Gabriel is a little mixed up in the pronoun department.

Gabriel's favorite word is Dabers.  He's called himself Dabers for as long as I can remember. 
"Dabers play cars."
"Dabers hungry!"
"Dabers done eating he supper."
Wait a minute.  He supper?  Poor guy has an aversion to certain pronouns (him and her being two of them).  This seems to really bother a certain grammatically-sensitive older brother.  Andrew has tried correcting his misguided sibling but to no avail.
Yesterday I heard Gabriel say, "Marianna throw she cereal on the floor."
Press on, Big Brother, press on!

What happens when you get a dusting of snow every other day for a whole week?

You go sledding!

(And the adults in the house breathe a sigh of relief.)

Frozen Dabers!

Piano Contest Day!

The big day arrived and Therese was up way too early.  Being that she was a little nervous, we spent some time primping and planning what to wear.  You know, the really important stuff!

Then, she practiced playing her piece for the camera....

Since her big moment was scheduled for 10:57 (let's be exact here),  I started washing the cabinets in the kitchen. (Heck, we've got plenty of time.)  Then, as always happens, I got slightly carried away and pretty soon  we were running a little late.  Oops!

And there's always the line for registration when you finally get in the door...

But we made it in time and 5 minutes later....it's all over. The memorizing, the months of practice, the nervous anticipation....it's all over.

And for what?  The fame... the glory...heavens, no!  It's the post-contest trip to the local grocery store for a hard-earned treat!

We got a little goofy in the store and Therese even insisted on paying for her own grape pop.  All-in-all it was an exciting morning

and even more fun since we were able to share it with you!

Just the Essentials

Diaper and Hearing Aid

(hard enough just keeping those two things on her)

Because Grandma Says There Aren't Enough Pictures of Him On The Blog

Stephen's been heading over to the neighbor's house every day and doing some serious working out.  Some mornings breakfast is included with the deal.




The result of 2 weeks of P90X workouts.

If I didn't have an aversion to excercise and sweat and an increased heart rate and all that, I would definately consider joining him.  As it is, someone has to hold the fort down around here.  Right?




After a little cool down time.

Happiness in the Freezer

What is this we have found nestled between the freezer-burned peppers and the orange juice?  Ah, yes, it is our salvation!

 Marianna is not happy unless she has one in her mouth at all times.

Matthew says she has a tooth infestation. Traditionally I believe it is known as teething, though.

So this is why she loves me....

I bought the sugar-coated cereal. Shear happiness in every bite. Party at our house this morning...oh yeah, oh yeah! (With all that sugar, party all afternoon, too.)

Just to keep things from getting dull....

( and to keep the small fry from killing each other on a chilly January day), we decided to have a basketball tournament.  Here are the highlights:

I predicted Johnny would be the winner. 
Just look at those pecs!

 Then again Andrew could be the spoiler.

What about Tim? Would his accuracy withstand his obvious height disadvantage?

 After much anticipation, the shootout began.....

 with some fairly intense competition following......



The agony of defeat.  Better luck next time!

and the final standings were as follows:

First Place.......Matthew

Second Place.......Johnny

Third Place......Tim

Fourth Place.......Andrew

Fifth Place........Gabriel

Sixth Place......Therese