Baby's first trip to Hopshire.

Well, it seems we really are going to have a kid at some point soonish.  I never exactly forget, but there are times that if feels more real than others.  Sarah is cleaning off the counter right now and I can see her reflection in the window.  Definitely pregnant!  We had a party for the monkey recently, too, with lots of friends, many of whom are also expecting.  Jenn did a nice job on the invitations.  

Dad took some pictures.  See his and Mom's blog, if you haven't already.  Neither Sarah nor I took one photo.  Luckily, Darren came through again.  I'll share just a few here.  At some point, we're going to have to start paying him.  It's as if we have our own personal, professional photographer.  Honestly, I was outside by the fire for a lot of the party, so I didn't see much of the inside.

Darren's shot of the front of Hopshire.  Jenn had the great idea to have our shindig at Hopshire, a local farm brewery that we've all enjoyed.  

Darren's shot of the brewery.  The tasting room is nicely decored, but they also open up the space you see here for picnics and parties and the like.  We did a pig and pints here once, and another time there was a shepherds pie cook off.  Randy and Diane (owners) have an annual harvest festival, too, where community members, including Erik and I bring hop harvests in to drop off for a Cohoperation brew.  All kinds of cool stuff.  As you can see, the party was well attended, and we felt incredibly loved.  Some people brought gifts, but we didn't open them there or play games or anything.  We cooked food and some friends brought more.  The real focus was on being together and celebrating the beginning of a new chapter.

Dad complains (a lot, sometimes) about being dragged out of the house, but people always enjoy seeing and chatting with him, and he usually enjoys them back.  Darren's photo.

Friends' kids/future baby sitters, Nora and Sebastian.  I'm not sure if they planned to coordinate outfits.  They had a lot of fun even though some of us hadn't napped.  They're so engrossed in play they didn't even notice Darren sneak this shot.

Good times, good laughs.  Holy crap! Sarah is pregnant!  We're going to be parents!  Darren was shooting from the stairs here, I think.  Clever angle.

Still a momma's boy. Darren's photo.

 Darren's photo.  Beautiful.

Mom and Livia.  They always have a good time.  Darren's photo.

Sarah and I both actually finished books recently.  We really enjoyed reading together.  It easily replaces the TV... I don't know why we don't do it more often.  Sarah read a book about the Beekman Boys that Margaret got her.  She got quite the chuckle out of it.  I read 1776.  It never really made sense to me why so many principals and bosses and the like read history books.  Now that I have to make harder decisions and ones with no clear good answer, it makes more sense.  I found it cathartic to read about Washington's trials and travails.  His issues with the British make my issues with 9th graders seem a little more manageable.

Shopping at momma goose.  Baby's first vest like Uncle Darren?

We started going through the lumber to look for some old barn wood for the kitchen.  I'm pretty proud of my lumber pile.  Hopefully we'll find some more uses for it... there is a lot.

Lot's of supervision.

This is the result of a trip out to Pat's.  Jonas goes with me pretty regularly, but it hadn't occurred to us to take Eva for some reason.  I guess we probably figured she'd be a pain in the but or stampede the horses or something.  To the contrary, she is hilarious and LOVES to run with Pat's puppy, Rocky.  They chased and swam and sniffed, and bulldozed through weeds.  Jonas was pretty busy trying to keep track of everyone. 

Is this new seat for me?

On Sunday, after the monkey party, Dad and I potsed around town.  I'd heard that there was a pair of hawks nesting up by one of our many bridges, and wanted to go see it.  We grabbed a couple binoculars and spied on her for a bit before we headed down town.

The wedge is without a doubt, my favorite simple machines.  The axe and knife, the splitting wedge, nails, saws, chisels, scissors, shims, mauls... man... oh yeah, and planes.

Cutest momma around.  Damn good carpenter, too.

Sigh...  seen better days.  Will again.