Who needs the NFL?
Welcome to NYS Football!
Our son Bretty plays for the Bobcats and has been practicing three days a week for over two hours a day for the last month. On a beautiful, sunny 71 degree day, so began the regular season. And Bretty couldn't wait to run out there...
Here he is on the kickoff return team to start the game...
Bretty was originally going to play offensive guard, but during a recent practice Bretty had a particularly good day laying a hit on someone. Assistant Coach Price pointed at him and said, "defense."
The Bobcats scored and Bretty finally got his chance to line up. The good news is that his favorite color is red so he wore a red long sleeved shirt under his jersey. He was the only one with red sleeves so he's really easy to spot. Here Bretty is in a three-point stance at left tackle...
Look at him drive his man back at the right side of this picture...
And though it's hard to tell, Bretty is the man on the left (number 22, like Emmit Smith) gang tackling the ball carrier.
At halftime they all looked tired but listened intently to the coaches...
While the rest of the Bicoy clan found other ways to occupy themselves...
Malia found David's Archie comic book just too much to ignore...
But then game went on. Just look at Bretty engage his man...
And at the end, the celebration began...
The Bobcats won their first game, 27 to 12.
The coaches told them to enjoy it until Tuesday, but then it's back to work for next Saturday's game.
Who misses the NFL? Well, fantasy football, maybe.
During the last posting a few weeks back, we posited that "we're not THAT old..."
Well, perhaps we are wrong.
Today marks the 15th birthday of our eldest child, Alyssa.
And in the grand tradition of our home, each person selects the "cake" of their choosing with which to begin the celebration.
Alyssa wanted a really big cookie...
Of course, the laptop she received at Christmas from us was also her birthday present (which was part of the deal!), but her brothers and sisters did pitch in to pick her up something...
Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack -- which is an add on to an existing computer simulation she loves. What I can't figure out, of course, is how is it when Alyssa's brothers and sisters pitch in to get her something, the pitching comes out of my wallet.
Well, here is the fabulous cookie and frosting that Cari so lovingly put on for Alyssa...
But apparently it wasn't sweet enough. Alyssa wanted more frosting! I suppose with her sweet sixteenth birthday just one year away, maybe she's trying to sweeten up - so we added a little decorative frosting to her cookie and ice cream...
We have a great picture of Alyssa taking a big bite, but we promised we wouldn't put her face on our website in any picture with her eating.
Hence...
If not the spirit of the law, at least we obey the letter.
Kekoa, however, begged us to take his picture with a cookie in his mouth...
And so it is with another birthday in our home.
Here she is, 6 months away from her driver's permit.Oh boy. I can't wait.
It was 18 years ago that I first walked onto the campus of Tufts University.
That doesn't make me that old, does it?
I'm currently in Arizona for a series of community foundation meetings and I had the opportunity to visit with a very old friend from Tufts...
Matt Goode and his wife Deb.
We were sitting in the lounge after dinner and I noticed Matt was playing with his hands. It then came rushing back to memory that Matt is the guy who taught me to twiddle my thumbs.
As Matt said to me this evening after seeing that I had truly mastered both the forward and backward twiddle, "You have learned well, grasshopper."
My journey to perfect the spiritual and mystic mystery of the twiddling thumb has come to an end.
Seriously, though, I had heard the expression of "twiddling your thumbs," but it wasn't until I saw Matt doing it at lunch one day that I actually understood what that meant. I don't think I told him at the time, though, because I didn't want anyone to know that I was this dink from Hawaii who didn't know anything about big city thumb twiddling.
Needless to say, Matt was a slightly more serious student than I was.
Here's a picture of the two of us in front of the restaurant where we sampled an Archetype Shiraz, a very nice bottle of wine. Maybe not as good as the Marietta Wine Cellars stuff that our friend Jen Bevins liked so much, but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.
This afternoon, our 5th child, Nalani, had an unfortunate run-in with a vacuum cleaner.
We're not exactly sure what happened, but we know Nalani was running down the stairs and across the entryway to our home. Then, accordingly to our little girl, the vacuum jumped up and grabbed her and caused her to fall down (it wasn't that she was running in the house, of course).
The truly unfortunate part is that she must have been biting on her lip when she was running because when she hit the floor, she bit clear through her lower lip. It was so bad you could have put your pinky finger through it.
The poor thing bit clear through the left side of her lower lip. She needed 5 injections to numb the are before they were able to stitch her up. In anticipation of a scream and squiggle fest, the male nurses came in the room to wrap her up in blankets, pin her down, and immobilize her head. The female nurses came in to try to make her smile. (Sexist, maybe, but that's how it happened!).
The doctor was worried because the bite went through the bottom of the lip, but also through the surrounding skin. If she didn't hold still, it might be difficult to stitch her cleanly and avoid the lip healing up unevenly.
But Nalani was so brave. She never cried once and held still the entire time they were injecting her and stitching her up. It was amazing. The doctor asked her questions and she nodded yes or no, but never lost her cool.
The tough part is that they don't stitch up her inner lip -- only the outer. The doctor said that there is so much bateria in her mouth (as is the case with all of us) that you cannot sew it up on both sides or it could lead to an infection inside. So this little girl has a big gash in her mouth that is an open wound, so she cannot drink juices (too acidic) or even go to McDonalds like I had promised (the fries are covered in salt). They even want her to avoid anything but soft bland foods for the next few for fear it could irritate or reopen the wound.
This poor little girl had such a bad experience. But just look at our wonderful ray of sunshine even now, just a few hours after it all began...
What a terrific, amazing little girl!
Yes, the NFL playoffs have arrived and for the remaining teams, the stakes have never been higher.
For millions of rabid fantasy football fans like us, however, the real NFL playoffs are just an annoying reminder that the fantasy football season has come to an end.
Fantasy football can consume you during the season, and so it is the case in our household and those of so many of our friends and family that play with us. Each year, we purchase an online fantasy football league from NFL.com -- the BICOY FOOTBALL LEAGUE! Then we invite others to join us.
This year we finally decided to break down and legitimize our pathetic obsession with pretend football with a championship plaque...
Notice that the biggest names on the plaque are those of the commissioners -- if for no other reason that neither of the commissioner's teams have ever been in the Bicoy Football League Championship Game. We figured that listing us as commissioners might be the only way we'd ever get our name on the plaque.
The plaque itself is displayed appropriately in an upstairs alcove in our home...
Notice the statues appropriately writhing in agony over the idea of anyone so annoyingly enamored with play football games.
And you didn't think we'd send it to the winners of the Bicoy Football League, did you? The Champion is invited to visit our home to see their name!
Ah, but this year we did break down and decided to send the Champion a giant trophy of their own...
Okay, "giant" is a relative term. Maybe it's 4 inches high, but hey, it's better than nothing!
So join us in celebrating this year's Bicoy Football League Champions, my wife's sister and brother-in-law, Chrissy and Brandon Scharer...
Their enthusiasm is overwhelming.
Our home was dizzy with Christmas Eve anticipation last night -- so much so that we were able to capture the rare picture when every one of our six kids were smiling their biggest grins...
Sometime in the middle of the night Santa visited our home.
He moved all the presents out from under the tree to the center of the living room and left a few others of his own.
Early in the morning all the kids rushed downstairs and the sat around the pile...
The couldn't open the presents until everyone was downstairs. Naturally, they were waiting for their Daddy (hey, even on Christmas, a Bicoy needs to begin his day with some thoughtful contemplation).
Kekoa was so excited he made the strangest of faces...
And wonderful sister Nalani was only to ready to help out with opening every present.
Bretty could hardly contain his enthusiasm for his new oxford shirt...
He likes it, he just doesn't want to admit it or clothes might become a new gift trend -- something we don't want to overdo, after all.
Alyssa received a brand spanking new laptop from Mom and Dad...
And she is already surfing the wireless internet.
But Alyssa really liked the laptop pillow desk that Nalani picked out as her Christmas present to her sister...
Each of the kids draws a name from a hat and has to buy a present for another. The older ones use their allowance, but Nalani was lucky to have Mom and Dad pay the bill!
David quickly got busy with his Jedi training...
It's actually a really cool video game. You set up this electronic eye on top of your television and use a wireless lightsaber to stand in front of the TV and fight in the Star Wars world.
But Daddy was perhaps most excited of all...
Every football fan should own a personalized Dallas Cowboys jersey at some point (regardless of their home team, they should experience the overwhelming joy that comes with opening a gift of a jersey of the winningest Super Bowl team of all time, but I digress...).
Of course, our loving and caring little girl, Malia, loved her Carebear...
When you see Malia, you immediately think Carebear.
One of those always happy, always smiling, always playful little creatures who spread joy everywhere they go.
Just like Malia, when you ask her to smile for the camera...
Yeah, stubborn, but she's still wonderful!
Merry Christmas to all!
Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the 2005 edition of the Bicoy Beacon. I’m sure you’ve all been waiting patiently by your mailboxes with baited breathe, anxiously counting down the days until you receive our annual missive.
Then again, perhaps like my brother, you’ve just confused us with the latest Victoria’s Secret catalog (people often confuse me with Heidi Klum when I’m wearing, well, let’s not get into that).
This holiday season marks the start of our second year living in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada (our Mayor enacted an ordinance requiring that you use the word “fabulous” when writing the name of our fair city – unless, of course, you’re writing graffiti, in which case your hand will be cut off – which is real tough if you’re a fourth grader because then you can’t hold more than one glass of gin when stranded on a desert island – but I digress…).
It seems that in the last few years we have moved quite a bit – and this year was no different – although thankfully this move was simply to the other side of town. We bought ourselves a house in the Centennial Hills part of Las Vegas – which is yet another of the brand new neighborhoods that seem to spring up overnight.
Visiting San Diego – Malia & Nalani (sitting in strollers)
Kekoa, Bretty, Cari, Alyssa & David
What’s really changing, however, are the kids. They are growing up so darn quickly. To the left is a recent picture of a Christmas Tree wall-hanging that we first made about a decade ago...
Each year the kids pick out a new shape and glue on an ornament to reflect their height. The hearts at the top reflect Cari’s and my height – and it’s disturbing to see how Alyssa’s most recent purple ornament has now surpassed Cari and will soon go beyond me too! In case you’re curious, white is for David, orange for Bretty, blue for Kekoa, pink for Nalani, and lavender is for Malia. We made it when there was only one child in our house – who knew it would ever get that crowded! Must be because I’m so darn irresistible (my lovely wife is reading this over my shoulder and just smacked me upside my head!).
The Sexy Queen and Jedi Bret
Well, here are just a few of the highlights of our past year. We hope yours was as much fun as ours! And if you don’t already call the Las Vegas Valley home, please be sure to drop us a note if you’re in town. Since we’ve moved to Vegas, we’ve become far more popular!
Mele Kalikimaka…
Bret & Cari Bicoy
Alyssa, as you can see from the picture below, has gone from our little girl to being a young woman. In just two short months, she’ll be 15 years old! Needless to say, we have recently installed window bars and locks outside her room. Slimy boys lurk all around, after all.
Alyssa just before her freshman homecoming
(wearing makeup, which is immoral, if you ask me!)
She’s a freshman (or “first-year” as my friend from Wellesley College used to say) at a magnet school for exceptional students who are interested in technology. Alyssa certainly has become quite savvy with computers, and I have no idea how that happened! Seriously, it’s not as if we sat down and taught her, and until this year, she’s never taken any courses in writing in html, for instance. Yet somehow she just seems to know how to do this stuff! She has her own website and is building one for the TV show Dawson's Creek.
And if that weren’t enough to demonstrate how grown up she’s getting, this past summer Alyssa flew to visit her grandparents in Green Bay all by herself. She was really grateful that she was there during the summer, though, as during her visit the temperature averaged a much warmer 42 degrees.
If you ever talk with Alyssa, all we ask is that you not tell her what we were doing when we were her age!
David has grown into quite a little man. The picture below is from earlier this year when he still was wishing for his two front teeth. Well, they’ve since arrived and so has his personality! From his quiet shell has emerged a pretty funny guy who loves stories which make people laugh. And unlike his father, people are laughing with him, not at him.
David wishing for his two front teeth
David is also the artist in our family. He is constantly drawing and even saves his allowance to buy sketch books and better quality colored pencils. This young man can spend hours just sitting on the couch, working on one of his drawings.
He is now in the third grade and they tell us he is reading at a 6th grade level. David is currently mastering multiplication – something Cari and I mastered many years ago (albeit in a different way).
Now David would be disappointed if we didn’t point out what an exceptional swimmer he has become. Basically, we think David is part dolphin because since we’ve moved into our new home, he has lived in the pool. If only we put in some fish and gave him a three-pronged spear… hmmm.
Bretty, Alyssa, David, and Kekoa’s body – all underwater
Bret Jr., or Bretty as we call him, is also becoming a good swimmer, but for completely different reasons than his older brother. David is a born athlete, and it comes easy for him. Bretty swims well simply because he refuses to not swim well. This boy makes up his mind to become proficient at something and either does it enough times until he is, or he figures out his own path toward reaching the desired goal.
For instance, Cari brought home a few diving rings – which are just plastic circles with weights on them so they sink to the bottom. Bretty couldn’t grab them because he can’t swim to the bottom no matter how much he tries. Instead, he figured out that you can jump in from the side of the pool and your momentum will carry you to the bottom. Amazingly, this little boy is usually the first one to return to the surface with the rings! He is one very determined young man.
Kekoa & Bretty – either singing or sticking their tongues out
(both of which occur with great regularity), much to Nalani’s enjoyment
Bretty is also one of those kids for whom school just comes easily. He started first grade this year and is doing extremely well. Bretty is as comfortable in front of a school book as he is before a mixed plate of meat juhn, kal-bi and rice – and as a Bicoy, that’s really saying something!
Kekoa started kindergarten this year and is having a grand old time! He loves being one of the big kids who have somewhere to go each day while his little sisters stay behind with mommy at home. Kekoa’s teachers absolutely adore him because he is filled with energy but is such a good boy that he can easily sit quietly when he’s supposed to (just like his daddy, right?).
Nalani and a distracted Kekoa
He has always been our most independent child – being perfectly content to do his own thing at his own pace. That characteristic continues as Kekoa might wander away if something catches his eye while the other children are playing together in another room. What is surprising to see, however, is how creative he is becoming. Kekoa loves telling stories and makes up some of the wildest tales you’ll ever hear. It’s almost as if he’s destined to follow his father and grandfathers into politics.
His creativity makes Kekoa an ideal friend for Nalani, as the two of them can spend hours playing together. Of course, Nalani being Nalani, poor Kekoa can never play long enough to keep that little girl happy!
Nalani is as girly a girl as a girl can possibly be. She turned three years old over the summer and her favorite thing is to play “house” with Kekoa, but playing house is not enough. Nalani has to put on her high heel shoes, her Snow White outfit, and anything else pink that she can pull out of her dresser. Even at dinner time she has to have the pink Tupperware cup. No one can ever argue that “nature” doesn’t play as critical a role as “nurture” because although we have three daughters, it is Nalani who is every bit the stereotypical girl.
Nalani & Malia (again, sitting in strollers!)
David, Kekoa, Cari, Bretty & Alyssa at Disneyland
Nalani is sweet, loving, and cares about the feelings of everyone around her even at a very young age.
The best part of this for us is that Nalani is a wonderful big sister to Malia. Nalani is so giving and caring that she’s always looking out to make sure her little sister is included. Unfortunately for Nalani, even at such a young age, Malia sometimes demonstrates why her last name is “Bicoy.”
Malia is an absolutely wonderful little girl who also just happens to be the most stubborn child I have ever met. Were someone to take a toy away from Nalani, she gets upset and cries. Do the same thing to Malia and she’ll pick up another toy and try to smack you upside the head. Seriously, this little girl has a mind of her own!
Our littlest "angel" - Malia
Although she just turned 2, Malia constantly talks with everyone – well, maybe talking isn’t the right word – it’s more like she tells you what she wants you to do.
But then again she can be so loving and helpful. Malia will often come up to you for no apparent reason and give you a kiss (which I’m sure will worry me far more if this continues into her teenage years).
Nalani, Bretty, Alyssa, Malia, David & Kekoa
Welcome to the madness that is our home!
Ah, such is a life with six children. Crazy, loud, chaotic, strange, joyful, maddening, and wonderful. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mele Kalikimaka, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, or just Have a Nice Day.
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