Girls in a Christmas Service Quartet

Halloween

We started out Halloween at a campsite up at Rainbow River State park. Beautiful! We went trick or treating in Oak Ridge and after coming home, had a little sorting lesson! See for yourself!

Eye poppin'

Look at that eye poppin' room!!! Still a bit cluttered but SO much better!

Lots of changes 'round here!

Well, the first phase of the new playground is all completed! Mulch, sand, edging and all! It looks really great!


The other changes are occurring in the girls' room! Phase one is complete: new bedspreads! The girls are really proud of their new spreads!



The next phase is underway...we bought a new bookshelf today off Craig's List....the first purchase for us from that site. Turns out the couple lives in a nearby neighborhood and they were redoing their office where the all oak bookcase was. Turns out he had bought it at Wood You in Ocala (where I looked just YESTERDAY) 5 or 6 years ago and finished it himself! We got it for a good price and the hardest part was getting the seat out of the van to bring it back home! Here is a picture of phase 1 1/2!

Jacob's first day of school

Jacob with his backpack and ready to go!
They installed these really neat hooks and shelves outside the classrooms.


Our new playground (behind the playhouses!)

Back to school!

The girls started school today! Excitement was in the air! I've never seen Maggie jump out of bed so quickly!



Some of the 1st graders...

August 2009

Well, school is only a week away, so the time has come to start getting closer to a bedtime and morning schedule! The kids are excited about school starting, but I don't think relish the idea of getting up early in the morning for their 8:00 start time! (nor do I!!)

We had an exciting July--early August! On July 22nd, Mark and I ran down Hwy. 19 with the Key Training Center's "Run for the Money". We each ran 7 miles for a total of 12 miles for the evening (for those of you that are math scholars, we ran two miles together!) It was a really neat experience for a really great organization. We hope to take part in years to come.

End of July had us heading up to SC for Melissa and Kyle's wedding. We were all involved to one degree or another and all had a marvelous time!







After the wedding we did a little R and R up in NC with the Johnston family and my parents. Did some boating, white water rafting, hiking, train riding and just plain resting!!!




A big truck backed in today and dropped off some very valuable items for our school: new playground equipment! There were cheers rising up from the kids (and adults) throats! They'll be installing it this week and should be done by the time school starts next week!

Cinnamon Beach--Summer 2009

Cinnamon Beach is the site of our Gabb Family Reunion 2009. I think it's called Cinnamon Beach because the sand has a cinnamon type coloring. Some of the sand has little crushed shells in it and other sections of the beach are much nicer sand.

We had fun taking pictures on the beach...big groups, small groups, candid shots, etc. Here are all the girl cousins

Ama and PapaBen and Luke vie for the football!
Here's a view of our condo from the golf course! BEAUTIFUL!
Adia, Maggie and J.B.
The four year olds!
Sunday-Monday:
We've been letting the kids have little sleepovers with their cousins. One of the Cioe boys asked Aunt Anne after he had been watching movies and eating popcorn: "When is the sleepover going to start?" I guess his expectations were a bit high as to what actually happens at a sleepover! :-)
The Gabb men got in a free round of golf on the beautiful Oceans course by our condo. I don't think they shot as well as they wanted, but got their money's worth!

Tuesday
We had some rain today so we did lots of playing inside for the first part of the day: reading, LEGOS, bracelet making, movies, Webkinz, etc. By late afternoon we were getting cabin fever (or maybe just the adults!) so we took the kids to the beach and/or pool. Some of us were able to catch some pretty good waves on the boogie boards. We learned that Luke is a fast swimmer! He beat Mark and Ang in a length race. We'll have to try to beat him tomorrow! Tacos for dinner were a hit and we sent the kids to bed early because of their late night last night. The adults got in a bit of Rock Band on Jacob and Luke's XBox and some are still finishing up a game of Phase 10 as I write this!

Wednesday
The Phase 10 group stayed up until 1:50 AM playing and I guess Aunt Kim was the victor! The kids got caught up on their sleep and Hannah took the prize for sleeping the longest: 13+ hours!!! The Gabbs and DeNoyers went down to the beach and the Cioes headed to the pool. We all got stuck in a torrential rain shower, but Uncle Mark, Maggie, Hannah and Jacob and Luke all braved the rain in the waves and did some great boogie boarding! After the rain stopped, Aunt Sarah and Aunt Angie got in on the great waves too! What a rush! Hang ten!

We got to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor blast off today after 2 other tries. We got to see it in the sky for approximately 2 seconds before it disappeared back behind the clouds. Some of us stopped in the model home in the development where we're staying. It was such a beautiful house that Maggie and Adia wanted to stay there! When we asked the realtor how much it cost, he said it was actually a pretty good deal: only eight ninety nine....hmmm...well, I guess I have some money lying around....I'll take two! :-) But really this is a nice new area....they've only been renting out the condos where we're staying since 2006!

Spaghetti and meatballs were great for supper and the kids did a craft and had another "sleepover". Ben and Rachel and Chelsea came over for the night and we played some cards!