Ferns and my tie-died goof balls

This past weekend, we decided to hunker down as all manner of crazy is descending upon us in the next couple of weeks. More on that to come. We took a leisurely stroll along a beautiful trail and this mama admired the gorgeous, almost surreally huge ferns that populated the forest. I'm fascinated by the way they gradually unfurl and by the perfectly symmetrical seed pods on the underside of the delicate leaves. And green. I could write an ode to the color green. Soothing, alive, vibrant and rich. Ah, I'm in love with the color green. I feel I should note that these pics are not as saturated as they appeared SOOC. I should probably take the time to adjust but alas . . . I did not.
And of course the wildlife was, well, wild. Big Boy charged ahead oblivious to the various danger of mountain bikers, steep descents and who knows what else could lie beyond mama's view. Little Sis tuckered out and the promptly tuckered her daddy out by demanding to be carried incessantly. 
Here is a sterling example of the kinda of sibling love we got going on in our house. The roles alternate -- i.e. who is the pursuer and who is running for their life. As a general rule, Big D leads the way and Sis is his shadow. 
I'd say that the goofy you see here is about what we get 95% of the time! So goofy that the child could starve! He will sit for an hour at the breakfast table and with lots and lots of mind numbing reminders, still not manage to put the silly aside long enough to eat a substantial meal. UGH. But isn't he cute? 

So about the crazy I alluded to earlier -- tomorrow after work, this mama ships off to help a friend who will be having surgery on Wed. I'll return in time to work three days next week, pack up the family and then drive to CA. And then . . . and then hubby and I will leave ALONE together for a anniversary trip to Hawaii. I've got the pre-trip angst going on now -- part worry for my friend, part irrational fear that I'll forget some crucial detail in trip prep and then all will be RUINED. Silly, silly me. I've got lists. Lots of lists. The lists will save me;) 

Anyone got suggestions for a casual bag to use for camera toting? I don't want to scream camera nerd -- something more "casual" or bag like. How's that for vague. Maybe that's why I don't know what to look for? Cheers!

Experimenting Still

Just playing around:) I love the abandon of my son's expression and movement as he runs down the hill. So unguarded and joyful. Never mind that literally seconds after these pics were taken he took a tumble and you would've thought the world was ending -- or at least he was going to lose a limb! I am not my best parent in these moments of hysterical overreaction. I find myself saying such classic things as "get it together" or "buck up, dude." Hubby frequently asks Big D if we need to take him to the hospital - fortunately, he consistently insists that no, really, he'll be ok. That's what we thought . . . 

Experimenting

The idea of double exposure is fascinating to me . . . Here's my sweet peat running pell mell down a hill last weekend while visiting the rose garden. More of that to follow. Consider this a teaser:) 

Super Heros!

I make it habit of checking in to see what photographic challenge the Shutter Sisters have posted -- not that I've been a very active participant of late. Today's theme was Superhero and just as I was wondering if there was some way to get my little rug rats to pose for me, they slapped on the bike helmets and began racing around the house in a dump truck. There's a word for that. Wait. It'll come. Um. Fortuitous! 

Yesterday I bought a doodle book for Big D. He's quite the budding artist! which is exciting for me as I have still to master the stick person. Anyway, one of the fun prompts was to draw a picture of his hero. He said that Jesus was his hero . . . the sweetness and innocence of his response was touching. Of late, I've been feeling a bit of spiritual ambiguity but regardless of my uncertainty I couldn't ask for a more noble and admirable hero for my child to look up to. Sure beats the pants off of Sponge Bob! 

Life's Balance Sheet

I intended to finally get around to sharing the fun pics and stories of Big D's 6th birthday and end of school year festivities and then life came along and slapped me around a bit. So I sit in front of my computer feeling a little stunned and scared and sad. It occurs to me that in Life's Balance Sheet, the good still outweighs the "Big Scary" stuff so I'll try to remind myself of things that are good and whole and healthy. And apparently I'll describe everything in "threes!" Let me start with the good stuff . . . Big D turned 6 on June 10th, the second to last day of his kindergarten year. They ended the year with parties and a field trip to a local farm to plant pumpkins. Apparently in the fall, he can go back and pick one of the pumpkins he planted! How great is that? 
His official B-day party was Friday and a couple of his buddies from school came to celebrate with a water fight and cake and general silliness. My parents came into town just as the party was underway and joined right in -- my family is known for our crazy water play and the kids loved being able to attack the grandparents with buckets of water:) Have you all noticed that kids clump all grandparents into the same benign group of adults? Big D's friends showed no hesitation in including my parents in their fun. 
We rounded out the weekend with a family barbecue with both sets of grandparents, more cake and, of course, gifts. Big D got his new two-wheeler . . . and he was thrilled and terrified! It's a bit bigger than the old one and he's still adjusting. Can you tell?
This past week the kiddos started a Montessori school together. They'll be going 3 days a week while I work. They LOVE it and the teachers tell us that they play well together. They are in a sweet place in their sibling relationship. They regularly tell us they are best friends and they have all sorts of imaginative play. Oh sure, they occasionally hit and squabble and drive me mad but I hope the companionship outweighs the tussles in the end.
On the other side of the balance sheet -- well, the IRS wrote us a love letter proclaiming their interest in having more of our money. A lot of it. Hubby is pretty sure that they are in error and has written his own love letter in reply. I find the whole idea of the IRS terrifying and can't wait to have this resolved, ideally with our bank account intact. I'm the money man in our family except when it comes to taxes so I have no control in this matter. Good? Bad? Mostly undecided. The other line item on my mind is that a close and very dear friend of mine is having a health scare. (My dear, if you're reading this, I'm not stressing out. Really.) I'm planning on flying over there to help keep an eye on the kids and house and offer whatever support I can while she has surgery, etc. 

In a funk

In short -- its cloudy, I'm sick, haven't run in a few days and my kids are whiny. Oy. Little Sis has informed me that it is fun to "fuss" and it really must be as it's been her primary preoccupation this past weekend. Sure she can turn it off in a snap but really, why bother? It is so entertaining for all involved. In fact, at this very moment, she has started up again, this time about the bag of clothes that are destined for Good Will. She has developed an inexplicable attachment to the towels she hasn't used in months. I'm dutifully ignoring but I might just have a stroke. 

Meanwhile, Big D is at yet another birthday party with his father. Did I already mention that there are FOUR scheduled for this upcoming weekend?! Yikes. Its going to have to be pick and choose for this family. And let's not get (entirely) started on the subject of over-the-top kids' parties. Sure, its fun for my tots to hang out in some indoor gymnasium/party place but I can't fathom dropping a couple hundred dollars on the event! And each year, the parties seems to get more extravagant and involved. We're sticking to the backyard variety, complete with some water balloons and paper plates. 

Clearly, I'm in the mood for winging and complaining and there's really no point and spreading the pain! I'll bid you adieu until next time.

Boys. Need I say more?

My sweet boy. He's nuts like every other little nearly-six year old male of his kind. It's been a long, long week at work and one of those long (did I say long?) days ended with an about face on the freeway on the way home to meet daddy and Big D at the ER. Nothing like a vague conversation by phone with your spouse that goes something like this: 

Spouse: "So, I just got off the phone with the advice nurse and she thought I should take Big D to the ER. He fell of his bike and has thing with his chin." 

Me: "Um. Ok. I'll turn around." 

A thing with his chin? Like what exactly? Do NOT leave this sort of thing to my imagination. My hubby later commented that he had been impressed by how "calm" I was on the phone. Well, my dear, you didn't see me clenching the steering wheel or alternating between stomping on the gas and break pedal when traffic failed to cooperate with my sense of urgency. Of course the little dear is fine with the addition of some surgical glue and a band aid. 

Then there's today. The photos really speak for themselves . . . that's my bright guy shooting himself in the eye with the water "shark." I'd like to be able to tell you he only did that once! He was the only child sporting a benign animal-inspired water pistol. The rest ran around with full-fledged back-pack sporting water-shooting machines. I'd never seen anything like it! Clearly, I need to make a trip to the local Target and update our ammunition. Um. Yea. 

I don't know how mothers survive parenting their boys! The nurse in the ER commented that most boys end up with 1 of 3 scars on their face: eyebrow, chin or cheek bone. Oh lordy. I think spouse has all three! And a pin in his ankle and nose that's seen its share of action. Myself, on the other hand, has not suffered any "traumatic" injuries and kinda thought that was the way it was supposed to be. On a related note, I was relieved to discover as we were checking in at the ER, updating our info and the like, that we had not brought Big D  in for over a year. That's progress! 

Sun and Sprinklers

Another day of beautiful weather! I suppose that the majority of the continental US would not be surprised by sun and warmth in late May/early June, but around here, we expect that we haven't seen the end of cool rain showers . . . in fact, Big D's birthday (mid June) has seen rain nearly every year since his birth. We're crossing our fingers that our plans for a backyard barbecue and play date pan out this year! To complicate matters, there are THREE other birthday parties for Big D's classmates the same weekend! This mama missed the opportunity to get her invites out before the others so it may be a small gathering. Who knew the competition was so fierce for birthday party planning?
Yesterday was a busy day, beginning with a 7mi run with some of my team mates for the Hood to Coast relay, followed by a trip to the Nike employee store to replace worn out work out attire and finally, a made dash to Target for a birthday party gift . . . only to discover that the party is next weekend! To make up for Big D's disappointment, the kids played in the sprinklers while daddy washed the car. I snuck out with my camera to see if I could capture some pics with the falling water and sun. 
It was delightful to watch them run around, dumping watch on each other and dancing in the showers of water. As I look at our calendar over the next several weeks, we have lots of activities to look forward to -- perhaps too many. This past weekend, I had a group run both Saturday and Sunday morning, date night with hubby to celebrate his birthday, a canoe adventure, various trips to the store and the every day household chores that get saved up for weekends. In a moment of sanity, I called and bailed out of the women's book group that was to meet Sunday evening. Instead, we had grilled mushroom burgers, melon and birthday cake on the back porch. Then hubby and I curled up on the couch for a movie -- after updating my several weeks old pedicure. Ah. Lovely. 

So on another note -- I'm debating the wisdom of joining a photo scavenger hunt dealie-whopper. It's the Sweet Sauer Photo Hunt. Hmm . . .