3/4 done

 
 
People, with a baby on the way, I celebrate the little things. A simple accidental trip to TJ Maxx lead me to the missing link to my unfinished chair seats. The fabric!
Now that all 4 seats are covered and done, the once free chairs are almost 100% upgraded. I just have to sand one more chair and give it a firm coat of paint and voila, the task will be complete.
My 1 chair and my corner of my deck are the last 2 tasks I have to complete. My goal is to have then both done by November, before the belly becomes a hinderance.
Like I said I celebrate the little things.
Just in case you couldn't tell the darker chair is the upgraded version.

 
 
 

Football Season 2010

 
 
 
 
Our season of turf watching has begun. We all get to be out doors and watch Gabe's fancy foot and arm work on the flag football field. Coach dad is working his magic as head facilitator and discovered a dad tougher on the kids than him. This guy makes Joe look like a lamb. How nice for once. Stats will be passed down later, they're still in the making.

Lost to the feminist LOT

 

 

 

Another election year for 4th grade student counsel has come and gone. Gabe created a fabulous poster that should have brought home a golden representative award (in the form of a t-shirt and a whole lot of pointless meetings) but the majority voted their heart rather than their conscience. They voted for a girl, BOOOOO!
We still stand firm behind his canidacy and most of all his awesome poster. We're starting to strategize for next year, his last year in elementary school. I think we'll start by hiring our cousin Jordan, I hear he'll be jobless in November. He can start right away digging up dirt on all the other potential candidates for next year. Based on some of their sketchy pasts, in 3rd and 2nd grade, I'm sure gabe will take this next election by storm.

Wanna free ride to HEAVEN? Vote GABE IN 2011!

First day of school pics...there are more below

I got a first day of school pic with the kids at 5ish which pretty much guarantees photo chaos, but some photos are better than none. The other photos are of the girls at visit your teacher night, taken by the same classmom. It's good to have other observant parents around me to take pictures when I'm constantly forgetting my camera!

Babies having babies

 

Granpa Norm and Gina bought Clara her first baby doll. It laughs when you touch the tummy and it scares the crap out of Clara. At first, Clara would sweep it away from her, but now as long as the sound is turned off, she'll hug it and carry it aournd like a little-momma.
It's amazing how instictual caring for babies is for little girls.

Closeup of Arnie

 
 

Arnie the arachnid

 
 
 
 
Arnie was swept out of a corner from our overhang. Ihad no clue he was there until I saw him falling approximately 5 inches from on Gabe's head. Gabe screamed like a chick in a horror movie and promptly slapped him. Sometime you have to slap some sense into a boy who is afraid of nature. After all I was bothering him, was I not?
We were so impressed by the shear size of this monster we put him back on the house where we found him. And a fine web he did spin the next morning! During our Labor Day Crap boil, I watched him eat random life forms as he came alive aournd 8 p.m.

First day of school pics

Ava's first day of kindergarten

 

 

 

Ava had an Ava day at kindergarten. She is in a class of 20 or so, and is so wiped out from a full day of school that I can't get a word out of her once her day is done.

To be honest I totally missed her first day of school on the account of my own first day of school. I hate working. Especially since I miss my own children's daily ins and outs for someone else's kids. I look forward to the day where I can say, "I QUIT for my kids sake" with a smile on my face, and not a single regret. Perhaps next year will be that day!

The aftermath

 
 
 
 

Clara's 1st birthday party

 

 

 

 

Clara had her first birthday in May. We celebrated in small doses for about 3 weeks. She didn't know the difference.
I baked her egg free cupcakes which turned out sludgey. I guess you don't need 3 cups of applesauce to replace the 3 eggs. Regardless she liked them. She had 3 diapers full of sludge the next day.

baseball babe

 

 

 

 

Gabe had his first season of baseball under his belt this late spring. It was a good season of learning. I think I'm going to sign him up for baseball picture modeling next year. He looks pretty good in his uniform and poses, it just might pay better.