Mae's Work History

So while we ate cake the other night and basked in the glow of Mabel's birthday, we started reminiscing about the past, and all the unbelievable jobs she has held in her short time here in this thing we call life. It's actually amazing what she has achieved. So we thought we'd take a look back...

She started out at that dueling piano bar where there was never a request she couldn't fulfill.

The piano playing was a night gig so during the day she looped in with this Polish trio and covered the Wicker Park area cleaning houses.

On Saturdays she got a job at the local car wash. Turns out the manager had actually seen her her at the piano club and she was hired on the spot.

 Later she joined the MLS and took the Seattle Sound all the way to the final, only to see her team lose 1-nill on a questionable call that led to a penalty kick.

Her piano friends all had grandiose ideas of becoming bigtime musicians so she decided to become multi-faceted and started drumming for a band called Let Go of My Blanket.

Then the summer hit and it was all about the lifeguard jobs at the local pool.

And by night she was a starving artist who dabbled in painting and grafitti.

Her true love called in the Summer of '69 (hello, Bryan Adams) and she spent 3 months on a farm in Kentucky as a ranch hand with her Nana.

She moved back to Chicago and got a job working in the kitchen at a pizza place where Finley and Dad ate 6 times a week on her kitchen discount.

There she met a lady who owned a cake decorating company and asked her to come on board part time as a baker, which for a few months she felt like was her true calling in life.

Until she saw the broadway play CATS in London and tried out for a part as Mr. Mistopholes. She didn't get it, but she did get a part as a jungle cat dancer and was on stage for 6 seconds every night, which was a highlight of her life.

Being around musical folks every night brought her to her next adventure, which was lead singer of a wedding band that specialized in 70s disco music.

One of the weddings was a shotgun wedding and the bride, who was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, was looking for a nanny. She loved the way Mae sang that soulful 70s music so she asked her right there on the spot and Mae jumped at the chance and spent her days watching over a 4-month old while she dreamed of her next big adventure.

Mae - always looking for the angle, that kid.

Happy Birthday, Mabel Jane

Mabel Jane Skertich - 4 years old and already presented us with a lifetime of laughter.

We had a great birthday celebration tonight with mom and dad and Pax (before he zonked out on us at 7:00). Oh, and her animal friends, too, they were there.  Had some cake balls, opened some cards and a couple presents, played a board game.

And so before going to bed I thought we'd take a look back at old Mae from the day it began.

Happy Birthday, little mama.

 

 

Pax's Big Week

Lots of big milestones this week for the Paxinator. First off, he has four teeth coming in on the top. It looked like just the ones next to the front two were going to come in leaving a gaping hole on the top and Dad was excited that he was going to look like a hockey player. But the top two in the middle are popping through so he's got all four of those puppies coming through at once.

And then -  he learned to wave.

Next, not captured by photos or video, came Pax's first words. Mine was "ball" and Mae's was "dog" and Pax's were... "quack quack." He and Natalie and Mom were reading an animal book and they asked him what the duck says and - clear as day - he said "quack quack." Then he repeated it a couple more times later on in the day when they asked him. So there you have it on the first word - quack quack.

Next up was some walking. He's not walking all the way yet but I guarantee you he will be soon. He has learned how to pull himself up and get after it.

It started on the box...

and continued on his friend, the lion.

 

He also learned to smile for the camera and say "cheese." This is his "cheese" face.

And since Pax just turned 8 months old about a week ago or so, consider this post his 8-month old photos. And for good ol' times sake, let's take a look at Mae and me when we were 8 months old.

Moi

What's with my cheeks?? It's like someone cut a bagel in half and stuffed half in each cheek.

Now check out Mae - just straight up rowdiness.

Mabel "Sunshine" Skertich

Maestro... and a one, and a two, and a three...

Room Renovation

So we wanted to spice up our room a bit and Mom had just the idea.

Grabbed some old frames we were just going to donate and painted them... you guessed it - TEAL!

So with three down there was just one big one to go. Mae, painting in her underwear (she would've painted naked had we let her... kid just loves naked), lost a bit of her focus...

 So I kept it together and did my thing.

 

We got a little silly as it neared completion but...

VOILA! Done. And. Done. Way to go, Mom, killed it. Signing you up for HGTV's Design Star. Believe it.

Christmas Morning 2013

Where've I been for the last two weeks? Around, off of school, busy as a bee and not particularly feeling like a blog post. But that has passed, so here I am.

We left off on Christmas Eve. So Christmas morn came and we were ready to roll. Down the stairs we came...

to notice that Santa had, in fact, arrived. And what could that gigantic present on the right be???

But first stop was the food we left behind, which Santa and his assortment of sooted sidekicks took care of pretty well.

One problem though, good golly big jolly apparently couldn't stay away from the donuts. I'll let it slide this time, Santa, because, well, you done good. (did you notice, on the photo above by the oranges, he left the "no munching" sign that I put on the donuts? Kind of rubbing it in there, Santa, I'll be watching you this year.)

Got some good stuff, among them a stuffed cardinal that I REALLY wanted (long story, but did you know the cardinal is pretty much officially the Skertich bird?)...

And the movie Brave, which is flipping awesome!

Also scored this fancy vest.

And Mae? Well, she pretty much only needed her chap stick to be happy. He could've shut her off after that and I don't think she would've even noticed.

Pax did some opening as well from old St. Nick as well, and then it was on to our big present that was addressed to all of us.

Looks like there are gonna be some ballers in this house.

Lastly, this holiday season I'll leave you with our Christmas Card Wall of Fame. Thanks to all of you who sent one our way, we just LOVE Christmas cards.