Wow!

 

Sometimes around here, I get an idea-just sometimes, not all the time.  Well, a few months ago, I came up with a project and asked Gil if he could make it.  I can't take complete credit for the idea, it is a congomeration of several cute things I have seen around (ok, probably on Pinterest).  We needed a pallet-which you see every darn place until you actually want one.  Gil brought one home and went to work. 

 

This little beauty, with our heart in South Carolina, now lives in our playroom and I am in love!!!

 

It is gigantic and Gil says we should never think about what the wall now looks like behind it, but really-wow.  And the most amazing part, Gil drew the US freehand-with a crayon!

That man is talented!

And there is at least one person selling something similar on Etsy for $325!  Wow!

A-maze-ing

Once again, ignore the silence and pretend that I have kept this little space up to date with all of the wonderful things we have been doing.  All of the summer sun and fun, birthday happiness, beginning of school greatness-trust me, that all happened, I just haven't taken the time to share. 

The boys were out of school on Monday for Columbus Day, so we headed over to a local farm to their corn maze.  I had never been to one and was surprised at just how fun it was.  There was a lot to do besides just getting lost in corn.  We went with our friends Michael and Lukas and the 4 boys had a great time running around.  It was a little chilly and overcast, but I don't think it would have been the same had it been sunny and 90 degrees!  And now for some pictures.

The M's live right down the street from us, and Ben and Michael were lucky enough to be in the same kindergarten class last year.  They are not together this year, but still get to have recess together.  So nice to have great neighbor friends!

This is pretty brave for Nate.

I really, super, extra love this truck.  I don't want to own it, just be able to look at it on a regular basis.

Notice the hood and the red cheeks?  All of 66 degrees and we all froze!  Wimps.

 

I'll take one of these for the backyard.

Julie and her sweet boys.

 

Ben is looking a little pooped here!

 

The maze for this year is election themed and it is pretty awe-inspiring.  Julie says they buy the design from a company and then plant their corn by GPS coordinates to make the maze.  We went in, spent a little bit, and were pretty pleased to get back out without raising our flag for help from the Maze Master.  Said Master, finding himself very funny, was playing DJ from up high and entertained the crowd by shouting, "Congratulations, you just found the ENTRANCE."  At least we made it out!

 

Pretty pumpkins all in a row.

 

Duck race.  Note the very serious looks of concentration.

Buds.  One smiling for the camera pro, the other 3, not so much.

 

Marshmellow anyone?

 

Luckily, the oldest and the youngest get along just as well as the middles!  Lukas and Nate are fast friends-Nate being very happy to do whatever Lukas wants to do!

 

Thanks for looking!

I'm back!

We are just going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted in a really long time and hope that this little piece of the internets doesn't stay dark for that long again-although I make no promises.  I don't have a really good excuse for not posting, I just haven't really felt like it.  I have barely taken any pictures in 2012, my February folder actually only has 3 pictures, and 2 don't even have people in them.  L-A-M-E.

I think I will just blame it on graduate school-it can't defend itself.  I have just finished my LAST semester and am thrilled.  I had a 10 week internship this spring.  The internship was great, really fun and really showed me that I am so glad I went to all the trouble to get my master's degree.  I can't wait to be a school librarian, and I am hoping to get a job for next year.  The killer this semester was the other class I took in order to finish up.  Lots of long, long papers were researched and written.  Thank goodness for Gil-he and the boys spent a lot of quality time on weekends this semester (they always do, but usually I am more present!)

So there is really no way for me to catch up on posts, but I want to share a picture that has become a serious tradition around here.  We did our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Fox's Tree Farm and had a great time as usual.  We had perfect weather and ended up being the very last ones there-it was just too nice to go home.  But there is one picture we have to take.....

And some of the ones from past visits....

    

I know Ben was there on this visit, I have other pictures of him, but I guess this was before our official tradition started.  Who is this baby anyway????

Happy Heart Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day a little early with some mini blueberry pies.  These were so easy to make and so yummy!  Hope everyone's day is filled with love and kisses!

A Happy Medium

I was flipping through the channels the other day and for some reason stopped on the TLC show about the Duggar family-you know the one-48 Kids and Counting or something along those lines.  They captured my attention for a minute, the kids were all being normal little kids and running around and Mrs. Duggar was just sitting there like she was on some sort of mood altering drugs.  Nothing fazed the woman.  She had about 29 little boys running around and jumping on furniture and she barely noticed.  Clearly, I need some more patience (or a good prescription).

(and yes I picked this old picture because of the scary hair and girls' creepy dresses)

It was like a train wreck and I couldn't look away-then they cut to a commercial for another TLC show.  It was so different, I can't even believe the two can be on the same network.  You know the one....

I have to say, I have watched Toddlers and Tiaras-or Satan's Little Helpers, now and then.  Another train wreck, can't look away situation.

This little sequence of events got me to thinking about what a crazy job parenting really is.  And I think it all boils down to this....

Somehow we all need to find a happy medium, a meeting place, between these two shows.  Those poor Duggar kids are really living in a bubble-which is fine for them, but don't you think that at least 16 of them are going to go postal at some point?   Face tattoos, liquor store hold up kind of postal? 

And then the pageant kids-I don't even know where to begin.  Those little girls are shaking their money makers while still in diapers.  The actually talk about being sexy for the judges.  It is 100% disgusting to this mom.  (And it also makes me glad I have boys-even though they will grow up alongside of girls like these).

I worry a lot about what the boys are watching on tv-all the shows they really want to watch are shows involving a lot of fighting-and I think it really encourages Nate to be more physical than he needs to be.  I also think it sort of desensitizes kids to hurting others and even death.   Gil and I steer them to Phinneas and Ferb (a more grown up option than straight up Playhouse Disney) but they really love Ben 10-which is all about fighting bad guys.

I was going to slip in a few pictures of the boys, but I don't want them on the same page as the nuts up above!

  'Fess up-are you a Duggar or a Tiara???

Happy Happy Merry Merry

We are fully in Christmas mode around here and I LOVE it!  This is by far my favorite time of year and we try to make it last as long as possible.  We decorated a week before Thanksgiving because we would be gone for that holiday (another one that I love!) and it's so nice to walk in to see lights and Santas everywhere.

The boys' elf came today and brought little soft elves for them to love until Christmas.  So far they have enjoyed having them to carry around and snuggle-and Nate, who loves all stuffed animals, is having a big time using his elf as a weapon. 

We were so lucky to have our friend Jody Mack take some pictures of us over Thanksgiving weekend and they are so good!  Here are a few of my favorites.

Sick

Ben was Patient X-he threw up right outside of the Carolina basketball game Friday night.

Next came Gil on Sunday.

Now it's my turn.  The couch is my friend. 

Help!

Why oh why can't I take a decent picture? 

I have such good intentions-and I have a wonderful camera-but alas, I lack basic knowledge.  We went out to the Horseshoe with Leslie not long ago to get some family pictures.  I have been wanting to do a family session with a professional photographer but just can't bite the bullet.  Last summer Leslie went with us and we got some great shots.  This year I decided we needed that soft evening light.  Bah Humbug.  I wasn't thinking that the beautiful light requires a slower shutter, so all of our pictures are blurry.  I have also been admiring sun flare on professional photographer pictures lately but I have no idea how to actually achieve that with the real sun! 

Basically I need to take a class on how to get out of auto on my camera.  And maybe get a tripod.

I spent so much time coordinating our outfits so we weren't too matchy matchy-but you can barely tell.  We are all in green and brown (inspired by Ben's shorts) but again, you can barely tell.

And then let's talk about getting more than one person to look at the camera and not make a monkey face.  Factor in that two of the monkeys are 3 and 5 and it's all over.  How do those professionals do it?  They don't get all this monkey face business??

This is probably the best shot of the session.   Should have given Nate a green lollipop at least.

Wow, are there any people in that mess of a picture?



Oh look, it's ants (grainy ants).

Enter the monkey faces.....

 Mom and Dad are looking, but what about the monkeys?

There are about 200 more, but not a one that begs for a frame. 

Happy Halloween!

Here is an oldie but a goodie.  Ben was 2 years and a few months.







Oh how I miss adorable costumes.  Now it's all Super Mario Brothers and Transformers around here-blech.  Ben does have a pretty cool pirate for tonight.  I'll be back tomorrow.  We'll see if Nate finally dons a costume-all signs point to NO!

Carnies!

Ok, so we missed the majority of the carnies! because we went early on a Saturday morning, but..

we went to the fair!!

  We hadn't really planned on it, Gil and I like to pretend our kids are too little to enjoy things that will just cost us a lot of money, but we went and it was fun.  Going on Saturday morning was great.  All of the rides were 2 for 1 so we really saved a good bit.  Aunt Leslie also had some discount tickets so that made it even better.  And it wasn't crowded-the best part of all.  Ben loved the rides, of course, and we were surprised at how many Nate would ride.

We also saw some cows, bunnies, chickens, and ducks.  Next year I hope there is a night football game so we can stay longer!

This little car ride was so funny.  The cars whipped around the corners so fast, the boys cracked up every time!



The obligatory picture of fair food. We had an elephant ear and it was good!

Gil was here too-he was happy to be the official photographer of the day (since it kept him from having to ride the rides). He we are with Aunt Leslie.

The daredevils went on this little roller coaster-we even sat in the back-yep, living on the edge.

Look at that sweet little face on the lollipop swings.  The kid loves to "swing high" on our swingset, but I did not think he would like this, but he laughed the whole time.  Ben and Leslie were behind us on this one.



Big liked the bumper cars, or he said he did-it looked to me that he spent a great deal of time stuck in a corner! 

We all know that he is just biding his time until he is tall enough for the SCARY rides. When he is, he will have a willing partner in his mom. I just have to get out of my mind that the rides came down the highway on a flatbed a day or two ago-that is truly the scariest part of the fair (besides the people that come at night).