school days

So the school year started and D seems to be pretty comfortable at the high school. His bus comes an hour earlier than it did last year, so we all get up early now. Tonight was the school open house, and Michelle, Chris and I had to walk Daulton's schedule. We went from homeroom and continued on to each of his classrooms—I forget what it's like to switch classes like that! (Okay, I forget most everything from high school, it was WAY too long ago.)

I found an old photo of D on his first day, I think it's from second grade? Both it and this year's photo are here:

goofballs II

we hung out at the beach the other night, we played catch football and watched the sun set. when I tried to get a nice photo of the boys on the beach, this is what ensued...I figured it was better to have the video.

click on the thumbnail below to play. (I'm not sure about the quality, I'm trying to figure out the best settings.)

From Presque Isle

happy birthday, d! (oh yeah, and america)

D's 14th birthday started with presents in the morning, of course. Always a favorite part of the day.

We headed over to my parents around 10:30 and had a wonderful lunch/dinner, followed by birthday cake and ice cream. D, of course, had to wear the birthday hat—it's tradition! My sister, Nicole, was in town for the week, so we got some more time with her, too!

Around 3 we headed to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center. They have a 4th of July celebration every year that includes a great view of Pittsburgh's fireworks on the river. We saw an IMAX movie, checked out their robotics exhibit, saw a great presentation about electricity ("High Voltage!"), and got in a laser light show after the fireworks.

I have to say the fireworks were incredible (complete with free popcorn and soda) and by far the best show I've ever seen in person. Chris asked at one point if it was over, because they were stopping at certain intervals. I told him, "If there's one thing I know about fireworks, it's that you always know when they're over!" The finale did not disappoint.

The long car ride home was rough, but I think completely worth it!

Link to photos here:

D's Birthday 2009

goofballs

I caught both of these goofy photos in the last couple weeks. The one of Chris alone is from a comedy show we went to. The show hadn't started yet, but we were being silly.















On a different night, Chris and Daulton accidentally wore the same T-shirt. We went out to dinner, and luckily I often have my camera with me. They reluctantly granted me a couple photos to capture the moment.

relay on!

I volunteered as an entertainment coordinator for the Relay for Life again this year. It starts around Noon on a Friday and goes for 24 hours.

The weather report was calling for really bad storms, but somehow we lucked out and had the most beautiful weather ever all day Friday! Around 2 a.m. it started storming, so everyone was asked to clear out of their tents and take shelter.

We returned around 6 a.m., but the storms continued without break. Chris, Daulton, my dad and Char all showed up to help me pack up the car! By 9 a.m. Chris, Daulton and I were having breakfast at a local restaurant!

It was disappointing we had to call off Saturday morning, but Friday went so well I think we'd all call it a success! My team this year raised over $1,000, I'm so proud of everyone.

Here's a link to photos:

Relay for Life 2009

he's outta there

Had to get a smile from Daulton on his last day of 8th grade!

the beginning of summer

Last Friday we had a family picnic at Allegheny. Chris and Daulton drove down at 5 p.m. and we all ate and hung out. On the way home they called me and told me to stop at Family First, a sports park, so we could ride the go-karts. Perfect idea!

too funny

I came home to find this on the counter the other day. That kid cracks me up...

fun for the whole family

This is Daulton singing some karaoke with our American Idol video game. Always a good time.

happy birthday, char

For the last few years, Char and my dad have been in Mexico for her birthday. But this year they came back a little early, so I insisted we celebrate! We also insisted she wear the birthday hat and suffer like the rest of us do.

(Also, I can pretty much say that it was Chris who switched her age around!)

bird exploration

Rocket & Rudy love to play in our cupboard. They climb over and into the top shelf, where the bowls are. They often disappear into the metal bowl.

happy anniversary to us

Chris and I had the most amazing dinner at Peppino's Italian Restaurant for our anniversary. Wine, mozzarella, steaks, and some crazy limon chocolate something... it was a great night!

ah, lazy days...

so Daulton is on Spring Break this week. Chris had at least three days off work to spend with him, and he actually accompanied Chris to work the other day as well.

I am yo-yoing between irritation and amusement each time I encourage Daulton to GO OUTSIDE AND GET FRESH AIR and he responds, "Penny, I'm on break...I need to relax..."

So today I'm just sitting at work wishing I was home bumming with them (though Chris would probably tell you he usually has a lot to do on his days off). I don't have a picture to share because they're having all the fun without me... *sniffle* *sniffle*

:-)

Rocket vs. the Duck

This is an older video we have of Rocket "talking" with a rubber duck we got from a March of Dimes event. It's just something cute he's done before. Poor little guy is always on edge...

a project revisited

Well I came home today to find Daulton on the couch, surrounded by legos. He and Chris had started this big project back during the holidays. I think it must have been a Christmas present? So today Daulton felt like getting back to it...he actually made quite a bit of progress. We left for a short time to get some ice cream, and when we got back he went right back at it again. It sounds like it's going to live on the living room floor until tomorrow morning when he plans to resume building...

luck, finally

Daulton and I had a little adventure on Saturday. We drove 45 minutes to Meadville only to find we had missed the St. Patrick's Day parade! To be sure we hadn't wasted the trip, we bought some goodies and something called a mashmallow gun at a local shop, got footlong hot dogs for lunch, and then finally headed back to Erie.

I realized we were getting back to Erie just as it was time for that parade to start. So we found a great parking spot and enjoyed the 35-minute parade, complete with llamas, clowns, floats, and plenty of candy. The sun stayed out long enough to keep us warm in the chilly weather, and there were a lot of people out. Daulton was nice enough to agree I had redeemed myself!

bruce?

I walked inside the other night and found Daulton sitting on the couch. Of course I had to remind Daulton who Bruce Springsteen actually is, but it was fun to find a photo of him so we could compare.

the end of 08

here are a few more pics from 2008. the scrabble is from new year's, we had a serious game night before watching the festivities in nyc on tv. for another year we were able to say, "hey, we were just there!"

a familiar site

Rocket & Rudy have taken to hanging out with us in the living room. This first photo is just the two of them on our chair. But the second shows Rudy in her favorite spot, the red pillow on the back of the couch, Rocket standing watch because he doesn't like Chris being so close, and Chris protecting his ear from impending attacks.

Christmas 2008

Penny's Christmas Photos 2008

the big apple

NYC

proud parents of an honor student

So we knew Daulton received all As and Bs the first quarter of this year, but today he came home with his Honor Roll certificate! I had to capture the moment to share. His name is also listed in the most recent school newsletter that came home a few days ago.

I asked him if he was going to do as good this second quarter. He simply answered, "I'm gonna try!" He's had some tough years, but something clicked this year and he's been working really hard. I'm so glad to see him get this kind of recognition for it.

a celebration

Daulton's last grades came in with a wonderful report—all As and Bs! We had to celebrate his huge accomplishment. We took him out to eat at Damons, where you can play trivia while you eat. We all enjoy it, so it was a great time.

do not disturb

This is just a funny picture of Rocket and Rudy. Rocket likes to climb down into the 'caves' we build for him out of pillows, and Rudy stands watch. He goes into some sort of protection trance when he's in there, so you can NOT mess with him. It's funny though, if you call his name, he'll shoot up quickly to see what's going on, then slowly slink back down...strange birdies.

halloween

So I'm afraid this might be the last year Daulton goes trick-or-treating. About ten minutes into it he was less than thrilled to be out. I'm afraid he was a little self-conscious, there were many small children out, but we didn't see many kids his own age. We encouraged him to keep going, and he had a good time. We always stop at my stepmom's sister's house, so it's fun to see them each year. Michelle stays back to pass out candy, so we stopped in at her place before we headed home. Daulton's Ninja and Chris's Soldier were good, I felt a little bad I hadn't dressed up this year.