(while eating his mid-morning snack)"Momma, a big monkey can not fit into a small hole…. Only a BIG hole."

We returned today from North Carolina. A looooong day. Two flights, some crying and whining but we’re home in one piece and all very happy and grateful to be back in our little home. We’ll post some more photos and notes over the next few days as we have time. Here’s a photo from this morning after I woke my father up by dumping a couple granddaughters on him.

[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 him do some video stuff, and fun for me to show him what I do. The kids and Jessica are asleep, I think they jumped on a trampoline lots today and then went to a children’s museum in Durham or chapel hill. We’re staying a couple more days for some on-location trick or treating and wholesome family time. We’ll post photos upon our return. Art’s playing hooky!!!

here are the pictures I made from today’s game:

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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.

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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.

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