Dana Daily

This evening was Steubenville's first game of the football season. I met Sal at the stadium, and after halftime busted him pretending to be one of the kids. Here he is, doing what he does. Man, he sure looks good. It was a great night for football, but I was beat when I got home.

Today was the girls first day of school. I think they were feeling lots of butterflies, but there weren't any tears. We had stopped into school on Friday to take care of some last minute to-dos. We were fortunate to run into the first grade teacher who gave Sarah a big hug, and it gave Emmy a chance to meet her new teacher one-on-one. The three of us went to first grade and dropped Emmy's bags and supplies off at her desk. Then we went to second grade to meet Sarah's new teacher and to get her settled. She adjusts quickly in new situations so we took a few pictures, and then Emmy and I went back to first grade. I took a few more pictures and then I left. Emmy seemed a little apprehensive about me going, but I think she was also curious to see what first grade is all about. She was torn between wanting what she knows and having a new adventure.

I've been wanting to rearrange the girls' bedroom for quite a while. It was also apparent that they needed more than storage cubes for their clothes. That method had worked great when their clothes were much smaller. This layout will also give them easier access to their closet, which I also organized. As you can see, Sarah loves all things Disney while Emmy is into pink and purple, especially purple. I washed the windows, baseboards, and floors and then proceeded to move the beds. I was pleasantly surprised to find that underneath their beds wasn't quite the disaster area I had been expecting. Sal spent the morning assembling their new dresser. The drawers are deep and the top drawer even came with a divider. To surprise Sarah and Emmy with the news of the pregnancy we accessorized the dresser with some baby items, diaper cream, binkies, and outfits. I cannot wait to see their reactions. I'd still like to find them a fuzzy or otherwise textured gray area ru...

It came across my Facebook newsfeed that a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tribute band would be playing at the Monongahela Aquatorium on August 16. It looked and sounded like a lot of fun so Sal and I made plans to go. Apparently one of the members is originally from Monongahela and so they come back once a summer to perform locally. This time they were headed to Australia the next day. The show was about what you'd expect, great music, little tidbits about the band itself, and a few cheesy jokes thrown in just because. Admission was $10 at the gate and they had inexpensive concessions for sale as well. The Aquatorium is a unique venue. There's a paved area on the shores of the Mon River with bleachers set up on one side. Boaters can park on the river beside and behind the stage to enjoy the show. We had a blast. It was a great way to celebrate the unofficial end of summer. Sal heads back to the classroom next week.

Way back in June, while we were honeymooning in California, I posted a picture we had taken at Abalone Cove near Los Angeles. I promised to post more pictures from that session. The reason I held off is this, when we scheduled that photoshoot we had no idea that there would be three people in the photographs. Let that sink in a minute. You may only see Sal and I in that photograph, but rest assured three of us are alive and well. That's right. We're expecting. More details to come.

Today was my nephew's sixth birthday. I don't know where the time goes, but my sister had a party for 20 at her house. This year it was bat-themed. We gathered the kids around the cake with the birthday boy front and center. I should point how excited we all were to see Sal again too. The girls spent the afternoon climbing all over him at the party as if he was their personal jungle gym. When we got home they begged for some pre-bedtime Looney Toons and popcorn made on the stove, as only Sal can make it. I'm so happy to have all of us under the same roof again.

Occasionally, my mom and my aunt like to borrow their grandchildren and have one big play date. Today they took them to a little county park not too far from either of their homes. Clearly the girls had a great time together. The did a little bit of wading, made mud puddles, and just had some fun in the sun.

I made a mile-long to-do list on Friday at work. One of the items on it was to wash and rehang the living room curtains. Sal and I woke up Saturday morning and I decided to get started.. Once we started taking the curtains down, those lovely mauve pinch pleats, we decided to keep going.  I painted the dining room Sherwin William's Oyster Bay  last Fall, and went one shade lighter on the same chip for the living room ( Sea Salt ). As always I was second guessing myself until the second coat was on the wall. I love it.  Admittedly we have too much furniture in our living room, as you'll see in later blog entries, but that's what it is when you combine households and seller's leave things behind. We do plan to sell the over-sized chair in the bottom right picture at our yard sale later this month. I'm really happy with the room so far, and I still have half left to paint and decorate. I'll post more pics soon.

The flower of August, my birth month. I couldn't pass up these bulbs on clearance when we shopping at McTighes this past Spring. Here are some interesting gladiolus facts : An ancient name for the gladiolus was xiphium ,  from the Greek word xiphos, also meaning sword. Gladiolus represented the Roman Gladiators, before the African Gladioli became popular in the West. African Gladioli were imported in large quantities to Europe from South Africa during the 18th century. Most of the more than 10,000 named Gladioli cultivars probably were derived from just seven species native to South Africa and first brought to European gardens in the late 17th century. The Mediterranean and British Gladiolus flowers were used to treat physical ailments. Some parts of the Gladiolus plant are poisonous if ingested and handling some species may cause skin irritation or allergic reactions.