Catching Up; This n That

It is only March and I have already fallen behind with my blogging!  No surprise there; not to me at least.  I have been busy.  February went by quickly and here it is, nearly the end of March - or the beginnning of Spring, depending on whether you are a glass half empty or glass half full sort.  Here is the short version, with a couple of memorable funnies from the past 8 weeks.....

 

Leah and I met sister Julie in Miami and took a weekend Carnival cruise to the Bahamas.  We ate, and slept, and really soaked up the 80 degree days!  Julie learned just before we left that she was pregnant - the gentle swaying of the boat did not agree with her - but she was a trooper and hung in there anyway!  We ate ice cream, tanned and shopped in Nassua.  Before we knew it, we were back home again.  Carnival Cruise lines had a series of unfortunate events to many of their ships during our trip and since ~ happily, our trip went as planned.

 

Leah spotted a "baby alligator" under my lounge chair! 


Connor took 3rd place at the Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby this year!  Very exciting!  This was his first year to win a trophy!!  Very competetive race!  Very proud!

As Easter was approaching this year, I decided to have the "talk" with my youngest about Santa, the Easter Bunny and other magical creatures.   He recently turned 10 and I felt it was time.  He surprised me by announcing his own discovery and deduction that Daddy and Mommy were Santa ~ this past Christmas he found a couple of presents, faked being asleep, and generally put two and two together.
                        Me:  So good, Connor, then we talk about Easter. 
                        C:  What do you mean?
                        Me:  Well, since now you know it's Dad and I, what do you want for Easter?
                        C:  What???!!!  You mean YOUR the Easter Bunny, too??? 

Yep~figured out Santa but was holding onto the Easter Bunny.  I guess a 6 foot tall magical rabbit that delivers chocolate eggs is more realistic than a Grandpa sort of fellow in a red suit delivering presents!

In honor of our new found knowledge, Mark wore the bunny suit at the scout egg hunt!  Too cute!

I do love Spring.  New plants, renewals, re-birth, warm, sunny days.  Taking inventory of the yard work, projects and plantings.   We have a huge mess of pine trees that have survived generations on the farm, only to be snapped like twigs with the winds of Sandy last fall. Mark has worked tirelessly at the tearing down and removal of trees and stumps, but there seems to be no end to the work. We have an estimate for professional tree removal and the cost is making our heads spin. We know that the work must be done. We have trees uprooted, broken, and tilted trees.  Our long term plan is to install grape vines ~ but we have a lot of work to do before that will happen!

We are extending a small flower bed on the left side of the driveway this Spring and refining the fire pit and surrounding area.  In the fall, after the trees and their stumps have been entirely removed, I hope to seed the right side with wild flowers which will bloom next Spring (2014) - if all goes as expected.  One project at a time; first those trees need to go.

Looking forward to summer, end of school and vacations.  Hope to blog again before then!

New Year - New Hopes

 

                                                        (drawing by Connor, age 9)

      On the eve of the New Year I both reflect and look forward; try to make sense of the chaos and recognize how intentional our world truly is; knowing that it all happens for very tangible reasons.  This year I hope to maintain a blog that is both a timeline for our family's story and also musings and funny moments that seem to happen in our lives quite a bit.  We commited early on to always witness the humor in every situation ~ and that has served us well.  I think because we look for the humor, we are more inclined to see it.

 

      This past week, I visited my childhood home with my eldest son, who's early childhood began here too.  We enjoyed seeing the "old" neighborhhood, noticing how much it has changed but also stayed the same.  Everything looked so much smaller to me than in my own memory.  The bus stop seemed so far away that we would cut through a neighbors yard and the accompanying woods to shorten our run (yes, run...never on time for that school bus!).  The shale pit was more like the Grand Canyon thirty years ago - must have eroded into the small piles of shale that it is today!  I remember swimming the distance of the "big" lake and thinking I was ready for Olympic gold - really not much more than a full lap in a pool.  Our home never felt small to me but seeing it today I noticed how tiny our home stood.  The large willow trees that would sway in the breeze by the lake had been cut down; no more.  No more sliding board or dock at the beach either.  More houses and less woods.  Less wild and more tame.  I remember feeling adventurous picking berries by the lake, independant riding my bike, and free skating on the lake in the dark of the night with the sounds of the expanding ice adding an element of excitement.  Our home may have tiny but my childhood was rich. 
      Now my oldest, Allen, is grown and has his own family, his own home.  Leah and Connor grow and mature more and more every day.  Looking forward, my hope is that every day they will keep humor in their lives; that they will find peace amongst the chaos and that they will, one day, reminisce about the riches of their own childhoods.