moving on up

Today is Ella Jean's 1rst Day of Preschool!

I mean, can you even believe it? I feel like it was just yesterday when I was posting pictures of her happy as a clam sitting on my lap with a bow clipped to 7 strands of hair on the top of her head. And now she's off to school. And lookin' good while she goes ... note the red nails. Hey girl.

knobs

I have LOADS of home improvement ideas. Well I have loads of ideas ... period. But with the home improvement ones there's a certain degree of help I need from Joe. Like 99.9%. So I'm always waiting and scheming and buttering Joe up to get my way.

But the Lord was on my side yesterday. He just placed it right there in our laps ... no butter required. Joe sent me a picture text yesterday of a box full of silver door knobs that someone was about to throw in the garbage. AAAAHHH (angels singing) (lights shining down from the heavens). Silver door knobs to replace our yucky gold ones ... a project I've had in mind since we bought the house four plus years ago.

a little slice of heaven

if you don't know, now you know

peach ice cream. chunks of peaches. chunks of pie crust.

getcha some

New Hampsha'

For the second year in a row Joe & Josh participated in Timberman, a half Ironman located on Lake Winnipesaukee where Joe grew from a boy to a man and where his dad still lives today. Besides the race we usually try to make a weekend of it and enjoy ourselves a little in New Hampshire, the Granite State (a new valuable fact I picked up on this visit).

Many of us were veterans and had done this weekend retreat before. Vlado (of course), Joe, myself, Jen, Josh, Craig, and Puff (the cat). We knew what was in store. Great food, great conversations, stick tricks, loads of laughing, nice cool temperatures, more great food, the beautiful lake, the amazing town of Wolfeboro and its people that never change and why I like it so much, reminiscing of last year, and more great food.Joe did the race three minutes faster than last year. Go Joe! Go Joe! Go Joe!You thought the half Ironman was hard?! Try some of Vlado's stunts.
NOW let the games REALLY begin!We did have some greenies this weekend. Some fresh meat. Some newbies if you will. Count Joel, Stephanie, Sami, and the Bless Family ... Eliot, Nicole (Joe's sister), Baby Bless (due in September!), and Cody (the dog).And last but certainly not least we had some fall-outs. Some superstars that heartbreak-ingly were traded to another team. Stric (Uncle) Luca to the French and Heather to the Chinese. But these two teammates were definitely there in spirit. Please note the gap between Craig & I:

ella loves aunt mel

Ella wrote and produced a song. It goes like this, 'Auuuuunnnnt Meeeeellll, I lllloooovvvvve yoooouuuuuu!' She sings it high. She sings it low. She sings it fast. She sings it slow. But one thing is for sure, she sings it. Every time I'm around I get the pleasure of hearing her sing 'my song.' While I was at work this week Robin sent me this video ... a little pick-me-up. I couldn't stop laughing and crying and laughing and crying. It hurts my heart ... in a good way.

gone tubin'

A mixture of

Joe's recent Associate's Degree achievement(the wedding overshadowed his success a bit so we never got to celebrate properly),

the fact that we missed our godchildren and Aunt Carolina and Uncle Kenny like crazy,

and because we hadn't been to visit Nana & Pop in western NC since JULY 2008(as if!)
... sent us packing to the great Appalachian Mountains in pursuit of a great tubing adventure.
I said it best to my friend Jen the other day, "It's completely void of TV and phones and all that junk ... and we really just appreciate each other and spend time together. So refreshing." Joe & I always look forward to spending time with the Dearborn side of the family. We feel a deep connection there. I absolutely adore Nana, Aunt Carolina, and Helena and all of our girl time together. And Joe respects Pop, Uncle Kenny, and Dean Patrick and all of their guy time together. Joe got in a good hill run while we were there ... and a good bike ride. He's preparing for his upcoming half Ironman in New Hampshire. Live free or die. (That's NH's state logo ... which I love.)

stud

Joe LOVES to ride his skateboard to either
A. take out the trash
or
B. go get the mail.

If I attempt to do either one of these household chores via car I am instantly scolded and pushed to the side.

So when I came home from work last night driving through the parking lot to find my spot I see this young stud cruising on his skateboard. I instantly jetted back to the summer of 2005 when Joe was the hottest thing on four wheels. When I would take Joe to the top of hills with his skateboard and meet him at the bottom ... just to take him up to the top again.

Then I fast-forwarded to the present and realized that I still think Joe is the hottest thing ... on two really fast triathlon wheels.
But then that thought was suddenly interrupted with the sounds of both the washing machine and dishwasher going as I entered the front door ... and Joe shouting, 'What's for dinner?'

At least I got these few shots of my young/old stud before it was time to make supper.

my first group bike ride

Joe looked at me a few nights ago and said the words that every cyclist's wife yearns to hear, 'Buns, I think you're ready for a group bike ride.' Really?! Joe's going to take me on a group bike ride with all of his friends?! I must really be advancing. So off we went after work last night. And although I was the last in the pack. And only did one loop around the park to everyone else's two loops, I was there. Pedaling away. Sweating like a horse. Making my man (sort of) proud.

appetite

When Joe goes on bike rides he's gone for like 4 hours. Usually does around 60 miles. Since I'm not a big 60-miler cyclist but still enjoy riding bikes with Joe, I like to try to mix in little biking adventures to and from the grocery store. To the park and back. Around the golf course. Last night we rode to Harris Teeter and picked up some fresh cod. I did this sort of potato meets fish thing with rosemary, chives, and olive oil.
The good thing about riding to get your groceries is you work up quite the appetite.

bride-to-be

Today was one step closer for our bride-to-be! Jen tried on some AMAZING dresses at Priscilla of Boston. She looked beautiful in everything. But there was one special one that outshone the rest. What did it look like?! You'll have to wait till October '11 to find out.