boy crazy

Aren't I lucky?

cheryl and roger (and mr. darcey and wolfie)

Cheryl came into my life when I was 21 years old as my mentor for my teaching internship (student teaching) in Tucson, Arizona. All that I do well as a teacher, I do well because of her expert guidance and willingness to let me discover myself as a teacher. She remains my mentor and is also a dear, dear friend.

She and her charming husband Roger, along with their adorable dogs Mr. Darcey and Wolfie, came to stay with us for the weekend. They left only a few hours ago. Timothy keeps saying "Cheryl, back! Darcey, Wolfie, back! Roger, back!" I miss them too. They arrived on Friday evening. Saturday, we took them to the cabin for the night. Sunday evening we spent in Old Town. Dad took Roger for a sight-seeing flight this morning, and bing, just like that, they are gone, headed for five or six more nights of camping in their cool camper/truck as they make their way back to Tucson.

We've had so much snow so late in the year this year that this was our first trip to the cabin since last October. My parents haven't even been up there other than Dad making a couple of quick overnight stays to turn on the heat and water and make sure everything was in order. This is important only because it meant that the usually well stocked kitchen was a bit bare and it was vital that we pack enough food for our stay. Those of you who know Mom know that normally there's enough food for a small army up there. They just had the lake stocked with rainbow and I thought we might have an easy time catching fish that have been fed pellets their whole life and now were fighting each other for flies. However, I bought fish and froze it to take just to make sure. Of course, when we got up there, I discovered that I'd left the fish in the freezer at home. Paul's fishing for sport became fishing for survival in an instant. I was ready to drive up to Laramie to get food, but everyone agreed to have soup if necessary.

This trip was Paul's first opportunity to really give his new fly rod a work out. A former colleague made it for him, and he'd only used it once and briefly albeit successfully, at that. He caught three large fish, had three more almost to shore when they got off, and had several serious hits before he called it quits. I added a fourth fish to the catch, and we had a feast for dinner.

daddy's first fish of the day

the day's catch and paul's new rod. mine is neither the largest nor the smallest.

On Sunday morning, we piled into our car and went on a short safari where we enjoyed the view and saw a moose. Eagle-eyed Cheryl spotted the moose. Tim seems to think that moose are common up there, but it's rare to see them, and we were all impressed.

on safari

moose

When we drove back to the cabin, a mule deer greeted us. She'd been enjoying the salt lick behind the cabin.

mule deer

Sunday evening, we strolled around Old Town, met up with friends of Cheryl and Roger, and ate dinner at Coopersmith's. Their friends are Anton, a former student of Cheryl's and his wife Erin. I first met Anton about 12 years ago, back when Cheryl and I took our students on European tours every summer. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised, Anton or me, when we realized the connection.

Roger used to fly, and instruct, gliders. I was slow to think of it, but asked Dad to take him up this morning for a sight-seeing trip. Roger was excited. Cheryl, Timothy, the dogs, and I danced around the back yard waving as they circled the house. Cheryl loaded their truck and then left to collect Roger at my parents' house.

We hope to see them again in September. Timothy loves having house guests, as do Paul and I, so if you have some time on your hands, you have a bed here.

friends

Timothy and Luke seem to truly like each other. Tim kisses Luke, strokes his head, and soothes him when he cries; Luke follows Tim with his eyes and smiles and laughs whenever Tim comes into his line of sight. When Paul asked Tim to put his arm around Luke, Timothy placed it like it is in the photo instead of on the back of the couch.

tummy time with big brother

Timothy seems to like Luke. He puts his pacifier/dummy back in his mouth for him, tells him 'night, night', and tells his teachers at nursery school about him. Yesterday when Luke was on the floor crying, Tim got down next to him and stroked his head until he stopped. When Luke has his floor time and tummy time, Tim often joins him as in this photo.

a typical morning

Our morning routine lately includes a considerable amount of time with Timothy drawing and coloring while I have my decaf coffee and Luke takes it all in. Tim can draw circles and likes to color a whole page with one color. He wants me to join him for at least a short period of coloring and always insists that I draw WallE and Eve. It's a nice way to start the day.

When Tim is sleepy or feeling insecure he pulls at the hair on the top of his head. He does this in his sleep giving him a permanent morning mohawk.

american consumerism is alive and well

We got a new vehicle: a 2010 Honda Pilot XL. It's dark red with charcoal interior. There are seats for eight people; however, no one is ever going to fight over wanting to sit in the last row of seats. It's a front wheel drive with push button 4 wheel drive. When Paul drove it off the lot, it had 22 miles on the odometer. Yes,it has that new car smell. Why do people like that? It smells like plastic and oil. It's the base model. We didn't think DVD players and rear cameras for reversing were necessary at this stage of our lives.

paul's first new car

we drove it up to masonville to get used to its size and handling. smoooooth

A few words about American consumerism and succumbing to it: We like to think that even though we aren't staying in the US permanently that we have embraced it as our home for the time being, so we are attempting to get the economy back on its feet with some good 'ole consumerism. Something we learned when we moved here and that you might not know is that 80% of the US economy is fed by citizen consumerism. When I moved away, I found that my desire to buy, buy, buy diminished significantly. Part of that was a reaction to American consumerism. I, like everyone I knew, marked everything in our lives with some kind of purchase. Got a new job? Buy something. Got fired? Buy something. Had a fight with your partner? Buy something. Feeling blue? Buy something. Feeling good? Buy something. Break a nail? Buy something. Had a good night's sleep? Buy something. And the shops in the US are ever so accommodating with sales that make your head spin. The other part of that was being in Bulgaria where there isn't really anything to buy. In the UK, what I wanted to buy was so much cheaper in the US that I spent my money there on travel and did my shopping when I came home. Almost all of my fellow ex-pats listed grotesque consumerism as something they didn't like and didn't miss about the US. Some of you know how many pairs of shoes I once owned. While living abroad I became proud of my lack of consumerism. I just want it on the record that I'm managing to resist the urge to buy, buy, buy now that I'm back here and that we are buying to help end the recession, altruism if you will.

Isn't our new car cool? And doesn't my husband look cool in front of it?

the modern marlboro man...

bathing together

Tim likes to have Luke in the bath with him, but only for short periods. We use the bath seat that we bought when Tim was born and also one of us supports Luke while he 'floats.' Timothy is very good about keeping calm when Luke is in the bath, but that's probably why he only wants him in the tub for a few minutes. These photos were taken before their bath two nights ago.







I've tried to keep my blog about me and not about my kids. That's why I started blogs for both boys. However, I don't know where to put photos of both of them as I don't want to post them on both of their blogs. When they get a bit older, they can make those decisions for themselves. For now, my blog is going to have more about the kids then just about me, but right now my life is pretty much just about the kids. Apologies to my friends without children. Honestly, you knew it was coming.