IMG_0227

IMG_0227, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

IMG_0229

IMG_0229, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

IMG_0230

IMG_0230, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

IMG_0231

IMG_0231, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

i need to make some calls

IMG_0222, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

So akello was too busy this weekend to pose for any photos. Had to move around some playdates and had a hard time finding a certain cereal that HEB decided to stop carrying. So he was pretty swamped yeah.

glue-ing work

glue-ing work, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

akello getting his glue on.

hat and ball

hat and ball, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

new hat from auntie Michelle. Just in time for the cold snap!

changes to the outside

so there have been many changes to our house since theresa opened up the school in january, with still more to come. One of those changes is what i refer to as the, "ghetto goal", netting that we have put up in certain off limit zones around the backyard. Have i talked about this already? skip on if i have.

so we have this problem area in the back corner of our property where theres a little tiney alley that seperates property (perfect for hiding bodies). a small fence was put up to block it off, but was never really properly installed and through the years has slowly decayed to where you cant even stand it up anymore much less keep it affixed to the fencing.


here is the ally with decayed fencing removed.

now this is an obvious no no for the kiddos. so i had to fix it asap. its kinda a weird situation. it doesnt require a lot of wood, but ive never put a fence into this situation before.

luckily the HOME DEPOT sells every kind of fixer/fastner imaginable.


a few of these did the trick!


whala! not the prettiest, but it will work and its solid. i wanted for the fence to look the same as the one next to it, so i screwed in the screws from the "alley" side. so i fenced myself in. i was stuck back there for a while because theresa and akello were sleeping at the time. and i have a torn shoulder muscle and cant do much with my right arm. luckily my neighbor was out and about and she threw me a ladder. whew!

soo now that that is complete , the area is still a little "off limits" do the some electrical phone stuff.


theresa had the idea to put up orange netting like you see in construction sites around the area.
oh, you mean the "ghetto goal" i call it this, because one of our neighbors on Duplex row, aka, the ghetto walk, was using this netting between some pvc pipe in his front lawn as a soccer goal. Brilliant i thought, but quite ghetto being on the front lawn and all.

this stuff is 39 bucks, but its durable and you get a lot of it, probably about 40 feet.


whalah! i affixed around some fence posts with some orange zip ties and that was that. off limits!

i also did the other area by the gravel pit.

this is a weird space that we dont know quite what to do with yet. we fenced it in when we made the fence and are thinking we'll put a storage shed over there, and get rid of the one in the middle of the backyard. we shall see. for now, this is an easy way to block it off. i use zip ties on one side and these little orange cable clamps on the other, so that i can go in and out of the area.

You might remember that we used to have a swingset in the back, Well, its just not montessori enough because the children that theresa is teaching are not old enough to get in and out of the swings on their own safely. WAIT WAIT hold on, before you go on and on about how Gil says swings are evil, just put down the phone (garcia family).
The montessori philosophy fosters independence. Thats one of the main things. Akello gets a cup and pours some water for himself when hes thirsty, grabs a book when he wants to read, grabs a bowl, spoon and some cereal if he's hungry. All because these things are made accesible and available to him. A baby swing is not something that he can get in and out of on his own. He has to be lifted into it, and he is not old enough to safely get in and out of the older style swing (much less be able to swing on it) i THINK thats it. dont quote me, theresa might tell me something else after she reads this

so that had to go, we sold it on craigslist.Theresa wanted to put a climber in its spot, and soon after theresa found a very rare climber on craigslist. this STEP 2 climber. She says that she has been wanting something like this but knew that it would never by on craigs, just like the stokke kinderzeat or the learning tower, or a good parking spot downtown. people just don't give them up.

well one couple had to because they were moving. and theresa saw the post and before you could say, go to the ATM! i was in lakeway, cash in hand to pick up this bad boy


akello shows off his new climber

we are super thrilled about it. it looks great in the space. Now we got a little plastic farm in the back. We dont mind it though.

feel the beat

akello was jaming out this morning to a sergio mendes remix

new camera

so we got a new camera. a canon sd1000 elph. it was on sale for 175. it takes better pictures than the other one, a canon sd6000, that cost us 300 .(that was 2 years ago)
heres a video i took with it.






so....whos gonna turn on the faucets for me....


"dang! I thought i hid the camera really good this time!"



I was hoping that i would come home with the new camera and theresa would be like, "i found the camera" but that trick didnt work. oh well. we needed another camera anyway for theresas school, which is going great by the way.
i just came up with a new logo, taking inspiration from the original red bird that amy gave us. Im printing it everywhere, from the aprons that the kiddos where to the business cards to the tote bags that each child receives. the tote bags are really cool

did somebody say muffins?

did somebody say muffins?, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

Michelle was in town so we went out to the Domain to show her how the ATX has changed since shes been living in the ABQ. We hit up Oak ridge grocery for breakfast. I think its the only place you can eat breakfast at the domain too...but anyway. Oak ridge is one of these trendy little grocery stores for foodies with every flavor of vitamin water neatly fronted in the cooler. They sell 54 cent coffee which is nuts! the food is really good here. i had a waffle and theresa had a chorizo breakfast burrito, but not as if we were at curras ordering one. these tasted different. but really good. the muffins were really good too. we will be back. akello had a taste of everything and looooved the muffins

muffins!

muffins!, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

mmufmmafmsmmsm

mmufmmafmsmmsm, originally uploaded by Gilkata.

well.......

xmas eve pics




"where are we going to put all theses ornaments!"


christmas early morning....

Here we are....at the end of the winter break. While the 2 weeks off was nice, it was jam packed with productivity around the house and holiday cheer. I had been working on a blog that highlighted everything from xmas to new years, but im not done yet.


christmas morning

we lost our camera that had a lot of pictures on it, and I kept hoping that i would find it, but its still missing. We have called off the search and rescue and are now treating it as officially "lost" rather than misplaced.


christmas mid-morning


"ok....im done with this christmas business"

i have to go back to work tommorrow. bummer. but i resolve to write more on the blog.

a quick story....i was warming up some food in the oven and akello comes over to check it out. he gets close to the oven and starts to put his hand on the oven. I stop him and say, "Not for akello!" he looks at me with those cute little cheeks with a look of wonder as if to say, "why not for akello?" so i told him that it was hot.

So he started to blow on the oven.

so BIG news............


Mornings in the Nest is back baby!!!! Thats right, Theresa quit her job at Childrens Community of Austin and starts tommorrow with a new class for the spring. We have benn really busy with getting the school up and going again and are both super excited. I redid the website too. take a look www.morningsinthenest.com


Happy New Year!


christmas night...dinner with the Doyles.