A peaceful Sunday
The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, but today we enjoyed being together in the beautiful weather. Everyone unplugged. Boys under the weather, Ben worse than Sam, but they are troopers and I’m hoping Benji bounces back soon because they’ve both been sick since our trip to Santa Barbara last weekend (they caught a cold just before we left 9 days ago). This morning he awoke to “Bubble Coughs” – ick! We’re not sure if the coughing starting first, or the bubbles started coming up. He was fine the rest of the day. I think he gagged on the thick mucus. TMI – sorry. Poor little guy. Low grade fever made him a bit floppy. Ben has lots of interesting names for things. He calls the cap gun tape “steam tape” because it makes smoke when it goes off. So clever! We were not at all sure what he was talking about at first, but of course – it makes sense now!
Yesterday I took Sam to a friend’s birthday party – an Army theme at a cabin in the woods that you can rent. In the middle of a sharks and minnows game (I was a shark!) the family with the neighboring birthday party asked how long our party was going on. Turns out they had the cabin all tricked out with a Harry Potter theme and didn’t want the rogue Army boys intruding on the festivities. Understandable. We got that worked out and kept the boys in the woods. Turns out they weren’t the problem. The birthday boy’s mom found some brooms in our little adjoining birthday area and showed them to me. You know what I immediately thought would be fun, don’t you. I double-dog-dared her to ride around the cabin on the brooms like in Quidditch – she seemed agreeable enough despite laughing like crazy. So off I went. It all went well at first, then I thought about how I was riding my broom and realized I didn’t know what “gait” to choose – in Quidditch they are flying through the air. But I was tethered to the ground. Should I trot? Or canter? I did both. Got some funny looks from adults, but the kids got it. I never looked back, though, so I didn’t know my buddy had bailed on me! I got back to our spot and she was there, hiding out and laughing! She lost her nerve when the dad with the other birthday came out of the cabin! Dang it! I was the only goof riding around on a broom! It was so funny though – I loved it. I kept the broom and continued riding around the woods on it. Clearly I don’t get out enough!
Last night we enjoyed a bbq and bonfire at the beach with friends from church. Views of Seattle, the Cascades lying behind, the ocean and an eagle flying within 20 feet of us – we take so much beauty for granted. The boys have had some very fun and action-packed days. Today was a nice respite before the last full week of school starts.
Here are some pictures from today.
Ben’s 5th Birthday!
Little Big Man has arrived at FIVE! I can’t believe it. He is such a man, not snuggly anymore unless you are giving him scratchies or reading to him. He can be very affectionate, but it’s a stealth tactic. Most of the time he is just such a little man, keeping up with big brother and even bigger daddy.
Enjoy these pictures of Ben’s birthday party. He had his neighbor friends over and a few days later created wonderful thank you cards for them, with a picture of the present he received and good lettering. He’s such a nice boy – such a big heart under all that bluster. He’s forgiving, sensitive and strong. No mom could wish for a better boy. I love you, Ben!
Happy Children’s Day!
There are new pictures in the album! Click the last photo in this list to get there (this will put you in April – there are also some in May). Sorry i have been so bad! It has been pretty wild here helping with dissertations, final reports, and doing analysis for the school district, on top of First Communion preparations, volunteering at school Mondays and Wednesdays and theoretically planting things in the garden (more like finally stick the sprouted beans in the dirt and hope for the best!). The potatoes look like they are surviving my rough planting…
bike jumping
Nice day out for some after-school shenanigans!
Seein’ the sun!
Hi family! The weather has turned a bit – more sun but that means it is also a bit colder here than you might think for March. It’s in the 30s at night, 40s during the day. The sun feels really warm, though. Especially if you’re smart and wear dark heat-absorbing clothes. I posted a bunch of pictures in the album from this month – a few hikes, visit with Dad, mining in the garden with chicken helpers… I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer – It’s late, so my comments are a bit funny. I’m also working off another sinus infection, so I’m really not all there.
Guillemot Cove Preserve
We went in search of close-at-hand adventure today and ultimately decided to visit a place that I hiked with my dear friend Molly Pendlebury back when Sam was a baby (precise date of hike is 4/11/2005!). Sam was 2 1/2 months old. I remembered liking that hike, and I enjoyed it just the same this time. In fact, we got to explore quite a bit more of the 184 acre preserve. It was a sunny day, and peaceful. We finished up with some dinner at Hales Ales in Silverdale, forgetting it was St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy these pictures. Another busy week about to start!
A nice walk in the woods
Some highlights of the visit, which was accomplished via space-a on a C17:
- walks in the woods and on the beach in the sun
- catching sight of the USS Ronald Reagan pulling out through Rich Passage from Bremerton on a beautiful sunny day
- buying some plants to add color to the garden, including the forsythia Dad and Grammie sponsored for the family and friends garden! that is the perfect choice!
- chomping chipped beef and chicken casserole – a Grammie special that Dad made – fed us three nights!
- attending the school auction at IslandWood which does environmental education
- fire time and pizza in the garden with the chickens as the stars came out
- walks around the property imagining my “farm” which Dave does not approve of (I really want a llama!)
- Merlin chastising Dad for striding so aggressively up to him while I was mucking out the disgusting run
- domino time with the boys, and training other students after school to be team leaders for Domino Day in art class on Friday
- Chess with Sam
- lots of reading – Dad finished off Rickover’s biography
- fires in the fireplace
- hanging out with Ben and two other friends while I went to a long meeting on Thurs (I do a lot of volunteer work for school and district)
- meeting my friend Amy who shares many common childhood stories with me – some involving chickens!
Symphony + sushi = ahhhh!
Just a quick note here, but didn’t want to forget the sublime 🙂 Took the kids to the Bainbridge Symphony today – Smetana, Resphigi, Tchaikovsky then Beethoven’s 6th (Pastoral). The kids were advised not to cough loudly (remember, everyone has been sick for nearly 3 months on and off) so what I have gotten used to hearing, others may not appreciate so much. They did GREAT! Sam really seemed to absorb it in a different way than when he was younger. Ben was mesmerized for the first 10 minutes, then very good until intermission, really paying attention. After Daddy’s M&M treats, getting him settled again was more interesting. Grown-up Eagle was also in attendance. He seemed to quite (QUITE) enjoy the Pastoral – quite in keeping with the theme of the symphony, so to me it was humorous. It was all I could do to keep Ben and his Eagle from flying around. Eagle was dancing, pecking Ben’s forehead, dancing…when Ben asked in a loud whisper “How many more minutes is it?” I said “shhh” with a sweet mommy smile and he glared at me! So funny. Mom knows this glare. I am sure the people behind us enjoyed the show. They said we had really nice boys. Then out for sushi as a reward. We just found a really really great sushi place, and got the little table in a private room where you sit on the floor. The boys loved it. So thankful for a wonderful evening. Dave is still sick, but I’m hoping he gets better this week. Boys are on the mend, despite constant sniffle and cough for Ben. It doesn’t slow him down one bit.
Love to all! Hope you have a great week 🙂
So what does it take to get a compliment around here?
I’ve been working on my spiral (football) for months now, and have been throwing for countless hours with the boys. Sam is a good teacher, but there’s no substitute for practice. We went out yesterday to Battle Point Park and brought both footballs. I threw one to Sam and poor guy jammed his finger trying to catch it. The day before I’d nearly knocked the wind out of him with one that hit his sternum. Dave told me I was throwing all wrong. I couldn’t figure it out – they were going right to my target, and spiraling. I thought I was doing great! Dave said “No, throw them up higher, and they should be spinning faster than they are.” I guess I was just drilling them. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. But don’t you think Dave could have said “My wife’s got a high school quarterback’s arm!”? (That’s if I could keep that kind of speed going for a whole game, and longer than 30 yards!) So now I’m working on throwing well, and not hurting anyone!