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[Jessica didn't actually try to sneak the butter knife in, it was a long forgotten cheese cutting knife stuck in some obscure and hard-to-find pocket...) We're all in North Carolina, all six of us. I had to shoot a football game for the paper and we though, WHAT THE HELL!!!!, let's just go COMPLETELY CRAZY and buy three more tickets and visit my pops and family out here. So we are. The idea of flying with four kids was much more frightening than the reality. It was actually really easy and fun, although we lucked out by getting bumped to a direct flight after we missed our first one (Jessica was held up a security after they spend 20 minutes seaching for the dull butter knife she tried to sneak in). no shit. It was a horrible situation turned immediately into a great one after they said they'd have to bump us to a direct flight rather than pile on and off planes all day. Oh the horror. My father 'helped' at the football game today. It was actually helpful having...

I just finished a video on Dressy Jessie, and inspired woman who dresses as five characters each work day based on a theme. Super fun and funny. There's also a gallery of a gazillion of her photos below. http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1 http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/m/embed.js SlideShowPro({ attributes: { id: "album-4504", width: 600, height: 500 }, mobile: { auto: false }, params: { bgcolor: "#000000", allowfullscreen: true }, flashvars: { xmlFilePath: "http://photo.twincities.com/ssp/images.php?album=4504", displayMode: "Manual", videoAutoStart: "Off" } });

Just yesterday Lewis was hiding under my covers and when I found him he laughed and joyfully said, "Momma, you didn't know what that hard thing was in your bed! Was it is a tree or a dinosaur or me? And it was ME!" His language skills are starting to catch up to his imagination.

Now that Art has kindergarten on Mondays nature day had been overlooked. But yesterday we slipped in a quick walk before school around the lake at Woodlake nature center. It's such a beautiful place.

After just three weeks of Kindergarden Art spontaneously asked for paper so he could "do letters". We were in the car at the cottage at the time - on VACATION, but he had been bitten by the writing bug and so he sounded out and wrote the following: What!? This is a boy who wouldn't even hold a pencil because it was too hard, let alone try to write HELICOPTER DRIVER! And then he added his brother's future job, BACKHOE MAN just to raise the stakes. I am reminded once again not to push my kids to learn things until they are ready because when they are truly ready they will push themselves.

Working late and just got this email from jessica. -------------- From: "Jessica Parker Garvin" Date: Oct 22, 2011 11:32 PM To: "Ben Garvin" Not asleep because of fucking babies.  Netta has been screaming for twenty minutes, but I couldn't go in until just a few minutes ago because Bailey's laying on my chest and whenever I moved she started howling again.  Stupid fucking shit!  Nothing more frustrating than being tired, rolling into bed and then a baby starts crying.  And then you get that baby to go back to sleep and fall asleep yourself only to be woken up just as you rech some good slumber by the other baby screaming her head off.  I hate them for that.  I will love them again in the morning, but probably not until around 6:45.  Anytime before then I will still have to hate or at least dislike them. - Jessica

Smile. It was picture day. This is Art's weird smile. I dig it. Although I actually wish though they wouldn't ask kids to smile, but rather just sit there and be themselves. Smile or not, whatever. that would be more fun. And accurate historically. As it is the photos will represent a bunch of kids trying to please a strange photographer by smiling, even though they can't really do that on command. Maybe if you say, "You have stinky green boogers on your butt!! AHHH AH HA HA!" But not by asking a kid to smile. That's not funny or smile-worthy. They had the opportunity to tweak their hair. Art loved his so much he didn't make any adjustments. Here's Art running around the gym as his entire class watches. Each kid, on their first day of gym, learned some rules and then ran around the gym. Everyone clapped when they arrived back where they started. A weird jumping game. reading something. I like this photo. During free time Art chose to play with these li...

Mama, I like sounds that brooms make... Cause they're so soft and they're so loud and they're so soft and they're so loud and they're so soft and they're so loud and they're so soft. Mama, I like black because it's so black. Mama, this whole place is a hot dog... And the sky is the bun... And we are in the bun.

Have I mentioned that I now love Art's school?  I went to an informational meeting for parents last night called "Barton 101", a 90 minute program designed to help parents understand the philosophies and methods that drive Barton's progressive model.  Anyway, the kids just finished their apple unit and one of the many apple related things the kids did was write a poem. Art had told me that they were writing poems and that the poems "did not have to rhyme" but that words just had to be beautiful.  He wrote his poem in big block letters but the sheet got crumpled, torn and stained a bit so I will not include a picture of his handwriting, but here are what the letters said: Autumn YELLOW CRUNCH LEAVES (with some extra letters that he did not explain on the bottom - ears EL L CXS) e.e. cummings, eat your heart out!

Last Sunday we had brunch at our house with all of Jessica's family and my brother and his wife. It's a big tasty potluck affair and has become a sort of tradition. It's fun to make breakfast food en mass, and especially fun to fill up our house with people we love. We celebrated a number of October birthdays, especially the first birthdays of Netta and Bailey (Oct 8th) and their much older and wiser cousin Charlotte (Oct 5th). We got there free cakes at lunds by bringing in birth certificates (!). I so wish Adria was still alive to have seen her trio of beautiful granddaughters turn one. It actually breaks my heart. I know it does Jessica's. I have to admit, I've been in a conscious state of denial about her loss for quite a while. She was such a enormous part of our lives, it's hard really to quantify. It's no small thing, especially for Jessica, and it's taking some time to process. I haven't even really looked at photos of her since the first cou...

Today I spent the entire three hours of Art's half-day kindergarten as a classroom volunteer. Sorta helped out with this or that and (surprise!) took lots of photos. When I have time I'll post some more. This one is from Art's first gym glass ever. The kids ran laps and each one seemed pretty thrilled at actually being asked to run.

Just got this heart-wrenching email from Jessica with a happy ending. Hard for a Papa to read, imagining his poor hungry kids unable to eat! It's actually probably a good experience for them, to be so thoroughly disappointed but realize life goes on. It's actually helpful for me, too.. From Jessica: We had an interesting night.  Went to IKEA with the intention of getting some cheap and attractive paper plates/cups etc.  Small-land had a 40 minute wait so we played in the rugs for a bit before heading up for dinner.  Boys were great.  Waited patiently in a long cafeteria line diligently steering their own IKEA Tray-Mobiles until, loaded up and ready to pay, we discovered I HAD NO WALLET!!!  NO MONEY!!!  Oh, the horror for a Mom!  There they were with some of their favorite things to eat right in front of them!  And it was 5:30!!!!  Of course, they both cried.  I saw the joy about his dinner fall off of Art's face in real time when he realized we weren't ...

Jessica wrote these down on one of my many reporter's notebooks floating around the house. I just found them: "There's nothing better than a fresh piece of cantaloupe." and "I just love my pogo stick. I just love it. I'm IN love with it. One day I may marry it."

I am responsible for Lewis' not so good haircut he got recently. We wanted a trim, just a trim, but the woman asked if I'd like the hair in front shorter and I said yes, thinking that it would be out of his eyes for longer. But now it looks sorta weird. But he doesn't give a sh#t which is the good part.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBMhe49FJHM?rel=0&w=640&h=480]

Last week we went to Barton for the kindergarten family night. Which included pizza and potluck salads, a chance for parents to meet each other and, most important for Art, the children performed. A few times during the week Art would say something about how he's 'got the power'. And then we realized it was that song, "I've got the power!" that he was mumbling about. See the video below for their 'robot dance.' [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6_p3r1Kzp0?rel=0]

Yesterday I made this fun little video of the world champion Minnesota Lynx as they had a parade and rally in downtown Minneapolis. They just won the WNBA championship, Minnesota's first professional sports win in more than two decades. They're an inspiring group of women. http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Does it work ok on your browser? My mother says some photos are coming up skinny and distorted and I'm trying to get a sense of others are having issues, too. Blogger just came out with these 'dynamic' views (you can click through the various ones on the bar above). Please email or comment below if things look weird for you, too! thanks, ben

Lewis will be in mid-sentence telling you something and then will see an apple on the counter and say, "Uh, can I have an apple?" Then he'll see a banana. "Actually, a banana." If we have watermelon it HAS to be in the refrigerator or he'll ask for it all day. So, I was using the computer yesterday and for some reason there was a picture of the Walker Art Center's sculpture of the cherry and the spoon. "Papa, can we go there?" It was a sunny afternoon around 3. The girls were about the wake up from a nap, Jessica was coming home from visiting her sister, the boys were restless, Jessica and I both love the sculpture garden... YES, Lewis, we can go there. Lewis getting his wish. Sculpture dancing. Stander uppers. Here we are playing a game of knocking down man. The kids run past me, I try to knock them down. Get it? Poor Jessica is the only one not appearing in these photos. I am going to take lots of pictures of her soon to make up for this gl...

A year ago today I was having trouble sleeping because I was so pumped after birthing two of the best mistakes ever. This is the awesome day that Netta and Bailey entered the world and our family and that means it is one of the best days of my life. And for so many reasons. Oh, joy! I am just so grateful for a lot of things. Very blessed and fortunate... and lucky! A year ago around 6am labor started with a jolt. Like I'd been punched in the cervix (TMI?). The adrenaline started flowing, the water broke and I called my hospital, HCMC. Labor with Lewis was so rapid I did not want to wait around and most importantly I was going for a VBAC with twins. I needed to get into the safety of my midwife team quickly if I wanted to have the best chance! The nurse answered the phone, I told her I was in labor and she paused. She said, "Well, we're full right now." Full!?!?! But this was a community hospital! How can they be full? They were diverting mothers to Abbo...

Today's their first birthday. Jessica got some cupcakes. I should just take a quick moment here also celebrate this being Jessica's birthing day. A year ago she gave birth to these two people! And one was backwards! She calls it her warrior birth, and it was. I was and remain so impressed.

Mmmm, fresh pebbles. There was a one attempt at 'swimming', and neither kid got above the knees. A scarecrow Art made with Zach. As Brian said, it was a great day for swim shorts and a sweater. Oooooh, texture. A tree near the water tipped in a recent storm. Just ripped the massive root structure right out of the loose sand. It was an old tree. Art and Brian. On a walk in the woods on the Ice Age Trail. Furry rug bug. We spent the weekend at the cottage with the recently expanded Longley family (that's Cait, Jessica's cousin, nursing her newborn Oscar) Zach, Cait (still nursing) and her pops Brian. Cousins Hannah and Jess. Oscar getting an emergency wash down. Jessica bought three beer brats from the coop and man they were big. I was thinking about making some inappropriate joke about how Jessica likes big wieners but then I though, hey, this is a family blog. Sparkle fun! This is Jessica writing her name. She got through half, it's just so long! J-E-S-S-I-C-A. Jesu...