Abby Hits the Court

Abby started her basketball season this weekend with two games: one on Friday night and one on Sunday night. It's fun to watch she and her teammates as they are playing for the first time (did not have a team in 3rd grade), but all the other teams we play are in year two and are a bit more organized. Abby is killer at defense. While somewhat hesitant to grab the ball from others or push her way in on offense, she is amazing at blocking. I love to watch her face as she focuses on her opponent. More of those pics to come....

Back to School... On The Same Day!

Abby and Conor are at the same school this year. It was an exciting day on Tuesday, August 24th when both kids were dressed and ready to enter 4th and 2nd grades respectively. Conor handled the new school transition flawlessly; especially with Dad unexpectedly spending some time in the hospital. We are so proud of both kids!

Abby is in Mrs. Burwinkel's homeroom but will see Mrs. Foster an equal amount of the time this year. Conor has Mr. Cain, following in the family footsteps. You might remember this was Abby's same teacher for second grade. Here's to a great school year!

Auten Avenue Rocks

On Sunday, August 8th, Auten Avenue (our street) closed to traffic and opened to fun! It was our first Block Party since moving in almost 10 years ago. We, along with some pretty awesome neighbors, helped to plan the day's festivities, which included: food, a dog parade, cornhole tournament (huge Cincinnati thing), live music, a water balloon slingshot (Con's favorite), homemade ice cream in a bag and slime! It was a huge success. One neighbor took pictures of all our houses and made them into the name tags so that we all knew the person and their house. The biggest surprise came towards the end of the night when one neighbor brought out her pet duck (for real). We feel lucky to have such great people around us.

Fabulous and Forty!

On July 31, Erick turned 40! Thanks to everyone who remembered him on his big day. Molly and kids had a 40 day countdown to this new milestone with gifts to open each day. On the actual day, Erick was whisked away to Hocking Hills for a fun zip line tour through the trees. Thanks to friends who hosted Abby and Conor overnight, Molly and Erick decided to sleep in the woods and had the chance to hike to "Old Man's Cave" the next morning. An appropriate pilgrimage to commemorate Erick's new status!

A Skating Sabre

Conor continues to take lessons for skating and hockey on the weekends. He received the green light to be evaluated (try out) for a house "mite" team in August. Hockey season runs from September to March and so we will be spending quite a bit of time at the hockey arena. Due to this new passion, Conor has hung up his karate gi to devote his energies to goal scoring. As Con moves forward, he knows where he came from: check out the Sabres jersey (old logo rules)!

Boys, Boys and More Boys

Conor had a chance to have a summer birthday party this year. After talking about it for quite some time, we hosted a "half birthday party" in the backyard on July 24. The weather cooperated by gracing us with the hottest day of the summer, up until that point. So the festivities included lots of water balloons, hoses, squirt guns and action! The boys found the buried treasure and enjoyed sifting for gems and arrowheads, using the sluice that Erick and Conor built this summer. It truly was a blast!

Sail Away!

How exciting that Abby was invited to spend almost a month in Youngstown, NY with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Mike, and given the opportunity to participate in Junior Sailing at the Youngstown Yacht Club! Ab was in good company with her cousins Elizabeth, Emily and Adam. She had a great time and arrived back home with many memories (and the ability to tie a plethora of different knots.)

Fourth of July Fun!

The holiday weekend was filled with fun at the Madiera parade and a spontaneous trip to Louisville, KY. The Blenk threesome (Abby was in NY) caught a Bats game (minor league baseball), stopped at a winery, found a cool "Food Network - recommended" restaurant called "Lynn's Paradise Cafe" and did plenty of swimming.

The Big Cut

Abby was finally able to donate her hair for "Children of Hair Loss" (like Locks of Love). Last Friday, while Molly was on Long Island, Erick took Abby for the big haircut. Here she is after the fact with her new do. She is so much more expressive (or so it seems) now that we can see that sweet face.

A Fall and a Goodbye

Conor has had a busy Spring too. His t-ball team is furiously making up rain outs (Erick is the coach) and Conor is loving ice hockey. During his make up practice for "Learn to Play Hockey" on May 25, Conor fell in the last ten minutes and broke his arm! A bummer, no doubt, but he's been a trooper and after the initial shock wore off, Conor has been as active as ever. He has collected a bunch of signatures and is swimming, climbing and throwing water balloons just fine.

On May 26, Conor finished his first grade year and also said good-bye to Pleasant Ridge Montessori, which has been his "school home" for the past four years. Next year, Conor will join Abby at Nativity as a big, bad second grader. Con likes to boast that he has the longest summer vacation of anyone since he was out 7 days before Abby and goes back to his new school a week later than he would have started at his old school.

Big Days for Abby

Abby finished her first year of piano with a recital on May 22, 2010. She played two songs -- "Ode to Joy" and one other -- and was the only student who memorized her songs. While very nervous going in, she did fantastic. We raced out of the recital to get to Abby's Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony. Abby is now officially a junior. Mom finally sewed all her patches on her vest just for the occasion. :-)

On May 23, 2010 Abby celebrated her 9th birthday with her girlfriends at RockQuest where they climbed their hearts out. It was nice to extend Ab's "birthday season" a bit longer than usual this year.

Sparring Sibs

Abby and Conor missed their karate belt tests last weekend while we traveled to Long Island. The make up was today and they were tested together for the first time ever. With a smaller than usual field of testees, the Blenk kids had the opportunity to spar each other. We've been waiting for this day. They both did great and in the end, both were promoted to orange belts (Conor with a white stripe since he is in the Ninja class.) Congrats Kiddos.

Happy 9th Birthday Abby Girl!

Abby is officially 9! Where has the time gone? She had a great day with breakfast in bed, a surprise lunch with Mom at school (with her favorite Panera mac and cheese), a trip to the bookstore, and ice cream at Don's Creamy Whip. Abby took in the famous "Brownookies" for her class treat (mix between brownies and cookies.) What a day! We love you Abby Girl!!!!!

Conor Starts Hockey!

Spring is here. Time for hockey.... Conor started a "Learn to Play Hockey" program last week and did really great. We were super proud of him as he marched out on the ice with little to no skating experience. He loved it and took a private lesson this week to hone his skating skills. His quote was great: "I think I could be really good at this if I only knew how to skate!"

Our 7 Year Old Toothless Wonder!

Conor turned 7 in January and is growing every day. He looks so big and grown up. For the first time, we did not have a birthday party and decided to finally try something we've been considering for a while: a half birthday celebration. Look for the follow up come July! Just a few weeks after Conor's birthday, he lost both of his front teeth in one week. His new smile is adorable. Check it out for yourself!

Let It Snow!!

A real snowstorm hit Cincinnati this past week. Just in time for Conor's birthday. How nice that Mother Nature arranged a day off for this special occasion While Conor enjoyed two days off from school, Abby did not. :-( Nativity, in its traditional fashion, does not close school unless the circumstances are dire.

Abby and Conor enjoyed sledding at French Park with friends. Here they are getting ready in the back yard. The tube we bought for the ocean, we learned, works just as well on the snow hills.