a little sojourn down south

One of the handful of good things about Nate's residency (I'll list the not-so-good sometime when I need sympathy) is his four weeks off every year. I've mentioned in an earlier post that I have dubbed them the "keep-me-sane weeks," which is exactly what they are.

This past one was spent on a meandering, spontaneous vacation through Virginia and down into Charlotte, North Carolina to see our great friends, Harland and Heather Hayes. Although we spent close to 24 hours in the car, it was so, so great to just be together as a family. We flew by the seat of our pants: no real set itinerary (right down to calling motel after motel in Roanoke to see if anyone had availability! Not exactly my uptight, control-freak style, but very refreshing...) no commitments, no obligations. It was bliss. Here's a few pics of our adventures.

good buddies: Grant and Cannon

the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va (a detour for Nate the history buff)

inside the Luray Caverns (amazing....)

our freezing hike in the leafless Shenandoah National Park (we'll be back in the fall!)


we couldn't resist the 1960's roadside feature: Dinosaur Land!

Jack conjuring up a scared face for that frightening papier-mache creature

if that's not authentic, I'll eat my foot

good times.

Bravo! Encore!

Friday was Grant's first piano recital. Way to go, Granter!

waxing sentimental

A wise woman reminded me this week how important it is to slow down and enjoy the moment: little ones won't be little for long. So often my gears are whirring like mad: get that load of laundry in, make that grocery list, call that student, pick up the sitter, plan YW, wash that floor, clean up those toys that have barely been out, get that dinner on, go, go, go. But this week, I've been trying a little harder to heed the profound advice.

I am a lucky girl. Today, a cozy, rainy Friday with no piano students to teach and no pressing commitments to occupy me, I got to experience the little world of my boys that sometimes passes by me as I zip around. I got to be an Allosaurus until my voice is hoarse. I had my hair brushed tenderly on several occasions by Jack. I got to give and receive backrubs, read about 25 library books, watch Sword in the Stone after dinner while eating ice cream (yes, this is the same day as my Cadbury post... I'm on a roll), and engage in animated discussions about knights, Star Wars, amphibians, egg-eating dinosaurs, and good Lamanites with my little people.

There are so many of you out there who I look up to as mothers. I only hope to learn from you and make more days like today, because I know that Grant and Jack won't always want me to be an audience and an active participant in their every moment forever.

a question

Why is it that it only takes me twenty minutes to go from doing this:

to nibbling this?

Darn that Canadian chocolate that appears only once a year! Why does it have to be so good?