see, extreme parenting and quilting!

Genna and Noah
Originally uploaded by Melanie Maynor.

Just like I said! This pic was on Melanie's camera. I think Noah will win Project Runway someday (in, say, 20 years or so). Wouldn't that be cool?

Bananas

Bananas
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

EXTREME PARENTING AND QUILTING... That was the theme of Spring Break this year. Melanie and I had our hands seriously full with the kids and with the CRAZY goal we met of sewing two (queen size) quilt tops that we've been planning for months. We did most of the cutting, ironing, and sewing during afternoon naps and at night when we had peace, quiet, and wine. Here we are holding up our funky quilt tops (we will add borders, but these are the centers). We finished in enough time to take a hand full of pictures before running out the door to get the kids and me to the airport! We were a little bananas to even try to combine quilting with mommying our crew, but it makes the endeavor more memorable, that's for sure! There were high fives and shouts of joy when we were done, and the process included lots of talking, reminiscing, thinking about the future, getting stabbed by quilting pins. All in all it was therapeutic and the kids survived without anyone swallowing any of the several dropped pins! PHEW.
Next vacation will be kid-less and somewhere tropical.

Spring Break

hippo
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Noah, Abby and I went to St. Louis over the break. We're home now, and catching up on our sleep, after an ACTIVE and fun trip. All four kiddos did well: Abby (6), Lillian (5), Grayson (almost 3), and Noah (almost 1) had a great time playing, digging for worms, riding bikes, dancing, eating (and eating and eating), singing, and playing a ton. We went to the zoo and the highlight was hanging out with the hippo! Abby and Lillian adopted hippo webkins for Easter, so it was cool to see the real deal at the zoo.

just like the Bard...

oppositting
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Abby took one look at Noah and his friend, Tegwyn, and said: "Look! They're oppositting!"

I LOVE this phrase. How succinct and appropriate. She's a word girl, for sure.

impromptu fanciness

impromptu fanciness
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

We were a little bored in the late afternoon yesterday, so we quickly whipped up a skirt for Abby out of some pink dress lining material and elastic (Abby worked the sewing machine pedal and helped pin a straight line). Then we coordinated our pinks, threw on some tulle and some bling, and pranced to dinner at Bron and Jeremy's. I love seeing Abby's royal affectations--the snobby-nosed looks at herself in the mirror (when she's a queen) and the dainty ballet moves (when she's a princess). It would seem that aging and marriage turn a lovely princess into some other thing entirely! Thank you, Disney, for carrying on this legacy (grrrr). Most fascinating is the way Noah always has a part to play: he's a prince, a king, a servant, a pet, a monster... What will happen when he has more of an opinion about this?

his favorite things

I want dat, dada
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Noah loves the bikes! Come to think of it, he seems like a perfect copy of Matthew in his likes: road bikes, computers, cell phones, tools. But then he also likes things I like: fabric, shoes, photos, and paper. Perhaps more interesting are the things he doesn't like: loud noises, having his nose wiped, having clothes put over his head, walking away from the bikes in the hall.