Pressing Leaves and Yard Sale Prep

J likes to collect leaves sometimes.  I thought it would be fun to press a few and put them in wax paper.  He was rather ambivalent about the whole thing, so maybe he's not old enough for this activity yet. 

Magnolia leaf from my yard

He got to touch the iron, with supervision of course.

We worked out in my dad's shop, sorting through 40 years of tools and other items.  It was a huge, HUGE job.  We could have used a few more weeks to get ready for the yard sale, but just kept on working as long as we could. 

A fun toy, all outgrown.

My dad stored his books and old clothes up in the attic of his shop.  It was a lot of trouble to get them down, made even tougher by the fact that my dad loved his books so much and we knew they were almost all going in the sale. 

My dad was not a hoarder, but he did have a *lot* of stuff.  He had a use for most of what he kept, and he was good at fixing things that to most other people would be considered beyond repair.  He had a rough childhood, and served in Vietnam.  He wasn't much of one to talk about his feelings, although as I grew older and so did he, occasionally he would open up and I would get a glimpse of how tough his life had been and how it had shaped him as a man and as a father. 

Mr. GV up in the rafters, lowering things down from the attic space of my dad's shop.



Pearl feeds herself

When Pearl was with her foster mom, she was eating Pedigree food.  We have been feeding our dogs Halo for a few years, so Pearl needed to transition.  I bought a small bag, and it was just about empty when the following happened. 

I came home (and just dropped my grocery bag in the floor, as you can see) and watched Pearl try to feed herself.  First she went over and got the bag from behind the dog feeder, walked it across the room, and then decided to just help herself!

Carrying the bag

Getting ready to rip it open

A sweet treat and a fun time

Another fun day at the park.  I believe this is one time he did not get hurt with me!  He seems to have accidents on the swing when I'm around.  Once he fell flat on the back of his head and another time he smashed his mouth up pretty well. 

Working on chin-ups....with a little help.

Balancing

Climbing

The ice cream truck came by, playing that music that turns kids into zombies.  I grew up in the country and had never even seen an ice cream truck until I was in my 20's and living outside of Nashville.  So I can understand the thrill that comes when you know the ice cream truck is on its way! 

Enjoying his ice cream

The aftermath

Relaxing

It's the simple, easy times that you cherish the most.  Hanging out with my husband on the deck, reading, putting my feet up, still in my PJs?  Yep, it's the best. 

A green glimpse at my day

Today was filled with errands that kept me away from home for 5 hours. 

First off was getting gas in my car.  We are fortunate enough to drive a hybrid, so it is not terribly painful when we need to fill up, and it takes a while until we need to fill up again. 

Next I popped by the library to drop off a stack of 27 magazines at the FOL bookstore.  Most of these were ones that Mr. GV had hoped to read but finally let go when he realized he just wasn't that interested in making the time to read them. 

Next I went to the local, organic nursery for the first time this season.  I should have had my plants in the ground a couple weeks ago, but I am still within a reasonable time frame to plant.  Here you see:  3 Roma tomatoes, 6 peppers, 3 yellow summer squash, 3 cucumber, 1 cantaloupe, and 1 peppermint.  I plan to get these out on Friday.  There's also some fresh potatoes I picked up. 

I also bought 10 sweet potato slips for the first time!  I'm excited to see if these grow.  Last year we had "accidental" sweet potatoes from our compost bed.  We eat several dishes that include sweet potatoes so growing them organically would be great.

I stopped by the farm store and bought some bulk bird seed.  There are clear plastic, single use bags available for the bird seed but I figured there wasn't any reason why I couldn't use one of my lightweight reusable bags----so I did!  I have never *once* had anyone refuse to let me use my own bag at a store--clothing, shoes, groceries, hardware, on a rare trip to the mall, Wal-Mart (although I am only there in a 'have to' case.) 

There was also stop at the Mennonite market (lots of organic/bulk items) for several items, including my reward of a Coconut Bliss dark chocolate frozen treat.  Yum!!  I stopped at the shoe store, where I bought a pair of shoes to go with my free hand-me-down dress from my sister.  We are attending a family wedding in June so it is nice to have something "new to me."  There was a quick foray into Big Lots where I tried to stay away from the CCFC (that's cheap crap from China) but did pick up a game ball for our family reunion next month.  Other than that I came out with some organic foods. 

Next was a quick stop at Goodwill.  I came out of there with three items, all for J of course:  a Power Rangers T-shirt, a large dry erase board, and a bingo game.  I'm going to use the dry erase board to write little messages for him, some small words for him to read, and a checklist of his responsibilities when he is here (getting dressed, brush teeth, pick up toys, and the like.)  The bingo game is just for fun, and because I'd like J to be able to go with me the next time the Humane Society hosts a bingo night.  The pieces are all made of cardboard, so if they should get torn up, the entire thing can be recycled. 

And last of all, the grocery store, about which there is really not that much to say:  bought groceries, some unpackaged, some packaged (have to make those decisions---organic vs packaging sometimes.) 

Question:  Did you do anything green today?  Is there anything in your life that is a particular frustration to you because you would like it to be more environmentally friendly but can't quite figure out how to get there?

Kickin' it old school

Mr. GV thought J might enjoy our 'old school' arcade game.  My mom bought it for us a few years ago, and although we've played with it a bit, video games aren't really our thing.  Mr. GV enjoys some computer games, while I play....none.  I have played Sims in the past but find it really boring after a while.  I'd rather be out living my own life than one of a character in a game.  We also don't have any of the game systems such as Nintendo, X-Box, etc.

This little system has Pac Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian, and a couple more.  Here's Mr. GV showing J how it all works. 

 And then of course, being the typical 4 year old, he was able to take over on his own.  :) 

We tried blowing bubbles during that same overnight stay but the wind was so strong it was a losing battle.  Can you see the one little bubble Mr. GV was able to eek out in the picture below?  He was concentrating.  lol

Here's the two guys in my life, hanging out and looking at an atlas.  Mr. GV was showing J where J's daddy currently is stationed, and how far apart we are on the map.

Question:  How do you feel about video game systems in your house?  Love 'em or hate 'em?



More Easter festivities

The day before Easter, J had his second hunt of the year.  Highlight this time was meeting the Easter Bunny!

 Obligatory placing of the basket on the head.  I suppose it passes the time. 

 Standing on the start line.

 Searching...

 searching....

 ...and disappointed that he didn't get a golden egg.  There was one right beside him at the start, but he just didn't snatch it up right away.  Ah well.

Checking out the candy inside the eggs.

 All right.  Good going, sponsor of the hunt!

 A tired (and hurt--he fell in a hole) boy.

 Later that day, his mom posed him for some pictures.  He looks so much older in this picture!  Ack!  And yes the point was that he wanted to look like he was laying the eggs.  lol

 Silly boy.

 Group picture from the day, including J with his "Agent J" hat on. 

 Luckily, the Easter Bunny was able to drop off J's basket a day early, so we could all enjoy his gifts. 

 Then J dyed some eggs for the first time.

 We interrupt this J picturefest for a cute doggy break...

 OK break is over!  We played some Uno, Toy Story Uno to be exact.

 And J tried out his new golf set that the Big Bunny brought him.

Sparky

Sweet Sparky.  He was my dad's best buddy for 9 years, until my dad passed away.  His life seemed to move almost in sync with my dad's.  When my dad got very sick, so did Sparky.  My dad was diabetic; so was Sparky. 

Sparky passed on May 2nd.  My mom had to make the decision to euthanize him.  He was going downhill very fast.  He was in kidney failure, had started having seizures, and his mind was obviously not working right.  I was with my mom when Sparky passed.  It is a hard thing to witness, but also a beautiful thing, to know you are freeing someone you love from their suffering.  It was peaceful, as it should be.  If only we could  all pass that easily, surrounded by those who loved us with their whole hearts.

Sparky was cremated, and his remains placed inside a wooden box.  Soon, when our family is able to be together, we will gather at my dad's grave and bury Sparky's remains beside my father, where he belongs.  It was meant to be this way you see---on my parents' grave stone an artist has rendered a beautiful etching with my parents' likenesses overlooking their home and land....and Sparky is beside them.  And so it shall be.

 When Sparky first came to the family, in 2001.

Exhaustion

Want to see what an exhausted boy looks like after swimming and splashing around in the pool?  Here you go.  I could barely get a 'cheeze' out of him and he could not manage to look directly at me.  lol

Movie Time

Back in April, we took J to a movie here in our town.  Actually, J had already seen this movie once, but Mr. GV and I wanted to see it too, and J was eager to see it again. 

We saw The Lorax!  We all enjoyed it, and J had no problem sitting and watching it again.  He was especially cute all cuddled up under his blanket, on his booster, with his sour gummy worms. 

Afterward, we stuck around to see if there was anything to watch during or after the credits.  Everyone else had emptied out of the theater, so we let J watch up close and dance around to the music.  I say why not? 

And then it was time for a couple games of air hockey.  You can guess who the blur is in this picture.  lol

Run baby run!

Mr. GV ran his first half-marathon in April.  We're all so proud of him!  He had a good time of 2:05:33, with a pace of 9:36.  He finished 13/21 men in his age group and 148/316 over all. 


Here he is (in the yellow jacket) just starting out. 

At the 10 mile mark.  I rang the cowbell a bit and we gave each other a high five as he ran by. 

I loved the attitude of this spirit group.  They were there right before a hill and a photographer, cheering the runners on.  Their signs cracked me up.  Click on the picture to make it bigger if you want to read what they said. 

Crossing the finish line!!  (The time on the sign is different from his chip time because of the time it took for him to get from the back of the pack to the starting line.) 

With his medal.  Again, the whole family is SO PROUD of him for this accomplishment!