Thinking Of You, GG

I decided to record a quick message from our web cam for you, Mom. Love you.

Emmas New Chair

We got a package in the mail last week, Mom sent it - a chair for Emma. I put it together this morning. She likes to try and stand and hold on to stuff, so she pulled herself up on it. We had to show her how to sit in it since she doesn't really get the sitting thing just yet.

She likes it because it is soooo soft.

Smashing Pumpkins

Previous years, I keep finding new ways to dispose of our pumpkins from Halloween and this year I decided to go with dispatching with them by smashing them with a maul.




Previous Years:
2010 (Throwing them from Parking Garage)

2009 (Blowing it up with an M-80)

2007 (Running over it with my car)

Sticking Out

Emma has this thing where she smiles a lot, a lot. And when she does, she sticks her tongue out like her grandmother Kathleen (My mother-in-law, whom I refer jokingly as the "Dark Side of the Force") does when she does anything that requires effort (like driving or screwing in a light bulb).

So I guess this is a genetic thing coming through and rearing its head (or tongue) as the case may be. Kathleen has a great sense of humor too, so I hope that Emma also gets that as well.

Adjusting to School

Happy Jack on his way in to school.


Jack waiting in the cafeteria.

We don't have a great picture of a smiling Jack on his first day of Kindergarten because he was having none of it. He did not want to go and was put-off that he had to go that first day. He cried, Mom cried, I almost cried (OK, not really, but I it makes me sound all sensitive)

But we were assured that he was going to be fine and we knew that but it was a little emotional at the time. Well, when I picked him up he was all smiles and told me he made a friend and had a great time. I asked who is friend is, he didn't know. I asked what he looked like, he said he didn't know. I asked if he was in his class or in just SACC, he said he didn't know. He did remember that he had on a green shirt, though.

Well, ever since then he looks forward to school and is always ready to go and wants to get there. Sometimes we are a little too early and he has to wait in the cafeteria (they aren't allowed in their classrooms until 10 minutes before class starts, not sure why - something about keeping kids from roaming the halls and keeping them confined, ha!)

So anyway, he had a bad start but its been all good ever since. We just had our first parent/teacher meeting this week and he is doing great, so that is good news.

Udvar-Hazy Visit

We went and visited the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space center back in early October (you can tell it was still warm out because I was wearing shorts). Jack just loves it there and its a fun thing to go and see - you always see something you didn't see before. Best $15 you will ever spend. Just be sure to cram everyone you can into the car because the entrance fee is based on each car that enters, not each person. $15 per car, so cram them in like sardines and save a few bucks.

I am wearing my "Happy Trooper" t-shirt in this picture, you can order one from my website at HeroDogDesign.com (Shameless plug)

Pumpkins

These were our pumpkins this year, we got them two weeks before Halloween and it was a little warm that last week so they really fell apart and turned on us. I will be updating a blog post as I do each year on how I dispose of our pumpkins and this year will not disappoint. In the past I have blown up one with an M-80, Run over them with my car and thrown them from a five story garage. This year? Keep in touch and find out...

Cox Farms

Kate and Jack in Cornundrum (corm maze) I have an old picture of these two at that same exact spot a few years earlier, wow, how they grow up so fast.


2009 Cornundrum Picture



Back in October we made our annual trip to Cox Farms to play with goats, pick a pumpkin and slide on the huge slides. I got a shot of Jack next to the board that shows how big he is getting. The image below is the 2009 picture from Cox Farms.


2009 at Cox Farms
Getting to be a big boy.

A Few Miscellaneous Pictures

Tough Day?

You would think she had a tough day, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Nawww, she just missed getting her bottle a couple minutes late.