Ag Expo

The Saturday after my work trip, during which Evan had a lot of "togetherness" with the boys, I took them to the Ag Expo. It was a scaled-down version of the State Fair . . . antique tractors, funnel cakes and rides of dubious safety. We started out in the kids' play area while waiting for an indigo dye demonstration.







All smiles after homemade strawberry ice cream


The dyed fibers come out of the vat green . . .


. . . but turn blue once the air hits them


Feeding goats at the petting zoo


I'm pretty sure kangaroos aren't indigenous to NC, so I think this one blackmailed the organizers to get center stage

Back at Work

I've been back at work for a month now, and so far, so good. Everyone has been great, and things are really busy which makes the days fly by. However, the past few weeks have not been without some working mommy comic misadventures:

• Day 1, 8:07 am: I have no idea what my Novell password is and have to get one of our admin assistants to call IT for me. Not a very auspicious start.
• More than once, I have tried to turn my breast pump off by turning the volume dial on my computer speakers. Needless to say, this did not achieve the desired result.
• On two different occasions, I was emailing and pumping, got distracted, and overflowed my pump bottles. You'd think that I would have learned my lesson after the first deluge, no? But apparently I needed the reinforcement of the second spill. I now have a stain on my desk chair that makes it look like I peed my pants. I can't decide if the fact that it's breastmilk is better or worse.

My first week back I had an out-of-town conference, and the boys all came along. While I was immersed in all things teen pregnancy prevention, Evan, Owen & Charlie hit the zoo and children's museum.



Flying the zoo-copter






The children's museum had a real firetruck!






Happy camper along for the ride


Back at the hotel and ready for stories

Mother's Day Berry Picking

For Mother's Day, I requested a strawberry-picking trip. We hadn't been yet this year, but our patience was rewarded with a great day out at the farm.











Our hard work was rewarded with a ride around the farm on the cow train . .




And delicious homemade ice cream!


One lucky mama

Calling All Superheroes!

Charlie had his 4th birthday party today, and requested a superhero theme a few months ago. This is the fourth year that there was rain in the forecast for the big day, and the fourth year that we dodged a weather bullet. My superpower? Apparently, controlling the weather.

The superheroes work on their masks and capes


Superhero casual


Owen's superpower? Sleeping!


Secret mission: Find the frogs hidden in the sandbox


Charlie's secret mission: Blow out his birthday candles!


Mission accomplished








I've heard a lot of horror stories about present opening at kids' parties, and thankfully, we have yet to encounter this. The kids were great about letting Charlie open his presents, and he was great about sharing his new loot. They were all very lovely and mature beyond their years!



Spuerhero brothers

Lego Mania

Grandma & Grandpa took Charlie to a Lego exhibit today - partially for the experience, and partially to keep him occupied before his birthday party! After seeing the pictures, I kind of wish we had gone, too . . .

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Charlie turned 4 today! He has been eagerly anticipating his birthday, and it has been the topic of most of our conversations of late.

Birthday pancakes


Celebrating at school


Opening presents


Taking his new bike out for a spin


Daddy gets a turn, too!


Only 365 more days until he turns 5 . . .

The Chatterbox

Owen has had a lot to say in the past few weeks. I finally caught one of his more verbose moments on video: