memorial day

Each Memorial Day our town has a small parade.

And each year we dress up in red, white and blue, 

load up in the back of the pick-up truck with our neighbors and drive down the road to my brother's home.  It's a special tradition that we all look forward to....the buckets are to collect the candy that is thrown from the floats, (and for their mother to raid afterwards)! 

"The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:

Their courage nerves a thousand living men."

~Minot J. Savage~

i think this picture is beautiful.

somebody's little boy.

Memorial Day Weekend & the delights therein!

Hello Friends. Paisley girl is resting soundly across my knees on this cozy afternoon. It's been some time since I've checked in, life has taken on a new sort of busy....an adjustment time to be sure.

Last weekend, Memorial Day, had to be one of the best weekends I've had in a long while. Delightful would be the word. Saturday morning Jake took Tyler fishing for the first time while Luke, Paisley and I went to myriads of garage sales. I found some cute things, it's SO FUN looking at all the girly stuff now!! My options use to be so limited...."yes, we have some boys clothing", (proceed to the one tiny table in the corner where stained, ripped and faded clothing abound!!!) My favorite find was a yellow down comforter for Luke's toddler bed....so sweet.

Saturday afternoon we went to Tyler and Luke's friends birthday party. She turned 3 and had a princess party. It was fun being together as a family and watching the boys interact with their friends. And the homemade ice cream cake was amazing.

Saturday night after the party we took the boys to my old stompin' grounds, my high school. We had a picnic along the Millstream, (the stream that runs through the property). We walked all around the property, found the perfect sticks/rocks for throwing into the water, ran around the tennis courts/soccer field. I got teary eyed watching my boys run around the field as I sat in the bleacher cheering them on. Before too long I'll be attending their little sports events. Unfortunately I forgot my camera! :-( Sunday morning we gave Paisley a bath in the sink, got all dolled up and headed to church....our first time with Paisley! It went great, we were actually EARLY to church for once. With three little ones now, I think I am allowing even more time getting ready and out the door then I usually do. Sunday afternoon we all had our glorious naps. After we woke up we headed to walmart for a few things, I don't remember what we went for, but we came out with a whale pool that squirts water and a Thomas kite! We loaded everyone up and went for some creek fun. Such a darling little place, the boys loved it and so did I.

Paisley's perch: full belly, clean diaper & nuk.

Mama's perch: homemade lemonade, chips, US weekly!

When the children were tucked in, we took some time to watch an ENTIRE movie, "Flicka" from start to finish...it was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. The movie was great, but it was the uninterrupted time of movie indulgence that was the best!

Monday morning we were up bright and early for the annual Memorial Day parade. My sister and her husband and some of our good friends joined us with their children.

Needless to say, the candy throwing people were our favorite!! After the parade we all went to a local restaurant for an authentic "Amish" breakfast: corn mush, stewed crackers, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and OJ! Delish!
Next we made our way to the Strasburg Railroad and watched the train go by. Jake flew the Thomas kite and it went quite high...I wish I would have taken some pictures....it looked so cool! The rest of the day we spent here at home, playing in the whale pool and relaxing in the gazebo. What a fabulous weekend it was! I'm enjoying this time with my husband because I know that very soon his "spare" time will be spent renovating the carriage house. We hope to start on that next month....exciting times.
I hope you're having a good weekend....they go by so fast and Monday morning rolls around far too quickly!!

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining,

the breeze is blowing,

the birds are singing,

and the lawn mower is broken."

~James Dent~

Memorial Day Memories

Jake and I truly had a vacation during the Memorial Day weekend. I'm realizing that
vacation is not so much where you are, but it is a state of mind.....we just disconnected from everything and spent time enjoying the company
of each other, our boys, our family and friends.
It was so fabulous to just BE together and have FUN, FUN, FUN! We laid on the hammock eating Popsicles, played with the boys, went for long walks around town, got pizza and ate it at the park, went to the local Memorial Day parade, (thank you Tom for
the "box seats" your darling front porch w/ the perfect view... played football with our "new" friends, (our neighbors we met at our last garage sale)
relaxed on the front porch with cups of hot coffee
and cold bowls of cereal, ate amazing food made my our dear friends Wendell & MaryJo, played in the creek, had long, deep conversations over fresh strawberries, and drank homemade wine!!
(Thanks to MaryJo for the hours, months and
one entire YEAR that went into making this homemade peach wine....
it was AmAzInG!!!)

The boys had a blast with Josephine, running around
their ENORMOUS backyard....

The boys were exhausted after a long weekend of fun-having! The one night after the boys were in bed we lit the fire pit out back and relaxed on the hammock, it was so peaceful. Again I was filled with such gratitude for our lovely home and the peace that surrounds us. We have so much to be thankful for. I don't EVER want to take the things I have for granted.

"Thou has given me so much...

Give me one thing more,

a grateful heart."

~George Herbert