Sunday, May 25, 2008

Some Late Caleb Birthday Pics

Hello All,

Alright, these are a few weeks late. To coin my favorite Kim Hutchcroft phrase: I'm slow, but I do poor work! Here are my favorites.
What is classic about this photo is that I am pretty sure that my Dad (here on the right side of the picture) was trying to make a serious point. This can be established as the world famous Nieves family looks very serious, and they are some of the best "reactors" to humor in the world! They are not quite on the level of Reinhardt, who hands down, is the single greatest reactor to humor that I have ever met, but they come awfully close! So, my Dad is making this point with a kid's party hat on! Anyone else find that outrageously funny!? I'm busting a gut right now!


This is just a set up shot. Renae is going to take a practice swing at the tee. Now, let me say that this is the gift that has kept on giving. We have had some major bonding time over this one, and each of the kids do pretty well at making contact with the ball. Now, onto the fearful thing: She is wielding a metal bat!

Kids + Metal Bat + In Close proximity of one another = Bad! Ask my brother Rich about metal bats and tetherballs! If he says, "I don'tknow," that may explain everything!


Ok, please not the above equation. Kids + Metal Bat... = Bad! Lizzy + Metal Bat + In close proximity = Extinction Level Event! There are two people in the world that I don't want to see coming at me with a metal bat, and one of them is Lizzy! Of course, the Pinata, a staple at Sanchez kid birthday parties, was the recipient of most of Lizzy's swings, but I think a few might have taken out a kneecap or two! She is deadly!
By the way, the pinata is always a pretty classic venture. My Dad (in the first picture with the kid's hat...classic...I'm still rolling!) generally provides the pinata, procuring it somewhere from deep inside his mail route. Sometimes, these pinatas are made of indestructible space age material. Other times, they are made of simple paper mache, with newspaper coverings on the inside. One very memorable pinata was inlaid with some very inappropriate pictures! Thankfully, the kids were focused on their candy!

Speaking of candy, back in the early days, Lela and I were a little more strict about candy consumption. My Dad and Mom, being sensitive to this, pro
vided a pinata with some Frank and Lela (mostly Lela) approved snacks. So when the kids broke open the 14 foot tall Elmo pinata, bags of cheese cracker goldfish and mozzarella string cheese fell out on that hot summer day! That was a pretty hilarious moment!

Here is Caleb riding off into the sunset on one of his many gifts. Prior to his birthday, Caleb was a strict, scooter only guy. Now, he is branching out and is even standing up on his seat. We live a few doors down from an extreme sports agent. I hope that he doesn't get any funny ideas!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

6 comments:

Jeff and Aimee said...

Looks like a fun party. I didn't even notice the hat on the back of your dad's head until I read what you wrote.

I've seen too many close calls with metal bats and kids' heads around pinatas, so fairly early on, we devised a different way to dismantle them...we let the kids physically attack them with their hands and feet. It's great! The kids feel so powerful and everyone cheers them on. The best part is, you know a five year old's fist or foot can't do 1/50th the damage to another kid's head that a metal bat wielded by the same child could do. If you don't like that idea, I guess you could just pass out helmets!

Frank And Lela said...

Jeff/Aimee,

No, I absolutely agree! Besides, kids doing karate/ju-jitsu is much more fun to film! :)

Look for a Bruce Lee Pinata video come September!

Thanks for checking in!

Blessings,
F.S.

Frank And Lela said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Patty said...

Woohoo, the Nieves peeps made it in the Frankie blog pix. This is better than being in the phone book (which we are not). That was a fun day. =D

Did you guys get Isy's grad invite?

Carrie Allen said...

and then there was an aluminum bat.

Kindra said...

AWWW..that pic and your comment about your dad makes me miss him. Tell him hi for me.
Caleb is adorable and looks like such a great kid..maybe we will meet someday. Actually, I was talking to my mom and dad and we are hoping to come visit some Sunday soon..would love to hear Preacher Chris and love to see y'all. We will definately keep you posted. - Kindra