September 30
We had friends over for dinner tonight.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Day 273: Swifts
September 29
We went with good friends tonight to witness this amazing sight. Every year since the mid-80s these Vaux's Swifts have made a pit stop here in Portland on their migration route to Central America. They particularly favor this chimney at Chapman Elementary, and each evening in September people gather to watch thousands of little birds swirl around above the chimney before heading inside. An added excitement tonight was watching a hawk try to catch some dinner. If you are ever in Portland in September, I highly recommend this event. It's too bad it took us seven years of living here to discover it!
Day 272: Read Banned Books!
September 28
I find it particularly sad that To Kill a Mockingbird is in this display.
Day 271: The Last Sprinkler Day
September 27
Ellie made a date with this neighbor to have the sprinkler on when we passed by on our way home from school today. When we got there, she invited the girls into her yard to more fully enjoy the spray. They got all the way across the bridge before Ellie slipped on the wet stone and fell into the pond. Good thing it was a nice day.
Day 268: Stormy the Cat
September 24
This kitty always comes to see us when we walk by on our way home from school.
Day 267: Scootering
September 23
The counselor at the girls' school is also our friend, and she brought her sweet new ride over this evening for the girls to try out. This is her new ride because a few weeks ago she managed to get into her second motorcycle accident in as many years. Hopefully she'll have better luck on this baby.
Day 266: iPod Joy
September 22
Lexi has been saving her money for months and months and months to be able to buy herself a green iPod Nano. Once she finally saved enough, we ordered it online, and it came in the mail today. This is one happy consumer!
Day 265: Eight Little Girls
September 21
We babysat our friends' five daughters this evening. Poor Chris was REALLY outnumbered tonight.
Day 264: Waiting in Line
September 20
I thought today would be a good day to go pick up my textbooks from the campus bookstore. I didn't know it was freshman orientation, though. I waited in this line for 45 minutes and they didn't even have everything I needed in stock. However, I did win a prize, so I guess that's something.
Day 261: My New Best Friends
September 17
I'm starting a new job soon, working as a parent tutor for the Portland Reading Foundation. All this week I have training, where I'll be learning how to teach the most basic reading skills to a handful of first graders at the girls' school. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Day 260: Shark Teeth
September 16
It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but Ellie's bottom teeth keep growing in before the baby teeth fall out. The two that look a little set back actually have baby teeth in front of them which are super loose, but still in place. We call her "Shark Tooth" and she loves it.
Day 259: Nostrana
September 15
Chris and I haven't been out on a date for a long time, so tonight we decided to be super fancy and head to Nostrana, where we indulged not only in this fancy and delicious pizza, but also in fancy pork cutlets, a corn custard-type thing (it had some fancy Italian name that I can't remember, but it was tasty!), and the best tomato soup either of us has ever eaten.
Day 257: Sprinkler Stop
September 13
It's been unseasonably warm the past few days, and when we came upon a neighbor's sprinkler on our way home from school, we couldn't help but take advantage.
Day 256: Bikes
September 12
Last year Vicki rode her bike to school almost every day. This year Lexi set a goal to do the same, and now that Ellie's riding, we've hardly used any other form of transportation in the mornings. It's nice to see a few other bikes on the racks each day.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Day 254: Lego House
September 10
The girls have rediscovered the Legos recently, and Vicki and Lexi have spent the last several days building this house.
Day 253: Almost Didn't Get It
September 9
I was in bed and nearly asleep when I suddenly remembered I hadn't taken any pictures. I was too tired to get out of bed, so this is today's shot.
Day 252: Nerds
September 8
Vicki is taking Algebra I this year, so, much to her delight, we had to get her a TI-84 calculator. She and Chris spent over an hour this morning playing with it. If I'd known she'd be this excited about a calculator I would have waited until Christmas!
Day 251: Project of the Day
September 7
With the girls back in school, I have time to get more major projects done without distraction or interruption. Our garage has been a disaster for months, but I spent today cleaning it out and organizing things. After I took this picture, I made a trip to the dump and then a trip to Goodwill, and now we actually have enough room to park the car in there if we wanted to. We park the bikes in there instead.
Day 250: Book Club
September 6
This month we read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had never read it before (and, embarrassingly, I still haven't finished it) but from the very first page the writing pulled me in. I can already tell it's going to be good.
Day 249: Seventh Grader
September 5
Vicki got one extra day, but she started today. I said in the last post that I can't believe how grown up the other two are, but this is the girl who shocks me. Can she really be a 7th grader? It doesn't seem like that long ago that I took her picture on the porch before kindergarten, when her backpack was almost bigger than she was.
Day 248: Fifth and First Graders
September 4
Lexi and Ellie started school today. I can't believe how grown up these two are!
Day 247: Trevor the Toad
September 3
Every year on Labor Day we go to Art in the Pearl. Besides amazing artwork by incredibly talented and creative vendors, there are always booths providing hands-on art experience for the kids. This year a group (and I wish I could remember who it was) was working on a collaborative project with clay: kids at this show created sculptures, and kids at other events will paint them. Vicki made this cute little frog, stuck him to a hollow ball, and named her sculpture "Trevor the Toad".
Day 246: Determined Tomato Plant
September 2
We visited the school again and checked out the garden. I found this little tomato plant growing out of the gravel, far from any other plants.
Day 245: A Day on Mt. Hood
September 1
Every year on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we head up to Trillium Lake with friends for a last summer adventure before school starts.
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