spring season

   

                 

look out world... our heavy hitter is hittin' the field again.  mr. gabel attended tryouts on feb. 5th and seems as though a coach may have scouted him for the shetlands.  (not to be confused with the mini-shetlands of last... the flower pickin'... run to the dugouts instead of 1st base... draw in the dirt kids.)  the shetlands are 5-6 year olds.  our tyke will be 1 mth away from turning 4 when the season starts... but with lots of prayers... and an endearing smile like his, he will obliterate his hefty competition!  so here's to you gabel... and to angelic protection overhead with those pop flies.    

sidenote: the black pirates t-shirt in photograph belonged to the chef when he was in little league.

bro posse

here's to our frisky boy... our duke!  here's to your big 10th birthday.  you have stollen our hearts... & we quite simply adore you... our one and only Chopper-Boy!

for no reason at all

the best lamb ever.  ...it will not soon be forgotten.

abracadabra LUV

when daddy says he's making a snack... stand clear... & prepare to witness magic.

broskis

and so lent begins

ash wednesday was like vesuvius back in the day...  save the bouncers that sneak you in the back door despite your mouthing off and the camera man on the street offering to take your picture then when you decline having the gall to call you "hoodrats in hollywood".  a 40 minute wait and a line that wrapped around the block... reminiscent of a bumping club...  and i think even vesuvius was more like 20 minutes.  popular day, ash wednesday.  everybody and their mother anxiously awaited their moment to receive ashes... and as the priest explained at mass the following sunday, many in attendance were unfamiliar to him.  well here's to those ashes and to new outlooks and a better way of life.  i know that life without coffee & pinterest might just lead to the converting of one household into an insane asylum, but here's hoping our hearts are converted instead!

gabel the great

...and his death defying stunts!

what kids?

date night in the o.c.

...revisiting our days of old; a trip to the little dive, a pit stop at taco bell & a late night pool game at madelliene's.  [still got my touch.]

u gonna eat that?

serious face

{proof fun was had}

bunk bliss

no more crib for this kid... we now have what is known as a "big kid" in our midst... and i am keeping a close eye on him because i'm told they turn into real "big kids" over night.  here's hoping that bunk bed is host to extended little-big-kid magic.

Masthead Service

making dick proud

curry wafting on the new year's breeze... a jaunt to the park behind my mom's... family... laughter and panting for breath.  it was a success... we danced and feasted and rang in the new year with dick and the raunchy gang... and once again mr. clark put me soundly to sleep before the champagne.

it was a sure success.

"pumpkin"

babe's first trip to faulkner farm... all is right.

Faulkner??? ...Hay!

it's that time of year again... hay rides, pumpkin patches, and pony rides.  but this year we were a little misguided when we made a preemptive stop at a unsuspecting, random roadside patch.  what looked like a harmless photo op turned into the Harvest Moon School for Hippies fundraising nightmare.  the 4 of us had no idea what we were getting our otherwise sane selves into.  we quickly realized we were in a... different kind of patch when we were approached by Harvest Moon Recruiters and hula hoop dancing forest folk.  when "free your mind" and "our bodies seek pleasure... that's why we eat" rang across the hula chick's mic The Chef and i caught each others bug eyes and a smirk soon followed.  what in hells bells were these people smoking???  needless to say i barely skipped a literal beat when i too took a puff and grooved to the Party People Anthem with my own hoop.  soon i influenced mr. gabel (though that wasn't too difficult a task) and the otherwise uninterested Chef .  we made the most of  the magic dragon patch with puffing pig and geese and hay police who promptly escorted us of the hay pyramid. 

what we learned?  ...don't mess with tradition.