Close-up with a Cornfield

I learned today that my car doesn't take kindly to 4-wheeling fun. There we were, Theo and Ben and I, tooling along and singing our song, when we suddenly found ourselves sitting smack dab in the middle of a frozen cornfield! Seems that despite the beautiful, sunny, warm day, there were still some very slippery patches out in the country. And a nasty wind whipping across those big wide open cornfields. After a group "phew!" that the car was still on its tires and not on its roof, we tried to drive and realized that we were quite stuck. I tried pushing the car with my huge muscles and Theo "driving" (thrill of his life!). Needless to say, we didn't budge.

I wish I had a photo to show you how silly a lone VW looks sitting in the middle of a cornfield.

Two tow-truck companies said it would be hours before they could get to us because there were so many cars in cornfields at that particular moment (???). I called work, and they sent two strapping guys and a truck with a chain, which got us halfway out of the cornfield before getting stuck, too. As we all waited for truck #2 to arrive, Theo and Ben got to really know what a cornfield is all about - bumps, grooves, and stalks sticking up everywhere. They ran around collecting stalks (or "bamboo" as my city kids called them), until we were finally pulled back onto concrete. Hooray!

Trip to Colorado

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Colorado, and a great get-together with Melissa and Andrea. Hard to believe we've known each other for more than 20 years! It was so much fun, and really gave us a chance to catch up...much better than a million phone calls. We stayed at Andrea's beautiful house in Denver on Saturday, went out for a swanky sushi dinner, and talked, talked, talked.

Then on Sunday we drove to Copper Mtn. and stayed at a friend's condo. We had drinks at the foot of the ski hill while the sun went down and ate at a great chinese restaurant. Heaven!

I think the highlight was sneaking around at night in a snowstorm trying to find a hot tub with a low enough fence to scale so we could enjoy the snowfall in the warmth. We found one, and would like to thank the owners, whoever they are :). The next morning we snowshoed in the freshly fallen powder before having to leave this great life behind. It was the perfect little trip.

three amigas

Copper Mountain Village

searching for a hot tub

Soulman by Theo

I am working on a book. It is about a kid in 5th grade named A.J. Allen. Does anybody have any ideas? -Theo

Seurat?...Pissarro?...Non!...Lucas!

Who knew we lived with a famous artiste? One of Ben's creations - his 'Pointillism Mushroom' - is being displayed at the Arts Guild during the month of February.

On the way there he gave me a lesson on 'pointillism' and even revealed that his secret technique involves Q-tips. :)

How could I forget?

Sam! The fifth in our family. The forgotten pup. The unsung hero who valiantly protects us from squirrels and garbage trucks, never asking for anything in return. Just a walk through the arboretum every once in a while (above) to remind him of what life's all about.

Hello, World

Here we are - Eric, Kristin, Theo and Ben. Flash wasn't working on this photo, but it is one of our favorite moments from 2007: FINALLY getting the 7th Harry Potter book. Our town threw a great Diagon Alley street party, and at midnight the bookstores opened and released the long-awaited book. It was a magical night!

We hope to post enough on here to keep people informed, and to share some highlights. Please feel free to leave comments...we'd love to hear from you!