Weekending

Every spring our church organizes a Father and Son campout.  This weekend my boys went off into the woods together to follow this tradition for the very first time.  It was much anticipated by our little man (and the big man as well…though his anticipation was accompanied with a bit less chatter…!)  I  love  this tradition.  Maybe it’s because I grew up with my brothers and Dad going off each spring for a woodsy adventure of their very own.  Each year they would look forward to this tradition with joy, just as my husband looked forward to it with his own father and brothers.  I love watching my own men continuing this yearly pilgrimage to the woods.  Though it’s certainly not the only time our family will campout this season, or possibly even the only time just the boys will head out to the woods, and most definitely not the only special time the boys will have on their own….but this was the  “Father and Son campout”, bringing with it generations of memories and traditions.  It was a fantastic weekend indeed. 

 Spencer all ready to go!  We met Matt at work in Boston and they continued on to New Hampshire from there.  Spencer is in the middle of throwing his arms up in an excited cheer in this shot, so they’re a bit blurry…but I LOVE this picture because it shows his beautiful smile that we so rarely see in pictures. (remember this !)

Falling asleep eating a s’more!

 

Spencer was given a glow stick by another family that became his most favorite thing in the world for the evening! 

Running around in the woods with his friend Garrett who was also there with hid Dad.

Oh the joy of a “Father and Son”!!!      An attempt to document that they were both in fact there…!   

This Moment

Loving a little bit of screen time (while I make dinner) with their best friends Chris and Martin.

A Reminder

 

   Sometimes we all need a reminder! 

This little tid bit is our family motto for the year…or maybe the next ten!!  With it read and said, and seen and repeated again and again perhaps it will simply become part of their being.  Perhaps they will simply know.  I am ______.  I can do hard things.  Oh what beauty that would bring to their lives!

A Family of Books

We love books.  Love them.  I am sure that at some time a nook or kindle or something along those lines will enter our home…but right now we resist in the name of love.  Love for the way it feels to turn a page, to hold all those words in your hands, to stir all the feelings, emotions and adventure of the tale up inside of you with just the smell of the pages.  Oh it is good to hold a book! 

Our little Emma has developed a love for books and we are reveling in the charm and convenience of it.  When stuck in the car seat, or the bouncy seat for just a few minutes longer than she would like and starting to vocally show her frustration all one of her siblings needs to do is read her a book and she calms right down.  It is rather remarkable and totally adorable.  It doesn’t seem to be that she has a preference for a certain type of book in the variety…to be honest though, she does get a pretty heavy dose of Fancy Nancy and “truck” books!!  I’m not sure how long the magic of the books will last with her, but right now we’re loving it!   

To the Ceiling.

 

For our most recent family night Spencer was in charge of choosing an activity for us.  His choice…building a lego tower to the ceiling!!!  There is a lot of lego time in our home, but not always with such a focused and fun goal!  There are many things that build a happy and forever family…and I do believe building lego towers to the ceiling together might be one of them!!! 

Here’s to happy family time! 

Generations!

This weekend we celebrated my Nana’s 80th birthday, and boy was it a party!!!!  To my grandpa she is Eileen, to my mom she is “mother dear”, to me she is “Nana”, and to my children (and her many other great grandchildren) she is “Nana Dear”", and to all she is dearly loved.  It was a weekend to treasure to be sure!  As part of the celebration I created a video with decades of pictures and videos, and it was such a joy to collect and look at all those captured moments.  These three, capture generations of a shared joy…motherhood.  I count myself immensely blessed to have such wonderful mothers leading the way before me. 

Mothers Day

For Mother’s Day this year my loves gave me a delicious batch of new memories…of the Cape Cod variety!!!!  Perfection!!!

 

It is hard not to grin when you look out the window in the morning to a view like this!!!

             

Emma was not very thrilled with the whole “memory making in the sand and sun and wind” adventure.  It was a rough day for her but she pulled through, and will learn to love the Cape as much as the other little Robinsons.