Last Saturday we took the kids to a pumpkin farm. They had about 5 slides that they had made from silos and farm equipment. One of these slides was running from the top of a circular barn. The kids loved it. As did their daddy. Robert informed me that when he makes his first million we were going to move to farm and he was going to build slides. I told him we could do that after he made his first couple of million. He told me that I was killing his passions. Again. (He first told me that I was killing his passions about 9 years ago in San Louis Obispo in our extremely tiny apartment. He had 4 fish tanks set up in that place, plus about 4 Beta fish in little random cups, plus a cooler out back with rotting seaweed and stinky water that he was using to breed more fish. During a drive home from school he told me that he wanted to put up another fish tank. I exploded with an emphatic, resounding"NO! No more fish!" and his response was, spoken in a sad, soft voice, "Christy...you're killing my passions." So...here I am, doing it again. Shame on me!)

Back to the farm: I couldn't get any of them away from those slides all morning. Finally, near noon we got on our tractor mobile and headed out to the field of pumpkins. As soon as we got the kids down, Robert was off. It was all I could do to herd all three kids through the dust he kicked up as he ran. He was a little like a kid on Christmas trying to decide which gift to open up first. Every few minutes we'd hear a "kids...this is the one! Look over here. " As soon as we managed to catch up to him, he'd be off to another part of the field. Finally he found the hugest orange pumpkin he could lift and we lugged everything back over to the tractor. Once we weighed in, it was back to the slides. So, apparently it was a huge hit.

Robert took some cool pictures of the kids going down the barn slide.

My little Twins - How they grow!

This is the first quilt I've ever made. Cheryl B. talked me through the whole thing. The patches that I sewed on have almost all fallen off...but it still is holding together.



This is my second quilt. I made this one for baby Chey. Now, I love Chey, but it was really hard to part with this one. I loved how the colors came out. It is good to know that Chey loves it almost as much as I do.

It is one in the morning. Robert and the kids are fast asleep. And I am totally bummed out because I just finished Austin's quilt and there is no one to celebrate with me. So...it just you and me little blog. Whahoo for me!

Well, this quilt has seriously been the bane of my existence ever since I started it. For starters, I guess if I had ever finished geometry, I would have known that the 5 diamonds that I had created would not, in fact, perfectly fit together to make a 5 pointed star. I created the inside star to somehow convince the diamonds that they belonged together. The sky was equally confusing and frustrated to piece together and fit up against the star. I forgot all the secret tips that Cheryl, my quilting mentor in Colorado, ever taught me and so i managed to do it all wrong. This was true especially concerning the binding. My huge screw-ups there forced me to recreated those awful corners that were nearly the death of me. And in order to completely send myself over the edge, I decided that it was time to try quilting instead of tying the quilt to the back. This might not have been so bad had I been working with two straight pieces of material instead of the bulky, uneven, front that I had ended up with. But...I am finished. So, I'm not going to go back and fix all the problems anymore. I'm moving on. So, here it the final product, world:
I tried doing Austin's name on the back...not my best work ever, but at least it is legible.
Here is a lovely pictures of Robert holding the quilt. I briefly pulled him out of bed to hold it up...which he was decidedly unpleased with. It is a full sized quilt, so he had his arms stretched as high as they would go in order to get the bottom off the floor. Just look at those cute toes :)



Mom...this one is hard to see..but if you enlarge the picture you can see one of the fun stitches I used going around the sides. I used a gold thread which broke a million times (just like the lovely old lady at the fabric store told me it would) but it looks kinda cool, so I'm still glad I used it.

Carolina Beach

Last weekend we took the kids to our NC coast. It was the first time that we've had a chance to visit our beaches here. We rented a small condo right on the beach for a couple nights and were lucky to have absolutely perfect weather for our weekend. It was such a wonderful trip. Sometimes going somewhere ends up being more trouble than it is worth. Not this time. Robert and I decided that we wanted to live the rest of our lives on the beach. (if only those pesty hurricanes didn't land there so often.)

The monsters.


Does this light confuse anyone besides us?


Daddy's Baby Girl. Can you tell how much Laina's Daddy loves her...or how much she loves him?


This was our sunrise on Sunday. I didn't do any touch ups or color changes. Can you believe how gorgeous it was?

Ahh...the great, elusive eggplant. How she toys with me! Every time I pass that pompous purple vegetable I can practically hear her patronizing sneers. She knows that I have never conquered the perplexing plant. I have never figured out the right combination of ingredients that will turn her bitterness to a savory dish. And so almost every trip to the grocery when I am taunted by her condescending blank stare, I defiantly pretend to ignore her. Who needs eggplants anyways? Nobody. But every now and then I break down and look her way. Immediately I'm entranced with her arrogance. Unable to squelch the innate stubbornness that seethes out of me I pick her up and vow that this time I will tame her. Proud and undaunted by the lofty task before me, I rush home and scour over recipes in hopes of finding the one perfect one that will humble my pious eggplant. After selecting a proven winning recipe (only the one that has raving reviews of it's simpleness and stellar results) I roll up my sleeves.
"I have you now, you silly veggie," I scoff. I chop and mix with growing anticipation. This time I will be victorious. On the skillet and in the oven, tossed in with other, more compliant vegetables, she has lost her pious sheen. And then the moment comes. The house is filled with a warm, promising aroma. We sit down together as a family to savor my victory. With a sure smile I watch my hungry food-tasters cram that first bite into their mouths. And then that moment that lasts forever...the moment before the face reflects the taste buds' final decision.
"Ewwww Mama! I don't like this! This is NOT a great idea!" The monsters' faces contort their squishy, puckered face rejection. Anger and shame courses through my body! Oh Eggplant, I curse her smug, bland taste. Beaten again I take my frustration out on my darling poppets and demand that they finish every last tasteless bite. I vow to never again touch the haughty eggplant, as I force down my own spongy dinner. But deep inside I know that one day I will, yet again, give into her mocking glare.

Robert came home today. Yeah! To celebrate we took the kids out to the park. This morning Alaina had dressed up and insisted staying that way when we went out. Of course, she couldn't leave the house without her sunglasses or crown. Really, who would? Not when you are as fashion forward as my girl. :)
The kids love having Dad around. They hung all over him the entire day. I have to admit, I was pretty excited he came home as well. Now that he's back I think we'll keep him here for a while. I even dusted off the huge, long list of to-do things I put away before his trip. I'd hate to let him settle in and relax when there are so many other things I SURE he'd rather be doing. Ahem. Like the garage....

We do have one big decision ahead of us though. Do we have Rob keep the new beard or shave it off? Any one care to give an opinion?

Look what Austin started doing today.

Happy Anniversary to ME!

What for, you may ask. Well, let me put your curious minds to rest. It is my one-year blogging anniversary. That's right. One full year of mindless blather and over-load of minute-by-minute photo journalism of the growth of my kids. Ohhh.....look there is Alaina at 12:03 p.m. Isn't she cute? Oh, look...there she is at 12:04 p.m., taking another bite of lunch. Wow...at 12:05 p.m. she is really showing off her mastication abilities. Amazing. And don't let me get started on how well those boys chew their food....never mind....I'll post a picture...

And yet you kept coming back for more. I'll let you figure what was so fascinating about this blog, all by yourself, because I'm busy CELEBRATING! WHAHOO! Can't you tell how excited I am by all my use of capitalization?

And for my special celebration blog post, I am now about to summarize every major even that happened this entire last year, in one sentence.

Ready? Here it goes...

"Wow, man...whoa...totally crazy."

Articulate enough?

I better get going...I only have 20 min. left of this monumental day. I think I'll do something really wild and go to sleep. I am one wild and crazy girl. Who knew?