Weblog
14/07: A weekend of firsts
Lots of firsts happened this weekend.First (ha!), we had our inaugural yard sale. We decided to do some summer cleaning and purge the house of bulky items, toys, dishes, linens and stuffed animals that are of no more use to us. Guess what? It worked! Due to our phenomenal location -- a high traffic suburban street -- we had tons of shoppers and we sold an incredible amount of goods. The best part is that these goods were the bluky items and so, all of a sudden, there is a ton of free square footage now available in the house.
It was a HOT day but we lasted the whole time. Gracie set up a lemonade stand and she did great! Most folks gave her $1 for her $.25 lemonades but then let her keep the change. She cleared nearly $20! Thats amazing for someone seling drinks at $.25/cup.
The main key to our success was the mutual realization that we were not out there to make money. We were out there to get rid of things. So we haggled a little bit but let most things go at ridiculous prices. It was pretty sweet.
The other first thing that happened was that we caught Sophie singing along with a song from the TV. Her current favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba and she loves the songs on that show. She started singing along and we just sat there in awe and watcher her do it. It was so sweet and cute. She's quite a cutie.
We have photos and videos of all of these things available, on the camera. I'll get them off asap and put them on here for your viewing pleasure.
[Jeff]
07/07: An extra photo...
I found this photo on my dad's Flickr page today so thought I'd share:Sophie eats a ginormous sandwich. I'm not even sure what's on there.
[Jeff]
07/07: Our photo got published!
A photo that either Carrie or I took got published in a guide to Northwest activites. Specifically, the photo is of Fleet Week during Portland's Rose Festival. We took this photo from our balcony in the temporary apartment we were living in when we first got to Portland. Who knew someone would like it besides us.Check it out:
Full link to the Flickr page is right here.
And finally, a link to the publication known as the Schmap.
Scroll down to where it says "Rose Festival Fleet" to see the picture in action.
I grabbed this Schmap widget from their site to see how it would look on our site. Hey, it promotes Portland and shows off some of our amateur photography.
[Jeff]
29/06: I love the Onion
In this amazing video produced by The Onion News Network, we're educated on how to pretend we care about the election. Now, those of you that know me, know that I care a LOT about this election but this clip is hilarious. These guys crack me up. Quick heads up, this contains a little bit of adult language. Not a lot, but a little and not super bad words (I don't think).Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election
Enjoy.
[Jeff]
20/06: Pennyshaker gets some press
My good friends from Richmond, VA got some good press. Check it out:http://urbanviewsweekly.com/archives/118
[Jeff]
17/06: Vacation
We just completed our first vacation in a long time. A vacation is time one spends relaxing. Therefore, a trip is not a vacation. We've taken some significant trips in the past few years but a true vacation has eluded us. To that end, we took all of last week and yesterday off. Where did we go you ask? Well, nowhere, actually. And it was pretty sweet.After much thought, research and deliberation we realized that no matter where we went, it would basically be just another day for us except in a new location. The girls wouldn't have their beds and toys and we'd have to run out to keep getting the stuff we'd normally have at home. Didn't sound like much of a vacation to us.
Then Carrie has an epiphany! Why not bring somebody in to watch the girls for a week and have us go out on day trips together like adults?! Brilliant! But who can we bring in? Enter, the mother in law (cue music of great dread here). Martina was more than happy to join us here in Northern NJ for a week to hang with her grand daughters. As a bonus we also had Carrie's niece Mary Jane here as well so Martina got 3 grand daughters out of the trip.
It worked out rather well as Carrie and I got to do some fun things together with each other and with no one else. We took day trips into the city, in the suburbs as well as into nature. It was pretty sweet. Mother Nature threw us a big curve in the middle of the week and knocked out our power for 2 days. The heat was oppressive and the AC was out so we couldn't leave the girls at home on that day and a half. We ended up driving around seeing the sites and staying cool in the car's air conditioning.
Overall it was a very fun and relaxing week and I have to admit, Carrie's idea rocked (I was skeptical at first). Getting back to work today was not that easy. I'm still motivating to engage fully but I suppose that will come back, like a rash, with time.
[Jeff]
17/06: Birthday Pictures Finally!!!
All of Grace's birthday party pictures can be found here:http://flickr.com/photos/gothelf/sets/72157605612893674/
Here are some choice ones from the event:
Carrie and Sheila preach to the flock:
The birthday girl:
Are these the right sprinkles?
The rest are on the Flickr site. Check it all out.
[Jeff]
08/06: Grace's Birthday continues
Grace's birthday party happened last weekend. We had 11, relatively well-behaved little girls at our house for ice cream sundae and cupcake decoration. They were great. They loved the activities and enjoyed just having the opportunity to run outside and play on Gracie's swing set. The weather man (you'll remember my opinion of them from prior postings) predicted hurricane-force winds and golf ball sized hail right at party time. I'm glad to report that none of that happened and that the party went off without a hitch -- despite our near decision to make a last minute change to Sunday.Good call for us not listening to the fantasy writer (aka the weather man).
Basically, we filled these girls up with sugar for 90 minutes, let them run around our yard as much as they could and then sent them home to their parents. Ha! The only that was missing was giving them a shot of espresso and putting a new puppy in the goodie bags! Now that would've been quite the send off. Of course that would also have made us the most hated parents in Northern NJ.
I have pics of the party on my camera. Lots of them. But, as usual, that's the only place they currently are. Stay tune for lots of fun and pretty pictures of Gracie's party.
She had a blast by the way. She was so cute. She couldn't wait for the party to start or her friends to come over. She stared out the window every 15 minutes waiting for it to happen.
We love her.
[Jeff]
26/05: Early signs of genius
As Grace turns five her presents have begun to roll in. This particular gem came from Mama (and me) and was an easel and canvas for her to paint. She ignored the lines (yeah!) and went straight on to painting what she felt like painting. The result, as you'll see in the video clip below, is pretty amazing. In addition, she looks darn cute doing it with her smock and paints. This video was expertly shot by Carrie as Grace completes her masterpiece on the back deck with the sun setting and the breeze blowing. It was a nice moment.Checka check it out:
[Jeff]