J&B K&C

View from the backseat:

Two brothers in front spent some time on our road road trip this weekend listening to their Armin. I know, this is not quite legal, but on long rides Justin needs his music and Connor needs his movies. This was our only solution, plus they look pretty cute/silly/techie/goofy/ridiculous up there with those headphones on!

So, Connor and I sat in the back with the laptop propped between us watching movies, and season 1 of the Smurfs - love that cartoon, not so sure he does though. However, once in awhile I do get my way and due to some technical difficulties there weren't many other options. We also had some pretty great conversation. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the everyday that I forget to have these silly little talks. Eight+ hours in the car gave me a chance to do this! My favorite convo went something like this:


C: I used to be a girl.

M: No honey, you've always been a boy.


C: No Mommy, I really used to be a girl. I'm seeeerious. I was born a girl and then changed into a boy.


M: I remember when you were born and you were definitely a boy.


C: Mommy, I'm seeeeeeeeerious. I was a girl and then changed into a boy when I was like 1 or 2 or something.

M: Well Connor, if you are born a girl you stay a girl and if you are born a boy you stay a boy. (this comment brought some snickers from the front of the car)


C: Well not me.

M: OK Connor.

silence

C: HAAAAAA, just kidding!

Riding the Waves

It has been a rough couple of weeks on Justin's side of the family. His sister left for Marine boot camp last week. She will have no communication with anyone for another few weeks. Personally, I cannot imagine having zero contact with family for that long. Not to mention, I have heard some scary boot camp stories. But, supposedly since she is in the officer's training program versus the entry level program, they are a little less rough on the enlistees (not physically but mentally).

And, right about the same time as Katie left, Justin's grandpa passed away. He had suffered from a second stroke and just could not recover from it. So, Friday we headed up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for the memorial service.

This was a hard death to deal with as Bob was such a kind man. Justin and I were talking the other night about how he was one of those people that never said anything bad about ANYONE and likewise you never heard anyone say anything negative about him. You know, there are just a handful of those people out there. That is one quality I really admire, the old "treat others as you would like to be treated." Such a golden rule.

Anyway, in addition to being a wonderful family man, Bob was a talented artist. He did drawings, woodworking, stained glass... Justin and I are lucky to have one of his infamous fish mobiles hanging in our living room. We think of him and his kindness everytime we look toward that corner of our home.


Grandpa Bob loved the outdoors. Justin told me that he did not want to lye in a hospital bed any unnecessary amount of time but would rather be pushed out in a canoe into the great lake in his back yard. When looking out over that big huge lake this past weekend I like to picture him out there riding the waves in his canoe,


smiling at all of those grandkids (and great grandkids)!

Mother's Day Recap

This little mother's day gift left me with a lump in my throat.....

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He has just gotten so smart - I am shocked at what he has learned in only a few months time. He is actually writing his own sentences! Amazing what sponges those little brains are.

It wasn't just his intellect that made me teary eyed, but of course his sweetness too. I love that my one wish is "to go back in kinderagatin." Yes, I often tell Connor that it would be so fun to go back to Kindergarten again. Although (and this is the part I don't mention to him), if I were magically shrunk back to grade K, I know I would have to go through all 12 of those other grade too. Not so sure I would care to do that!

And I received a lovely bouquet of wooden flowers. The busy little guy also made a little painted pot holding a real flower, but we had a little accident with that one, resulting in a few tears :( but I think a little superglue might fix it.



And I spent some time with my mother on Sunday browsing through a local nursery. A beautiful sunny hour with one of my favorite people.

Justin had a good laugh at my gifts to her, only because they were exactly the same as his and Connor's gifts to me: garden plants and and a book. He even picked out the same card! What can I say, like mother like daughter, our interests are the same.

I also made her a little felt needlebook and one of those cute birds from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. I didn't intend for them to match but it turned out nice that they did.

Dirt

We have been having some fun in the dirt, each in our own way. Justin planted a new tree in the front, while I started some seeds in the back. Connor, he will partake in ANY activity that involves dirt, so, he helped with both the tree and the seeds.

We planted carrots, tomatoes, and sunflowers using these small planters because I am still paranoid about frost - you never know. Obviously, they will need to be transplanted, but that just means more fun in the dirt. We also started a pot of cilantro because it is my favorite, I will eat it on everything! I never cleaned out the herb pots from last year and was shocked to find that the chives came back in full force this year - I thought they were an annual plant?

I would love to plant a full vegetable garden but am scared that those pesty little forest creatures will eat away all of my hard work. We'll see, but I definitely need to add some more herbs (fresh basil rates right up there with the cilantro)!

Although Connor loved the planting, his favorite "dirt" activity this year is digging for fossils. He has this special collection box in his room with all sorts of things that he finds captivating and says that the only thing missing is a fossil. Yes, he has been pretty adament about this (to the point of trying to crack open large rocks to see if they hold any fossils inside) - hmmmmmm.

Thinking Back

So I have been "reunited" with one of my dearest childhood friends. We had not spoken for years and then my mom saw her mom at Target, and well you know how that goes. It has been fun to catch up with Meghan after all of these years.

Although we remained friends into high school, our best times were in middle school. This is such an odd age I think, too old to be carefree kids and not quite old enough to be cool & mature highschoolers. We definitely leaned more to the side of crazy children than hip teens.

Japanese language class, 7th grade, complete with a double set of braces:


Anyway, this is a top I made for Meghan, the Cabo Halter by Amy Butler. I actually made the same one for myself last year, yes she picked out the same fabric as I did - did I mention she has great taste!

So here's to middle school memories - silly sleepovers, first crushes, braces, Japanese language class, and a certain good friend.

Birdsong

We have officially rediscovered the back porch. It is by far the best place in the house to spend a lazy weekend morning.

We received a warm birdsong welcome back from some backyard friends: little chickadees, a beautiful cardinal couple, and an entire flock of robins. The bird feeders hang directly off the roof of the porch so we have a great closeup view. Also, our soil must be loaded with worms to attract so many robins. Connor and I tried to count them and lost track at 15 - they started to move around too much.

The song and dance of the cardinal couple is just the cutest thing to watch. Last night the female flew up to the feeder for a snack. The male stayed in the apple tree, keeping a lookout I suppose. The entire time they sang back and forth to one another and when the lady was done eating and flew off into the woods, the male followed immediately - just like every good husband should do, right?

B-Ball

Saturday we were lucky to have courtside seats to the Harlem Globetrotters. You know who was so very excited (still is)! Yes, we all felt like "important people" in our prime spot.


Papa and Nana treated us to the game/show, in which the Globetrotters won their twenty-some-thousandth game against the Generals. Of course it was a very close game, with the top player injured right before halftime. Luckily though he made a miraculous comeback and led the team to victory!


So now Connor would like to be a Globetrotter when he grows up. Immediately after the game, autographed ball in hand, he bolted from the car toward his basketball hoop. And, pretty much all day Sunday was spent shooting hoops. That evening, in an exhausted tone he said, "All I did today was play basketball."

Monday and Tuesday Connor took a little break from his basketball training.