Brothers

It is so fun to see the boys enjoying each other and the outdoors. This morning I read a post on "Fathers, Sons, and Sports" on our church's Family Room blog that really made me think about the role that sports will play - could play - should play - in their lives as they grow up. They ponder and play with this football now - what part might this football play in their hearts and in their brotherhood through the years? As their parents, we may have the opportunity to use this football to impart Gospel lessons that score much more important points than touchdowns. It is humbling and yet very exciting to think about!

Pennsylvania

Last week while Chris was away, we took a day trip to Pennsylvania to visit our friend Seville. David had not really met her before because when we last saw her, he was on his way to bed. It seemed like he had no trouble warming up to her!

And on our way home, we stopped to buy pumpkins! Hopefully we will have "The Great Pumpkin Bake" tomorrow...we'll let you know how it goes! Good thing Mrs. Brinson is coming to help again!

Ridin' the Rails Again

All Aboard!

Here we are back in Baltimore's Leakin Park, home of a local steam preservation society's miniature railroad. This time, some friends of ours came along for the ride! In the photo above, David is getting ready to take his first train ride behind a Western Maryland diesel. Below are the Johnsons enjoying the trip.

The Johnsons have three boys whom Joshua and David have enjoyed and admired since their very first meeting. Below from top to bottom along the rope are John Mark, Caleb, Joshua, and Nathaniel.

"Ooh! BIG steam!!"

Harvest Time!

Down on the Farm

Turkeys in the straw?

Joshua was pumped about the "big John Deere" tractors.

All five of us went to Larriland Farm to celebrate the harvest. We saw tractors, all kinds of yummy food, loads of pumpkins, drank apple cider, went through the straw maze, rode on a hayride, and visited the pumpkin patch. The highlight for Joshua was definitely all the tractor action. I think David preferred chewing on the pieces of hay.

Hayride

At the Pumpkin Patch

Harper's Ferry

Chris was away in West Virginia at a leadership training retreat all last week. We reunited in Harper's Ferry on Friday for some quality family time, including two of Joshua's favorite pasttimes: railroading and throwing rocks into the river. We were rewarded with at least 5 freight trains crossing bridges, going in and coming out of tunnels, pulling right up next to us and stopping for several hours, and even an Amtrak train stopping at the station. The rock-throwing wasn't quite as good because the bigger rocks were all up the bank out of reach, but we had fun looking at all the little minnows in the shallows.


Here we are waiting for Chris to arrive at our rendezvous point. (For the first time all week, his session went late, and he arrived nearly an hour later than planned.) Fittingly called "The Point," although you can't really tell from this picture, this spot overlooks the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers and three states: MD, WV, and VA. Below are the results of our impromptu fall photo shoot:

J-QuOD

"We need a dog."

This morning's classic proclamation deserves the ushering in of a new category of blogging for us: the Joshua Quote of the Day. (I told him to keep dreaming. Momma cannot IMAGINE having a dog right now! Taking care of two under two is more than enough for me!)

Milestones

Today the boys marked a few milestones:

-Joshua petted a kittycat for the first time
-Joshua ate an apple the "adult" way, by taking bites out of the whole fruit (well, he ate half of it with his little nibbles before I finally took it away!)
-David clapped his hands by himself for the first time! (He was SO cute, he held out his left hand in front of himself, palm up, and he looked at it for a moment or two, and then he took his right hand and started hitting his left hand with it, and then he just got this huge grin on his face, it seemed like he was so happy that he figured it out!)
-David's 4th tooth (his upper left incisor) is ALMOST through - but that will be a future milestone =)

Last night, Joshua and David played together the most agreeably I have ever seen. Joshua was very patient and inclusive with David and neither one of them was fussy at all, it was wonderfully peaceful and God's grace was so evident! The part I most enjoyed was when Joshua started reading David one of David's favorite books: it sounded somewhat like "Dis call Insah Fray Cho by Dah Cwews" in Joshua-ese ("This is called 'Inside Freight Train' by Donald Crews," in translation). He even turned the book for David to see the pictures! It was such a sweet moment.

Miscellaneous Pics

Commentary follows photos.

I've been slacking on taking pictures lately, and I think we need new batteries for our camera because they die almost instantly after turning on the camera even when they have just been charged, but here are a few pics from not too long ago. On Labor Day weekend our Illinois friends the Lamberts came to visit with their 10-month old daughter Makayla, who continues to be the subject of much conversation in our house. Apparently Joshua was somewhat smitten. That was the occasion for the family photo in front of the Washington Monument. Soon we'll be able to construct an album purely of family portraits with that monument in the background! I don't have any pictures from the wedding I was in in Richmond two weeks ago because - of course! - the batteries were dead - but I do have some pics of the groom's cake which was a grand piano with real sheet music - all made of cake and icing - pretty amazing. Did you ever eat a cake where you could ask for a leg? The boys had a great time with their Grands that weekend...grandma and grandpa that is. And I don't think we have any pictures of their bonding experiences either! But we are so grateful to my parents for a wonderful weekend getaway. "What is that odd contraption that looks like a 14th-century medical or torture apparatus?" you wondered. Our friends the Brinsons have a Squeez-O device for making applesauce. Christine came over for a baking day and we put about a bushel of Jonathan apples to good use. The batteries - naturally! - died before I could take pictures of our picture-perfect row of apple pies and apple crisps, but here are some shots of Joshua helping - or not? - Mrs. Brinson make applesauce. As he would emphatically say, Mmm-Mmm!!!

Fall is Finally Here!

Not that we despise summer, but Maria in particular has been eagerly anticipating this fall with more relish than usual because this is the first fall in four years that she is not a) recovering from mono and a cross-country move or b) in the third trimester of pregnancy! And to awaken this morning feeling a chilly breeze briskly gusting over the comforter, to be able to snuggle down in the warm bed and breathe clean crisp air, to hear the rustle of the dying leaves as cool weather finally sweeps summer heat and humidity into the sea...all these portents of autumn that inspire steaming cups of gingerbread lattes and bring fragrant whiffs of burning wood and leaves...have at last arrived. In defiance of 90-degree weather in October (utterly preposterous!), Maria has been stubbornly baking apple pies, whisking up butternut bisque, and dressing the boys in cords and flannels as often as possible. She has been poring over soup, pumpkin, and Christmas cookie recipes trying to convince herself that there will come a time to savor these seasonal treats. She has been doggedly repairing an autumnal wreath that has been languidly hanging on our front door, drooping in the blazing rays of summer sun that beat upon our door all day long, which has been shedding crimson leaves, pinecones, acorns, and all as if groaning in defeat...this is not my weather, this is not my place! And yet...perhaps the next few drops of Gorilla Glue will be the last. Perhaps our wreath will hang proudly now, proclaiming to all who enter our cinnamon-spiced atmosphere, "Fall is finally here, and isn't it beautiful!"

What are you doing with those fake pieces of wood, Joshua?

Oh, I see!

Family aspirations

"Joshua, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A Grandpa!"