Summer

(Photo: Pierce at our Community Pool)

Well, summer officially started Friday, June 2oth. Normally it is June 21, but the first day of summer is timed with the summer solstice, which this year is June 20th. If you're curious what summer solstice is, here is some information...

The earliest humans knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress.

Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis, and its motion in orbit around the sun. Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly.

At the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that the North Pole is leaning 23-and-a-half degrees toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23-and-a-half degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer. This is as far north as the sun ever gets.

All locations north of the equator have day lengths greater than 12 hours at the June solstice. Meanwhile, all locations south of the equator have day lengths less than 12 hours. Whew...probably TMI, but interesting nonetheless.

Friday, June 20th was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. But for us, summer began the day the kids were out of school - May 27th. It has already been a fun, action-packed summer! The kids do not "want" for things to do. They are either playing the Wii, PS2, PS3, swimming in the backyard or at the community pool. They wake-up early and start playing...which makes for pretty busy days! But I wouldn't change it for the world. I have one little one, Pierce, standing next to me right now begging to get on my computer to play games. That is one aspect of having young children..."me" time is very sparse. Not a lot of time alone. I laughed the other day listening to Megan tell me about having the "best" lunch ever, but Hudson saw her and started whining. She had to share. haha Part of being a parent. Either that, or learn early to hide while eating :)

Today is no different than any other day during the summer. Kids get up early, watch a little tv, play on the computer, then start to get restless. What can we do, where can we go, who can we play with??? All questions I'm sure I asked as a child. But I just look at them in amazement and think, what would you do if you didn't have ALL this stuff? Would you be better off? Would you HAVE to play with each other, be creative and think of games to play, or go outside and make up games like we used to do?? That takes too much energy, if you ask Pierce. Which brings me to his latest comment this morning. We put bunk beds in our extra bedroom. The one that has the Wii, flat screen tv, the kids computer and, for now, Hudson's bassinet. As I was helping him down the ladder from the top bunk, he got scared and said he couldn't do it. He was turned half way around watching Cartoon Network on tv while he was trying to climb down. I told him if he would stop watching tv it would help him concentrate on climbing down. He looked at me, with his oh so serious Pierce face and said, "you need to turn off the tv because I'm affected by it and can't help myself." I did, and he climbed down. At least he's honest :)

Family

I know I've posted something about "Family" in the past, but this week I had the opportunity to spend an extended length of time with my family-in-law (is that a word?).

My father-in-law (Paul) is in the hospital and had two procedures this week. Two, pretty complicated procedures. We have all been a little worried, but no one wanted to admit it until the surgery was over. What a relief...it is over, he is doing great, and everyone can rest a little easier. He joked about being "Superman", but honestly, I think he is.

My point to this post is to say I was sorry we were all pulled together under these circumstances, but glad we were able to spend the time together. We do see each other on occasions, usually holidays. But I don't remember a time where it was just the adults. Normally we all have our children, or at least some of them, and we are pulled in so many different directions - which as you know, doesn't allow a lot of time for adult conversation. This week was different...we all sat there waiting, hoping, praying, and just enjoying one another. Leave it to Paul to pull us all together, and not even intentionally. I got to know my in-laws a lot better during this week, and I've got to say, I had a blast! There was a lot of laughing, kidding, some tears, and just talking. No pressure, no underlying messages (well, maybe with Brett & Melody):) It was so much fun to see Brett interact with his family and just relax. I love that about him. Family is SO important. But most of all, I got to know Mary (Brett's mom) and Melody (Brett's sister), a lot better. I figured out why I like them so well...they are a lot like me! haha Seriously, we all seem to have a lot in common - which is a compliment to me. But I also realized, that Brett is a whole lot like his dad. I know every child cringes at the thought of being like their parents, but if you knew Brett's dad, you would think Brett was just crowned the King of England by that statement. His dad is loving, funny (he was in rare form in the hospital:), and just genuinely kind-hearted, just like Brett. Which means I have a lot to look forward to in the future.

Some people are lucky enough to have one family, their immediate family that love and support them. I'm lucky enough to have two.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one"
~Jane Howard~

KB

Father's Day 2008

Yesterday was Father's Day and I wanted to post a short blog about the "men" in my life.

Brett - we have been married for almost 4 years now and I'm loving EVERY minute of it. He is not only a wonderful husband, but he is an amazing dad. I will have to say, he had a great role model in his dad and I'm proud that he is my children's step-dad.

Paul - a.k.a. Father-in-Law. Paul is my idea of what a father should be. He is kind, considerate and just down right real! All the kids love him and I see so much of him in Brett. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

Ezra - a.k.a. Step-dad. Ezra married my mom almost 12 years ago (I hope I have that right). He married into step-children and step-grandchildren. He is a great person, with a big heart! He loves our children and would do anything for them.

Dad - I haven't spent a lot of time with my dad over the years, but he lives here in Edmond so we see him more often now. If I ever call and ask him a favor, he is always quick to help.

Father's Day 2008 was actually more of a weekend event. We spent Saturday morning with Brett's dad, Brandon took Brett to brunch Saturday afternoon, we took my dad to dinner Saturday evening, and spent Sunday with Brett and Ezra swimming with the little kids, Megan & Hudson. That is what Father's Day is all about...spending time with your children.

I thought this quote was great! How true it is...not only for father's, but parents in general. :)

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.” ~Charles Wadsworth~

Our Little Boys Growing Up!

(Photo: Pierce on slip-n-slide at Hudson's birthday party)

This was a monumental week for Pierce. He learned to swim without floaties, and to ride his bike without training wheels. Can you believe both in the same week?

Swimming - We didn't think Pierce would EVER learn to swim. He didn't want to wear floaties, but every time he would try and swim, his feet would start at the top, and slowly drift downward...which you can pretty much figure out, his body followed right behind. We would encourage him to just wear the floaties for a little longer, but in his usual "Pierce-Style" he resisted. You gotta love him for his tenacity! This week while swimming in our backyard with neighborhood friends, he just took off and started swimming - under water of all things! By yesterday, he wasn't only swimming, he was diving for dive-sticks at the bottom of the pool. We surprised dad when he got home from work, and he couldn't believe it!

Bike - Pierce and Sierra both have really nice bikes, several razor scooters, Sierra has an electric scooter, and Pierce has the newest thing on the market an Asphalt Fusion Sport Board(which is virtually a skateboard/scooter combined). So, needless to say, they have many options when playing with friends. Which has probably been a big reason why Pierce has never attempted to ride his "nice" Mongoose bike (pegs and all). One evening this week, while Pierce was playing with one of his best friends, Will, he jumped on another friends bike (that doesn't have training wheels) and tried to take off. The first few attempts were a little rocky...but Will quickly jumped to his side and cheered him on. As I was cooking dinner, Will ran in the house screaming "PIERCE IS RIDING A BIKE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS." We dropped what we were doing, ran outside, and sure enough, there was Pierce on the sidewalk riding away!! He decided to try his own bike, and without training wheels, for the first time, the ole Mongoose took a spin around the block.

I've gotta say, Mom & Dad were pretty darn proud of Pierce this week. Not too many 5-year olds learn to do all of that in 7 days. Leave it to our little guy to do it. He is pretty amazing, kinda cranky sometimes, a little spoiled, and just down right SWEET! For my birthday he took me to see Kung Fu Panda and told me 1,000,000,000,000 times that he loved me.

He had me at hello :)
KB

Picture Perfect...

I just had to share this adorable photo that was taken at Hudson's birthday party. This is Pierce, Hudson and Sierra sitting on Hudson's new bench that Nanaw Margaret bought him for his birthday.

THANK YOU to Megan DeShazo (photographer & friend) for all the wonderful memories she gave us on Hudson's 1st birthday.

KB

A Birthday to Remember...

Well, another birthday has come and gone. Funny, I seem to struggle with them more than most. I'm not sure why, but I can say that my husband has a way of always making them special for me. And this year was no exception.

I could say it was the awesome gifts that he bought me. Or, the fact that he got me a cake that read "Happy Birthday Mama" and the kids were SO excited about it. Or, the fact that he made sure that the one thing that I asked for on my birthday was to spend time with ALL of my children - and grandchild (who is still here sleeping:)...but most of all it is the fact that he always makes sure that it is MY special day. From the time I wake up, until I go to bed, he continues to tell me Happy Birthday and how much he loves me. How much better could it get?

I did get to spend the day with all of our children, except Heath who was working. That to me is the best gift of all. I almost hate to go to bed because I know tomorrow it won't be my birthday...then I realize when I wake up nothing changes. I still have my family (healthy, happy children), and my husband. It's like everyday is my birthday. ONLY NOT ADDING THE YEARS!

For those of you who know me well, I don't age gracefully. But who wants to age anyway?

Thank you to ALL my family and to my best friend DeDe who sang Happy Birthday on a cell phone message :) and to all my wonderful friends who sent me ecards or email birthday wishes. I am very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Life is good.

KB

Mimi's Boy!

I never knew how AWESOME it would be to have a grandchild. People tell you all the time - children are great, but grandchildren are AWESOME! Well, they are right. I have the most beautiful grandson you've ever seen and I am pretty crazy about him! Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to feel the same about future grandchildren, it's just that Hudson was the first and he is Mimi's Boy! I love that little guy.

KB

Hudson's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe Hudson is a year old! Yesterday was his "Backyardigans" birthday party in his backyard. Megan did a great job of preparing for the older kids that were there...with a clown "Clementine", a slip-n-slide, and other backyard water toys. There were approximately 30 people there and Hudson was the center of attention! Hudson had a blast digging into his "own" chocolate cake, as you can see in the photos. But the clean-up was not so much fun...the little guy did not want to be washed off. He actually ate almost the whole cake...well, except for what was on him.

After the party Hudson came home with us and spent the night. He was worn out and fell asleep in his stroller around 8pm. We took he and the dogs for a walk and he was out by the time we got back home. He slept all night and we had to wake him at 9:15am to get him ready for church. He is such a GOOD baby!

Well, a year sure passed quickly - and our little boy is getting big and almost walking. Won't be long and he will be running.

KB