Introducing Faith and her big girl bed.

She LOVES it. She got out of it once at naptime and Barry saw her on the monitor and told her we don't get out of our beds. She stayed in it and actually went to sleep. Tonight at bedtime she was pretty tired, got right in and went to sleep. I'm sure it won't be so easy every day but got to love it being easy the first day. Yeah!!!  

The Case Of The New Furniture

Above is a picture of our new furniture. Actually it was supposed to be a picture our new furniture but there were problems... The Storehouse delivery truck came (the truck actually had the Storehouse name on it and deliverers with uniforms bearing the Storehouse name as well) this afternoon. One of the guys comes out and asks me where the furniture is going. As soon as I told him, "upstairs", he panicked. The armoire was too big to make the turn and rotation to get it up the stairs. In the store I didn't realize how big the unit was. We had a another armoire, but it was a little narrower and was able to sit flat on the landing. This unit was wider than the landing. So what to do... Complicating matters, making me uneasy even a week ago was that Rowe furniture, Storehouse's parent company, just filed for chapter 11. When was the last time you had furniture delivered and something didn't have to go back? Never for me. So I was worried that we'd be out of luck if there was a problem. Storehouse personnel eased my concern enough to go ahead with the delivery and I'm not out any cash yet. They had an 18 month no payment/no interest plan that we took. Oh did I mention, that all three kids were alone with me and late for nap. I called Karen to ask her if she agrees with my opinion of rejecting all the furniture, since we would never find a matching armoire and who knows if we even could later order other units from the set. She agreed, so I rejected the order. About 5 minutes later, Storehouse calls to confirm what the driver just called in. She had the info wrong but I corrected her and confimed that I rejected everything. She said fine, but.... that she can't guarantee a refund with the state of the chapter 11 filing. I'm now thinking, thank God I rejected the order. I told her fine, I'm not out any cash anyway. Now I just have to see about clearing the future charge. I also didn't mention that this week I took apart Karen's old furniture (basic solid color laminate dresser and armoire). The dresser is laying at the curb, in the rain, in about 8 large pieces. The armoire was picked up by the garbage truck earlier in the week. So our bedroom is going to look like the first picture for awhile. On a positive note, Faith is now officially a big girl. This morning I converted her crib to a bed. Once I was able to put her in for a nap, she was very happy to be in the bed. And so far she's staying put. It was a busy morning/early afternoon. And, I didn't even get into the fighting I had with Jacob that had him wind up with a diaper duck taped around him (because he wasn't listening and therefore had to be treated like a baby). To say the least, he was not too happy about it.

Union Pacific and Central Pacific

Here we have the First Transcontinental Railroad  

Help, Fashion Police

Below is the tragic example of what can happen when a 2 year old picks out her own clothes. Thankfully Joan Rivers was no where to be seen. This evening the crazies started setting while they played "sleep time" It was not exactly quiet time. 

Family Portraits

Taken before shul this morning. And if we go back a year, here is our portrait as posted on this blog 1 hebrew calendar year ago. Anyone look any different?

L'Shana Tova

Or Happy [Jewish] New Year. Tonite was the first night of Rosh Hashana (a two day holiday). Nana (Karen's Mom) joined us for the holiday. She arrived last night. Today Karen and Nana whipped up quite a feast. Here is Reuben getting every drop of soup. He ate all the matza balls, carrots, and even turnips that were in the soup. Then he had a second bowl! Jacob was a big fan of the hallah and took a good taste of Karen's brisket. Faith was a little less adventurous, but finally touched the brisket. Otherwise so she wouldn't have had a cookie that Karen baked today. 

Back From Denver

Spent last night and today in Denver. As I was describing the place to my Dad over the phone, it became quite apparent that the facility and area that I visit has some beautiful scenery. The area is SW Denver and here are some pictures captured from my phone. Near the entrance to the parking lot Looking through some cutouts in the building That silver thing in the middle is the building that I have been working out of. The drive up to the facility.

Community Picnic

Busy day. We went for bagels this morning; meeting several friends from our synagogue there. Then I played softball, and played pretty well I must say. And then, we still had our community picnic this evening. We let the kids bring their trucks knowing that they love using them in the mulch. Walking to the picnic. Follow the line. Faith took it very seriously. Picnic time. Everyone having a good time. Trucks in the mulch. Time to go home. This weekend's lonely playground apparatus:

Introducing The Electric Train

Last year Grandma (Rochelle) and Grandpa (Michael) bought the boys an HO scale, electric train set. They were much too young for it a year ago, but now with supervision, I thought they would be ready. They loved them!  

I Am The Biggest Wuss

Karen and I put the kids in for a nap today. Afterwards, Karen left to run some errands, so, in effect I was "alone" in the house. Well making the most of this opportunity, I grabbed the newspaper and plopped down in front of the TV. As I started channel surfing I came upon a movie just starting on Starz called Ice Princess. I noticed it was a G-rated movie. I've been on the lookout for G movies for the kids, so I set it up to be recorded. As I attempted to resume my channel surfing, I got the DVR message indicating that both tuners were in use; Karen had the DVR set up to tape some HGTV design show. Well, now I was stuck; no TV. That was OK with me, I figured I read the sports and business pages and then go up and take a nap. I started reading the Sports section. The thing is I left the TV on and it was still tuned to Ice Princess. After about 5 minutes, I wound up putting down the newspaper. After about 30 minutes, I was engrossed. 2 hours later, tears are running down my eyes as the girl takes the silver medal. If her mother only understood sooner!!!

Back to Pre-School

Reuben, Jacob, and Faith started pre-school today. For Reuben and Jacob its their second year and they are going 4 days a week. Its Faith's first year and she's going 2 days a week. All were very excited about heading off to school. But below was the most excited person!!!  

Beautiful Day

Went out for bagels this morning and then off to a new playground. Last night our neighbor had her 11th 29 years old birthday party. The party was at another neighbor's house with a nicely finished pool/deck area in the back, where the party was held. Great night for an outdoor party. One cool thing they had was a rented frozen dacquiri and margarita maker. The margarita's were great. Anyway, I digress. At the party we learned that our local elementary school had a very nice playground. So, today we tried it. It was very good, certainly making the grade for frequenct returns. Afterwards, I went to play softball and then just finished watching the TB v. Bal game. I have Tampa Bay's defense in my inaugural season of fantasy football. As some of you may know, that wasn't a good thing for this game as Baltimore beat the Bucs 27 - 0. Finally, here is this weekend's photo of lonely playground equipment.