Next Step: Minivan

I'm officially a Soccer Mom. Not what I imagined of myself ten years ago, but we had a blast at G's first ever soccer practice. He learned a lot and really loved it. This seems like a great sport for him. He listened well, was able to do everything asked of him, and enjoyed it. We are so excited for the rest of the season, especially when it warms up a little.

p.s. Since we didn't blog on Saturday, we want to wish a belated Happy Birthday to Matt's dad, the best helicopter pilot Manassas County has ever seen!

In Other News...

Those Japanese lessons? Totally true! I'm going to jump in to class 4 tomorrow, and then they will privately tutor me if I need help catching up. How amazing is that?! I'm so grateful to them for giving me this opportunity to improve my Japanese, so please check them out: Language Institute of Atlanta.

Marc, who works there, explained to me that they had trouble getting in touch with me and put my name on their web site hoping I would see it. Isn't that kind of them?

I'm super excited to take this class and hope I learn a little written Japanese too.

In unrelated news, check out these earrings I found today at REI:

They are cairns, which are rock piles that serve as place markers. In hiking, they can be used to help mark a path. I think they were meant for me! I know they are meant to have a deeper meaning too, but I really like the literal meaning.

Kid news: G takes his first entrance exam today. Well, it's actually just kindergarten screening, but we are kind of excited to see whether they declare him the Smartest Kid Ever. Maybe they'll even give us free tuition just so that they can claim him as their student. Maybe we'll get a special on TLC! Shoot, I better get my body in TV shape...

Happy Birthday Wishes!

Our very best happy birthday wishes for today, Friday, go to Matt's mom. We hope that she has had a wonderful day and has an even better year ahead!

Love,

Us

This Is Pretty Weird...

Between chores, I googled my own name - procrastination makes you do funny things - and found this:

JAPANESE. Language Institute of Atlanta (770) 730-0000 info@atlantalanguage.com. 2008 ATLANTA JAPANFEST WINNER : Patricia Angle - Free Japanese Classes ...
www.atlantalanguage.com/test/Japanese.htm - 11k - Cached - Similar pages -

So I guess I won the lessons I entered at Japanfest???

To be continued...

Happy Valentine's Day 2009!

We've had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day this year. G had a fun party at school, and then we also celebrated with a group of friends in the Hobby Town USA kids' section. Today, we laid low for most of the day. G went to his Kelly grandparents' house for the afternoon while Mommy and Daddy shopped (romantic, right?). We picked up some Chinese food from Li's Asian Cuisine and ate it at home.

Our most important present was the gift of lounging around most of the day, but the boys gave P a massage gift card for our salon, we gave M tickets to see David Sedaris live, and we gave G Hug Time and some Ben 10 Alien Force action figures.

Some notes on the photos: Matt's present came as a David Sedaris photo jigsaw puzzle, with the pieces stuck into rooster placecard holders. We thought it was pretty amazing that G and Daddy picked out the exact same kind of card for Mommy, as G and Mommy picked out for Daddy.

As part of our shopping, we bought a new floor register for the family room. The melted crayon incident is still evident in the carpet surrounding the grate, but look at what a difference the new one makes!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! May you all find love in the most expected and unexpected places. How was your day?

Clean Teeth

G had a big day today. After school, he took a tour of one of his grade school choices. We went to the park in Marietta Square after that, and then we went to the dentist.

Every day after school, we listen to the themed lunch show hosted by Mara Davis on 92.9 FM. Today's theme was "questions", so we requested Bob Marley, "Is This Love?" via e-mail. Not only did she read our e-mail on the air, but she also told Gabriel to have fun at the dentist. She talked right to him! We thought that was super cool.

To commemorate the occasion, we gave him The Tooth Book, by Dr. Suess, and read it to him on the way. Once we were there, he played Sonic on their Playstation and then watched Daddy get his teeth cleaned before his turn. When it was G's turn, he was the perfect patient and had no cavities. They suggested, based on the grooves in his teeth, that we have sealant put on them to prevent cavities that could form even if he brushes well. We will try to persuade insurance to cover that procedure before we have it done, though.

After they were finished with his appointment, they gave him a nice goody bag full of fun stuff, like a pencil with a tooth mirror topper, a treasure chest for his teeth when they fall out, and a cool toothbrush with pictures of fruit on the handle.

We couldn't be happier with how this appointment turned out!

New Park

I found a new park today, with safe trails, playgrounds galore, dog park, skateboard park, picnic shelters...  the works.  This is really cool!  It is sort of like Piedmont Park.  For privacy I won't say which one, but it's the new one near G's school if you are interested.

Finally An Update! aka Happy Anniversary, Mom And Nick!

We have felt so busy lately that we haven't been blogging, but we are determined to keep you up to speed. Here is a photoblog with captions, so you can see what we've been doing for the past week, anyway.

watching the 3-D portion of the Superbowl broadcast

bowling, Thursday

flying our new kite

G took this picture - we think it's his call for help

very strange cemetery we found while searching for a geocache yesterday - notice the flags

what an amazing bowling score P had yesterday - and we're sure there wasn't a way to change the score or anything

hiking today at Sweetwater Creek State Park

a quiet trail away from the more common creek trail

big leaf

the pro at work

most scenic part of the hike

trying to determine the animal from which this hair came

It was a really fun week, and the hike today was the perfect way to cap it off. The weather has become very warm, and today was a perfect 70-ish sunny day. We wish you happy weather wherever you are. In Not Us News:

Today is the anniversary of M's Mom and Nick, and we wish you two many more blissful years together!

Today, Laura moved from Michigan to Arizona. We wish you an exciting and happy new chapter of your life story!

And to one other person who may or may not read this blog, we heard your news today and are thinking of you, love you, and are here for you in any way you need. XO.

The Hallmark Of A Good Store

Look what we found today at Hallmark!  Way cool!

Balls

G is enjoying a post-game dinner.  He beat his mommy by a mile!  We are having fun with the Soergel Harrises, the Tovars, and a bunch of other friends.