It's Labor Day Weekend. It's raining (again) and Matt's on call (again). Yesterday I took the kids to see Cats and Dogs to get out of the house for a couple hours. The best part was that I got to take a little nap during the movie. I'm hoping the sun comes out tomorrow so we can actually do some manual labor. We are still trying to finish up the rock quarry project we started last summer. If it's raining we will labor indoors. We are stripping the wall paper in our living room while waiting for the plaster guy to come back and finish texturizing our walls before the painters come. We normally try to do our own painting but decided to get someone with scaffolding to help us in the room with 27 foot ceilings. Note to self: my next house will not have 27 foot ceilings, I will not need an extension pole to change light bulbs or dust fans, and the master bedroom will have a door. Preferable one with a lock on it.
Back track 2 weeks. The kids started back to school without a hitch. Chris moved up to third grade which means he is at a different school (third through sixth grade). He and Riley are now at the same school for the first time. This will not happen again until Riley is a senior in high school and Chris is a freshman. Chris did not call in sick until the third day of school. It was a combination of being overly tired and overwhelmed by all the responsibilities of third grade. But he has rallied back and sold over $300 of cookie dough for West Homer Elementary's annual fundraiser.
Riley is happy because he is in the same class as Bradley. He informed me last week that he was out of deodorant. The little sample of Old Spice he got last spring during Sex Ed class was getting low. Funny tangent: one day while driving Matt's truck I thought I smelled men's cologne. I panicked thinking Matt was having an affair. He doesn't normally wear cologne. Then I asked Riley if he was wearing deodorant. He sheepishly said yes, so I was greatly relieved. So anyway, I ask Matt to stop and get some deodorant for Riley so I don't have to take the kids to Ulmer's after school. They want to go to Ulmer's so they can look at air soft guns and beg me to let them buy a rifle. Matt asks me what kind of deodorant to buy Riley. I tell him something fresh or sporty. So he buys Axe "Fresh". Riley said he was hoping for Axe "Dark Temptation". What the heck?
When I tell them the living room is rearranged and their toys are are downstairs so the plaster guy can work on the walls, Chris says "Why does it always have to be a guy? Why can't a girl paint our house?" Riley says "Why can't Megan Fox paint our house?" When did Riley learn about Dark Temptation and Megan Fox? Am I in complete denial that my little boys are growing up too fast?
Maya started preschool at Paul Banks last week. She goes there Tuesday and Thursday afternoons where she gets speech therapy. It's also where she will go to school kindergarten through second grade. After Labor Day she starts back to preschool at Kim's Kinderhaus Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. All her friends from last year are back. She is very social and likes to stay busy.
Sarah is completing basic training at Wells Fargo. She is moving up to a teller position and doing well. I never realized how stressful it is to be a teller. She has a new branch manager imported from the lower 48 who is very pushy. Did you know they have quotas for how many new referrals they have to have per month? Referrals for new accounts, credit card applications, etc. The new branch manager doesn't understand small town mentality. For example, if a 60 year old man who has been banking at Wells Fargo for the past 40 years doesn't have a credit card, it's because HE DOESN'T WANT A CREDIT CARD! Besides, everyone in Alaska has an Alaska Airlines credit card so we can get miles and escape to Mexico and Hawaii from time to time. This new branch manager is so pushy they are actually losing customers! Poor Sarah. We are very proud of her for getting her first "big girl job". I think her double major in Psych/Soc will come in very handy! She could probably teach this branch manager a few thing about the psychology and social aspects of small town banking.
They got to drive Poppop's tractor.
They rode around in Poppop's gator.
While they were there, Matt sent me a text saying that Poppop's donkey was fat with big teats. I said, sounds like she's pregnant. Matt said the veterinarian was there and didn't think so.
The day after they left, Sweetness gave birth to Sugar! Look at those ears!
On our first day my friend Colleen took us to a farmer's market. I was in heaven!
Then my friend Lisa met us at Lake Anza in Berkeley with her family.
Lisa's kids Meg and Joel taught Maya how to bury someone in the sand.
The next day we went to Fairfax to visit my friend Robin who took us to a playground with the coolest climbing structure ever!
My friend Kelly was visiting from Belgium and was in CA for one week.
She brought her two older girls Amelie and Claudia and met us at the Oakland Zoo.
The next day we went to Oakley to see my Aunt Pat and cousin Kim. Maya met her second cousins Adam, Nick, and Jessica .
On Saturday my friend Colleen took us to a fabulous place in San Francisco to get manicures before the wedding.
Then we went next door to the tea house for high tea. Colleen brought this cute little tin tea set along for Maya. The waitress filled the pot with hot chocolate and brought whipped cream and mini marshmallows!
Colleen really knows how to spoil little girls.
Here's my brother Jim waiting in the wings of the Blackhawk Grill in Danville for his bride to arrive. It was a dark corner but I lightened it with my photoshop and I love the way it came out. The red eye reduction wasn't working, though.
And his beautiful bride, Elise arrives. This picture does do her enough justice.
During the reception a belly dancer appeared. After performing several dances, she gave the groom a belly dancing lesson. My brother was a good sport. Again the red eyes need work.
After the bride and groom got up and salsa danced, we nabbed Jim for this Family Photo.
The DJ started playing Motown so Maya put on her dancing shoes and shook her groove thang!
