MOOSE

In an ocean of canola beside our house,

I was driving by and saw the distinct sleek black image of a bull moose. Contrasted against the yellow of this field, he was hard to miss.
I turned back to tell my family, but alas, when we returned to look, he was gone.  The boys thought Grammie and I were crazy, taking them out to look at a moose.  For some reason they thought a moose was dangerous.  Only when he's on the road in front of your car.  :)

FYI- These pictures were not taken on the same day as the moose sighting.

Perfect Moment

There's a John Mayer tune on the radio,
Both windows in my brother's battered grey pick-up truck are rolled
all. the. way. down.
Micah and I ride toward home, each with one hand out our open windows
our other hands meet in the middle to share a basket of fresh
strawberries from the farmer's market.  Blue sky and wispy clouds above,
waves of winter wheat and bright yellow canola flowers
roll along next to the truck.
I look over at him; he's quiet, intent on picking a stem from a large
juicy red berry.  He throws the stem out into the wind and looks at me.
Pink stains on his fingers and chin are accompanied
by sticky red drips down his shirt.  He bites into one
and oh that smile.  Ruby red lips embrace juice stained teeth,
tiny fragments of berry and seeds still plastered to his face.
He turns back to the window, pressing his face into the wind,
and John Mayer continues to serenade our perfect moment.

Happy fathers day

I was just about to go to bed when I decided to post this picture of the best daddy I know. Even though we celebrated him from afar this year (week long class in Kentucky right now while we're in NB), we missed him and want him to know what an amazingly caring, devoted and intentional father he is.

And, I was just about to post this when I heard Elijah on the stairs.  I went to see what was up and he puked from about halfway up the stairs to the bottom where I was standing.  I ran to get a bowl and he made it in the bowl for most of it, but I think that's a pretty good father's day gift.  Eric is fortunate to miss out on the puke clean up and sick-kid vigil tonight.  I'm off to bed, hopefully to sleep but probably not.  I love you dearest.

Park Sprinklers

Warming up after playing in the frigid sprinklers.

These umbrellas from Grammie were a big hit with all of the kids at the park.

It was a rare HOT day in NB today.  Right around 85, so we took advantage of the sun and nice weather to visit the Woodstock park.  The sprinklers are a fantastic addition to the park since I was a kid.  Free fun all day every day.

Elijah is obsessed with this tank.

Wedded Bliss

My brother is officially married and the boys were awesome through all of the ceremony and reception.  Seriously, they stood just like you see them here through the whole thing; more than I can say for my bro who is the tall slim guy in the middle.  Poor guy had to go sit down half way through.

Outside waiting for pictures in the shade.  It looks lovely and peaceful but what you can't see are the millions of black flies.  The boys handled it like pros.  Wondering why?

See that cute little thing in the pink over there?  As soon as she and her two flower-girl cohorts entered the picture, our little men became perfect gentlemen.  Ahh the power of women. 

And HUGE kuddos to my sis-in-law.  This was one kid friendly wedding!  The candy bar was open while we waited for the reception to begin making every child's dream come true.  And the cute little books with pink ribbon on the table were made by the bride and groom for all of the kids to use during the reception.  There were mad libs about Garth and Jodie, wedding word searches, coloring pictures and more.  

This is the loft at my mom's house.  It is the boys' domain for this month.  They love playing up here.  

This is at the other end of the loft.  There is a great little shelf that they use for all kinds of play. The triangle window behind Zay looks down onto the living room.  Elijah loves laying in this window like a cat and watching the TV down below.  

Watching Daddy mow from the back of Uncle Garth's truck.  

Trying out Grammie's new mower with Isaiah.  That's the same view I grew up with and never appreciated until now.  

The woman who makes it allllll happen.. my momma.  :) 

First full day in Keymar :)

Find of the day... This great park just minutes from our house. Maryland welcomed us with perfect weather. We toured the boys future school and found a Redbox for a bedtime movie. Can't wait to move in.

We found a bike shop to get Micah's bike repaired, bought enough frozen dinners for lunches and dinners for 2 days, and played in our back yard/ church parking lot all afternoon.  At the checkout, Micah told the cashier, "Look!  We got Kid Cuisine!  We never get those.  I mean it.  My mommy has NEVER boughten those before ever even though we always ask.  But we're in Maryland, not Kentucky."  He waltzed off and left me there to try and explain that one with a bewildered looking cashier.

Speaking of the grocery store, we happened through the "Family Friendly" lane.  I was unsure of the meaning of this at first.  I eyed the cashier critically- was she going to be extra nice to my kids?  Suckers?  Discounts?  Then I noticed the racks next to the lane that are usually laden with candy and gum.  Instead there were toddler snacks, mini-tissue packets and magazines for moms.  Very smart.  My boys however, not to be fooled, picked up a "mom" magazine and flipped through until they found an ad that they could "show" me, packaged with, "Mommy, I'm not really asking for this but LOOK at this bike.  If someone wanted to trade me my bike for this one, would you let me trade?  This bike is soooo cool.  Its not all rusty and old like mine."

Lots of tree climbing and only one pseudo-injury.  Micah turned over a brick under a GREAT climbing tree beside our house and a million baby ants swarmed all over his feet.  He dropped the brick on his foot, screamed and started stomping all over.  When I ran over to him, he had most of the ants off.  Their nest was so full it looked like the ground was moving.  He was still sobbing so I said, "Does your foot hurt from the brick or did the ants scare you?  He said, "the ants!!!!!"  Isaiah promptly ran over to the nest and started squishing the stray ones that had scurried away from the brick saying, "Leave Micah alone!"

I would imagine Micah will be leaving them alone from now on.  :)