Thoughts of Bea

When Will's pal Beatrix moved all the way across the stinkin' United States last month, Will was left a bit sad and lonely.

He often asks to play with Bea, go to Bea's house, etc etc.

Yesterday while working outside he discovered some conkers (shout out to you K!) from the dogwood tree which he wanted to send to Bea.

He refers to them as spikey cherries and picked them just for you!!

Love and miss you Bea!

Your friend,
Will

S. Ed. 101

During one of my back to school shopping excursions, K. took the boys to the bookstore and E. was excited because he found a book about Legos and the Bible.

         Seemed harmless.  Legos.....Bible.

He has been perusing it off and on as he does.  Looking at the pictures of the little Lego minifigures posed and photographed in biblical story scenes.

         Seemed harmless still.

Enter, close friends who asked, "Did you read in E.'s book where it said 'He entered the village and raped her.'?"

Us, dumbfounded, "What??"

           Book went missing.

Then the icing on the cake later that night.  E. says to me, "Mommy what does it mean when a woman lays with a man in the Bible?"

Me, "Um?  I guess they sleep in the same bed maybe?"

E, "Then why do they have no clothes on?"

Me, "Well........"  Enter age appropriate conversation about the birds and bees.

           Book still missing.  Perhaps never to return.

Feeling like irresponsible parents are we.  (Yoda reference.)

oops

TODAY is the day.

I didn't look at the calendar.

I wasn't aware of the date.

I thought YESTERDAY was the 25th.

I KNOW your anniversary is the 25th.

Take all that stuff I said yesterday (the 24th), copy it and paste it in your brain for TODAY (the 25th).

Happy Anniversary.  Today.  August 25th.

Today is THE Day

Fifty years ago today
Dick and Rosie got married.

Look what you have created.....

A family that enjoys one another (for the most part)

loves one another (most days)

and loves their parents (all times).

Thanks for your never ending kindness and generosity towards your family.

Thanks for loving us even when we are moody.

Have a happy anniversary.

Aren't they cute??

End of the Summer Blues

How can I be in the doldrums when it is cooling off and so pretty outside?

I am not sure, but yet, it has happened.  Perhaps it is the anticipation of the busy-ness of the school year....practice here, practice there, game here, game there, meeting here, meeting there, pack lunches, homework, dinner etc etc.

Close friends moved across the country which makes for daily adjustments and sad moments.  Wonder what they are doing now?

Youngest is starting preschool.  Exciting for him.  Exciting for us.  What to do with a three hour kid free stretch two days a week??  Hard to imagine.  It has been a long time coming.

I think of all the shoulds....should clean the closet, should pick up the millions of legos, should just plain BE PRODUCTIVE, and yet, I stare at the walls and then it is time to move on to the next activity.

Pretty pathetic.  I know.  

Big Family Outing 2012

We packed the boys in the van and headed to Pittsburgh for a rainy Friday family outing.  We lolly gagged around Station Square watching the dancing fountains and also rode the subway train and the incline.  At the top of Mt. Washington, Kevin tried to have a teachable moment and asked, "Anyone know the name of the river below?"  Ben replied innocently, "The Nile?"  followed by Will chiming in "Deep Creek?".  Needless to say we need to spend a bit more time on local geography lessons. 

Kaleidoscope A'La William

 Nephew Michael created this on his groovy ipad. 

C-bus Visit

We spent a few days in Columbus to celebrate Kevin's parents fiftieth wedding anniversary.  WOW!  What a milestone.  Having grown up mostly in a single parent  household I feel blessed to a part of such a warm, caring and just fun to be around family.  We had dinner together at a local restaurant and were entertained with a Maxwell Family crossword puzzle, Help Dick find Rosemary Maze and A Maxwell Family Trivia Jeopardy game.  Good times! 

Also did a little swimming, despite continual disasters.

While we were there Kevin and I heard from his brother and sister-in-law the words we long to hear, "Why don't you two go out for your anniversary and we will watch the kids?"  Okay!!   So we had a kid free anniversary dinner.  Twas joyous!  Thanks J and V!  and M and D! 

Picture of us enjoying our meal.

 Also a picture of dessert.

During our meal K's brother texted us "Purely hypothetical question, but if one were looking for Will around Easton (HUGE outdoor shopping mall) where would one start?" Luckily for us we know not to take anything he says seriously!