happy trails

{May 29, 2011}

On Sunday morning, William learned how to pedal his big boy bike. He climbed on and something clicked and off he went. It's super cute to watch him pedal. His little butt moves up and down with each push.

So proud of you big boy!

summer mornings

{Don't worry, we always let them go.}
Happy Memorial Day and cheers to the beginning of summer!

lately

{Gorgeous bing cherries. I splurged and bought these at the store on Monday. I decided to quit candy.Well, maybe I'm not going to quit, at least not cold turkey, but I need to cut back. I think moderation is key to a healthy lifestyle, so I won't be eliminating it completely. This girl has some candy confessions that would probably make you gasp, like in a bad way. I'm not going to jump on the no-sugar bandwagon, but will attempt to cut back. So instead of buying Twizzler cherry bites {what other 30-year-old woman craves these?, geez} I bought a huge bag of bing cherries. I thought it would be an easy swap. They are good. But now I'm digging through our cupboards and eating chocolate chips instead.}

 

{This little sunshine, oh my. He technically doesn't nap much these days. But we're in a phase of resisting naps which leads to late afternoon snoozes like this one. He turned around to watch Dolly on the porch and fell asleep that way. Sweet boy.}

{Color. Color is suddenly everywhere and I am finding it so refreshing after the long {est} winter {ever}. We drive past this glorious field of yellow and green everyday. Word has it that this gorgeous sea of yellow is weeds. Wild mustard is what the farmers say.}

{Henry and Charlie. Yesterday was their last day of pre K. It's hard to believe that I have a kindergartner now; my sweet Henry boy. I am so confident that this year has been the absolute best thing for him though and know he will walk confidently into his new classroom this Fall. Plus I'm consoling myself with the fact that it's summer vacation. We chanted "vacay! vacay! vacay!" as we left his school's parking lot behind yesterday afternoon.}

{Henry brought these for his friends. {Found here.}  We don't have working printer at home, so Patrick does my printing {thank you P-dids}, but some fonts always end up lost in translation, as was the case here with "a ball". The intended font was much cuter, but we were in a time crunch and I don't think the children care much whether it's helvetica or times new roman anyway.}
Hmm, what else?
Oh, a while ago I took the boys to the zoo in Peoria and William rode a lion.


And when we left I gps'ed a Sonic and we happened to find it and find it right in time for half-priced drinks happy hour.

Three cherry limeades for less than $3. They were so good too.

Yup, it's what you think it is, two small children on the roof. They were with Patrick {he's up there somewhere}retrieving Patrick's lost shoe {that he kicked off when he kicked the soccer ball over the house}. Oh my, I think we're fitting in here just fine.
oh and vitamin d,

We have been getting our daily doses of vitamin d and soaking up as much sun as we possibly can.

{oh summer, we are so glad that you are here.}

Last weekend we went to an indoor football game, the Bloomington Extreme. Patrick was given tickets and we knew the boys would love it.

We were right. They loved the noise, the energy in the stadium and all of the tackling. I found myself gasping quite a bit though, it seemed so rough. I did get a lovely flower from a man who was waiting for the bus as we walked to the downtown stadium. It may or may not have been picked from the city's flower planter display. ha, I still liked it!

Here's to summer; long sun soaked afternoons at the pool, lemonade and push pops, humid nights and windows open, crickets chirping and lightning bugs.  This is my favorite time of the year.

opening day {2011}

{Opening day: May 14, 2011}

{Patrick is the coach this year. His business is also sponsoring the team, so "Ark Financial" it is. Henry helped him pick the team colors, blue and gray. I think the little hats and t-shirts are so darling. The logo was a complete surprise though, the t-shirt company made it up and Patrick was surprised to see it. Ha!}

Baseball season commences in Farmer City with a grand hurrah. There is a parade through the streets that starts downtown at the town square and ends a few blocks away on the baseball field. There is a speaker and a first ceremonial pitch. And there are lots of anxious little ones. This year was it was rainy and cold. Our sweet little team of seven rallied though. They marched excitedly and with pride. I like the pomp and circumstance that surrounds something so seemingly small but that means so much to these little boys bursting with excitement in their little tiny baseball pants and shiny new cleats. This morning parade in this little farmer town honors these sweet children and gives us another reason to celebrate the ordinary in a festive-enjoying-each-moment kind of way.

the stuff we get to do

It started yesterday at bedtime.

I was ready to bolt, but Henry wasn't ready for me to go. He needed a few more minutes, a little bit more assurance of my presence. Sometimes things dawn on you, but this completely washed over me. This little boy laying here in his bed is getting ready to sleep and he only wants one thing; me. Everything clicked and I realized that I get to. I get to lay next to him, hum a song, smooth his hair and spend the last waking moments of his day with him. I get to watch him as he drifts off to sleep. I get to hear his breathing get all rhythmic and his eyelids flutter open and closed until he finally closes them and falls dreamily into sleep.

I get to reassure him by just being near him. And it's a good reminder because so much of the time I feel like there's stuff I have to do and I begrudge that stuff sometimes.

Dinner is not something I labor over because I have to have something on the table at 5 o'clock {as if it's ever ready then anyway}; it becomes a chance to feed my family. I get to create a meal, to choose the things I feed my children. I get to give them nutrients that help their little bodies grow strong and healthy. I get to spend time gathered around our little table with my family.

I don't feel so stuck and bothered when I realize that I get to be a farm girl. I get to live in the little tiny town of my husband's birth. I get to live in a former one room schoolhouse. I get to live with my little family in the very house where my children's grandparents started their lives together. And I get to enjoy it because it's only for a season.

I get to wash the grass stains out of little baseball pants after tball practice. I get to watch the sun rise most mornings because of my early rising boy.

I would be telling you a lie if I said I didn't love it most mornings. Because truth be told, before I go to bed each night I think about the next day, the lists and to-do's, but mostly I look forward to those first early moments, coffee in hand, curled on the couch with my boys. Those moments, long and lingering and unrushed are my favorite part of the day.

I get to referee fights and settle disagreements between two small boys who most often want the same {toy, cup, ball, cookie} at the same moment. It keeps me mentally sharp.

I know in my heart I need to cherish these things that feel like tasks every day because I suspect in the years to come these very things will be the ones that I miss the most.

These are the things that I probably should do and will continue to do, but mostly I am thankful for these things that I get to do.

{Pardon the dandelion infestation of a lawn! William thinks these "yellow flowers" are the absolute most beautiful flowers in all the world. And I had to teach them how to blow the seeds on the white ones.}

mother's day

{Me and my mom on mother's day after church on the front lawn of the farmhouse.}

{I am one lucky lady to be the mama of these two little boys.Want to know why William is holding the cute little bucket?}

{Miss Dolly is why. We keep her milk bones in the bucket and she is glued to his side because of it. She is now a permanent fixture in our mother's day 2011 portrait. It's actually perfect; she's always around, and I'm thankful to remember it this way. By the way, I am really loving Henry's left cheek with that big dimple. Cute!}

{Oma and William share a little moment on the front steps.}

For mother's day, my mom and I lunched together and got pedicures. {I'll have you know that this was my third pedi in 3 months, which for me is surely some record. I feel like I'm trying to make up for lost time. And if you ever want to come with me since I am now reformed I will take you to this place we went where they give the best calf massage followed by a hot stone massage.} We also drove around town and I showed my mom some houses we have our eye on. And Patrick made us dinner. Sweet Patrick!
Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful mom!

New

Look at this precious face! The Robins have hatched. They are so tiny and big-eyed and feather-less, and so remarkable too. New life is always that way (remarkable, that is).

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

pretending

Good morning! We are home.
But I'm pretending this is still my view.

It was all we hoped it would be.

Sparkling water, sugary sand.

Lounging by the pool.

 Baseball and best friends on the beach.

Big jumps in the pool.

Dinner at Pompano Joes {my favorite: the Blackened mahi-mahi with a twice-baked potato, fresh veggies and hush puppies}.

More pictures to come soon. Today it's back to all things Monday. To the grocery store, returning lots of books and movies at the library, the pick-up line at school, t-ball practice tonight and back to training for that half marathon. I'm going to pretend that when I look out the window I see the sun shining.