Safety First!

Our evenings look a lot like this nowadays. Good thing he's wearing his helmet to drive the dumper all over the ramp.


Frankie and I were sick all weekend, so Juston did ramp repairs and painted it blue.

This is real?

I'd loved to have sat in on the brainstorming meeting when someone came up with this idea.



In other news, a post is coming....soon....I've just had lots of other things going on lately!

The Ramp

So after five years of big talk about doing it, Juston finally did it. He built a skate ramp in the backyard. This is what happens when you can't afford to build a garage because it requires $6k in concrete but still want to build something, I guess. Juston's older brother Jason and his cousin Thayne came out this week to help and from what I can tell, they've had a great time bonding and using power tools.

Juston and Jason in the early stages.


This old billboard, donated by Cartoon Network to our cause, is the tarp that covers the completed ramp. Frankie and Bridget had fun running around on it.


Frankie doesn't really like power tools. He'll grow into it, I'm sure.

Bridget may or may not like the power tools, but she does like to chew on sticks outside and get in the middle of things.


Nice view, eh?


Frankie's first test run on the middle of the second day of operation 'skateboard ramp.'


Frankie watching.


Jason and Thayne sheeting the ramp. All that's left is a tiny bit of sheeting and another coat of paint and we'll be in skateboarding session. Maybe now is a good time for me to learn...

Last week, with feeling.

I've slacked on blogging because I've been unmotivated. I've been busy with work and company and sitting outside while Frankie digs in the dirt for hours on end whilst I grade midterms on the deck. It's been fun. Last week, it was nice outside (yes, five days after the snow, we were in shorts). So we went to the zoo - again. Here's a few that look like many others I've taken, but, you know, Frankie looks cute, so I'm posting them anyway.


I had to bribe the Frankster with a lollipop to get him to stick his head into the Elephant cutout.


Usually Frankie doesn't want to ride the animals on the carousel; we end up riding in one of the stationary buckets. This time, I pretty much forced him up there, and once the jaguar started moving, he loved it. His little buddy Anna (to the right on the baboon) was also having a great time!


And lastly, our house in the midst of the week's earlier snowstorm. It looks almost serene and not quite as 'aluminum siding and vinyl fence' grungy in the snow.

Snow Day

As those of you who follow the weather know, Atlanta got a heap of snow today. It was raining when we went to church, and by the time the first meeting was over, it was coming down as snow, and hard. By the end of church, it was sticking to everything and the roads were covered in slush. Now, at the end of the day, it's all melty, but we got several hours of hard snow today, the likes of which I haven't seen since moving here four and a half years ago.

For your viewing pleasure, snow pictures, round 1:

There's snow on the truck!


Frankie and I walking to the car - he was NOT happy.


Driving home, view through the windshield:

Frankie sings!

Drummer Boy

Some of our awesome neighbors (shout out West End!) had a Fat Tuesday party last night. We all had a blast, but I think that Frankie had more fun than anyone else. Not only did he have fun cheering for Nia's birthday and eating red beans and rice and king cake, but he reveled in all of Asher and Ezzy's toys - especially the tiny drums. I can promise that we won't be getting one of these any time soon.

"Helping"

Frankie loves to "help." I put "help" in quotes, because, usually he's just making more work for me. I think that most people that have young children can relate.

Here he is, "putting away the laundry." This involved putting things I'd already sorted back into the laundry basket and then throwing them all over the floor.


Back on the day before Valentine's Day, we made Juston chocolate-covered fruit because we love him! Frankie did more sampling than helping, but he did dip a few strawberries that ended up with very little actual chocolate on them. At least we had fun. :)

The backlog.

I'm starting to realize that I'm not being very consistent with this blogging thing. I've been moderately busy lately and scoping out the real world, you know? Shoot, I haven't even posted the Christmas pictures yet, which is kind of a problem. Someday. Anyway, here's a bunch of images that Juston sent me a little over a week ago, so you can stay up-to-date on our lives. Lucky you.

Every Thursday afternoon, we go to Kid's Gym at the College Park Recreation Center. I would highly recommend it - it's basically freeplay gymnastics, and the kids love it. It's also very affordable. If you live on the south side and you're looking for a fun activity, this might be it! Anyway, Juston took a personal day on a Thursday a few weeks ago so he could edit a friend's short film and came on a field trip with us.

The water fountain - always a highlight.


Sliding around on some plushy gym playthings.


Prepping for some big air onto the trampoline.


Snowmen - one of Frankie's obsessions. Juston made this play-doh version on demand.


Frankie likes to chase Bridget around and try to clasp her legs in the grip of his plastic pliers. And no, he's not wearing any pants. Whenever we're at home for an extended period of time, he goes nekkid from the waist down to encourage using the potty. It does work - he's never had an accident and when he goes he comes and gets me so I can look at his 'work' - but he can't really be half naked all the time, can he?


From our family visit to the dentist a couple of weeks ago. I was in the hygienist's chair and Juston was Frankie-tending in the waiting room.


About three weeks ago, we went out to dinner for our friend Dan's birthday at a pizza place up in Vinings. Little did we know that on Saturday nights, they had live music! Frankie and I decided to dance, and the nice musician pointed us towards his maracas. Frankie was having so much fun that he had to make his excited face.



Lastly, all bundled up for a President's Day family bike ride.

Othoscope Fun!

Juston, being the ear infection king of the family, inherited his childhood othoscope from his mom. Sometimes we pull it out for fun and look at each others's eardrums, and tonight while I was at the gym (running 5 miles - looking forward to that 10k in a few weeks), the boys had a rockin' good time.

Checking out daddy's earwax. (Note that Juston looks a little nervous, having just given a two-year-old a pointed object to poke in his ear.)


Lookin' at the shoes, magnified 10x! (or something like that.)


Next, gotta check out the digger.


Maybe he'll be a doctor instead of a financial analyst (we have high hopes, right?) Or he'll just learn to fry bugs on the sidewalk with a magnifying glass.

Happy Valentine's Day

Earlier this week, Frankie made Valentines goody bags for all of his teachers/my co-workers at drop-in. He personally selected the Yo Gabba Gabba! box of Valentines, despite the fact that he's never seen the show. Now he talks about it all the time; I think the robot on the package sealed the deal.


Juston and I always take it easy for V-day since it's kind of a silly holiday. This year, I thought I was being all generous and thoughtful because Frankie and I made him a batch of chocolate-covered strawberries. He schooled me and bought me a new bike. Yep, a bike! I've been eying bicycles for awhile now, and have put it off for various reasons. I've only ridden it up and down the street, but I love it and I'm really excited to hook up the trailer and cruise around town with the Frankster. It looks like this:



Pictures coming soon! Until then, we love you all.

New Kicks

Our tiny kid is finally getting close to outgrowing his size 5 shoes. That's right, he's still in the size that most kids a year younger wear these days. I decided that, given the state of his old shoes, which were falling apart, it was time to hit the internet and buy some new ones.


Mini skate shoes; Juston was really pulling for these toddler DCs. Frankie usually only has one or two pairs of shoes, so we try to find durable ones. He'll wear these everywhere, including church. We don't discriminate :)

All work...some play

The other day when I went to clean, Frankie decided that he was the only one capable of vacuuming. Luckily he relented shortly thereafter and allowed me to finish up.


Hangin' out, not much to do but climb onto, and then jump off of, the furniture.


It's been unseasonably warm for the past week or so, and trust me, I'm not complaining. Last Saturday, Frankie and Juston spent most of the day in the yard while I hit the streets to canvass for our charter school. I'm our neighborhood education committee chair, and they keep me plenty busy. Back to Frankie - he loves to go outside and push his trucks around the backyard. Fortunately for him, we haven't raked up our fall leaves, so there are plenty to put in the back of the dump truck.




Every time I pull out the camera, Frankie takes it from me and fills my memory card with images of the ceiling, Bridget's tail, close-ups of my gut, etc., etc., etc. Is it too early to teach him about the concept of 'head room'?

Old Skool

I've been scanning in some old photos, and since nothing is going on, I thought I'd share a couple for those who care, which is mostly my relatives.

It's true - I dye my hair red now, but the base is red and always has been red.


Laura and I in matching dresses. We're 'Irish Twins', only ten months apart. Any guesses as to our age?


If my memory serves me (which it probably doesn't), this was part of some costume contest at a local public pool. I won something like $1 for my Annie costume, but I think Becky's Princess Leia hair was the real winner that day.



P.S. Frankie got into our first choice preschool, so now I can put all of that nonsense behind me and focus on coming up with the tuition! Hooray! (It did involve getting up at 5 AM to 'take a number,' but if I never have to do this again, it was totally worth it.)

My heart just melted.

January means redecorating because there sure isn't much else to do!

I've already lamented about January. The weather here can't decide between warm and frigid, wet and dry. The outdoors are far too volatile, so we spend most of our time inside. Frankie spends about three-quarters of his days at home riding around on his truck:


We're also mostly ignoring the outdoors for the inside of our house. Since Christmas just passed, we had a bit of cash, and boy, did we ever spend it! Behold our new couch:


The fireplace visible below still screams desperately, "refinish me!" But alas, it is not high on the list. We've also got to put some sort of leather guard on that couch or Bridget is going to rip it all up with her little puggy claws. She's not allowed on it right now, and she might never get those permissions.


Our 'retro metro' backsplash is finished! It looks fantastic with our cabinets and countertops (Silestone Stellar Snow, for those who wonder.) Now to put on the cabinet hardware and finish the trim (ahem, Juston.) :)


The guest bath still isn't complete, but we did buy a deeply-discounted wine cabinet that doubles as towel storage, pictured to the right of the tub.


My Christmas present, the one and only change to the outside of the house:



January's been gray, but certainly not dull. I've completed two freelance jobs and my classes are already a bit overwhelming - I have some very smart students that are going to put me through the ringer if I'm not careful! (This is probably a good thing.) We've closed on our house, been to the zoo a few times, played with Abe & Jay, and I've started working out with one of my neighbors and she's going to whip me into shape! Oh, and preschool registration is this Saturday at 9 AM. I'll be in line starting at 5 AM, and I'm sure I won't be alone. We're going with the hippies-in-training program at The Children's Garden, that is, if we can get him in. It's first come, first served. Keep your fingers crossed!