Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The great connundrums of our time

I have a list of questions to ask God when I get there. It's long, proves the true level of my idiocy, and consists of things like "what were you thinking when you created mosquitoes?", "what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa?" and "why did you let Ricky Williams sign that stupid contract with the Saints?".
The newest question for that list has to do with theseFoul creations. What's puzzling is, I bought them. What's even more puzzling is, I bought them because, in the dead middle of July, Harris Teeter was out of all the regular marshmallows. We decided to make use of the still-hot coals in Brett's new old-school charcoal grill and roast marshmallows. Yes, I realize this is a time honored fall tradition but what can I say- we were thinking outside the box. Apparently we weren't the only free-thinkers that night because we got stuck with pink marshmallows. Luckily, once you get a little char on them, they taste just fine. Here's proof.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Where have we been...

...you may ask. (not to worry, I'm well aware of the fact that a) no one is reading this so therefore b) no one knew we'd been scant on posts) The answer is...Alabama and Mississippi. One of my very oldest friends in the world got married two weeks ago in Hattiesburg, MS. Brett and I took advantage of my parents' willingness to keep the kids and we took our time about the trip. We drove 10 hours (hellooooooo old age) to Gulf Shores, AL for two days, then headed up to Hattiesburg for the wedding. We enjoyed our time away and our few precious days of sleeping past 6am but, please know, Will Nolen, that you are quite possibly the only person for whom I would make a 10 hour semi-cross-country drive at this stage in my life! We hope you and Laura had a wonderful honeymoon and wish you all the best!
Don't worry, you're all in luck. Brett and I managed not to take any pictures of each other lounging on the beach. Instead, we'll regale you with a few recent pictures of and quotes from the kids.

This was part of a discussion with Makena yesterday- she's big into the idea of twins and triplets ever since my friend, Elizabeth, had her triplets last month (she's also into being first at everything)
M: ...and I got here before Reese.
Me: yes, you did.
M: because I was in your tummy all by myself...before Reese.
Me: yes, you were.
M: because we are not twins. twins share a tummy.
Me: that's right
M: well...where was Reese?
Me:....(formulating an answer)...
M: God was holding Reese.
Why, yes, He was.

I love this picture. We often have to answer the question "where did she get that hair??". Truth be told, the closest full redhead in either of our families is my great-grandfather. Brett has red in his beard (when he lets it come in) and I have some red highlights in my hair when I'm out in the sun long enough, but that's as close as we come. Reese's hair has gone from auburn to fire-red to strawberry-blonde. I'm afraid she won't keep much of the red as she gets older, but I do love what she still has. (this picture doesn't show the red factor very well, but I still like it)
Just a few random other pictures

Monday, July 6, 2009

Kure Beach

We just returned from a 5-day trip to Kure Beach, NC. Some of our friends graciously invited us to share their beach house with them and we took them up on their offer. We had a ball! As with most things, the logistics of going to the beach continue to get easier with each passing year. This was our very first beach trip that didn't include a Pack-n-Play, baby gate and suitcase full of diapers (cue the Hallelujah Chorus).
We spent hours on the beach, visited Ft. Fisher (a Civil War fort), went to the aquarium and drove into Wilmington to watch the fireworks show shot from the deck of the USS North Carolina (which is a future must-do trip). Here are a few pictures.
Reese (and usually Addie) ran away from the waves like the best of them
it's truly amazing how much sand they transported in their swimsuits back up to the house
climbing on a civil-war-era anchor at Ft. Fisher
all the girls at the aquarium (minus Cassidy- who, by Makena's definition, isn't a girl, she's a lady)