Salvage Yard

Went to the salvage warehouses in Baltimore on Saturday (sorry Vicki - it was super last minute or I would have called you). Here we are having lunch at Sabatino's. My bad sitting posture makes me look pregnant (god forbid). Note Sara's reflection in the mirror. Photo courtesy of Jeff. hint: if you go toSabatino's, order the house salad with a bowl of the fabulous dressing, the bread and ice water. You'll be full and get out of there for 6 bucks plus tip.



Here is Sean in warehouse 3, which is the antique warehouse. The owner kindly posed him for me. Warehouse 1 is the building stuff: tile, wood, doorknobs, lights, everything you could want. Warehouse 2 is mostly flooring, and crappy sinks, a few church pews. Warehouse 4 is super cool, brand new kitchen cabinets and appliances. There was about 100 clawfoot bathtubs lined up outside, but no one would get in one for a photo. Of course I wasn't going to do it.





Which brings us to fun with manequins. This one looks like she's waiting for a wax or an exam - we weren't sure which. Nan was actually outraged that someone would carelessly throw a wig on the poor manequin lady. I think she complained to the management after this pic was taken. Go Nan!








Here is Sara posing with "Reggie". That was the name stenciled on his neck. Not sure he is a "he" actually. Anyway, they make a cute couple, don't cha think?









Sean wanted this old typewriter, but it was $60, I thought it was about $50 too much. Sean grumbled about going to this place, but he really liked it when we got there. I knew he would.

posted by: Amy

Fun with the Carneals

Here are some pics from a recent playdate at Traci's house. Fun was had by all. This is Stephanie and Trumpy, post dog-bath.











Here are Traci and Brookie looking super fab, in the kitchen.














Here, Sean and Alex are making plans for their next get together. Note the ornamental cabbages in the background. They look like big pink roses and are the best I've seen. Homestead maybe???










Here's Trumpy in his "Petey" disguise.













Finally, here is Traci and her soulmate Puddin. Puddin is a very sweet and lucky guinea pig.

So Traci, thanks for all the wonderful food and the great company. Sorry we missed you Garry!

Last of the Birthday Pics

I found out I can only post so many photos at a time, so here are the final ones. Here is Sean pondering something, while Nicol and Nash look on.











AJ and Sean surrounded by colorful fiestaware.















This shark picture was drawn and painted by Sean, free hand. I think he did a great job, especially, since he was really tired when he did it.











Thank goodness Uncle John was watching his back here, Nash is really good with a sword.













A big thanks to everyone who remembered Sean's birthday, and sent cards and gifts. Also, a big shout to Kevin Gordon, who's birthday was last week. Kevin, we didn't forget, we're just operating about 3 weeks behind everybody else. Happy Birthday!!!

Seans Birthday (part 1)

Here are the decorations for Sean's 11th birthday. We decided to have a family party. We may do a full kid fest in the summer on his 11 and 1/2th day. Anyway, those are jellyfish hanging from the ceiling in case you didn't know. Proud to say, we spent $0.00 on this. (can't ya tell?)










Nan and Oliver sharing a "moment". Cute cute and cute!



















Nan has morphed into Sara here.






















Scarlet was scared to death of the puppy and started inching her way onto Danny's lap for protection.















Dean designed and decorated the cake all by himself. He made everything from scratch and tasted great.

Additional Shark Sleepover Pics

For those of you who didn't get enough, here are some more pics from the Aquarium. I think Jeff took this one, of Sean and Shawn in front of the water. Jeff can always be counted on to get the city scapes on film.











Here are the kids in our group, getting a lesson on horseshoe crabs from "Linda". Linda is a marine biologist and very knowledgable. She did have a tendency to order us around a bit. She would do well as a guard in a prison if she lost the aquarium gig. Note: horseshoe crabs are not crabs at all, but related to the scorpion. Of course, all of you already knew that.









Awwww, how cute. Don't you just want to snuggle up with this at night? But of course!













These were all the boys in our group. If you look closely, right above the flash, there is large shark speeding toward you. This was taken at night, after the sharks were "put to bed", so the lights in the tank were turned off. I didn't take of photo of our sleeping quarters but we set up directly in front of the ray and shark underwater viewing tank. It was very peaceful (except for some unknown with a hacking cough that kept me up all night. You know who you are.)





Here is Sean and Shawn at breakfast. Shawn is a good sport - I asked him to pose as if he's getting ready to grab some fruit off the tray - and he did. Thanks Shawn.

Aquarium Sleepover

Finally, some pics from the shark sleepover. Here, you see Shawn Petersen posing with a dehydrated bonnethead shark.












Here is Sean looking through some jaws, just like I asked him to.













This photo is from the "catwalk" which is an old wooden bridge over the shark tank. Unfortunately, we were on that bridge. The squarish white things are heat lamps, it was about 200 degrees in there.









Sean displaying a mega, something or other, tooth.















Another "catwalk" shot. Yes, that dark shadow in the water, is a shark.













Shawn and Sean behind the scenes. Too bad I can't post the smell too.














More behind the scenes.














Posing in front of a prehistoric megladon jaw. The jaw is actually a reproduction, however, the teeth are REAL!











Dear Mr. Squid in his tank. I thought he was the coolest.

Okay, I am WAY behind on my postings. Here are some shots from last week. Sean took his cupcakes to school, on his birthday, so you will get an exclusive, behind the scenes look, at what goes on in the Shady Side Elem. cafeteria. Here is Sean Fox, Madison and Kevin, eating lunch. Kevin's family owns Hong Kong Buffet in Edgewater, so be sure to greet him next time you're there.








Here is Sean smiling for the camera, with a mouthful of food. There's Trish dipping her fry in ketchup, and Lucus looking coyly over his shoulder, mocking me. I think that's Shawn Petersen drinking from the milk carton, to Sean's right. If not, my apologies.








Nice shot of the back of Sean's head. Cameron and Trish are probably having a discussion about why everyone should wear striped shirts and I forget the name of No. 21. Apparently, the kid behind Cameron is Anthony - who knew?

posted by: Amy

Birthday Prep and more

Hey everybody. Tomorrow is Sean's 11th birthday, and he wanted to make shark cupcakes for his class. He did the design, and the work with very little help from mom. (I was in charge of mixing the icing and cleaning up after.)He mentioned several times that he was just happy to spend time together, which was a nice way of saying I'm neglectful.

note: that is NOT lipstick. remember, it's impossible to sneak tastes of black icing and get away with it.



Here he is hard at work. We discussed how assembly lines work, and I think that after cupcake #15, he wished we had a few extra people on hand to pitch in













The finished product! Rather good, with sufficient blood and gore. That always wins over the 5th grade crowd.


note: doesn't the granite look fab?









Here is an oddity. For some reason, Jeff and Yoda like to walk around the house like this. Either the cat thinks he's a parrot, or Jeff was warming up a cold shoulder. People do the oddest things behind closed doors.











Front view. Neither of them look like they are enjoying this.














Pop is smiling because his cholesterol dropped from 240 to 118. Mom mom is smiling because Pop is smiling. Danny has stuck to his diet and is exercising regularly. He pleads with all of you to do the same.










As you can see here, my darling Tangles is too big to fit on one stool, so she overflows onto two. She has done well on her diet and now needs a kitty body lift to take care of the loose skin. I'm very proud of her.

Until my next posting.....goodnight.
Amy

Nan's new best friend

Nan brought her new best friend over last night. She thinks his name will be Oliver. He is a very cute baby spaniel. He tried to play with Scarlet, but she was afraid of him. Sean staggered off the couch for 5 minutes to greet the dog, then went back to sleep. (He's sick).








Oliver is very nice dog. He wanted so much to play with Scarlet, but she seemed to be nervious.

Orthodontist hell

Went to the orthodontist today. It started out well, had a few laughs, played a video game. But later......













Sean was informed that this horrifying apparatus is to be attached to his mouth somehow. What you see here is a lip bumper on the bottom, a bite guard on the top, and the always-in-demand headgear, on the outside. Truly terrifying.










Here, you see Sean's quiet acceptance of the situation. He's a trooper. It will all start in a few weeks. I can already hear taps being played in the distance.

New Years Eve

Went to John's house for New Year' Eve. Great fun and his cooking was fab, as usual! I'm dissapointed we didn't get a pic of Lucas, but here is Leanne and John, having fun in the kitchen....












Neil and Shane exchanging Mojito recipes...














and Amy being her usual happy self!

I'd love some "morning after" pics for comparision purposes if all of you can swing it - let me know.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
posted by: Amy