A slice of life in March.

I try to create new desktop wallpaper for Dave monthly, but it’s more like every 6 months! Here’s the latest edition. Click for larger view/download.

Our ticket to the east coast! (hopefully!)

 This looks like fun – will be a bit of a long trip with a couple layovers, but it’s free except for the cost of lunches for about $7 total. Looking forward to being on our way finally! Hopefully next post is from east coast 🙂 Dave will be following later in the week, destination unknown but hopefully closer than I managed to get!

He is risen!

We got another “found” day together this weekend with our space-a flight getting bumped to tomorrow (then cancelled altogether). Sam found a sword bubble-maker in his Easter basket – it was a big hit making HUGE bubbles. (You dip the sword into the plastic sheath and then squeeze a button to open the sword “jaws” and the breezes blow up huge bubbles twice the size of your head!) They floated gently over the palms, oozing into ovals then back into spheres while twinkling in the morning sun. As I gazed up at them floating into the clouds, it occurred to me that it was a fitting motif for the resurrection. This afternoon, Sam took all of us on a mountain biking adventure back at the trails we rode yesterday. This time we took all our bikes and Ben rode on the front of mine. Dave got thoroughly filthy riding through huge puddles, much to Sam’s delight. It was a wonderful day, capped off by a delicious (albeit impromptu because Dave thought he’d be a bachelor by now!) Easter dinner. Here’s hoping for a flight tomorrow… I managed to repack and condense more stuff into fewer bags. I even have a tent and several fleece sleeping bags in case we end up in a backyard in Memphis or an overnight in a terminal. Ready for anything! Just need to get to the mainland now. It’s funny when Memphis (16 hrs from NJ) looks like a solid consideration with two kids in tow…hey 73f (73 firm seats) looks mighty fine at this point!

Packed and ready to fly - just don't know when or where!

The boys and I are all packed, just keeping an eye on space-a flights to the east coast. Hoping one turns up soon! That big sea bag is the one Sam and I took on our last big adventure. This time I have stuff sacks inside, one for each of our clothes. So unpacking is easy – turn it upside down and dump. Sam can even pack and unpack his own clothes. My total payload (is that the right word?) is surprisingly right around 50 lbs, although it looks pretty bulky. The only things not pictured are Ben’s pigpen (play pen) and the stroller, which I do think I’ll take. I can run most places I need to go, and the boys are certainly used to sitting in it! We’re ready to roll, alone or with Dave. If we find a good flight this week, we’re off. If not, we will just keep waiting and work our way east with Dave, which will bump our category up to III (instead of V if we fly without him). This will make it easier to get on a flight if there are a lot of folks wanting to fly. Hopefully the next post will be from the east coast. From there we take a commercial flight from JFK to Aberdeen and back.

Sam charging downhill to jump over a sand pit at the beach park.

I was reading a new Babar book to Sam for bedtime while Ben was writhing and squirming in my lap, batting at the book, pointing to birdies in the pictures, and trying to bite me (he’s really into that right now and does not listen to “NO!”). He actually turns your head to the side, holds it there, then lunges for your neck like a vampire. He seems to do this most when he’s agitated, like today because he has a cold and I think he’s peeved that it’s slowing him down a bit. So after we finished the book, I said to Sam, laughing, “Man, he’s a load of trouble, isn’t he?! His middle name is Trouble! Benjamin Trouble…” I hadn’t finished when Sam came up with a much better name. He said “Noooo, I think his middle name is NO! Benjamin NO!” Toooo true! Very good Sam!

I was tucking Sam into bed last night and we were talking about how much we love each other, which usually is a comparison of stars, distance to the moon, number of galaxies, etc. We had just wrapped up talking about how big the universe is, and how it goes on and on, and he asked why it was so big. So of course I said because God is big and He decided to make it that way. Sam asked immediately, “Does God run?” I have no idea where that came from, but it conjured an image of a huge God with broad shoulders and cartoon-like pointy legs running fast. It was a fun image to take with me as I tucked him in. Sweet child. Ben…yes, I know I owe you a “Dear Ben” letter. It’s brewing, sweet love 🙂

. . . and I’m very curious to track it down! Does anyone have any thoughts or inside knowledge?

We get a wee slice of cake when we go to the commissary. After lunch, and everything is put away, we enjoy our reward. I have to be very careful, though, and not put the slice down between the two boys! Today I made that mistake – there was Sam’s loud “NOOOOO!” and Ben’s “AAAAAIIIICH!” as they each reached at the same time! Ben is fast!

Riding solo over the dunes!

Interview after biking over dunes

I sometimes “interview” Sam after big moments to capture his thoughts and personality at the time…just a snapshot of him that pictures alone can’t provide. This one really made me laugh. Mom and I were out with Sam and Ben for a bike ride in the beach park. Sam was practicing riding (he has no training wheels on) and his last ride was about 10 days ago. I took him to a section of the park with some little hills (dunes) so he could ride up and down and get used to the difference in balance as you ride up, over, around, and down them. He rode down 100 yards, did a U turn, came back, coasted down steep inclines with no feet on the pedals to get a good roll before pedaling, etc. He really is getting very good. Today was a particularly good day. He was so full of himself and rode for about an hour. Time flew by because he was having so much fun, but we were at the park a good hour. He really worked it, so I captured his thoughts afterwards. I didn’t subtitle the whole thing – I think you can understand him describing his ride, his route, the bumpy hills, riding around the sign posts, etc. Listen carefully at the end!

Jenni I think you’ll especially appreciate this on several levels with all your bike riding and public relations work. This was a difficult interview! Stay tuned for his last comments…

 

Here is a photo of the 6 Babes in Boots – after the 28 Feb Swamp Romp on the Marine Corps Base. After 5 miles of mud, the beer tasted really great!

We found a new trail…it smelled like eucalyptus in the strong breeze. The ground was soft under our feet. Gramma was with us 🙂 I found out I have a kidney stone, not the big C word. (Thank you God!) A butterfly emerged, and Ben took his first steps unassisted. WOW! No time to write more…been busy…but I’m thankful for good friends and mentors, and developing new skills to broaden my business. Dave is “it’s BEDTIME!”…naughty mommy!!!!