Lightning Storm

We had an awe-inspiring lightening storm Friday night. Lightening constantly flickered thru the sky, accompanied by a gentle, far-away rumbling. I pulled out the camera to capture some of it. Not many of the flashes were detected by the camera, and you can't even hear the thunder, rather just the rain.

Counting lightning

An hour or so after this, I was reading in bed when there was a bright flash of light. Our phone half-rang, and then BOOM--the kind of boom that shakes your house. S and I wondered what had been hit. The next day we saw one of our neighbor's trees (two houses down) had been severely damaged by the storm, and although it wasn't obvious at first, we later learned it likely was from that lightening strike. We're grateful it was a smaller tree, compared to the trees easily twice its height that surround all the homes in this area, and that the main branches were blown off toward the street, rather than toward the house. A damaged fence is always better than a damaged home. I'd understood lightning hits the tallest thing in an area--but apparently not always!

Fun Day

I'm one-handed right now (holding sleepy Lil' S), so I'll let the pictures do the talking. (Ha, like I could really let that happen! I ended up snagging S to type a few things for me.) Wed morning, I actually woke at a decent time, so we decided to have some fun.

Listening Ear

(". . . and then she put me down and started dressing me

instead of letting me finish my breakfast!")

Ack! Too small already?!?

This is the one shot I took of H in the strawberry fields, and I'm amazed at how perfect it is considering the circumstances. She dropped down for hardly a quarter of a second to pose for me (because for some weird reason she was completely uninterested in actually picking, and of course if you take your child berry picking, you have to have a cute photo to post on your blog about it) and I just clicked and got the shot. She really does look like she's picking and enjoying it, doesn't it? Pictures sure can be deceiving! ;P

H volunteered to wash the strawberries while I nursed li'l S.

I love having a four-year-old around (today).

Full Tummy

Time for nap!

(I'm glad I took those photos Sunday because that night he totally gashed himself!)

We ate strawberries for lunch. I am sure we had sandwiches for lunch too. but I only remember the strawberries--oh, and an orange. I'd taken photos of that for another post. That's how I remember. ;)

before

after

YUM!

Look at that face!

S caught some great Lil' S expressions this evening.

The middle shot is the best!!!

Summertime!

Goodbye, Oranges! You shall be missed.

Hello Strawberries, Spring Garlic, and Asparagus!!!

Aptly, the asparagus was purchased by S at Duke's CSA pick-up on Tuesday (he got THREE bunches! THREE!!!), the strawberries were picked by H and me (mostly me!) at the Waller Family Farm on Wednesday, and we bought the spring garlic (aka. green garlic) at the Durham Farmer's Market on Saturday.

I think we have the Summer Bug!

Growing Pains

H's been traumatized lately by the fact that her beloved pajamas just aren't going to fit her forever. After another evening of shed tears she declared, "I don't want anymore birthdays!" And, this is a child who normally LOVES birthdays and everything about them. I guess she's just finally found a downside to them!

Happy Mother's Day!

Every woman should get flowers for Mother's Day

or chocolate if they prefer

Or a husband as sweet as mine

and two children, equally divine

My Lil' 12-pounder

or 13-pounder. . . .

Wherever he is now. . . .

Happy 6 Weeks!

I once heard that baby boys look like old men.

I think that's pretty true--at least in my little one's case!

Wouldn't you say so too?

Photo Flops

Happy First Month?

or not. . . .

~~~

I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a cute brother-sister shoot of H & Lil 'S, one that I can enlarge and put on display.

Maybe I ought to wait until Lil' S is smiling a little more.

First Smiles, May 6th

Lil' S smiled for us the first time on Sunday, May 2nd.

What a nice early Mother's Day gift!

May 6th

Here's his first smile caught on camera--

like, a real smile, one meant for me!

I have a really cute movie clip of him smiling as well,

but I'm having technical difficulties with it. Whatta shame!

WHAT is THAT?!?

S found this little guy burrowed in a lump of clay while planting our tomatoes.

Reality Shock

Today I traumatized my daughter. She had wanted to go see Dora, and after a little clarification on that (a Dora movie?) I explained that Dora wasn't real, rather pretend. Same with Berenstein Bears and other stories we often told her. She was quickly in tears, which sleep-deprived little me hadn't quite expected. I quickly told her that not all the stories we tell her are pretend. Some are pretend and some are real. The stories we tell her about Jesus are real--same with those about Lehi and Nephi. "When Daddy and I tell you stories, would you like us to tell you if they are real or pretend?"

"Yes!" she wailed.

"Okay, we'll have to tell Daddy that." I was sure he'd appreciate the heads up on this!

When she looked up at me again with those sad, blue eyes, she caught me off guard: "Is Rebecca real?" (We have a version of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm for younger readers.) Oh, this will certainly release the floodgates again.

"No," I answered truthfully, digging for some way to restore the calm. "Rebecca isn't real. But there were many girls who lived with their aunts long ago. There were many girls who rode in stagecoaches to stay with their aunts."

"What were their names?" she asked through her tears.

"I don't know," I answered, frustrated with my lack of success, "we'd have to find out." Then, inspiration hit: "But Laura and Mary and their Ma and Pa are!" (Again, we have a version for younger readers.) Phew. Though she didn't recover completely right away, knowing Laura was real helped, which I quickly took advantage of. I explained that when Laura was all grown up, she wrote down stories about what it had been like when she was a child, living with her family in the woods.

"Can we go see them?" Did she have to ask that?

"No, she died a long time ago." Over her renewed cries I continued desperately, "but we can still read about what it was like for her growing up with her Ma and her Pa and her sister Mary and baby sister Carrie!" Back to digging again, sigh. "And we can read about other people who've written down their stories. Some of your great-great-grandparents wrote down what it was like to live a long time ago. Would you like to read some of their stories?"

"Yes," she wept.

"Okay, we'll do that."

I think it's going to take a while for her to get over this.