How precious did that Grace appear

~not a day goes by~

we miss you, we love you

Amazing Grace

But singing works just fine for me

Is there anything better than a rainy day forecast that is wrong? Especially in Spring?!This is that beautiful, overgown, tree that always heralds Spring at our old house...there are even a few tulips blooming, and I saw the first hostas poking their shoots out from under the leaves this morning. Something about digging in dirt just rights all sorts of things!

It's been a creative time around here - both boys are making up songs constantly, some of which are better than others ;-) This is Harry's roll-up keyboard that he bought with some birthday money - he's picking out tunes and putting his good ear to use.

Jack has also been building lots of lego creations with Dean. This was his first complelty solo attempt at one with more than 4 pages of instructions, and he was so proud to finishi it all by himself!

Our house is a series of projects in process - every surface is covered with a half-read book, portions of lego sets, stacks of drawings, etc. It feels good....well, except for my stack of half-sewn mending and half-changed-over winter/summer clothes...all in good time - there are some plants that need attention on this bright sunny day.

A great big Thank You goes out to all the people who work hard to make others' lives easier, better, healthier and safer.

James Taylor's Sweet Baby James

Presents To Send You

Well, birthday money was burning a hole is some boy pockets last week, so we headed to TRU. Harry got a cool roll-up piano, and Jack got a bunch of new Legos with their money from Grammy and Papa.
Jack chose this synthesizing guitar and Harry chose a monkey he names "Sweetie" from Grandma. Thanx to you all, they are happy boys!

After tough toy shopping, nothing beats a trip to 5 Guys!

bellied up to the bar

Jimmy Buffett

Miniature golf and BIRTHDAYS in the hills

It seems like last year's outing was such a hit, they wanted to do it again

After practicing with Daddy, they did pretty well....tho there were a few ball rescues - and really, who can resist a net and gross water?

There was no way to rescue the ball after the 18th hole, but they both gave it the college try!

The victory dance!

Harry playing airhockey with me

And Jack trying to deny something about blue icecream....gotta teach him about evidence ;-)

The Beach Boys' All Summer Long

How's about cookin' something up with me

The boys' birthday party was at a cooking school last weekend. It was something different and a lot of fun, especially since I didn't have to clean up all the mess ;-)There were hats

There were ingredients

There was sniffing

There was playing

There was rolling
There was teamwork

There were 'tada!'s

There was dipping (edible microphones)
There was dancing

And there was the obligatory group shot

(somehow I missed the pizza and the cake, but they were there, too!)

Hank Williams' Hey Good Lookin' (Jimmy's version is their favorite)

I see tree of green....er, pink

It's amazing what a little weeding, a lot of snow, and a few months can do for a yard
Back in October, I had no idea what this tree was, but realized it needed a good pruning

This week, it turned into one of my favorite trees - we have this tree in a lighter color at our old house, and it was blooming when we lost our babies. It is a bittersweet reminder that life goes on - it's always one of the first trees in our old yard, and now Spring is a richer color at our new home.

Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World

years turn over

The boys had a great time at their 6-year-old checkup - they completely dig their doc and his staff....who let them try out the equipment and let me take pix of it all.

They still haven't quite made it to 4 feet....


...but Jack will say goodbye to the first rack of weights since he hit 50 pounds this trip.

Harry looks a little like he's practicing for Jeopardy....watch out, Alex!

Jack was into listening to his own heartbeat...

...while Harry just wanted to flirt!

(he's drumming her heartbeat)

Believe it or not, they could both lay on this table for their first visit almost 6 years ago :sniff:

Their favorite part was the visit and hugs with Miss Vicky (tho they were sick of posing). Hard to believe it started like this

Holding Harry 3-24-04

10,000 Maniacs' On And On

...you opened up a world I would have missed

Aaron Lines' What Beautiful Is

You say it's your birthday, well....

Today's the day - 6! The second half of the first decade begins. I found Jack dressed and having put out Harry's clothes. Harry wanted to ride the bus by himself. Our boys are growing up :-)
It was a busy weekend, but I just can't get myself together to go thru all those pix quite yet....here's today

They had a great day at school, then got to visit with one of their favorite people in the whole world. Who can resist that much happy love??!

They insisted on helping me with everything today, and I'm beginning to see some real benefits in this growing up thing.

We went to KJ's and found a few surprise friends - it was fun all around, and hopefully the rest of the year goes as smoothly!

Happy birthday to you

Guess what I was doing right this minute, 6 years ago?
Happy Birthday, boys!

Jack 1:43
Harry 1:44

'Til I'll be tying on my flyin' shoes

Spring has sprung!
And they've been put in charge of dressing themselves LOL :cringe:

We met some friends for splashing fun after they both had great days at school - it was a lot of fun, C&C, and we'll have to do it again soon :-)

I was checking out the yard at the old house today (we have a showing tomorrow, fingers crossed) and saw this crocus poking its way out from under the pitiful ground. I don't ever remember seeing these before, so maybe it's a good sign. Again, with the finger crossing, I never realized how superstitious I am!

I was thinking about how I love this song and a similar JB tune Barefoot Shoes....if you're a fan of Jimmy Buffett, you may want to check out tomorrow nite's Crossroads with JB and Zac Brown Band.

Lyle Lovett's Flyin' Shoes

and not even worry about, getting hurt

We got *that* call today, the nurse calling in advance of your child coming home is not always pretty. She said he calmly told her what happened, accepted his bag of ice and seemed to be no worse for the wear.....

He is kind of proud of his first REAL injury. This is the second time he's been clocked by a swing, but this time he was gallantly pushing a friend and he didn't cry, except 'a little bit' when he told his beloved, sosweet teacher. By the time he got to the office, he was able to tell the story without a tear....our little cowboy.

It was starting to blue up by bedtime, and I'm guessing he's gonna turn 6 with a pretty good shiner, but it looks like no major damage....

So, I was looking for the Christmas Eve camera-dropping incident of 2008 and didn't give poor Harry his own post, but you may remember he ended up looking like this

I just noticed that Harry got his left eye, while Jack got his right. Weird, there was just a story about mirror-image twins - they each got their dominant side. Harry ended up with a permanent scar and very little bruising, but I expect Jack's will look a lot worse in the moment.

Fabulous Thunderbirds' Tough Enough