Charlie's Halloween Parade

Happy Halloween everyone! These, admittedly, are not the best shots, not to mention they are completely unedited. My mom took WAAAAAAY better ones this past weekend at the Tae Kwon Do Halloween party, and I will post those as soon as she gives me the disk. So, hurry up, Ma!

Today when Charlie got to school he got to participate in a Halloween Parade, and you can bet I was there to take pictures! While they finished up their parade, I took the opportunity to take photos of his classroom to share with you. I put everything in this nifty slideshow. There's even a short video clip. I love Smilebox! Stay tuned for more Halloween pics and more updates. I have plenty!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Stomp Rocket

Here are 10 great photos from our park day today. Credit for these pictures goes to my niece, Salayna! Well done, girl! Oh, I have to give credit for an amazing self-portrait to myself for the snapshot of my mom and me at the end! Haha! This is my first time posting a slideshow blog. Ineed to find a way to include more than 10 pictures. Stay tuned! The song is by Ryan Shupe and The RubberBand, and it's called "Dream Big".

Make a Smilebox slideshow

He Shoots...He Scores!

Okay, as promised...here are some pictures from Harrison's NJB evaluation this afternoon. He was going to also try out for the All-Net Club team, but it was canceled.

Some awesome defense...



More defense...



Taking control as point guard...



Taking a break...



Big smile for mom!



Shooting...



Another shot...



Dad helping him practice boxing an opponent out...



"Hi, Mom!"



He was only one of two guys out of about 40 or so who made a shot in the scrimmage. I happened to capture this shot!

Chase's OC Championship Race - 10/18/08

Today was Chase's Orange County Championships Race,and he got up with a sore throat, sinus pressure and headache at about 4:45am. Still, he had a terrific race and came in 27th place in Division I - large schools! This out of 219 other Frosh runners! His time was 17:39. He got a beautiful medal to add to his collection this season. He has medaled at every meet this season. Next weekend, he has Mt. SAC,which is supposed to be the biggest meet in the state or nation (don't remember which). It's supposed to be a killer course with lots of hills, and, luckily, Chase loves hills! Then, on Nov. 1, he has Sunset League Finals. Two weeks later, if he qualifies, he will have CIF Prelims, then CIF FInals, then California State Finals. Can you believe that after the day he has had he is roaming around Knott's Scary Farm until 1 or 2am??!! Anyhow, here are some pics from his race.

He's on the far left, and J.D. is in the back row in the middle. Don't they look intense?





And...off they goooooooooooooooooooo.....



Working hard right off the starting line!



Coming down the dirt hill, and let me tell you how much dirt they kicked up...a TON!! We were all choking on it!



Check out that turn!



Trying not to let that little guy pass him. Now, at this point, I have been sprinting around with my big camera trying to get him running past various points. It's actually hilarious to watch all the people running around like a herd of elephants at each of these races.



Dangit! That little guy passed him up! Notice they are wearing the same exact shoes! This is the first kid in all of the races I've seen that has these!



Coming into the home stretch and still going strong. Once he passed me, he had only about 300 meters to go!

Charlie's Haircut

Well, it has been a looooong time, but I finally got Charlie a haircut today, and he is so adorable. Just look at him!!

My beautiful baby boy!

Terra Cotta, Girlfriends, Daredevil Antics & Preschool Homework

So, it seems never does a week go by when we sit and do nothing! Here's what we've been up to in the last week...

First, last Friday, I let all 3 of my kids play hookie from school in exchange for some much needed quality time and R&R. I know...I'm a bad mom...or am I a good one? :) So, I had the brilliant, yet apparently misguided, idea of taking the boys to the Bowers Museum to see the Terra Cotta Warriors from China, since they were scheduled to leave the museum after Oct. 15. Charlie wasn't too sure about the roaming, "live" warrior, but Chase and Harry thought he was cool (btw, when Chase reviewed this entry, he wanted me to remove the part about him thinking this guy was "cool" b/c it makes him sound like a little kid):

Braving the "high-five"...or was it a "high-three"?

Waiting in line for an hour to get in = not my brightest idea to bring a toddler!

After multiple bouts of noise pollution, whereby other (mostly geriatric) patrons gave me dirty looks and muttered nasty comments under their breath about the stupid mother who brought her toddler to this event (hey, he was free!), fortunately, I found something that would occupy his time and provide entertainment - the audio guide!

The previous week, Charlie was invited to his friend, Ethan's, birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's.

On the merry-go-round ride:

While there, he impressed his new future wife, Catherine, with his mad driving skills as he took control of the All-American jeep:

And soon she grabbed him by the hand and ran off with him. Together they ate birthday cake, side by side, and they lived happily ever after...(don't tell Claudia and Ryleigh):

Now, that same weekend, but the next day, Charlie (Mr. Social Butterfly) attended the birthday party of another friend, Chadd. Here he is ready to leave the house:

Funny face!

While there, I decided to test and challenge Charlie and told him, nonchalantly, "Charlie, go jump off the diving board," a thing which he has never done or even to which he has never been exposed. Here is his response:

First, the warm-up looked a little bit like playing it safe.

But then, after a short and minor pep talk and in a moment of toddler glory:

And the rear view (look at that form!):

Basking in the glory of he who is Charlie, King of all Waters and future Olympic diver:

Finally, here are some pictures of Charlie completing his preschool homework packet. Yes, he is barely 3, and he has homework! When he turns it in on Fridays, he gets to make a trip to the Treasure Chest. I can hardly believe the things he is working on - writing his name, rhyming words, grouping things into categories, etc. So far, he can spell "yellow", "red" and "orange". He can tell you the complete date each day,what kind of weather we're having (although I'm not sure if he knows what Santa Ana winds are yet) and what type of clothing to wear in what kind of weather. Blows my mind.

So proud:

Oh, and by the way, here are some pictures of him and his school bus, his school (Newland Elementary) and his teachers (Michelle, Roberta and Karen):

Posing with his friend, Devon.

Talk about poor economy of fuel, occasionally Charlie gets dropped off by a full-sized school bus, and he is THE ONLY passenger. No, I'm not kidding. He is the last drop-off of the day.

Buckled up and ready to go!

Teachers' pet:

His school:

Well, that's all from the Sabo household for now. I'll have more updates and posts after the weekend. Chase has the OC Championship race on Saturday at Irvine Regional Park, and I hope to get some good action shots. Then, Saturday night he is going with 5 or 6 girls to Knott's Scary Farm from 7pm - 2am. Oh, what a bummer...a teenage boy left to comfort all those girls - haha! He wasn't originally supposed to be the only boy, but each other boy, in turn, had to bail out. Harrison will start getting busy with basketball this weekend, as well. He has his player evaluation for NJB and then is trying out for the local All-Net Team. He's enjoying his new basketball shoes.

Hope you've enjoyed this day's Blog-o-vich. Next time I will have more pics of the rest of us! Please click on the link to subscribe to the updates. 'Til next time...

First Day of School

This has become a tradition over the years - to increasingly embarrass and inconvenience my children by making them stand in front of the house and smile for the camera as they head out on the morning of their first day of school.

Here's Charlie, complete with 3-year-old fake smile, on his first day of preschool.

And here's Chase on his first day of high school (*sniff, sniff*).

And Harrison on his first day of 7th grade.

A Lazy Weekend...For Once!!

I am not kidding...this is the first weekend where I got to sleep in at all - and on BOTH days, to boot! This is the first weekend Chase didn't have a Cross Country meet. No scheduled photo shoot. No birthday parties, sleepovers or sports. So, you'd think I would've gotten my act in gear and played catch up on things around the house. But noooooooo! I've been completely lazy around the house all weekend and am now faced with a long day/night of doing laundry and picking up for the housecleaners who come tomorrow. And, look...here I sit, procrastinating yet, writing this new blog. Hee hee!

You Made It!

Welcome to our new family blog called Sabo Central! I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time, and now I can post regular updates for anyone who wants to see what we've been up to. So, I hope you enjoy this blog, come back often, leave lots of comments and be sure to subscribe using the link at the bottom!