Mom's Day

The friday before Mother's Day, Ben's school hosted a Mom's Day party for us. The theme was "Queen for the day." Ben's class practiced a song about moms for weeks and performed for all of us. I don't remember the words to the song but it was about mom's being a gift from God. Halfway through the song, Ben started to tear up. Of course, this made me tear up which made him tear up even more. At this point, he started to laugh it off. My sweet Ben.

Cherry picking

We got up early this morning and headed a few miles down the road to one of the local cherry orchards. Picking your own cherries is a big thing around here so we had to see what all the hype was about. When we got there, we had to go to the back corner of the orchard (which was huge) to find trees that still had a lot of good cherries left on them. 

                           

We left with about 2 pounds of cherries. Too bad Drew is the only one in the house that likes them. 

I think next weekend we might try picking our own strawberries.

Spring mornings

It won't be long before it's too hot for us to play outside. Until then, we are enjoying our cool spring mornings by spending lots of time at the park. 

These pictures are from the beginning of May when Mimi was visiting for the weekend.

Ben the "bandit"

Ben has his first t-ball game of the season next weekend. We got a call from his coach the other night saying he is on the Bandits. Ben is so excited! He and Drew spent some time practicing yesterday. It wasn't long before he got distracted by the ants on the tree though.

Jack is trying to master the one arm swing

Slip and slide fun

It's time to get back to blogging!

Last weekend the boys had a lot of fun playing with the slip and slide at Mimi and Popi's house

Farewell

How can you ever quite know the impact that someone has on your life. How that person affects your life whether it be good or bad. What would your life be like if you never had the honor (or pain) of knowing them. What kind of lasting impressions that person will leave on you when they are gone. What kind of impression you gave that person during their life. You're pretty lucky if you are able to acknowledge and appreciate the importance of someone special before they pass away.

Drew figured out as a child that he had a special grandfather. One that would be one of the most important men in his life. As Drew got older, his appreciation for his grandfather grew. They shared similar experiences that allowed them to form a very special bond. Drew looked up to Papa. He was proud of him. It meant a lot to Drew to know that Papa was proud of him too. While Drew's days of sitting on the couch with Papa listening to his war stories (ones that Papa remembered so well after almost 70 years) are gone, he takes on so much more than that. 

In one of Michael's books, he wrote that Drew was a man "dedicated to service. Wife. Family. Country." He goes on to say that Drew is "leading a life just as his grandfather and father have. A grand life." There is no question that Papa has helped shape Drew into the man he is. For that, I thank you Papa.   

As soon as Noni would open the front door, we would hear "come to Papa!" Ben would slowly walk over to the Papa's chair and give him a hug. Jack wanted nothing to do with him. The boys would start running around, seeing what kind of trouble they could get into. After awhile, Papa would be ready to spend some time with them so he would entice them over with his light up magnify glass. This worked on Ben every time and he would sit there next to Papa playing with his magnify glass. 

I never had Great Grandparents growing up and loved that our boys were lucky enough to have them. As they get older, they probably won't remember much about Papa but they'll definitely hear stories about him from their dad. 

I've never known anyone married as long as Papa and Noni were. 68 years! They held on strong until the end and I can only hope that Drew and I will be able to spend a lifetime with each other as they have. Noni has proven to be an amazing person and we are so proud of her. Her strength is inspirational. 

On the way home from the hospital last friday, shortly after Papa passed away, Ben asked us why isn't Papa coming with us. We told him that Papa got sick and his body stopped working. You could see his eyes tear up as he said "I'm going to miss Papa. He's in heaven now."

Ready

Set

Go

Jack the possum

When it's close to nap time and we're in the car, it's not uncommon for Jack to doze off. He just can't keep his eyes open anymore. I personally don't like it when he falls asleep right before nap time because even a 5 minute cat nap in the car will mess up his sleep cycle. Once we're home, he gets a second wind and it takes awhile to get him to go back to sleep.

To keep him up, Ben and I have resorted to yelling and singing very loudly. Lately, Jack will close his eyes and not open them as Ben and I do everything we can to wake him up. After about a minute, he starts laughing. The little stinker likes to play possum.

Last night while playing with Drew, Jack took a tumble and landed face down on the carpet. He didn't move or look up, he just left his face down. Drew started to panic when Jack was not responding to him. 20 seconds later, Jack busts up laughing.

Where does he learn this stuff?

You're wrong. I'm right

Growing up, I had a tendency to correct people. I was constantly telling my family when they were wrong. My mom had to remind me to stop correcting my teachers in front of the class. I think even as I get older, I still want to correct people but have learned to keep my mouth shut most of the time.

I've met my match. I now spend my days with someone who believes it is his job to tell me when I am wrong. He catches my mistakes. He is quick to tell me the correct answer or way to do something. He is just like me. I'm just waiting for one of his teachers to comment on how he tells them how to do their job. I know it's only a matter of time.


Jack might not be analyzing every thing that comes out of my mouth yet but he sure is starting to talk more. Last week we told him it was time for bed and he said "don't want to go to bed." Drew and I could not believe that he said all of those words together. He will say "come on dad" or "love you mommy." One of his favorite things to say is "no Ben."