Park Day #2

Today for our park day we headed to a nearby town (there are tons of nearby towns) to watch a juggler, and we got to meet 4 new homeschool families to boot. The girls are being rather shy but eventually they sat with some of the other kids. Well, {l} sat with some of the other kids.

{s} stayed in her stroller for most of the fun but did want to see the juggler (yes, I did eventually let her out of the stroller). 

{j} stayed on the blanket (surprise, surprise). 

and {r} got to be an assistant!! She stayed in the audience but caught the pin

then had to throw it back to the juggler when asked. 

Unfortunately it landed about a foot in front of her. She then had to hand it to the juggler.

 I think she enjoyed her time in the spotlight either way!

High fiven'

So, I just finished watching the men's gymnastics final and I have but one thing to say...the Chinese sure need to learn how to do a high-five. Talk about cheeseballs!! 

And speaking of cheeseballs..."That's how we roll". Come on American men, no one actually says that-quit acting like morons for the cameras!

Oops, that was more than one thing.

 

For my mom

Saint Jane {l}

Saint Helen {r}

Saint Michael (or anyone else you like, Jude perhaps ;)

Louis Armstrong

in the making...

picture taken by {r}

Making Friends

Today was the weekly (during the Summer) beach/park day for our local homeschool group and it was our first chance to meet people. We didn't realize today was a beach day since we were going to the park but it was. Oh well, it just meant I had less to pack up. The kids were a little bummed but did fine not going out too far and rolling up their shorts. They found lots of seashells, a few sand dollars (those were living so I made them put them back), and learned what skimboarding is and that seaweed stinks. Technically I don't think this is considered a beach since it is on Puget Sound and not on the (for reals) ocean but whatev (I could be wrong, but that is what Tug was told by one Washington dude). Christine et al, thanks for coming, it was great meeting you...the kids and I are anxiously awaiting next week!

Almost time

It is that time again. Time to start gearing up for the season. Time to get excited and nervous. Time to watch tons of old games on the Big 10 Network. Time to block out all Saturdays starting 8/30. Time to get the spot ready on the couch. Time to get an inbox full of forwards of stuff like this...

might be bad juju to say 'this is our year' but i still likey

In the immortal words of Ice Cube

Today was a good day.

We went to Mass this morning and aside from the occasional Alzheimer-ish outburst from the going deaf old man in the back ("Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone" yelled while in line for Communion-and that was just one) it was great*. Sure we forgot to grab a hymnal on the way in so we couldn't follow along since it was said in Latin (not a Traditional Latin Mass, that is next Sunday at 5) but no complaints here.  It is a welcomed change to once again celebrate a reverent Mass!!

We then came back home, took short naps, then headed out the door to watch the Albuquerque Isotopes lose (or at least they were losing when we left in the 8th) to the Tacoma Rainiers. Tug grew up watching the Dukes (who left Albuquerque but were replaced a few yrs later by the Topes) so when he discovered Tacoma had Triple A ball he was ecstatic. When he looked at the schedule and saw they were playing the Topes this weekend he had a plan to make us all go. That was our reward for getting everything unpacked. Initially we were going to wear some of our Topes paraphernalia but Tug decided we were going for the Rainiers since we live here now. We now have hats...and their logo is basically 'T R' so extra bonus pretending it just stands for Tug and Regina. 

Hope your day went just as great!

*to clarify-i didnt mean to imply that the old man in the back made Mass bad or that he shouldnt have been there. on the contrary, i think it was great that his adult son who has 5 kids of his own takes him to Mass...I just thought what he yelled was funny.

Zero

That's the number  of boxes left to unpack. That's right, it is ALL done (not including the garage, but that is Tug's responsibility). Michelle asked me to take some pics so she could have a looksy and since she probably won't visit anytime soon (or anytime before we move again) here they are:

This is from the front door looking into the house. The greenish walls were already painted that color. The hat thingy on the right came with the house too. The closed door on the right is a coat closet and beyond that is the open door of the laundry room which has a little bathroom attached to it. There is a hallway to the right (between the coat closet and the laundry) and the kitchen is to the right of the perpendicular green wall. 

Here is that hallway just beyond the coat closet. The first left is the laundry room (ignore that ironing pile you see), second left is a bathroom, third left is the master bedroom. A linen closet is at the end of the hall. First door on the right is the girls' room and directly across from the master (you can't see the door in this pic) is {s} and {j}'s room.

This is the living room as seen from the kitchen. It is to the left when you walk in the front door (in the first pic you can see the back of the couch). It is separated from the dining room by some pillars (you can kind of see the set up in the first pic)...

The windows are looking out to the backyard. Next to the hutch are all the boxes we have to throw away recycle. To the left of the hutch is the door to the schoolroom/library/my office/playroom (can't see the door in the pic)... The door you see leads to the side of the house where we put the garbage cans. It was added-on to the house as a library and has an entire wall of shelves-AWESOME!! This room is to the left of the dining room, to the right of the dining room is the kitchen:

Looking into the kitchen

In the kitchen looking to the left. The pass-thru looks onto the dining room and that is the backdoor in the background.

This is in the dining room looking back at the kitchen. The glittery tree thingy came with the house, we added the Buckeye helmet-fitting it is above Our Lady of Perpetual Help. 

And finally, to the left of the schoolroom/library/my office/playroom is a very short hallway (probably not even worth calling it a hallway, more like a set back the length of a door) with a door at the end to the garage and a door to the left that leads to Tug's office. The door is at the bottom of these stairs and the room is to the right. It was part of the addition and there is a full bath upstairs too. We are going to get a bed to put up there so the room can double as a guest room. As we were moving in we noticed that the downstairs master bath is miniscule so Tug decided to put his stuff in the office bath and since that room also has 2 closets (compared to the miniscule downstairs one) he decided to put his clothes there. We now tease that we have separate bedrooms. 

So there you have the grand tour. Now, come visit for the reals!