Paint the Town... or the Shed

So there are plenty of things around the house that are requiring a little bit of TLC and the shed was certainly one of them.

Dad was doing his job with the roof but he clearly needed a little bit of help. So I threw on some old shorts, rolled 'em up, put on Dad's old flip flops, grabbed a brush and did my part.

And now the Before and Afters.

The Skertich Sisters

So if you know my dad you know his all-time favorite band in the entire universe is The Avett Brothers. Scott and Seth Avett, just soothing your soul with the sounds of sweet harmonies  and the vibration of guitar and banjo strings. Believe me, he could go on forever, and if you haven't had the pleasure take a listen here (the third dude in that video is Bob, not a blood brother but close enough).

Scott is the oldest Avett, and my inspiration as well. In fact, last week Dad came down into the basement to find this:

Dude nearly started weeping when he saw me... notice the resemblance of the above to the below...

So then I started thinking, you know, a solo career would be great and all but what could be more satisfying than becoming a famous finger picking duo with my gal Mae.

So we got a gee-tar and a ukelele and hit the road for our first of hopefully many gigs.

I mean, if these guys can do it...

So can we. Might even let Dad backstage (I said "might" dad... might).

And if that fails, well, looks like Mae is headed for a gig in Vegas on the late night stage taming rattlers (yes, that thing is real).

Straight Ballin'

So we were going to go for a bike ride tonight, just Dad and me, and I decided we should head up to the basketball courts with the basketball instead and do some dribbling and passing (I can't reach the hoop with the ball yet, it's too tall).

So here's some video of me getting all Chris Corchiani on the whole playground (google him, all time NCAA assists leader, NC State).

Then I started to try to get a little fancy with some attempts at the old behind the back dribble.

Rucker Park, I'm comin for ya.

School Days

Okay B&Gs (that's Boys & Girls), so first day of school today. Not a huge ordeal for me, I'm kind of an old pro. Got into class to find 4-5 of my best friends in the same Kindergarten class, so we're running the place over there.

Not only that but as you can see I'm rocking a pretty sweet school uni.

Mae was rocking her first day as well.  First a few pics at home with The Kid...

And then it was off to school.

Little different story for Mae as it was literally her first day of school, like ever, but luckily she has the same teachers I had last year and in the same room I was so after Day 1 she's probably already the Mayor of that joint.

She even tried to call me on my cell phone from her classroom but I don't have a cell phone so that obviously didn't work, so she probably called Buddy after that.

Three is a glorious number (of months)

So Pax busted out his three-year photo shoot. But before he did we thought we'd revisit our 3-month'ers but we couldn't find a picture of me with Charlie the Bear.

So here's Mae at three months.

And here's our widdle buddy Pax.

And what's a photo shoot without the whole gang.

Mae'de to love

Okay, so I give this kid a LOT of grief and basically do anything in my power to aggravate her but you gotta admit, this face... it's pretty easy to adore.

Might want to ask for some assistance next time you try to put the big kid's swim cap on, Mae.

Festival face.

Playing Favorites

Seriously, you guys can have everyone else in my family, but I'm keeping this guy. Playing favorites? Don't mind if I do.

This Means WAR!!!

We wanted ice cream and a 10:00 bed time. We wanted Super Why on the television running 24/7. We wanted to wear no shoes outside (we don't care about stepping on glass). We wanted pretzels for dinner and we wanted the entire first floor to be turned into one big blanket fort. We wanted binkies and blankets to be taken with us as we left our bedrooms each morning. We wanted FREEDOM!

So we followed Braveheart's lead, put on our own war paint and took mom and dad to task.

Marker? Nope.
Washable water color paint? Don't think so.
Crayon? Not a chance.

This, my friends, is the juice from a large bowl of cherries Mae and I were getting after. Children, unite! Take cherry juice to your faces and join the fight.

Mae's Masterful Mind

Yep, I'm into alliteration with my blog post titles lately, just accept it.

Okay, so the boys stayed last weekend for a sleepover and man did we have fun. First off, we got Pax into the party a bit. Yes, that is chocolate on Mabel's face from a chocolate chip cookie.

Then later we played this game called Spot It. Basically you have these cards and there is a card in the middle and you have to find something on your card that exists on the card in the middle. It's a game of mind speed... and the boys and Mom and I were about to find out we were WAY overmatched.

But first, check out that photo above, see Pax back there just kicking it. Yah, right there, behind Mabel. Yep, that's his whole life, just laying around, kicking it (oh, well that and pooping but that's a whole nother story).

So back to the game, check me out, I'm not paying attention enough...

And even when I was, I could not keep up with the Bel. She absolutely owned it.

The last card was laid down, the cards were counted and Mae topped us all with 19 matches. She even beat Isaiah who is quite the mental giant. And here's the thing, we were all trying as hard we could, getting all stressed out while Mae just kept going, "Hmmm, let me find a match - LIGHTNING BOLT!"

Well, congrats Mae, I'm proud of ya on a legitimate victory. It's not every day you're showing off the smart side of you.

Oh, and yes, if you look closely you can still see chocolate on Mae's face a few hours later. Pretty sure it stayed til morning.

Throwback Thursday

So this is actually from way-back-when, when I was in Disney World, but I've been hearing in circles here in the East Village that it was the Party of the Century so I figured I should write about it.

So it was Grayson's birthday. No, not Nana's cat, Grayson is also the name of Mae's dolphin.

First there was some major cake making going on as Mae made a polka dot cake and then a lemon and raspberry cake for the party.

Then Mae got down with making some bracelets for the partygoers.

And speaking of partygoers, what would a party be without Patrick and Sarah. No, not that Patrick and Sarah; Patrick and Sarah, Mae's mouse friends.

After a dance party and some pinata festivities everyone gathered around to sing happy birthday.

Mae got the candle going and then helped Grayson blow out the candles.

All in all, an amazing party and Grayson enjoyed most of the cake himself.

Party planners, you've been outdone. Well played, Mae.