Growing Pains

Thane turned 5 1/2 a few weeks ago, and it hit me just how quickly he is growing up.  For the longest time it seemed that he was stuck in that in-between toddler/big boy stage.  And in a small way, I was content with that.  Lately though, he seems to be maturing quite a bit and insists that he can figure things out on his own. Things like manning the campfire and roasting everyone's hot dogs for dinner.  He kind of even knows what he is doing:  "Mom, you DON"T put green wood on a fire!"

He still continues to play outside any chance he can get.  He loves flying his kite, digging for worms, and building things with his tools.  He especially loved helping Jordan trim the trees.

Of course, he'll always be Jordan's little shadow.

I am thrilled for all of this, of course.  It's as it should be.  Still, I was surprised to find myself getting a little misty-eyed while packing away his beloved play-dough toys last week.

No matter how tall he grows or how quickly he becomes a little man, there will always be a special place in my heart for my little boy.

Cleaning Up

Spring, dare I say it, has finally arrived in this remote corner of Maine.  You can't imagine how completely thrilled and giddy we were at the sight of our crocuses (?croci) pushing up through the semi-frozen ground.

The temps are still fairly brisk, but we're more than happy to get out, catch some rays and start some outdoor chores like raking and trimming trees that don't look like they've ever seen a pair of pruning shears.

We sadly finished off the two ancient apple trees that lined the courtyard.  The kids were very sad to see their favorite climbing spot go, but the trees haven't produced in years and last summer's hurricane winds finished them off.

The good news is that we'll have a lot more sunlight.  We also took out the decrepit old fence surrounding the courtyard.  I'm looking forward to finding a replacement that has a little more character.  In the meantime, even the chickens are thrilled to get out of their coop and feast on the worms and bugs our lawn provides.

Now only if we could get them to do something about the mountains of tree limbs and debris stationed all over our yard...

Our Extended Easter Fun

Easter didn't go as planned this year.

First of all, both Jordan and Thane were sick - very sick.  So, Annabel & I headed off for an amazing church service, while the boys stayed home. The story of Christ's sacrifice for mankind, in all of its redemptive glory, never grows old for me!

Next, the weather was, well, less than glorious.  This year, this is how Maine rolled at Easter.

Hours later, Annabel joined the ranks of the sickly.

By Tuesday, Thane felt well enough to go to school, where he insisted on dressing up for some of his little friends.

Of course, the kids would never let us forget about our annual egg hunt, which we finally got around to holding yesterday.  As usual, it was a mad dash,

 followed by sugar-induced contentment.

It was an adventurous hunt on a beautiful, sunny day.  

Maybe the unexpected isn't so bad after all...