Sinking your teeth into a good book...

Sink your teeth into any good books lately?


If I had to guess, I'd pick my son with the penchant for putting everything in his mouth as the guilty party. I found this while sorting through some of the books we used to read in the boy's bedrooms.

And speaking of sinking, why yes I am! I am trying to stay afloat amongst piles of laundry, baseball games, trips to the lakes, a blossoming garden and summer life in general. I spent a couple of hours tonight just emptying all the photos off my camera cards. I have so much I could share, but it'll have to wait till I surface again for air.

Happy 12th Anniversary!

In twenty-three years of knowing you I can't put my finger on when it began.  Maybe it was the hour and 1/2 phone call you made to me when I was in Paris, and we weren't technically dating at the time. Or it might be due to the fact that on the really cold days, like -42, you'd come pick me up for school, knowing I'd have to walk in the cold if you didn't.

It might have started back in high school, when we went on the church trip to New York City. We stood at the top of the World Trade Center taking night photos of the cars down below. Neither one of us talked and yet we were completely comfortable not filling up the space with needless words.

Perhaps its all the treats you bring me now, just because you know I had a REALLY LONG DAY. Or its how much I love the way you say, we'll find a way, don't worry.   

It could certainly be the spontaneity. Like when you say, Really, Toronto, Canada is not too far to drive to in our little Toyota Prius.   And I discover its not really too far.  Or the time when you first got your job in Idaho and were getting ready to move.  But you said "Stay in graduate school.  We can weather a 9 month separation."  Yeah, we did that too.  

It certainly could be the day you said Idaho isn't working for us anymore.  Lets quit our jobs, buy a small blue house and move back to Minnesota to be closer to our family.  Maybe I'll try photography and see if I can make a go of that.  Um hm.  That's what we did.  It could have been that day.

I guess thats the thing really.  Its not any one of them, but its all of them.  Its how we've woven this tapestry of us.  Through the times we are at our best, and the many more times when we are broken, tired, or weak.  It hasn't mattered. Apart, was just never really meant for us for very long.  I can't think of a time in my life, when it ever really will be either.  

So at some point its just been together.  This story of us.  Its about the 12 years of marriage, the 23 years of knowing each other, the 9 years of Nolan, the 7 years of  Colton.  Its the forever I hope to know you, to love you, be with you, and weave together the rest of the story of our life.  

Slugger

What makes him so endearing to me could be just how "into" baseball he is this year. Its his first year playing on a team. He keeps track of the score, mostly HIS team's runs and he tends to forget a few runs the other team makes. So the scores are really lopsided in his little mind. I'm fairly certain he said they won their game 40-15 the other night.

He hasn't figured out the proper sliding technique, but he gets low and propels himself forward to the base if he thinks its going to be close. Its usually not. even. close. but he looks good trying!

And he listens to his coaches. He watches so intently for the signal to keep running, that when the signal didn't come the other runner reached Colton before he figure out he'd better run!

But the dead giveaway that he is really into baseball this year? Click on one of his pics for a closer view. His love for what he is doing is written all over his face in all of his expressions. Did you also notice a common element? In almost all of them, when he is deep in concentration, his little tongue is hanging out of his mouth! Its something my younger brother used to do all the time and I was instantly reminded of him while looking at Colton. My brother is very tall, and was a good athlete in school. He is funny and smart and compassionate. But I can't help but laugh, out of all the traits Colton could inherit from his uncle? He got the "tongue hanging out of his mouth" gene!

Boyfriend material.

My reverse psychology backfired. When I said he could scrub the toilets if he was really bored, I didn't think he'd take me up on it. I didn't think he'd not only clean and scrub and shine the bathroom with enthusiasm, but also love the entire process. And when he was all finished with his bathroom that he shares with Colton? Yeah, he asked to do another one!

His

eyes

LIT

up

when I said

there were

TWO SINKS

in

our bathroom.



I am really hoping he is bored again tomorrow. I so need to dust!

Fourth of July, 2009.

Summer is like an endangered species around these parts. I anxiously scan the crops planted in the fields as we travel from here to the lake. The height of the plants in the field indicates the number of weeks of summer still left. When the corn tassels out, the countdown till school starts will begin. I'm relieved to see the plants are just inches tall; I breathe easier.

We crunch our way over the gravel roads and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go. I begin to relax with each passing mile. I'm finding my mind to be quieter in the summer, although my days are boisterous and noisy. As we drive under the balcony of overhanging branches, the boys prepare to race for the lake and the boat, longing for the pull of a big fish on their line.

I go for a walk with my camera, capturing nature in all her green and fleeting glory. Heading back to the cabin we are treated to an oh-so-satisfying 4th of July dinner of roasted hot dogs, grilled hamburgers, and toasted marshmallows. I'm drawn to the swing on the porch and the stillness of the glass-like surface of the water on the lake, disturbed every now and then by a passing loon.

While we take turns trying to break the spell and diminish the allure cast by the roaring fire on our boys, the sun starts to slide down the horizon. Its a now herculean effort to break the g-force pull of the porch swing on my fully relaxed body. With a promise of a return sometime soon we head off back to Detroit Lakes to catch their fireworks show. We're dazzled momentarily with a brief show. I realize its the perfect metaphor for my thoughts about all things summer. I'm living in technicolor right now, as fleeting as it may be.

Slippery Slopes.

The first time the boys got a slip-n-slide for their birthdays, we had to establish a rule. No slip-n-slides unless it is 80 degrees. That rule has stood the test of time. Can you guess what the temperature was last week? I enjoyed watching the boys drag out the slide, set it up and try to get it to work. They couldn't get the hose to attach to the end of it. So while one stood and sprinkled the surface by hand with the hose, the other took and and attempted to slide. When that didn't yield the results they wanted they finally just got a huge water gun and sprayed the runner down as he passed by.

Gotta love the ingenuity of the boys! Although, somewhere in their hi-jinx they must have performed a bit of a rain dance.

When the boys rolled up the slip-n-slide and came running in the house as the rain began to fall, I assumed they had gotten their fill. But Colton just looked at me like I had two heads when I asked him why they came inside so quicky... "Duh, we didn't want to get WET!" Who can argue with logic like that?

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTI!


Remember when I told you Rick and I have been together for over 23 years? Kristi and I have been together longer! I'm guessing maybe 27 years or so. She is my oldest and bestest friend. I am delighted we share our birthdays so close together. While I had a hard time putting my hands on all the pictures we have of the two of us, I loved stumbling across this one in particular. How do you like the acid washed jeans? Our 80's hair? I'm pretty sure if you could hear it, the radio on our friend's porche would be playing "I wear my sunglasses at night," by Corey Hart.

This picture marked the beginning of our "magical" summer together. For some reason we were the golden girls that summer and had the time of our lives. Around my job at a daycare center we went to the pool every day and the lakes on the weekend. We went out together every night of the week and just managed to have a good time no matter what we were doing. We had tons of friends, lots of time, plenty of energy and the mindset that we may never have a summer like it again, which was truer than we could have possibly known.

Since that time we've been through weddings and births. Boyfriends and husbands. Mortgages and diapers. Dogs and kids. We climbed the hill together and persevered, our friendship intact. Happy birthday friend :) May we celebrate many more years together! Cheers!

P.S. I bet if we hurry we could still make it to the Old Broadway in time to close it down as we have so many times in the past :)