps track anyway? When we finished the book and went to pick out another, we looked up and saw Angel had stuffed himself in this position.

I would like to open this post with a big hello to our friends across the pond. It is official, The Gazaleh Gazette is an international publication.

The other day, the girls had a bath and I was putting some gel in their hair to reduce frizz. After I towel dried Katharine’s hair, I looked at her and thought I was back in Edison watching TV about 20 years ago. I had to blink a few times to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

Is my name Alex P. Keaton or is there a resemblance?

Congratulations to Katharine who was named Student of the Month in Mrs. Bain’s first grade class.  We were all invited to a luncheon with Mrs. Bain and the principal, Mrs. Franzo.  Katharine was recognized as the first student of the month for the first grade this year.

“Katharine is sailing to success in first grade!  She is eager to learn new things and is excited when she makes a connection between our lessons and activities.  Katharine takes pride in her work and always puts forth her best effort.  She is a wonderful role model and is a pleasure to work with in the first grade classroom.  Great job, Katharine!”  read Mrs. Franzo.

And then it was Katharine’s turn to speak.  Oh no, I thought to myself.  She is never going to say anything.  As she stepped up to the microphone, my hands start to shake with hers.  She closed her eyes, took a deep breathe and launched into one of the most memorable speeches I have ever heard.

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in…”

Wow, I thought to myself.  You really are the Student of the Month.  Here she right before the speech.

In the last two weeks the phone has been ringing off the hook. We are just as surprised as you because up until election day, the phone lines to 40 BD have been flooded with recordings explaining how one incompetent and corrupt candidate was better than another incompetent and corrupt candidate. We figured that come Wednesday, November 7th, the phones would get a break and lay silent but for the daily calls from Cherry Hill and Hoboken.

Sometimes you can be wrong and it turns out bad. It is true that we were wrong this time, but I would say it was a good thing. Apparently The Gazaleh Gazette is read by more than my meager distribution list. From what we have learned in the last week, the bigwigs in the fashion world are big fans. I mean BIG fans. They have become enamored with the subjects of the blog and feel they are very marketable. My first question to the smart people at MaKa High Fashion is how marketable? Are we talking small fashion show at the local Bennigans marketable? Or are we talking 10 years and $350 million marketable. Well, according to them, no one is worth a ten year contract for $350 milllion.

You all know that I am a reasonable man, but I was offended and felt they were being glib. I slammed my hand on the table and walked out but not before turning back to them and asking if they have read the history of psychiatry. I want everyone to know that we have.

Good thing Amy and I decided to play good cop, bad cop. Guess who was bad cop? Amy stayed and negotiated a contract with a reasonable term, decent money and complete creative freedom. The creative freedom is what we were hoping for and Amy came through. The girls had their first fashion shoot and it came out great. The best photo was reserved for a very important client and cannot be included on the blog for confidentiality reasons but here is one of the outtakes. And look for the girls on the catwalk soon.