Conversations

James: "The big white bear licked me."
me: "When did you see a big white bear?"
James: "At the doggie Party."

(After the pool closes for the summer they have a dog party and let the dogs swim. We stopped by to watch, and James had quite the encounter.)

Me: "Hi there, handsome!" (said to James as he walked down the stairs in the morning.)
James: "I not handsome, I'm James Fairbank."

[EDIT]

For about the past two years, Jeremiah has been completely fascinated by the US-Mexico border. To celebrate Mexico's bicentennial, here is a picture of US I-10, railroad tracks, the Rio Grande 'River', and Juarez. It is the scene of another conversation that takes place in a parking lot on the UTEP campus:

Jeremiah: That's Mexico right there.

Jeremiah's Boss: Yeah, I can't believe we can just look down there and it's another country.

Jeremiah: It's weird, this is the United States, and that's Mexico... Right there.

First Day

Luca's face says it all. He's ready to go. He is wearing a name tag with some specific info that I thought best to black out since I'm putting this out there in the blogosphere:) So, I left my little boy sitting timidly in his seat this morning. We were rushed getting there, despite how prepared I thought we were, so I didn't have much of a chance to feel emotional about it until I walked back out to the van alone. A couple tears snuck out, and I hope nobody saw the kindergarden mom on her way out:) I couldn't help thinking about him sitting there so excited and innocent and knowing that I won't be right there beside him to cheer when things are fantastic or to comfort when they are terrible. Of course, it wouldn't be good for him if I was. I know he needs this to learn, but I've loved being home with him. It has been one of my greatest blessings.

Little James-er had to have a backpack too this morning. Complete with a packed lunch:)

Beach Bums

We've just returned from a great week at the beach!

On his first evening at the beach James attempted to run straight into the ocean. That boy had no fear. He since developed some after his daddy took him out into the waves and a few broke right on them.

Mom-mom and Pap-pap.

Grandpa and Grandma under our awesome sunshade.

Throwing sand. Lots of that went on.

Here Luca and I fly our two stringed kite. We needed a little help from "the professor", my Papa who is a prof in aerospace engineering at Penn State, to get it off the ground.

Jameser takes a turn.

Nana and Papa.

Is this nesting?

I must preface this by saying that I am occaisionally crafty. Lately, I have to have a project going. I think it's a compulsion. But thankfully Luca enjoys sewing with me! He made a couple of these as well as a sunglasses case and bookmark. I don't come up with these ideas on my own. Even if I think I came up with something myself, I find it's already out there in cyberspace somewhere:)
Felt flower bouquet! We've made a few different types of fabric flowers, but all the different colors of felt look so cheerful together.

Little felt baby booties.

A couple sundresses.

I like wearing headbands lately because it is too stinkin hot. I made this "leather" one.

"What about my poor neglected boys?" you ask. Their room was my major project the last couple days. It needed a lot of going through and re-organizing, plus a new bunk bed! Now if they would only sleep in there!

On the wall just to the right of this pic I hung a magnet board for the boys to display their artwork. (They're quite prolific.) James and I made these magnets using artwork I scanned from some of our favorite stories. I love how the pictures in children's books stay in your mind forever. It makes me feel really good to open one like Andrew Henry's Meadow and have a whole flood of happy thoughts come to me triggered by once again seeing those pictures that fed my imagination as a child.

Here the board displays a Luca original.

Speaking of my boys...Luca likes to take James upstairs where they dig around through the closet and drawers to put together costumes. They had just finished putting on a dance show for me. Crazy boys!

3:30 AM

It's in the middle of the night and I can't sleep. I think the problem started with hunger, and I corrected that with some lucky charms and an english muffin, but then I start thinking too much...about things I need to do or about how I'm not asleep and of course by so doing push sleep even further away. So in an effort not to do that, I'm getting up and doing something else for a couple minutes.

To explain the above pic, I'm thinking about nicknames. I have one. There is a handful of people on this planet who are more likely to call me "Nono" than Joanie. This nickname started because of my sister pictured above (although the toddler version of above sister). She figured out how to comment on my blog, and in her comment called me Nono. When we were kids, we had this book about a really naughty cat called "No, no, Joan." Maybe she just thought Nono and Joan were synonomous. Maybe my name was just too hard to say for a toddler. But my family picked up on the name. (Althought my parents quickly quelched the simultaneously developed nickname "Dodo" for my brother Gerry. They changed it to Dee-dee, which has also stuck.) My nickname quickly caught on with some of my closest friends who still call me Nono decades later.

I just really like my nickname tonight. I love that there are people out there who have been by me since I was five. I love how being called "Nono" can bring up so many different memories. I love all my family. I can hear my Dad singing... "I love Nono all the time!" Right back at you, Dad. "I love Daddy all the time."

Thanks for tolerating my sentimental middle of the night moment:)

The "sweetest place on earth"

Mom-mom and Pap-pap took us to Hershey Park yesterday. We had a great time. It wasn't crowded and there were no lines for the children's rides. The boys laughed so hard and I loved watching them.

The "Milkmen" show is one of Mom-mom's favorites.

Emily and James on the starship.

My dad and I chatting and watching. A pregnant lady can't ride many things at Hershey Park, but that was okay because the company was fantastic.

My backyard

This is the view from my childhood backyard. My parent's house backs to a cornfield which was sold a few years ago to become mixed residential/commercial properties. The farmer stopped planting, then the economy turned, and nothing happened for a couple years. This year we were visiting when we heard the familiar sound of a tractor plowing up the weeds. Now there is corn. I know the project will still happen eventually (to the delight of all those architects out there). It is the last undeveloped piece of land within the borough limits, but I loved to see the corn. I thought of running back through the rows as a kid with the stalks towering over my head. We'd spend whole days out there building forts and living in our own world where we could no longer see the houses of our neighborhood.

A wedding!

My long time friend, whom I've always affectionately called Lizzie G got married over the fourth of July weekend. The wedding was beautiful. Here she is the night before with the groom, Jeff. He is friendly and kind, and I hope we get to know him well.

Jer discovered a new love. Whoopie pies. He isn't much of a desert lover, so I was surprised when he revisited the table so many times. We're going to have to learn how to make these.

Liz looked amazing, and I loved the flowers in her hair.

This is the Inn where the reception was held. It was located right on the river in Harrisburg.

Here we are. Today is Jer's birthday. He's 32, and even more handsome than he was at 22 when we started dating.