test garvin wordpress

Fair Portraits: http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4305", width: 800, height: 500 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4305", paramXMLPath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/params/rain.xml", displayMode: "Manual", videoAutoStart: "Off", feedbackPreloaderAppearance: "Pie Spinner" } }); Award winning decorated cakes: http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4310", width: 800, height: 500 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4310", paramXMLPath: "http://ph...

I'm having a love affair with my children. Lewis is such a dear, pure boy and today had his first day of Preschool on his own, without his brother.

I took the boys for their first visit to Como town, a small amusement park next to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. It was sorta fun but, in my view, unsustainably expensive for our family and I'm guessing most. That said, we did have fun. Went on a rides. We went on old fashioned tilt-a-whirl. Art and Lewis were both a little scared about the idea since neither have experience riding stuff like that. But once it started we started spinning with great force and we were all barrel laughing and sticking to the seat like glue. I laughed real hard and remember looking down at my two boys and being so proud of them and so happy they were in my life. After we searched around for other rides, rode a couple (including the cars), but ultimately Arthur really wanted to ride the tilt-a-whirl again. And after I heard him talk about it I realized why. He wanted to see me laugh really hard again. He just loves to watch his parents laugh and he'll do whatever he can to make it happen over and over...

So, my preschool at the park is going to run. It will be mobile - packed up each night after class - and take place in a lovely section of the gym with huge windows and a new plum colored rug, compliments of the park board. Having the preschool starting soon has helped me snap out of some recent parental apathy and up my game. I have been practicing all kinds of activities and cooperation techniques and been having a lot of fun watching the boys get into all kinds of projects. Just today I made some good old-fashioned playdough, didn't even put color in it, and set them up with rollers and cutters and whatevers. Then I brought some animals over, which always seem to be a welcome addition to any activity, and the kids made footprints in their flattened dough. They also did some extruding. I extruded some thick noodles and gave each boy one. Art wrapped his around his Brachiasaurus' neck and said it was a scarf.   Lewis cut his into pieces and put it on his firetruck. It ...

Emily (Jessica's sister), Mike and their daughter Charlotte started a blog a while back when Charlotto was borno. Emily just posted this funny photo of Netta and Bailed when they had just learned to pull themselves up on stuff when we were at the cottage a month ago.

We visited the egret's nest near our house yesterday. I stuck Arthur high up in the tree and told him we'd see him later. Nooooooo papa, it's too scary! Art said it was 'beautiful' under the tree and wanted to take a baby down to the waters edge to show her. After a while a baby can get sorta heavy and unwieldy. And imagine two!

Spider prank in the horse barn: http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4287", width: 800, height: 500 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4287", paramXMLPath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/params/rain.xml", displayMode: "Manual", videoAutoStart: "Off", feedbackPreloaderAppearance: "Pie Spinner" } }); and the goat judging: http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4291", width: 800, height: 500 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4291", paramXMLPath: "htt...

Netta and Bailey do have a lot of things in common.  They both have strawberry blonde hair.  They both have fair, smooth complexions.  They both weigh just over 19lbs.  They are both 10+ months old and they both share most of the same DNA.  But there are many things that make them different .  For posterity I thought I'd make a list of our current observations so that we may compare as they age.  Who knows?  Maybe they will change.  Maybe some of these things will stay the same.  Either way, here goes: Netta does these things:     -grabs and climbs aggressively     -eats like a barbarian.  She really "gloms" her food and makes a total mess of herself     -makes a raspberry sound, complete with flying spit.  She will even do it on command occasionally     -makes vocal sounds that remind me of Animal, from the Muppets     -tries to climb out of her highchair or stroller if not strapped in securely     -LOVES LOVES LOVE to nurse     -bites randomly     -will often craw...

I'm working on location at the State Fair for the next week or more. Fun and exhausting. Each day I'm shooting a few photos based on a theme, any theme. Today's was blue ribbon winning veggies. And I'm also collecting a daily mystery audio clip. Here's a link to the first one . What is it? Visit our facebook page to get each on as they arrive: http://www.facebook.com/PioneerPress http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4284", width: 800, height: 600 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4284", displayMode: "Manual", videoAutoStart: "Off" } });

Bailey and Netta had their 10-month checkup recently (actually, supposed to be 9-month but we were late...). They are middle of the road in every way physically. perhaps the crazy tall gene given to Art and Lew was divided between the girls. Lewis, though. My god. I just took him to his 3-year appointment (actually 3 and a half...again, late), and he's in the 99th percentile for height. 96th for weight. crazy! The nurse wrote all his statistics down and then sorta looked at Lewis and then at me, concerned. "How tall are you?" I had always thought Arthur was going to be the taller of the two boys, but Lewis clearly has something else planned. He's one big boy. Bailey's stats. Netta's stats. Lewis' crazy stats.

Just a week left before Art starts his thirteen year journey through school and before Lewis starts his first week of preschool. We are living it up this week, home together with no appointments or classes or camps or other engagements. I must admit I was worried about the boys fighting a lot, being cooped up while the girls have to be home napping twice a day, or just plain getting sick of each other. But I also didnt' feel like making all kinds of play dates and arrangements. I don't know. I just wanted to go at it just ourselves. I'm glad I did. These last two days have been quite wonderful for the Parker Garvin Quintet. The boys have been playing beautifully together, have a sort of mini-love fest. I wonder if it's because they somehow know they will be seeing less of each other real soon? All I know is they were literally rolling on the floor of the optometrist lobby this morning holding each other and saying, "I love you!" (Optometrist? I...

Nearly every time Jess or I sweep, the girls follow. They see the broom, all the fun little bits of food and hair and other tiny things to choke on and they just go for it! And they're getting fast, which means you have to sweep fast. A video would've demonstrated this better but instead I have a bunch of sorta lame photos showing a girl (Bailey I think) clearly following Jessica through the kitchen. I grabbed the camera late, she initially started in the dining room, went through the kitchen and ended up in the entry way. Nearly a full circle! The extra special challenge is to remember to bring the dustpan with you. Otherwise, you have to sweep so far ahead of your baby that you give yourself enough time to race back and grab the dust pan and race back to sweep up the choking bits before your baby is choking (or just gnawing on something unpleasant).

I know this video might seem rough but Art has this amazing sense with the babies. He seems to know their physical limit and enjoys taking them right to it. He can poke and push hard and prod and they'll laugh and giggle. My first reaction is, "Arthur, more gentle please!" But the truth is I'm speaking more to my own sense of caution then to the situation between Arthur and his chosen baby. He's tuned in to her mood, her readiness to be physical and silly, and just goes with it. He's a baby whisperer! And anyway, he's usually the first to try and sooth an upset baby. The last thing he'd want to do is cause even a tiny bit of harm. He loves them! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FXR5Tc_t8k?rel=0&w=640&h=510]

This week's theme at camp was 'food'. They made butter, fancy rice salad and, as seen here, pizza. Art and Lewis have gone to a few 'summer camps' at their preschool over the summer. This week was the last one, and afterwards a few families went for ice cream. I realized that, sadly, it was the last time Art will be in a class with this good friend Si. They're off to kindergarten at different schools. It's a lamentable situation for sure, but of course they'll move on, make new friends, blah dee blah blah. And still get together outside of school. It was also likely the last day Arthur and Lewis will both be in the same 'class'. I realize this is the kind of thing only a parent thinks about, but it's still important god damnit! So, here are some photos from yesterday: From left, Anthony, Ben, Si, Lewis, Henry and Arthur.

First of all, take a moment to notice the walking disaster that is our wonderful little boy, Lewis. Drool coming down his chin. He's outside in his socks getting them totally dirty, for sure. His shirt is stained with salsa. He's got some kind of scrape or insect bite on his shin. And really, this is very very clean and put together for this energetic and inquisitive young person. There would usually be dirt and mud all over his hands and legs and some kind of food or other substance on his face. Then look at those legs sticking out of those shorts. I love these shorts and I especially love them on a boy. There's something innocent and nostalgic about short shorts on a boy. Maybe because you get to see so much of those wonderful little boy legs while they run and climb and dance. The shorts might make me nostalgic because Art wore them. Or maybe because they are size 24 months. (They are wide and have a very generous waistband.) Anyway, I hate to pack them away ...

It's obvious but at the same time ellusive: when kid does something the first time you have to tell him how. Tonight Arthur combed his hair for the first time (!) and I had to tell him a number of times, "No, try starting in the front, not the back."

Keeping the window to our back porch clean would be like trying to keep Arthur from eating a piece of candy sitting on the table in front of him. It would be impossible. So we don't try. The back porch window has turned out to be an activity center of sorts. Babies stand up and bang on it (see video), little boys and mamas and papas make faces through it, and 3-year-old fingers get crushed and finger nails eventually fall off (after weeks of a little boy saying, "look at mine finger nail, Papa" as he'd enjoy rocking it back and forth." [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0HEEJd86Lw?rel=0]

Ben has been shooting the Minnesota Lynx basketball lately and has had such a good time he got us tickets to the game.  Art, Lewis, Ben and I watched the team go through the motions with the unfortunately inferior Tulsa Shock.  Ben said it is a LOT more fun when the teams are evenly matched because the Lynx play such a good game (they're the best in the WNBA right now, apparently) but we all had a really good time.  In fact Art was talking the phone to his best friend, Si, today telling Si all about how they ate "all the good things" - pizza, hot dogs, snow cones - and that he and Lewis threw the ball in the basketball goal (this was during halftime in a kid area).  But really, the best part was I scored us a free bag of kettle corn!  At the end of the game there was a promotion for some kettle corn and I saw them standing at the end of the bleachers with the barrel of popcorn bags.  I knew they were going to throw the bags to the crowd and I was determined to get one.  I...

Lewis has a somewhat annoying (at least for his Papa) habit taking his shoes off in random places and then not remembering where he left them. Here's where I found a shoe and socks during a recent outing the boys and I had to the zoo.

Yesterday I got a call from Josh. "Ben, I was in an accident. I'm okay," was the first thing he said. Which was good cause if I had heard that was in a rollover accident going 70mph while towing a boat I would have assumed the worst. But it's amazing, it really is. Nobody was seriously hurt. He and two friends were returning from sailing on Lake Superior at the Apostle Islands (he called from the water, "Ben, this is the most beautiful place I've ever seen, you wouldn't bevieve it!"). On their way back they were on the highway and swirved to avoid tire. His Toyota Rav4 flipped and rolled five times, boat was destroyed. Apparently all the airbags deployed and everyone walked away. Cuts and bruises, that's it! A miracle of sorts in my view. Jeez. The policeman said they would have probably been killed had they not been wearing seatbelts. Here's what Josh wrote: "Here's a photo of the Rav4 that ash and I USED to have.  It has gone by...

So, the girls got a bath tonight. They sure love to imagine they could grab that water stream!   Two naked babies are hard to wrangle, so I just let them crawl around while I gathered clean diapers and clothes for them. I couldn't help but laugh at the MUSCLES! And the feet! They are destined for ballet. 5th position, baby. I mean, babies. And en pointe , too!  

In a continuing and lifelong attempt to please my mother (!), I've collected all the photos from our recent vacation in once place. Here you go, ma! https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Last night Emily and Mike came over, along with Mike's sister and her family who are in town visiting from San Antonio. Art and Calvin have great fun playing together, even though Calvin's alot older. It's clear Art sorta looks up to him. He's super tall and lanky so that would be literally and figuratively... Playing basketball in the backyard. That's Sophia, Calvin's sister. "Freeze! This is a stick up!" yelled Sophia, armed with the plastic alligator . Nice camera, nice light, beautiful family. And finally, a lovely photo of cousin Charlotte:

Art is laying on the couch right now, playing with an empty basket while he listens to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on tape.  I love watching his skinny little legs flopping around while he stares into space.

We were married on August 4th, 2002. Here's to a gazillion more years... Happy anniversary Jessica!

At the cottage.

Emily, Jessica's sister, her husband Mike and baby Charlotte joined us for a few days at the cottage on our recent vacation. All the babies slept in a tiny room with three small cribs, a nursery of sorts.

The other day we had our friends Jeff and Laurel and their kids Si and Anthony over for breakfast. And then, suddenly and with great urgency, Si and Art asked everyone to come outside to watch their 'show'. They gathered chairs in our driveway for the audience and then, in a well time reveal, opened the garage door as a curtain of sorts. They hammered and danced as part of their show. More like improv theater really.