Hi Ho....Hi Ho...

It's off to work I go.  I worked for the first time in 7 plus years yesterday.  That sounds funny to say.  I haven't exactly been sitting around the house eating bon bons for the last 7 years (well, maybe just a couple).  Still, I am at a point in life with all three girls in school where I have a little more time on my hands during the day.  So, last week when I was asked to contact someone at my previous place of employment about the possibility of some part time work, I decided that now was as good a time as any.

So for now at least, I bid my couch and my bon bons farewell!

Summer 2011

Since we are already well in to fall, even though we are just barely putting away the swimsuits and shorts, I thought I would take the time to put together a brief Cobb summer recap.

So, here it is.  The Cobb family summer overview with a few photos of the things I actually remembered to take pictures of...

Rob and Keri
We celebrated our 15th Anniversary with three days away in Big Sur.  Calgon take me away...We enjoyed massages, great food, peace and quiet and some much needed rest and relaxation.  I'm ready to go back!  Rob spent the remainder of the summer building a new roof over our shop and patios in the back, working off and on at school and not surfing nearly enough.  I spent the balance of the summer feeding the roofing crew, taxiing the girls to swim practice, counseling a wagon full of little girls at camp and working on my tan...(not really).

The Cobb Girls
The girls spent their summer swimming, drawing, swimming and in their spare time, swimming.  I think they grew fins.  Around here, if you're going to be outside in the summer when it's 5 million degrees, the water is the place to be.

The Cobb Boy
Jerry spent his summer working (hooray for first jobs), driving and trying to figure out how to spend more time with his girlfriend.  He passed his driver's permit test and spent the rest of the summer chauferring Rob and I everywhere.  The look on his face when the DMV lady told him he passed was priceless.  I wish I had a picture.  He worked for a local Almond farming operation mostly cutting weeds in the orchards.  Hot, nasty work, but everybody's got to start somewhere and he hung in there and stuck with it.  He even managed to save enough money to put towards his first car.  He'll be in the market once he passes his driver's test.

The Cobb Dog
Sadie managed to entertain us, chew up our stuff and dig up our yard before she ran away at the end of the summer.  Some of us are more heartbroken over this than others.

We made it to the beach a couple times where the kids had fun in the water.  One of our trips to the beach was during the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.  It took a little convincing to get the girls in the water that day.  They were sure that more sharks on TV meant more sharks in the water.  We'll be working on logic this year.

Earlier in the summer, we went to the zoo with Mr. Jawsome and his baby sister.  There's an awful lot of cuteness going on in this picture.

Cock-a-doodle do Hannah.  Hannah and I went to Wagon Train Camp (see separate post whenever I get around to it) this summer.  This is what she looks like when someone is trying to rouse her from peaceful slumber to embrace a day of crazy camp fun.  She and I have so much in common.

Well, I think that gives you the general idea.  The first few months of school have been really busy.  I'll have a few things to post whenever the motivation comes.  

Just Keep Swimming...

The girls started swimming for the Tigersharks again about a month ago.  We have had an unseasonably cold spring and we've had to encourage them to "just keep swimming" to keep warm.  They've been troopers and toughed it out though and have had fun competing in a couple meets already.  The weather is starting to warm up, so it should be smooth sailing...I mean swimming, from here on out.

Take your mark...the two in orange and black are my little Tigersharks.  I get the privilege of cheering on two swimmers in the same race.

That's Grace.  The fluorescent green cap makes her easy to spot in the water!

Sarah looks pleased with her race!

So does Hannah

This is what it looks when they are waiting to race and...

This is what it looks like after a long fun day at a swim meet.

The "F" Word

Rob and I were eavesdropping on our daughters earlier this evening when we heard Grace proudly declare to Hannah that she knows the "F" word.  Hannah went for the bait and asked her what it was.  "Don't tell ok?" Grace made her promise.  "Ok" Hannah promised.  "Freakin'!!" 

Yep...that's the "F" word!  Grace happened to use it in a sentence over the weekend when she got out of the pool at her swim meet and told me "That water is freakin' cold!".  I had to remind her that she is 6 not 16 and that we wouldn't be talking like that no matter how cold the water was.







 

Christmas 2010 in Pictures

 Ready to sing at school

 Ballet Recital

 Kids and cousins at Gitty's house

 Ready to ride the Train of Lights

 Read me a story Papa

 Ooooh!  Sparkly!

 Look what Santa brought

 Look what else Santa brought....a teenager!

What a blessed Christmas we had with friends and family.

Meet Sadie

We got a dog!  Rob came home from school about a week before Thanksgiving with a puppy who showed up on campus that day.  She was cute and quiet so we decided she could stay.

The girls named her Sadie and the vet says she is some sort of Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix (don't tell anyone ok?).  She has yet to catch her tail though she never tires of trying and she's a pretty good dog when she's not chewing up the girl's socks or underwear.

Birthday Bear is 8

This kid turned 8 a couple months ago.  I can hardly believe it.

In honor of the birthday girl, we celebrated with some pizza and games on her big day and then spent some time with family and a few friends over the weekend.

 Just Dance!!

Make a wish

After everyone headed home, the rain began to pour from the sky making a few little girls very wet and very happy!

What a great end to a great day for a great kid!

Camping and Kayaking

In honor of the October birthdays in our family (mine and Jerry's), we went camping for the weekend and spent some time Kayaking in Morro Bay.  Here are a few shots from our trip.

Jerry kayaked for the first time and I think he enjoyed it.  The girls are getting old enough to learn to paddle their own boats too.  So this time around, we tied a single boat to the back of Rob's canoe.  That's Grace paddling behind Rob and Hannah.  Sarah rode with me and helped paddle from the front.  We saw lots of sea life and even got up close to a jellyfish.

Happy Birthday Jerry

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Jerry's 17th Birthday.

He had a few friends over, Rob barbecued and I made a Tres Leches cake.

 His sisters wrapped and decorated a special gift for Him.

Yes, that would be a box of 50 bags of Fire Hot Cheetos...the boy's addicted. I remind myself that he could be addicted to far worse things than pain inflicting snack food.

Jerry has been part of our family for almost 8 months now.  Life with a teenage boy has taken some getting used to.  A lot of the time, I feel like I am on a crazy roller coaster.  But, when I am not feeling worried, scared or sick, it's a pretty great ride!  I don't know what the future holds or how this whole thing will work out, but right now, I'm glad he's in the next room (texting his little heart out). 

Happy Birthday Jerry.  We love you!

Murals for Papa's Shop

 A few weeks ago, we paid Papa Mike and Grandma Kris a visit.  They had a very special project planned for us.  We got to help Papa Mike decorate the walls of his newly completed shop/man cave.  Nothing on this earth could make the Cobb girls happier than the chance to paint whatever they wanted on clean white walls.  It felt so naughty!

Needless to say, Papa's man cave has some really pretty rainbows, hearts, butterflies and pink thingamablobs on the walls now.  No doubt his buddies will be impressed.

 Grandma and Daddy even got in on the action.

 Daddy painted his dream house...

really more of a hut, but who cares when you have the perfect wave out your front door.

 We also got to meet Daddy's long lost twin brother.....

Oh, I mean Papa and Grandma's new dog, Mugs.  



Fair Time

It's that time of year again.  The time when everyone starts coughing and sneezing...the dust in the air is so thick you can see it, you wonder if the weather is ever going to cool off, and the smell of cow poo hangs in the air.  Around here, that means it's Fair time.  Time to go eat some overpriced, seriously disappointing fried food and step in some animal excrement.  Oh yeah and see your kid's artwork (the highlight of course)...

Here's H posing in front of her artwork.  She won an honorable mention this year.  Way to go girl!
Here's a close up of her old lady (no...that is not a portrait of me...very funny!).

In case you couldn't tell, we are not really farm folks.  This was evidenced this year at the fair as we walked up to the cows and Sarah exclaimed, "Daddy that one is a girl because she is wearing earrings".  If they had an animal decorating contest at the fair, that girl could compete.