Ted Turner, anyone?

While we are on the subject of my dad and what famous person he looks like (o.k. Maybe you have all moved on and I haven't...) I would be remiss if I didn't share these pictures with you.

You see, my dad may have looked like Magnum P.I. in his early days, but in his more mature years he's a dead ringer for Ted Turner. No joke.

My parents were at a gas station once. My dad was outside pumping gas while my mom was inside (probably buying a Snickers bar...cause that's what we do...). All of the sudden there was a flurry of voices and people gaping out of the window.

"Oh my gosh! Is that Ted Turner! I think that's Ted Turner!"

My mom excitedly joined the gawking. Desperately searching for Ted, she slowly realized that they were talking about her husband!

"That's no Ted Turner. That's my husband!" She sarcastically informed them.

A new millenium, a new doppleganger. You decide.

First Day of School

Ashlynn was a ball of nerves for some reason. I can't imagine where she gets that...


Briggs was perfectly fine. Of course.


And Luigi!!! He doesn't start Preschool until next week, but we still needed to take his picture!


And for good measure, I thought I'd show you where our kids get their good looks (or their dorkiness...)
In comparing this picture of me going into 3rd grade with that of my dad, Tom Sellek, it's obvious that we fully embraced the '80's. Please note the Reeboks.

Candy Party!

Untitled from Kate Rober on Vimeo.

This is a good illustration of our spunky 8 year old. She had a fun party with an awsome cake made by our friend, Brooke.

Tom Sellek is My Dad

My sister had this picture on her blog of her and our dad taken years ago.

I always thought my dad was Magnum P.I.

Now I remember why.

Pottery Brian

It's back to school time (I know. I sound like a Kmart add...) and we are trying to get things in order around here after a gloriously free summer. Despite my long suffering and chronic nightmares proceeding the first day of school, I love the idea of getting ready to learn new things, but mostly starting fresh.

I love the movie "You've got mail" and how it starts with her reveling in fall and back to school. She's walking around New York City with a bouquet of pencils. That image for me is always so strong (even though I've never been to New York) because I can identify with what she is feeling at that moment. I can even smell the pencils (all pencils smell the same, right?!) and feel that newness and freshness in the air.

What she didn't realize at the time was that she wasn't smelling wood and graphite, she was smelling change. And change in the Rober house doesn't always smell so good. Are we going to like our teachers this year? Will our best friend be in our class? Will the kids learn anything, etc...

I'm hoping and praying that "New" will be good this year and that we can roll with it and grow a little. And to illustrate this willingness to embrace "New", I give you the newest peice of furniture in our household, The Backpack Cubbies a la Pottery Brian.

Brian re-engineered our old toy box one Saturday and came up with this new lovely. I am so impressed with his workmanship and how he seamlessly meshed Old with New.

Good words to live by.

and...

Let's pretend that I'm giving you all pencil bouquets so you can smell the freshness of change.

From father to daughter...

Ashlynn came bouncing downstairs this morning, dressed up all nice for her big day of events. She's always good about saying goodbye and today was no different. She gave me a big kiss and hug goodbye. As I hugged her I tugged up at the back of her skirt and said, "Just checking to make sure you have your monkey bar buddies on." To which she backed up, replied, hand on the hip, dead serious as could be, "Dad. The clothing stores (pause) are smart enough to know (pause) to put shorts built into the skirts(pause), so daddies like you don't let their daughters underwear show to the world!"

Ahhh, the savory taste of a sweet fatherly victory.

(Dramatic long pause)

I do believe we're finally getting somewhere.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

This is the sound of Ashlynn's Thrift store find.
Clack! Clack! Clack! All day. I think it is so cute!
Ash brought this home, so excited, she said it was like having her "own computer!" She really is a writer at heart. She has won awards for her writing (SHAMELESS BRAGGING ALERT!) and is always starting some story Or journal.
Right before we purchased the typewriter, we had watched "Little Women" together. I loved this movie as a young girl and was pleased that Ashlynn enjoyed it as well. Even though I had to explain some of the social customs of the times, I could tell she was really getting into it. The next thing I know, she is secured at her desk, with her typewriter in front of her, a ream of paper next to her, calling out, "Mom! What year did the Civil War start?"

Hence, the start of the story below. After she asked me a few more reference questions, I found our Magic Tree House book on the Civil War and left her to her fact finding and writing.
Every week it is something new, but this week, she wants to be a writer!

Lake Cavanaugh, Chapter 3: Cousins!

One of the things that brings me the most joy is watching my kids play with cousins. They are so lucky to have cousins on both sides of the family that are very close in age to them.

This was no exception in Washington. Brian grew up spending summers with his cousin, Rob, who is just 6 weeks younger than him. It was so fun to see the next generation getting to know each other. Briggs and Kai are just 2 weeks apart in age, and Ty and Amara are 3 months apart.

I'm so glad we got the opportunity to spend time with them.



Ashlynn really stepped up and took the roll of big sister really well with Amara.





The 5 year olds, both tall, skinny and sweet little boys!








All six of the kids on the bulk head with the cabin in the background.



Playing some game that made Amara giggle!



Brian and Rob, the first generation of cousins!

Some enlightenment

I've been gone at girls camp for a week and I'm still trying to get my feet under me, but I thought I'd leave you with some words of wisdom from Ty until I can update some pictures.

Ty likes to help me make dinner. This is usually a good thing because it keeps him from causing trouble in another part of the house. However, this usually means I have to find some mundane and harmless task to keep him busy in the kitchen.
So last week, he was putting the corn for that nights dinner on a platter. He decided to take it one step further and pick all of the corn silk off.
After some time, he started getting frustrated, and in his husky voice he said,
"Ooh! This is hard work! This is what Beavers do! Except they do it with logs!"

Here's to the Beavers (and the moms) in this world who work hard.

Emerson's quilt

I had to share some pictures of the qulit I made my friend's little girl. This was the first quilt I made trying to be creative with my machine quilting. The meandering stitch was the best I could do.
I would love to get my quilts professionally quilted, but I haven't been able to locate anyone affordable in this area. I called one lady who quoted me $150!!! for this little quilt!! That's when I got on line and watched a bunch of tutorials on how to do it myself without a fancy machine.

So there's me tooting my own horn.

toot toot!

p.s.I got the design idea from one of my favorite sites, Handmade by Alissa. I love her use of a wide variety of fabric all in one quilt.

The boat

The kids loved the boat at the Lake. They loved to ride right up front and go fast, so that the wind and the spray hit their faces. They loved to snuggle up with Aunt Linda under a blanket and fall asleep during an evening cruise around the lake. They loved to giggle with their cousin Kai (the little blond one in the pictures who is only 2 weeks younger than Briggs). They loved to be towed behind the boat in a tube.
Brian said the kids were exactly like himself as a kid - always begging the parents to fire up the boat!