Brothers

These two are a force when they are together. There is just something about having the other that gives them energy - usually to do bad things. But, they love each other, too. Last night they were supposed to share a room, but not necessarily the bed. This is how I found them when I went to bed - sharing a bed and a pillow. Around 1am Joel woke up and wanted to get into his own bed. But this morning when I got up, they were in the same bed again. I pray that they share a strong bond through adulthood, but also that they begin to "spur each other on to good deeds." (From Hebrews 10:24, emphasis added)

They caught a lizard?!?

Just to clarify, I am not upset that the boys caught a lizard, just really surprised! They usually shy away from small crawling things, even if they have been told that they can touch it. Today they saw a lizard in our yard again and I was letting them chase it while I took some stuff inside. I went outside to hurry them in and was surprised at this sight! Joel tried to hold it, too, but he let go of it as soon as it started moving. Evan would catch it again and the routine would be repeated. I took it at one point and put it on Joel's shirt, but before I could get a picture he moved and the lizard moved, and the lizard made it safely to the ground. We left the lizard alone after that. I didn't want it to be too traumatized, after all. Before we went inside we told the lizard good-bye.

The lizard is in the grass (between their hands in the picture).

He's not tired!

How could I have suggested such a thing?

After a cool bath and some lunch, he quietly agreed to go to bed. Maybe he really was tired after all.

Retreatin'

I got back yesterday from a women's retreat with our church and boy am I tired! But it was fun! I got to meet a lot of people and got to know a lot of others better. My cabin-mates were wonderful. We got to enjoy some quality time together, but also some quiet time with God. It was a great mix.

We were at a camp called Pine Cove on the shores of Lake Palestine. The setting was beautiful, the weather was wonderful and it made the retreat all the more enjoyable. How can you not appreciate the awesomeness, creativity, majesty and love of God when you are given sights like this? This was the "pre-sunset" on our first night there and it was a great start to the weekend for me.


During the weekend, there were lots of opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature. One of the more exciting ones for me was on the zipline! This is supposed to be part of a faith exercise, but my faith wasn't tested too much since I was tethered to a strong cable in a harness. I did have butterflies waiting to go. After you're tethered you sit down on the platform. Once everyone is sitting you all scoot forward a couple of inches. This is when the butterflies really started for me.

I am the one sitting down.

Then the guides call out "1-2-3-on zip". Then it's "1-2-3-go". On the go command you lean forward and take off! Even though it might not look like it, I was the first one to reach the platform. (I am the one in the gray shirt on the right side.) The second time down was even more fun and the other riders were all from our cabin, even though Michelle "beat" me the second time.

Here we are hanging around waiting to get untethered. (They use a long rolling ladder to get you down.)

So, that's a little glimpse into some peace and quiet (the sunset) and some excitement (zipline) from the retreat. I could go into a lot more about the retreat, but then this post would be really long.

It was nice to get away for a while, but it was also nice to get home. Evan said that they didn't miss me, but I think that Joel did even if the others didn't. Now, if only I could get some sleep, things would be wonderful! ;)

Farm livin' is the life for me!

I think that could become Joel's theme song. Today (Saturday) he and I went to a spring event at a local farm. (Evan was supposed to go, but he decided to stay home and help Steve in the yard.) The first thing he wanted to do was ride a pony. Here he is reaching over to pet the pony's mane during the ride.
After that he wanted to find a cow. We had to do a few other things first, but we made it there eventually. Along the way Joel got to see a lamb. This one is 4 days old. Her mom was behind her and getting quite upset that she couldn't be with her baby.

Here is a goat getting milked. She had 4 kids five days ago and is making about 2 gallons of milk a day. The kids were out too and Joel got to pet them a little. He was really interested in seeing what this was all about.

And here is a cow! Joel was very excited and is waving at it here.

Then he got to try his hand at milking a "cow". He is getting a little stream of milk out.

After that I asked him what he wanted to do. He replied, "Go home." We didn't do that, though. I took him to an outlet mall where we got to meet some friends, Aunt Jenn and her mom, Mrs. Becky. We had lunch, did some shopping, and finally made it home.

Evan had to miss out on the fun, but he had fun at home with his dad. I kept asking him if he was sure that he didn't want to go. At one point he said, "No, but I still love you." That wasn't what I was worried about, but it was nice to hear.

More Easter pictures

I forgot that I was going to post some more Easter pictures, so these are a little late. But I think that they are still cute.

Joel learned how to climb the fence. Mommy's so excited about that! ;)

What's Easter without some brotherly wrestling. These two go at it often - all in fun, of course.

Posing with their newly planted flowers and an Easter basket. Joel wouldn't sit there without his plastic eggs that look like sports balls. Thankfully he didn't miss them when I threw away.
The flowers are all in bloom now and quite pretty!

Sights of the season

I thought that I would share some pictures from our time outside today. As you can see, spring is here! We took advantage of the weekend and the nice weather to work on the yard some today.

Our first rose of the season

We have peaches on our tree! This is Evan's hand with one of the peaches.

Our fig tree has grown a lot! It has a few figs already, too.

Joel throwing a frisbee - not bad!

Evan throwing a frisbee - really good, even though he uses his left hand!

Joel up the peach tree

Evan up the peach tree

Steve getting the mower ready for the season

Mis-adventures

Apparently when it rains, it pours around here. Yesterday I had one of those moments when it seemed to be too quiet in the house and Joel was conspicuously out of sight. He had gotten into the bag balm (which is a really thick vaseline-type diaper rash treatment) and spread it all around his room. He had gotten into it the other day and spread it all over himself and the kitchen floor. Later we found some on the hall wall, too. He got in trouble for this, so I was a little surprised that he did it again. Should I have been surprised - no! It took a while to clean up, and I still need to wash his curtains, but we survived. ;) Here are some pictures of what he did. Notice the yellow stuff on the carpet - that's bag balm.


Then we left the kids with some babysitters for the evening. When we got home the kids were asleep, so I peeked in on them to enjoy their sleeping cuteness. I noticed a lot of "fluff" on the floor of Evan's room. I thought he had torn apart his quilt or pillow, but I finally found the offended item - a stuffed toy. Are little girls this destructive or is it just boys?

**UPDATE** Evan informed me today that Joel is the one who tore up his toy, and that he (Evan) was very upset about it. Evan has been known to falsely accuse Joel before, but in this case I am leaning toward believing Evan.
But, there was some cause for celebration yesterday. The reason we left for the evening was that Steve was given a special award at work and the awards banquet was last night. This award is called a "Technical Honors" award and is based on peer reviews, so that makes it even more special. The ceremony was very nice and we were treated to a very tasty dinner. I also received an "award" for being such a supportive spouse - the centerpiece! It was a very special evening for Steve and I am very proud of him.