… and we haven’t had a BBQ yet! That’s right, no BBQ in August so far. We finally had a weekend with nobody coming over two weeks ago and this past weekend was just Aunty Jent on Sat. and my mother on Sunday which meant nothing big needed to be done.

I got around to doing a bunch of stuff in the house these past two weekends such as fixing the banister that Sanford broke (just kidding!), taking the new A/C in Marissa’s room and putting it in the wall, some yardwork, fixing the coat closet and more. So yes, it was productive.

And this week is Dylan’s (and Deb’s) last week of camp. Sad and Happy at the same time.

That seemed to be the theme this weekend as we continued our streak of having people over on the weekend this summer. Every weekend in July we have entertained. Not sure how it ended up that way, but it did. This weekend was a double whammy as we had Deb’s family here on Sat. and our friend Barbara and Sandford (with their kids) on Sunday.

Saturday saw an amazingly beautiful day here in NY for a family BBQ. Deb’s Aunt Claire was up from Georgia and we decided it would be a good opportunity to get several members of her side of the family together. It had been a while since we did somethign like this so it was a big deal. In addition to Claire we had Jen & Scott, Mike & Alana & Jarett, Betty Ann & Jimmy, and Mike & Cathy, along with us (Deb, Mona, Dylan, Marissa, and me). The two bigt peices of news that came out of the day is that big Mike and Cathy are engaged, and Mona and Betty Ann are talking again, though that started when Deb’s grandmother passed.

A good time was had by all and I have some pictures that I will post soon. And Jen, if you are reading this send me your pictures!

On Sunday it rained. Then it rained some more. However, this did not surprise us or put a damper on things since it seems to rain every time the Selzick’s come in from Tuscon, so why should yesterday be any different. The kids all got along great and played together on the Wii and the computer. Lilly even played Lego Star Wars with Dylan! Sandford played Wii for the first time and almost broke our ceiling fan (and his writs) while playing tennis. Everyone had fun and we pigged out on some good Chinese food (thank you Sandford!). It was sad to see them go, but they will be back, hopefully without the rain.

Well, it’s been a few weeks since i last posted an update so I figured it was time for one.

Dylan has been in camp since June 30th and is loving it. He get’s to go swimming twice a day and do all kinds of fun things. Deb has been workign part time at the camp to help defray the costs of Dylan attending full day and, well, let’s just say she doens’t love it quite as much as Dylan does. She has a group of toddlers that are as young as 22 months, which really, IMHO, shouldn’t be left at camp for 2hrs a day.

Marissa is getting steadier on her feet every day and even walked all the way around the block on her own last weekend! She can stay upright while running, at least for short distances. She has begun identifying the parts of her body like hear, eyes, nose, and toes. It is just mind boggling how fast she learns stuff. And her vocabulary is expanding on a regular basis.

On the 4th we had our good friends the Kranidis over for a little BBQ. They all got time to really get to know Marissa. I think Hope had been the only one to meet her until then to be honest. As is always the case when we get together everything was wonderful and all had a good time. How can you not with friends like these? Dylan and Elias played in the pool most of the day and then played Lego Star Wars together while the rest of us ate, drank, and had a good time.

This past weekend we played host to the Ramoindi family: Nelly, Joe, Samanth, Robert, and Jordan. It was an amazing day on Sat with the weather being about as perfect as on can ask. Jordan and Dylan played together all day long in the pool, on the Wii, and, you guessed it, Lego Star Wars. Sam and Robert also played Wii Fit, trying and succeeding in breaking the few records I had set. Now I need to go back and re-claim my crown. Sam was going to drive home but Nellie was all worried about her driving on the parkway, it was to be her first time, so I took Sam out for a quick spin on the Wantagh and Southern State. She handled them like a pro.

Dylan is also getting very creative with his Legos. He built this model of WALL-E, even though we haven’t seen the movie yet. Pretty cool, eh?

And the hosting will continue it seems with Deb’s cousin Mikey coming over this weekend, than Babs will be in town. I think the first Sat in August we have nothing scheduled, yet. Dylan’s birthday party will be the 23rd and the Saddle Lane block party the 30th.

..come the most interesting things. Marissa has learned not only how to say “wow”, “Uh-oh”, “Oh No!” and other similar phrases, but she knows how to use them and deliver them. For instance the other day she was sitting on my lap in the living room when a passing thunderstorm causes the lights to go out for a few seconds. Just enough to turn off the TV and stuff. She turned her head and looked at me wide eyed and said in the sweetest voice “Oh no”. Deb and I both bust out laughing. She has developed a habit of delivering her lines in the lull in conversations around her. I can’t tell you how many times she has said “wow” at just the right moment and with just the proper inflection. It is amazing.

Oh, and while she can say “mama” and “dada”, it seems she doesn’t like to say “mama”. She calls Deb, Grammy and me “dada”. It drives Deb nuts and makes me laugh like hell.

She is also walking around the house like a little midget, following people, especially mommy and Grammy, wherever they go. We need to go to Stride-Rite to get her first pair of walking shoes soon. Very soon.

Hi everyone! Welcome to our family blog. If you are looking for photos from both Mrs. Shapiro’s 2006-07 class and Mrs. Basile’s 2007-08 class then simply click here. It will open up to a new page with the two albums, one for each year, and all the photos we have.

I also have a bunch of short videos from Field Day 2008 on my YouTube page, you can find those here. Unfortunately I only got some of Dylan and Emily mainly, things were moving just to fast for one cameraman that day.

Of course, feel free to poke around and enjoy all the other family photos!

GamerDad used my story about Dylan and I playing Lego Star Wars together for his column on “What They Play”. Very cool if you ask me, to be selected along with Tony Hawk and Chris Taylor.

Marissa is really starting to get the hang of walking and doing it more and more. Yesterday she walked from the coffee table to the couch (about3 feet) all by herself. It was cool to watch.

She also went for her first bike ride Sunday morning. She didn’t seem to enjoy it to much, but that might have been due to her helmet covering her eyes….

While I could go on and on about the Giants and the Superbowl, I won’t. At least not right now. Right now I have family business to talk about. See Marissa is over 10 months old and until the other day still had no teeth. While that hasn’t stopped her from gumming Cheerios, cheese, bananas, toast, and Gerber finger foods, it was starting to worry us just a teeny bit. Well, worry no more. The Chompers are making an appearance. Grammy found the first two that finally broke Tuesday morning.

Earlier today our good friends Brett & Emily, along with their son Oliver, welcomed a little sister, Lilly, into the world. For more info check out their family web site (which I assume Brett will update later).

All over the web and media you have people making lists and checking them three times about the best of this and worst of that. Lists of people who died, did something good, bad, or ugly. Lists of movies, songs, books, albums, TV shows, and on and on. It seems that people in general have a need to “look back” and summarize what happened in the past year. I am not so sure I understand our need to do this other than to simply remind us of how much things have changed, even if it doesn’t feel like much has changed. Since I don’t want to be left out, I will probably post a few of these types of lists over the next several days, though I promise, they will all have a slight twist.

However, let’s start with a very typical list of some of the personal things that stand out from 2007 in the form of this sorta free-form poem…

January.
Cold. Winter. Anticipation.
Moving rooms around. Changes.
Daddy get a new home office,
with cabinets by Ikea.
Blog begins.

February.
Still cold. Deadlines approaching.
Dylan gets a new bedroom.
Mommy and Daddy get a new bedroom.

March.
It’s almost time!
Last minute rush.
It’s a girl! Marissa Leah!
Yipee, hooray!!

April.
Spring is coming.
Sleep is not.
Happy Birthday Mommy.
We got an Equinox

May.
Sping has sprung.
Still no sleep.
Try counting sheep.
Big Brother is soooo excited.

June.
Warm. Sunny.
Northside sports day.
Kindergarten Kapers!
Let’s go swimming!

July.
Summer. Camp.
Routines start to form,
sleep starts to come.

August.
Dylan turns 6.
Marissa “swims”
We celebrate 14yrs married.
Adios CGS.
September.
First grade! Hooray!
Welcome to Ninth House
and working from home again.

October.
39.
Optimus Prime and Pink Poodle visit.

November.
Turkey day. Yummy.
Holiday season starts, decoration explode.

December
Marissa’s first Holidays
Chanukah gifts galore.
Chirstmas. Ice Skating.
Time off with the family
Ring out the old year.