Mabel... Graduate

Well, she made it. After dropping out last year after three weeks, she made it through the whole school year and Mae graduated preschool... barely. Pretty much what we figured, Mae didn't want to stand with her class in the middle up front with all the parents watching so she cried and then Dad took her out and then they came back in and then she stood off to the side for the whole thing and then she was so relieved when it was all done it wasn't even funny.

Pretty much par for the course for the kid who was still crying at drop off up to and through the last week of school...

That said, it was a beautiful ceremony led by her teacher, Ms. Swiderski, who is one of the most beautiful souls you will ever meet in your life. She was so wonderful with Mabel all year long and mom and dad loved her for it.

And this is her other teacher, Ms. Javan. She was lots of fun too.

And here's old Mae just hanging by her handprints on the wall. Cute kid.

Mae had a bestie this year - her name was Adriana. She was kind of like my Nadia but not really because they were tight but not that tight. 

FAMILY SHOTS!!!

Bike the Drive 2015

So there's this thing every year in Chicago called Bike the Drive. Basically they close down Lake Shore Drive from the top of it to the bottom down by the Museum of Science & Industry and you can get up early on a Sunday morning and go bike all along the lake front.

So after years of Mom and Dad saying they wish they had done it, we did it.

First off, we had to get the bikes down there, so Dad make shifted what he calls The South Side bike rack. It is basically a moving blanket and 5-6 bungee cords. Done and done.

Then we loaded up with our friends Ana and Sid and Colin and Steph and got ready to hit it. It was overcast and a little misty but nothing we couldn't handle.

Mae was amazing. We thought for sure she was going to need to stop and recharge those little legs of hers, but she rocked it the whole way through.

 Oh, hello.

And when it was all said and done, we had biked 8.2 miles!! Not bad for a morning's work.

Songwriter

So as you know I've been taking piano lessons for a couple years now. Well, I've also been working on some things at home where I'm trying to make up some songs on the piano. Sometimes it goes really well and sometimes not so much.

But this one was really working for me so I happened to write it down.

Check it out.

Professional Dishwasher

So listen, you can go to school, get into and graduate from a good college, mortgage your life away for tuition payments, good luck to you.

Or you can simply reach in your pocket, get out a $20 and hand it to me. And with that I will let you learn a trade tool you will never need to be without, and friend Pax here will be your teacher and will take you to school... on how to wash dishes.

Apparently the first thing you have to do is strip down to your underwear. And sitting on the edge of the sink with your feet in it also makes the process not only go more smoothly, but your dishes will be cleaner.

Now I know what you're thinking - "Fin, I'm following but I'm not. Why am I paying YOU the $20?" Great question. Just think of me as the University. Now stop asking questions and pay attention. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

The Day of All Days: Mother's Day 2015

Words can't even express, so I'm just going to post a bunch of photos and let them speak for themselves. Mom = love.

Little Man Turns 2

So we celebrated a LOT for Pax's birthday. And I'm not complaining because birthday celebrations means cupcakes and cake and even donuts. In all honesty he just REALLY liked when we'd say his birthday was coming up and he would say "A bwow it" (I blow it) and then pretend he was blowing out candles.

So we had our friends Ana and Sid over one afternoon and decided to snag some cupcakes and sing to him.

And then we went out to Nana's for Mother's Day and Nana made him a cake and we sang to him again.

And then a couple nights later we opened some presents for him, on his actual birthday, and they were goo-ood. First he got this awesome singing and dancing dog from Nonie that he really loved, as you can see.

And then he opened his present from us, which was a box full of outdoor equipment like a lawnmower, a watering can, a little rake and shovel, stuff like that. We went right outside and he got to work.

And that night, his actual birthday, we also snagged some donuts from West Town Bakery and sang to him again.

Two years... Mom and Dad said this one is really funny because it feels like two weeks have gone by since he was born but also it's felt like 200 years, at the same time...

A Lover, Not a Fighter

So a couple weeks ago Pax definitely had himself a morning of love. As we were getting ready to go to school he gave away an abundance of hugs and kisses.

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