Category: Naomi

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Nichelle and NaNi Play Dress Up (At Clark’s Trading Post)

We spent part of the last day of our vacation at Clark’s Trading Post. Nichelle decided that she and NaNi would have one of those old fashioned photos done. (This is exactly the kind of thing my parents would never have done because (1) it might have been fun, and (2) it cost money. According to Nichelle, Naomi had a great time.

Below are the results, with some fun effects. I got tired of just the original and sepia, so I tried Lego (0fficially “Kids Blocks”) and stained glass, which I modified to look more like a mosaic. Click to view the enlarged versions.

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Nichelle Has Been Scheming

My wife has been scheming for the past few weeks. I knew something was up, because she would do things like call me on my cell phone, and have the kids chorus, “Neener, neener, neener.” I also ought to have been extremely suspicious, because she volunteered to drop the kids off at day camp, which involved the extra task of getting Naomi ready to leave the house early. All of the usual items were off the list. It wasn’t my birthday, and it wasn’t our anniversary, and Father’s Day has already passed. I have a history of puzzling things out from the smallest of clues, so she wasn’t going to provide even a hint as to what she was up to.

Today was no exception. I knew she wasn’t home because she’d said she would be out of the house all day, and she hadn’t logged on to the computer. This time, however, she assured me that I would find out this evening what was going on.

To my complete surprise (I don’t think I would have figured this out even with a small hint), Nichelle presented me with an extremely well-made dress that she made for Naomi. With the help of our friend Trish Dunn, Nichelle has been learning to sew, something that she has wanted to do for years.

Typical of my wife, her first project was amazingly well done, as the photo above shows. It seems that anything she wants to tackle comes easily to her, from sewing to cutting hair.

Of course, she’s really looking forward to sewing all John’s school clothes for next year. 😉

I’ve already quoted part of Proverbs 31 when talking about Nichelle, but here are a few more appropriate verses from the same chapter:

19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

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Naomi and John’s Return

John returned from Jamaica at around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday. It was a great trip, and he, Nichelle, and I spent the next few hours talking about it. (We’ll post more on that later.)

Sunday morning, I went to wake up Naomi in her crib. She was fussing because she didn’t really want to get up. (She’s a Wilcox.)

“John is back,” I said, “Do you want to say hello to him?”

She stopped crying instantly, and a big smile appeared on her face. She jumped up, and was off and running to find John almost before I put her down.

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What a terrific day!!!

Our 4th of July celebration started around 4-ish and went until 3 a.m.

We had a great time hanging out with the McGrath family and many friends. The food was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful. We had a very relaxing time.

Just like last year, we went to see the fireworks here in Nashua and I must say that they were the best I’ve ever seen. (Lolita, thank you so much for watching David and Naomi for us so I could go, too.) We had a great spot in the outfield at Holman Stadium, and what an amazing show it was!!! We bumped into several friends there.

[Added by Doug] Unlike last year, I actually got to see the entire fireworks display, instead of just what was visible four blocks away from my car, because Lolita McGrath offered to watch David and Naomi, thus allowing me to see the show along with Nichelle. (Nichelle had graciously offered to skip this year’s show so that I could attend.)

And the fireworks were indeed amazing! Sunday evening Isaac, John, and I attended the fireworks in Manchester, which were very, very good. The Nashua show was of much higher quality, although shorter in length, with every launch being a multiple burst. The fireworks were launched right overhead. It was stunning! Like Batman Begins, my only regret was that it had to end.

Once the fireworks show was over we headed back to our house for dessert. I made Bananas Foster, an incredible dessert that was kicked up a notch, thanks to Phil, who suggested we use a fried dough base he had at a restaurant instead of the sponge cake base.

As usual, we stayed up too late watching a movie which Phil “Movieman” Luchon brought over.

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David’s K5 Graduation….

Monday, June 6, was David’s graduation. Doug took lots of pictures, so you’ll have check later for those. [Doug: They are in now.]

David’s class put on a play by Max Lucado called, “If Only I had a Green Nose.” David played the part of the carpenter named Eli. He did very well. I still need to check with one of the parents about getting a copy of the video he took of the whole program.


Once the play was over, the K5 class left to get their caps and gowns on. During the wait, the K4 came up and entertained with songs, memory verses and different things that they learned throughout the year.

Once the K5 class entered the gym and headed for the platform it happened, I got teary-eyed. I didn’t weep, but I was emotional. Thinking about how fast time will go before he’s actually walking the isle to get his diploma. (Thinking about that now, I’m nearly teary-eyed.)


Of course, while we were out at Friendly’s, Naomi couldn’t resist being entertaining as well:


(Click here, or right-click and save if the above video won’t play.)

David is so very excited about going to first grade. He had an awesome year in school. The only thing he didn’t like was nap time and he’s very glad that he will no longer have one in the other grades. We got a great picture of the Davids together. We are very thankful for his teacher, Sue Mullett, too for making David’s first experience in school so sweet.

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The Geek Life Begins Early in the Wilcox Family

The other day, I came out of my room to find that Naomi was at the computer with her baby doll, taking the doll’s hand, and trying to “teach” the doll to use the mouse.

I went searching for the camera, and missed that shot, but when I came back I found Naomi had left her doll as the picture above shows.

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Early Memories of Our Children

Isaac:

I found this note in our cellar, originally from May 13, 1993:

Today Isaac was talking about Andrew (my newphew/his cousin) and asking, “Is he three?” while holding out three fingers. I said, “No, he’s thirteen.” Isaac immediately asked, “Where’s the thirteen finger?”

Isaac has a host of interesting things we could write about. He surprised us at 18 months by identifying and naming the letters “O” and “A” on his alphabet blocks. Before he was 2, he could name every letter of the alphabet, and recite them in rapid fashion if one pointed to a word. (He was at least 4 before he mastered the alphabet song.)

We tried to raise Isaac to be “weapons-free.” (We were naive parents.) At age 2, he ate his toast into the shape of a gun, and said, “Look, a toast gun. Bang!” After that we realized that there were just things, like playing army, that are normal for a boy’s development. David now has a huge arsenal of toy guns and swords. Naomi enjoys playing with them as well.

July 2, 2005 (in reference to sometime in 1995): This was what life was like with a newborn.

  • This morning I knocked a book off my nighttable—Nichelle thought I dropped Isaac.
  • A couple of days ago I brought some work home to do on my computer—I fell asleep at the computer, and didn’t wake up until midnight. Then I had to work until 2:00 a.m.!
  • One night I fell asleep when I was feeding Isaac.
  • Nichelle always wakes up, and can’t remember that she put Isaac to bed. She panics momentarily because she can’t find him.

David:

When David was somewhere around 4, he believe the opposite of incorrect was outcorrect.

John:

We adopted John when he was 10 years old. One of the things we really miss is that early childhood history. His sister has given us a few old photos, but there’s nothing to substitute for a decade of missing information. (Even his medical records were woefully incomplete.)

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Mi Hija Méxicana

I bought this dress for Naomi several months before she was born, on my most recent missions trip to México.