The sun will shine

My bonus nephew got married last weekend at Santillane, a historic bed and breakfast near Roanoke, Virginia. Despite a soggy beginning, the rain cleared and it was beautiful.

There were drenched family poses

silly dad poses for little shutter bugssweet moments with boys and grandmas

one very proud set of parents wishing their second son the joys of a long, happy marriage (they've been together for over 30 years!)

one adorable couple

(notice those cute bobble heads on the cake - big hit with the boys!)

boys finding ways to entertain themselves while waiting

fountain-loving Harry posing

and posing

and posing some more - how fake is that?!

firefly hunts

After dancing lessons with one rockin' grand-aunt Iris,

Harry cut a rug with the amazing Aunt Deb,

and Jack did not like it!

The Shirelles' Going To The Chapel

But when I’m big I’ll still know what to do

Looking through all the wedding pix, I noticed Jack was everywhere, learning how to do everything, including flirt with the ladies like his mom and Aunt Iris. He was often in the middle of the men, figuring out how to be a guy after a few obligatory poses.

He also got some much-needed Daddy Time, asking Dean to make sure he looked nice a few times, wrestling, and deciding he was too cool to watch Dean grooving it (I guess that's not the first time we'll embarrass him and have him covering his eyes). Let's hope the perp walk is a passing phase! There were fireflies galore, and he and Aunt Iris got to experience a little summer magic.

Rodney Atkins' Watching You

(Salt! Salt! Salt!)

Harry loves salt and sour. This is the ritual he goes thru whenever he can convince someone to give him their lemon.....even at a wedding

I'm okay as long as we wait a while for the tequilla!

JB's Margaritaville (duet with ZBB)

Lazing on a sunny afternoon

Somehow we ended up with three lazy-minded people in a house, waiting on a repair man....not a bad way to start the summer...
why, yes, those are his feet hitting the foot rest of the recliner...and, yes, that is the same one pictured to his left, wherein you cannot see either of the arms of the chair despite the fact that two little ones are sitting comfortably.....:sniff:

Not exactly sure if this smile is as pure as he'd like me to believe, or he's planning some boyish prank. Betting on the latter ;-)

The Kinks' Sunny Afternoon

Coz' every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

The boys are getting all decked out for their cousin's wedding this weekend....

ZZTop's Sharp Dressed Man

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

In the garden of happiness

This is what it looks like when a mom has an idea about getting her boys to pose ala

American Gothic

Ziggy Marley's Garden

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

It's been TWO weekS

Bare Naked Ladies' One Week

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

A porcelain throne and an aluminum sink

Our favorite plumber told him a few years ago that they have an apprentice program....he only has to wait 9 more years, but that hasn't stopped him from carrying this book around ever since he found it at the library a few weeks ago...

He even toted it into the doc's office the other day. The boy loves his plumbing!
JB's This Hotel Room

But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch!!

I took a picture, but it made me itch even more, so I'll spare you. I look like a leper, have tried everything anyone has suggested, but still it spreads. If this part on my eyelid gets into my eye, I'm getting a cortisone shot. Never had it before, don't want it again :(

Happy non-itchy weekend!

On a happier note, some recent love notes for Dean and me

Jack and Harry snuck special notes into Dean's bags for his recent trip

Their cards for my Mother's Day were so them ;-)

Harry's still working on the jokes - while his timing and inflection are great, he's not a writer at the moment.....but his heart's in it, don't ya think?!

Jack loves Star Wars, and me :-)

The Coaster's Poison Ivy

'Cause we'll never be the way we were

The boys have been wrapping all sorts of activities up, the school year is winding down, and the memories are sweet these days....

apparently, Harry has inherited the green thumb - their cub scout group started these potatoes growing about 2 months ago....I kept holding out hopes that Jack's would start to flower, but so far no luck.

Homework is a lot more fun with two!

Jack's soccer team - this is his best year so far (despite the 1970's basketball-style shorts)

Amy Winehouse's Brother

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 See You

Dean's travel schedule has geared back up, so the boys have gotten to have a few video calls with him....can you see the love? While Jack's still a little enthralled with watching himself make silly faces, we're hoping the technology helps us miss each other a little less.

Leona Lewis - it's a beautiful song, especially if you can ignore all the blue weirdos in the video ;-)