April 11, 2010
Swing Set!
As a gift to Elexa and Abe for their upcoming birthdays, we got a swing set/clubhouse! With this many kids, a nice jungle gym thingee is almost a must, don’t ya think? Well, we decided to put it up a few weeks before their birthdays so they could maximize the fun! The tricky thing is that I’m not all that handy when it comes to using tools, building stuff, and generally doing anything that doesn’t involve a computer or a calculator. Haha! But of course I didn’t let my lack of skills overpower my cheapness (and possibly [definitely] a little ego)! What? Pay somebody to assemble it? It costs HOW much? No way! How hard can it be anyway? Ha! The instructions said that it takes 2 people 8-10 hours to assemble the thing… took me 10 hours with 2 people (actually 4 people for a couple of those hours) plus almost another 4 hours for me to finish it by myself. Yep… like 14 hours. Speaking of numbers, here are a few others significant to the job:
- 3 – the number of people I owe a great deal of thanks to for their help!
- 6 – the number of body parts that are sunburned to a crisp after all that time in the back yard.
- 2 – the number of days we took to build the thing AND somehow managed to keep the kids away from the windows and the back yard — it was a secret the WHOLE time! All the credit goes to Jill!!
- 1 – the number of trips to Lowe’s, which is surprisingly low for a guy who has a minimal amount of tools.
- 2 – the number of pre-treated pieces of wood that Vinny decided weren’t “treated”enough… with a hind leg lifted to the heavens, he christened them!
- 10,000 – the number of times I forgot to switch the drill back to a clockwise spin yet still tried to drill a screw in.
- 10,000 – the number of times I was laughed at for said drill faux pas, and rightfully so!
But it was ALL sooooo worth it when we did the big reveal this afternoon. The kids went crazy when they saw it!! Here are some pics from the unveiling of the new addition to our back yard:
Not so sure about this slide business.
Seriously guys! Not so sure about this!
Wassup ladies. That's right... I do P90X. Check out these abs.
Weeeeee!
No time to zip up my fly, Mom. There's a ladder to climb!
The boy LOVES swings. Don't mind the levitating neighbor girl in the background.
I see you!
Knowing Elexa, this little picnic table will soon become an art station.
Sliding down with her new hairdo, lookin all chic!
"I refuse to believe this is only a kid's toy!!" - Vinny
Lex’s Locks of Love
Lex has been growing her hair out for a while now… originally just because she wanted girly long hair but then she heard about Locks of Love. We measured it recently and her ponytail was 12 inches long! The requirement by Locks of Love is 10 inches so off to the salon we went!
about to make the big chop!
holding the 12-inch pony tails!
ta-da!
February 27, 2010
Family Night: A Very Belated Valentine
For Valentine’s Day, we kept it simple this year. Eric was wonderful enough to surprise me with a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Eve so I treated the family to a fun little fancy dinner of our own for Valentine’s Day.
First, we set the mood.
Abe decorated some hearts then Lex cut them out.
Cheers!
Finally, it was time to enjoy the food! (Side note: Toby also enjoyed this lovely dinner with us. He's hidden behind Abe & Lex, at the head of the table.)
January 22, 2010
Show Week at The Little Gym
Monday was Lexie’s gymnastics show for this session at The Little Gym. Here is a recap of the big night…
Floor Routine
Uneven Bars
Balance Beam
Not sure of the technical term for this, but the kids call it the “cheese.”
Ms. Heather, gymnastics teacher
Posing with her medal 
January 7, 2010
It SNOWS here!!!!
After living in a place where getting a couple inches of snow once a year is an event, we are loving the Ohio snow! I keep forgetting that it will snow all winter long and am like a little kid, all giddy when the white fluffy stuff starts falling from the sky. The kids are out in it all the time. The only problem with this is that while living in Virginia we made it a tradition that when you finish playing in the snow, hot chocolate is served… and I’m running out of hot chocolate!!
Here are some pictures of all our fun…
I will admit that Toby and Vinny are not quite as in love with the snow as the rest of us. Toby is fine as long we don’t try to actually place him in the snow… that stuff is cold! And Vinny is just a fair weather dog.
Ok, now back to watching the snow fall!!
December 10, 2009
Christmas Tree Family Night
Last night, we had a Christmas tree family night!
The night before we picked out our real, live tree! Abe helped Daddy saw the end off.
We found a pine cone!
We started off our family night by snacking on some Christmas tree cookies we'd baked. Toby hung out here by the cookies for quite a while.
Lex and Daddy decorating
The boys really would rather throw the bulbs than hang them, but we eventually got the "hang" of it... haha!
Ta-Da!
After finishing the tree, we sat around it and read Christmas books and sang Christmas songs.
It was a very merry night!
December 5, 2009
The Santa Picture Experience
Oh, the yearly tradition of the Santa picture! This year’s experience was great… We started out with walking right in with NO line, which is a BIG difference from Northern Virginia! Mrs. Claus met us at the door and even helped me get Abe’s coat off. Santa right away started talking to the kids, “Oh my! How you’ve grown since last year!” and was social all the way out the door with, “Well, I won’t see you Christmas Eve since you’ll be asleep.” Mrs. Claus even whispered in Lexa’s ear that Santa’s favorite cookies are oatmeal but Rudolph prefers carrots. The photographers were very helpful and even printed an extra picture for us when he found a shot he thought was cuter than the first. Oh, and the pictures were not a $40 package… They were by donation only! How did this picture turn out? About how you’d expect…
2009
As you can tell, Abe didn’t love visiting with Santa any more this year than last. When we asked him on the way home, though, he told us he liked Santa. Ha! Does that appear to be a look of “like” to you??
And just for fun and comparison (of both the kids and the Santas – some of them are just scary), here is a sampling of some other Santa experiences…
2008
2007
2003
2002
December 4, 2009
Merry Friday Night!
I love the weekend. I love it not only for me, but for my kids! They get to stay up a little later, have pajama parties, drink hot chocolate at what would usually be their 7:00pm bedtime and tonight…
They got to get up “in the middle of the night” (really, it was only 8:30pm) and go outside in their pajamas to see the Christmas lights Daddy had put up! Christmas cheer AND weekend cheer… great night!
November 14, 2009
Kids’ Christmas Lists
[Endearing misspellings - Elexa; stupid commentary - Me]
Elexa’s cristmas list.
- more gum
- fur real kittey
- alarm clock <— not too loud
- facke phone [there are several old cell phones in the house... not sure why this made the list]
- new pen [Might come from the supply drawer...]
- new pensel [I promise we buy her adequate school supplies!]
- sonic v.s. mareyo D.S. game
- dog toy not to big [Apparently this list includes the dog, Vinny???]
- frisbey
- very small toy car
- very small dog bone [For the dog?? Hard to tell... could just as easily be for an art project, knowing Elexa!]
- new ballat bar ["Ballet," for those of you who don't read 7-year-old]
- bendy straws [If you thought this was a routine grocery item, you were mistaken! Obviously, bendy straws are a luxury.]
[I am SHOCKED that she didn't add the As Seen On TV "Touch n Brush" she has been obsessing about for months! She meant to, trust me. Otherwise, we've still got affordable Christmas expectation around here! It's only a matter of time before she asks for a REAL cell phone, an iPod, and name-brand clothes. Eek!]
Abe’s cristmas list [Elexa acted as the stenographer here. She may have misinterpreted some of what he said... you decide. ]
- 5 toy cars
- patato [I promise we feed him!]
- bike
- bendy strols ["straws" - I LOVE how she spelled it two different ways!]
[I posted Abe's list on Twitter and Facebook a few days ago. A friend of ours observed that Elexa may have not have misinterpreted at all. In fact, lil Abe may be some sort of MacGyver! Based on this list, I'd say he's either planning an escape, rebuilding the transmission in a jeep, or staging an explosion. 
And for Toby -- well, Toby didn't get a written Christmas. However, Elexa informed us that she fully expects Santa to bring Toby "diapers, baby food, and ya know... baby stuff. Whatever."]
