Our boy is in 1st Grade

Here he is...our First Grader! He is so handsome and he has grown so much this summer. Thank you for ALL the family members that made it possible for our Alexander to have a great summer.
He was so excited to start school and we were excited for him. As Zac and I were leaving the house to take him to school I turned to Zac and said, "I feel so nervous" and Zac said "me too!". We had to laugh, as Alexander was just fine. I still can remember the little two year old that lived next door and waited outside for me to come home from work and then he would scream "JJ is that you?"...oh how I wish I knew then what I know now. Oh how my love continues to grow in leaps and bounds for the two boys in my life. How blessed I feel to be a part of this little boys life that has given me so much. All this because I fell in love with him...and then his Daddy.

Our Piano...home sweet home

We have been talking about getting a piano for a few months now, however, what sealed the deal was hearing Alexander play "Mary had a little Lamb" thanks to cousin Ben (age 5) who taught him. We found the piano on Craig's list and bought it within the hour because it was only $150 (a great deal). Of course, after much frustration and an arguement we paid another $150 to have it delivered, then again it did save our marriage. :) j/k

So here is our new found joy and we all love taking turns at it. Next up is piano lessons for Alexander and maybe a refresher course for Mommy too!




Zac loves to show off all the tricks of the piano. It's a Gulbransen, built about 1940's


Such a great photo

Soon our little one will be playing Mozart...he is very talented like his Father. They have already figured out how to play the sound that Mario does when he dies in the Wii game. Yes, I know...true talent. (It get's a little annoying)

We had to move the room around to make sure the piano fit, but I think it looks good and we love the music in the house.

Fun dinner...

I decided that we needed to have some fun dinners, were we make them together and enjoy the "fruits of our labor". The week before we did calzones, which were sadly not as good as my Mom makes them. Tonight we did pretzel dogs...but then I had left over pretzel dough and remember this yummy italian place in Santa Monica, where my sister Jill use to take us, and they had these amazing pretzel knots. So, I decided to try my own. Thank to "The Sister's Cafe" for a soft pretzel recipe, it was good.





My attempt at pretzel knots, which were pretty good. We put butter on them with sugar and cinnamon...next we will have to try garlic and herbs like at the resturant.


Our pretzel dogs...they were not bad. It was fun and different

Alexander made his pretzel man, and then got mad at Dad for eating it.