Let me tell of a time when the world was in rhyme with the sound of our laughter

Harry has always had some connection with opera and lives his life in music, so when an opportunity to go to a real, live opera came up....we jumped on it!  

First, there was the stylish dressing and posing with Mommy...

 ...then the sweet goodbyes with Brother Jack 

(Jack says this picture makes him look like a ragged boy and Harry like a rich man)

 His big send-off pose 

 Let's go, already!

 To get into the spirit of the nite, we went to his favorite Italian restaurant....

 ....you got it, it has a fountain!

 A little more posing, just in case it wasn't obvious that we were excited.  He thought this one made it look like we were really on the streets of Italy ;-)

 A taste of Italy

 It's delish

 ...and messy!

There were no pix during the show, but it was a really great job in a nicely refurbished theater with an art deco styling that Harry dug.  He made it through most of the first half before nodding off, seeming to really like the acting and singing.  He did as if there would be any lady singers after the first scene was nothing but bohemian men.

To say thanx to Daddy for directional assistance and let him and Jack know we loved them, we stopped at a sweet old-fashioned donut store on the way home. 

He's still perfecting his milk 'stache 

The fat lady, as the expression goes, has sung!

La Boheme

In the twinkling of an eye

All it took was a beatiful Fall afternoon and an offer of a Scouts' Bike Rodeo to get Harry to finally ride his bike. He was really determined, and quickly realized his skateboard balancing could come in pretty handy on two wheels!It was a day for meeting challenges - Jack took on this stick and clearly was the victor! Way to tough it out, little man!
A stop at the lake was definitely worth the ride, look at that sunset! "Explosions" are our favorites My phone camera couldn't do justice to this huge flock of Canadian geese (according to my wildlife enthusiasts) It was a sweet ride home with my two sonshines!
Van Morrison's Bright Side Of The Road

when you go to school

Nothing like hoppin' 'em up on sugar before the first day of Second Grade!The ever-present stair pose...Harry had just tried to hug Jack, who was having none of it!
Posing some more
The long walk to the bus stop
Jack doing his happy dance Posing by the mailbox

Jack playing camera-shy as they wait for the bus

And they're off! Harry's happy face, sitting behind his friend Tyler

Supertramp's School

Piece by piece

The boys had their first projects of second grade,

Ziploc Quilts....

Harry showcased (l-r, t-b) his favorite sport (tandem biking with Daddy), his pet fish Jerry, a small item (map of Ocracoke), a picture of himself, a star with his name, his autobiography, his favorite cd (Cars soundtrack), his favorite candy (smarties), and his future occupation (chef)
Jack showcased (l-r, t-b) his favorite cd (Laurie Berkner's Buzz Buzz), a picture of himself, his favorite sport (soccer), his future occupation (inventor), a star with his name, his favorite candy (gum), his autobiography, a small item (lego man), and his favorite animal (leopard).

The school year is shaping up to be a great one, and they are loving being back with their friends, establishing new routines, and meeting new challenges. They've done a project and taken about 4 tests so far. Here's to second grade!



Dixie Chicks' Aunt Mattie's Quilt

A secret that only he knows

Jack and one of his best buds have been scheming and trying to keep a secret of their summer plans....he's not quite ready for the CIA
He found a great resource at the library, and spilled the beans to everyone

The boys have been practicing their camp skills the last two nites

JB's Ho Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rum

You've got to try

The boys have started a few projects this spring....it seems they plant a seed at school every year, and this year something may actually come of them! Harry loves to eat lemons and has wanted to plant a tree from the seeds of a restaurant lemon for what seems like forever....if this doesn't work, the local nursery sells little trees for a chunk of change ;-) They also finally planted those sweet potatoes that they started in boy scouts. Can't wait to see what comes of their projects!

JB's Love and Luck

Every day it grows a little more

We probably should have researched Three Sisters Gardening a bit more before starting, but hopefully the guide at the boys' field trip knew what she was talking about when describing this technique. Will keep updating and hope to be able to use some of the information in the article in the fall and for next year's garden.
James Taylor's It's Growing

Plowing these fields in the hot summer sun

We planted our first family garden over the Memorial Day weekend. There was lots of planning, lots of dirt, lots of sweat, lots of pride! It's a first for me, so I'm especially excited to see what happens with all of our little seeds....

Kenny Chesney's She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

Lean your ear this way

Harry had his second piano lesson tonite, and performed to a SRO crowd ;-)

He is determined to play Brahms' Lullaby for Ms. H next week, so stay tuned....

They had a chance to talk with Dean via video chat tonite, and I am forever indebted to whoever figured that deal out! His face and giggles were priceless as he got a guided tour of Daddy's hotel room, including a trip to the bathroom with sound effects, and the cool tropical ("It's like Hawaii!") landscaping, including huge koi and at least one duck. Thanx, babe, it was priceless on this end!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

I Just Want To Bang On The Drum All Day

Jack very proudly performing his first song

Todd Rundgren's Bang On The Drum

Well, train, train, take me on out of this town

We have a guest writer today at TAoHJ - first-timer Harry has been thrilled about writing 'a blog'....so here goes. The video at the end shows a bit of his (non-toilet-related) joy

When we were going to NYC, we had to go to bed early. The next day, we woke up, we had to wake up early to go to the train station. I wanted to get on the train. I was so excited! My thinking bubble was "My heart is thinking we will get on the train now!" When I was on the train, I took my new Puzzle Manias out. I wanted to do some fun activities. I used some pens and some pencils. I put the stickers on one of the activities on Puzzle Mania. It was a squeaky house. When I made that, I wanted I was doing a great job! When I was in the bathroom, the power went out. When I flushed the toilet, the toilet water flushed blue. The train back to Virginia, the water of the toilet flushed regular. There was a white thing that went up when you flushed the toilet. After you flushed the toilet, there was a weird sound like this "nnnnnnn" I was sad that we didn't stay in New York.

M: Are you finished?
H: Nope! Still more!

"Are you finished with that activity, Mom?" I said.
I loved it when we were in NYC because of DoubleTree.
The End


Blackfoot's Train, Train

TWO many fish in the TANKS

The boys have been patiently waiting for their first pets - we decided Betas were a good choice, and they were thrilled to pick out their own fish and decorate their new habitats!

They marveled at the cool new houses and grr'd at the need to wait 24 hours to condition the water Harry's gravel glows, so he kept the lite on all nite

After the big transfer, the intensity of the first feeding....

We're pleased to introduce .... Harry's Jerry (a la Tom's mouse friend - Jack wouldn't name his Tom, so Harry won a fish at the fair...pix to come)

...and Jack's Bullet, so named because he's so fast! Jack was particularly proud of his tank-decorating and how cool it looked that his turtle is munching on the orange plant ;-)

Good nite rituals. Happy to report everyone is still happily swimming today :-)

Too Many Fish In The Sea