Hey! I'm 35 Years Old!!!

No, not the gnome-Holly turned 35 on Sunday. The garden gnome was merely a gift from Joey and Tim. It was an especially gardenish birthday for Holly-she got some yard art, and some gift certificates to various yard art and plant shops. There was also lots of family and cake involved in the celebration.

The gnome hasn't been named yet, but Gnoarman is a leading contender. We haven't decided so submit any suggestions.

-Steve

Mama's Little Performance Artist

Joey was in a performance art piece, Tea Party, which is part of the Time Based Art festival. It took place at his school and was written/performed by a former Lewis student based on memories of recess.

In the larger picture Joey is leaning against the wall waiting to get in on the game of wall ball. The smaller picture shows the jump rope gang of girls chasing a boy.

Bring your own coconuts-

For the second year we went down to the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire and had a great time. There was sword fighting, a jousting tournament, lots of hand made craft booths, teriyaki chicken (?!?) and tons of goofy people to watch. When we first walked in, the boys got to meet one of the knights who chatted with them for a little bit. Later in the day they got a lesson in sword fighting and an amulet for participating.

They started out dressed up as knights, well knights wearing shorts. It got a little hot. By the end of the day they kept the swords strapped on but got rid of the extra layer of "armor".

The highlight of Steve's day (week, month, year?) was getting his picture taken with Arthur King of the Britons, his Squire Patsy, Brave Sir Robin and several other knights.

The Governor Visits the Boys' School!

The Governor really did visit Lewis today (Tim and Joey didn't see him though). Steve saw him in the hallway, but Kulongoski read to Ms. Swan's 2nd Graders (this was Joey's teacher for 2nd grade and is next door to Tim's class). OPB was there - but nothing exciting was said (bummer). It was just a PR visit, but it's cool our school got chosen to show off to him.

According to Tim, his class was instructed to only say "nice things" to the Governor. I wanted to know what they would have said otherwise? As long as Kulongoski didn't say anything bad about Gryffindor, he'd be safe from any disparaging comments from Tim.

-Holly

The First Day of School

School started today for the boys and they both had a great time. Tim has a teacher who is new to Lewis Elementary but has been teaching 1st grade for a number of years. She read a bat story (Stellaluna) today so Tim, lover of bats, thought that was great. Joey has his favorite friend back in class with him after a one year hiatus, and is very excited. They are already planning when they can get together to play.

As required by law (almost), here are the mandatory first day of school pictures.

I'm 37 Years Old!

Well, I'm not, but Steve is (as of last Thursday)! We started his birthday getting Joey settled into bed around 12:15 AM after spending the afternoon/evening at St. Vincent's Pediatric ER. Thankfully, Joey seems to be fine now (after Xrays, CT scans, appendicitis and aneurysm scares). Now, we just have to get caught up on sleep (which is especially hard for a kid who normally gets at least 10 hours of sleep at night and can't sleep past 7!).

On Steve's birthday morning, Tim distracted him while I quickly wrapped his presents (that's what I was going to do the night before but instead got to hang out in the ER convincing Joey an IV isn't the end of the world). Tim informed Steve that he had better get moving if he wanted to open his presents before going to work. Tim then told him that his present wasn't a Wii! Steve did all he could not to crack up at this. So, he was quite happy to officially open the Wii (a gift from the three of us and Grandma D). Luckily, while the boys and I went to Joey's follow up doctor's visit in the afternoon, Steve got the Wii set up so they could all play while we waited for the Grandparents to come over.

That night we had a BBQ, some more present opening and some birthday cake. It was a little windy so it took everyone's help getting the candles lit (and there were so many candles to light!).

After everyone went home and the boys were in bed, Steve even got me to play Wii tennis and bowling. I realized that I get way to into this (no, you don't have to jump to serve the ball in Wii tennis) and thankfully I can't quite reach ceiling lights unless I jump really high. My tennis arm was sure sore the next day. I think I may have to admit that this Wii-thing is kind of fun.
-Holly