Four Peas in a Blog

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

R joined the church choir

Maybe she was inspired by V.

Friday, November 6, 2026

"One Perfect Moment"

Veronica performed two very impressive songs at a recital last Sunday. Here is an iPhone recording of one of them (I managed to mess up my recording of the other):

It was a positive and supportive recital arranged by her voice coach, Jane, at Skylight Voice Studio. Veronica has been under Jane's tutelage for about a year now and has come a long way!

Thursday, November 5, 2026

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Halloween 2026

We had a nice Halloween... It was on a Saturday, the temps were warm, and we had a lot of trick-or-treaters. But first we carved the pumpkins:

The results:

More results:

And here are the pumpkins in their proper context:

The ladies put their costumes on later (Veronica borrowed mine):

Down at the "Halloween House:"

Omri's costume was very similar to last year (you also saw it at the Ball). Here's a picture of the big candy trade following his trick-or-treating expedition with friends:

We also had all of these boys' parents over for drinks by the fire, and I unfortunately didn't manage to get a photo of that group :-(.

Hope everybody had a fun night!

Thursday, October 29, 2026

I'm really happy with some of the results I got photographing the Halloween Ball this year, but as usual I don't want to post any of the kids' faces, so I can't share many of them (making an exception for the group shot below):

The gang of masked chess players:

Omri was one of them, of course:

These masks do make really great (and easy) costumes!

Monday, October 26, 2026

Veronica turns 16

Sweet 16, that is. We brought her and her friends from school down to St. Anthony Main for an autumn walk across the Stone Arch Bridge.

I didn't take many photos because we wanted to give the girls some space.

They enjoyed their dinner at the Aster Cafe:

Then we brought everybody back home for some Tres Leches cake...

...and gifts:

Grandpa Rak and Sofia happened to be in town and brought Omri out for a hamburger:

The next day V took her driver's test and passed! She came back for a good snuggle on the couch with mom:

Opening her Kindle:

What a weekend!

Friday, October 23, 2026

What the guys did over MEA weekend

We did LESS than the ladies. But we liked it that way!

We grabbed some food from Mickey's Dining Car:

We moved Omri's beanbag chair to the basement and watched three movies:

We painted the front door of the house and played a 4–6-hour game of Axis & Allies.

We made a tasty chuck roast (and served it in taco form the second night):

We played some mini golf...

... and vintage arcade games at Can Can Wonderland with Omri's good friend:

It was a nice weekend.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

What the ladies did over MEA weekend

They went to southern California! (These gorgeous photos were all taken by R.)

The trip included tours of USC and UCSB. Does Veronica's future lie in The Golden State?

See V's Instagram for more photos.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Rats in a Cage tour

We were out for Taco Tuesday the night of the Smashing Pumpkins show in St. Paul last week, and the resale ticket prices were dropping quick, so I was able to pick one up for only $13! R was sweet enough to drop me off and pick me up afterwards. The band played the Grand Casino Arena. My seat wasn't great (I definitely prefer to see them at a smaller venue, like last time at the Varsity Theater), but it wasn't on the upper deck either and well worth $13. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this show!