Here's a sketch of our future shed. We like to think of it as a Pool House. Never mind that we don't have a pool.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Goodbye Mobile Attic
We are very very close to getting rid of our "garage" that we've had in our driveway for over a year. It was supposed to be temporary until we built a real garage. Since the plans for the real garage have been delayed a bit we decided to go ahead and build a shed. The spot for the shed has been cleared. The footings have been dug. The lumber has been delivered. Hopefully it will be finished before the end of the month. It will be 12' x 16' (twice as big as our Mobile Attic), so we should have plenty of room to put STUFF. And boy do we have lots of stuff. Even better, it will have proper walls, etc., so I'll be able to hang shelves and hooks so that our STUFF will be somewhat organized. It's all very exciting.
Here's a sketch of our future shed. We like to think of it as a Pool House. Never mind that we don't have a pool.
Here's a sketch of our future shed. We like to think of it as a Pool House. Never mind that we don't have a pool.
Gavi's 9th Birthday
We invited 8 girls to spend the night and solve "The Mystery of the Missing Ring." We got 6 hours of sleep -- 11:30pm to 5:30am -- and had a fabulous time. This was our first real sleepover party and I think it went remarkably well. No one called their parents to come get them. No one cried. Everyone was asleep before midnight. Nothing got broken.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
We're hoping this is going to be a good day. Mike is working at the polls in the morning and in the "Legal Boiler Room" from noon until 7pm.
I took the kids with me to vote this morning. We were at the nicest polling place in the country - Glendale United Methodist Church. The church elders must see the election as a social event because they were all there passing out cookies to the kids and free coffee to the adults. We never had that in Virginia. Oh yeah, no lines!
Long live democracy (unless the people can't make the right decision and then we might have to rethink the whole majority rule concept).
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Happy Halloween
Halloween was a month-long celebration here in Nashville - and that's not even counting our multiple pumpkin patch trips. Each weekend provided its own special Halloween experience. The kids loved each and every one and were sorely disappointed that it's finally over. It's a good thing though because those store bought costumes really aren't made to stand up to multiple wearings. As it was, Juliana had to trick-or-treat with only one antenna (instead of both antennae - also known as "antlers" by a certain kindergardener).
Weekend #1 -- Sophie's Pony Party
Gavi's friend Sophie has a Halloween party each year. I was surprised to find that the highlight of the party was bobbing for apples. Somewhat to my surprise, the girls were much more skilled than the boys (bigger mouths?) and quite fearless in sticking their entire heads in the water (makeup and hair be damned - how long will that last?). They didn't hesitate to taunt one of the boys to "Be a man!" Ben wasn't interested in riding the pony, but he did try to stuff a large inflatable spider into a much smaller Jack-o'lantern.
Weekend #2 -- Ghouls at Grassmere (the Zoo trick-or-treat)
The weekend before Halloween we met friends for a night at the Zoo to enjoy a haunted hay ride, the "Scary-go-round" (carousel with creepy music and no lights), trick-or-treating, campfires, a haunted maize, and much much more. The only thing missing from the zoo for Halloween were, yes, the animals. I guess they didn't want to worry about the monkeys eating their fill in discarded Tootsie Rolls and Sugar Daddies. Juliana got a piggy-back ride from Gavi's friend Camille. Gavi had to cover her skimpy go-go dancing outfit with a not-so-70s fleece borrowed from mom. Only Ben in his furry tiger was mostly warm. It was pretty cold that night, but we had a good time until we reach the witching hour (about 8:30pm) and called it a night. The kids love it and we love that they love it.
Weekend #3 -- The Real Deal
Finally, after much anticipation, came the big night. We stayed in our neighborhood and went trick-or-treating with our friends/neighbors, the Cramers. This was the friendliest trick-or-treating experience we've ever had. At our second house, the neighbors offered the grown-ups beer. As responsible adults leading five children through a neighborhood devoid of both sidewalks and streelights, we declined. We ventured onward to the mansions at the end of the road. The first mansion required a climb of 73 steps. Fortunately, they had candy waiting at the top. The second mansion is always the best decorated holiday house in the neighborhood and Halloween is no exception. They had orange lights, dancing ghosts, and a big sign on the front door proclaiming "The Witch Is In." The Witch was not in. No one was home except an old dog who eyed us suspiciously through his window. We gave up on the mansions and returned to the "regular" houses. We met other neighborhood trick-or-treaters (the only other kids we saw out the whole night) who gave us a map indicating which neighbors were home with candy and a special notation for those elderly neighbors who look forward to getting trick-or-treaters. It was a good night for candy gathering. In the end, only Ben wanted to keep looking for more candy - the girls were cold and ready to go home for Halloween hot chocolate. So we did.
Weekend #1 -- Sophie's Pony Party
Gavi's friend Sophie has a Halloween party each year. I was surprised to find that the highlight of the party was bobbing for apples. Somewhat to my surprise, the girls were much more skilled than the boys (bigger mouths?) and quite fearless in sticking their entire heads in the water (makeup and hair be damned - how long will that last?). They didn't hesitate to taunt one of the boys to "Be a man!" Ben wasn't interested in riding the pony, but he did try to stuff a large inflatable spider into a much smaller Jack-o'lantern.
Weekend #2 -- Ghouls at Grassmere (the Zoo trick-or-treat)
The weekend before Halloween we met friends for a night at the Zoo to enjoy a haunted hay ride, the "Scary-go-round" (carousel with creepy music and no lights), trick-or-treating, campfires, a haunted maize, and much much more. The only thing missing from the zoo for Halloween were, yes, the animals. I guess they didn't want to worry about the monkeys eating their fill in discarded Tootsie Rolls and Sugar Daddies. Juliana got a piggy-back ride from Gavi's friend Camille. Gavi had to cover her skimpy go-go dancing outfit with a not-so-70s fleece borrowed from mom. Only Ben in his furry tiger was mostly warm. It was pretty cold that night, but we had a good time until we reach the witching hour (about 8:30pm) and called it a night. The kids love it and we love that they love it.
Weekend #3 -- The Real Deal
Finally, after much anticipation, came the big night. We stayed in our neighborhood and went trick-or-treating with our friends/neighbors, the Cramers. This was the friendliest trick-or-treating experience we've ever had. At our second house, the neighbors offered the grown-ups beer. As responsible adults leading five children through a neighborhood devoid of both sidewalks and streelights, we declined. We ventured onward to the mansions at the end of the road. The first mansion required a climb of 73 steps. Fortunately, they had candy waiting at the top. The second mansion is always the best decorated holiday house in the neighborhood and Halloween is no exception. They had orange lights, dancing ghosts, and a big sign on the front door proclaiming "The Witch Is In." The Witch was not in. No one was home except an old dog who eyed us suspiciously through his window. We gave up on the mansions and returned to the "regular" houses. We met other neighborhood trick-or-treaters (the only other kids we saw out the whole night) who gave us a map indicating which neighbors were home with candy and a special notation for those elderly neighbors who look forward to getting trick-or-treaters. It was a good night for candy gathering. In the end, only Ben wanted to keep looking for more candy - the girls were cold and ready to go home for Halloween hot chocolate. So we did.
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