Slipping the bonds of earth.

High Flight

by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space...
...put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Today we had the awesome privilege of being able to watch the space shuttle take off. We were visiting our friends, the Killicks in the afternoon. As a side note, Tom's mom works at NASA, so she was there "lighting the wick" as Tom likes to joke! I've never seen a day launch, only the night launch, which was another awesome experience. It's hard to believe that the space shuttle has been rocketing off into space for over 27 years now and it is still breathtaking - even more so in person.

Nature Nextdoor

So, what's Colin looking at?These sandhill cranes were in our yard the other day. Right next to the house. I managed to keep Sean & Colin quiet long enough to snap some pictures of them. There were beautiful to watch.
Colin never moved from his spot. He kept pointing at them, and signing "bird".

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To celebrate, the boys and I made heart shaped sugar cookies.

Here's Brian using his heart cookie cutter (o.k. so it's a Valentine's Day cookie cutter, but it works!) to cut the cookies out.
Sean, pouring the red sugar crystals (yeah, add more sugar to sugar cookies!) on his hearts. Colin is fascinated by Sean's technique.


And the final results. You can see that Sean was a little heavy handed with his sprinkling. This really shows the difference in the personalities of Brian and Sean - one is methodical, the other is creative. I'll let you figure out which one is which.

Sean Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

And once again, not really accurate as Sean is Gene Jr.

Brian Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree chart - Free genealogy

Well, this is silly - everyone knows that Brian is a Mini-Me for Chris!

ColinLook-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

This one could be right since Colin doesn't really look like either of us - although sometimes I see me as a baby, and other times the Kelly side really comes out!

ABC, Easy as 123

I found this ABC meme at Paula's, so I tagged myself!

A is for age:
just about to turn 37...yikes!

B is for burger of choice:
steakburger with cheese (sorry Terry), lettuce, pickles, sauteed onions and mushrooms

C is for what kind of car you drive:
Saturn Relay

D is for your dog's name:
Bailey

E is for essential item you use everyday:
Does the computer count as an essential item?

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:
Right now the only channel that's on at night is Fox News. Daytime? We're into the Land Before Time right now.

G is for favorite game:
Sudoku

H is for Home State:
Florida

I is for instruments you play:
Piano, clarinet

J is for favorite juice:
Limeade

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:
My own - into shape!

L is for last restaurant you ate at?
Fiesta Azteca - took the boys out for a special mommy date while Chris was out of town last week.

M is for your favorite Muppet:
Cookie Monster

N is for Number of Piercing:
5 - that would be 3 on 1 ear, and 2 on the other

O is for overnight hospital stays:
So far only for having babies - 3

P is for people you were with today:
Chris, Brian, Sean & Colin - perfect day!

Q is for what you do with your quiet time:
Read, surf the 'net, or nap

R is for biggest regret:
Not listening to God as often as I should ( have to agree with Paula on this one. )

S is for status:
Married with kids

T is for time you woke up today:
8:50 am – I got to sleep in!

U is for what you consider unique:
Buzz Aldrin held me in his arms when I was a baby.

V is for vegetable you love:
Red, yellow or orange peppers

W is for worst habit:
So many to choose from! Procrastination would probably top the list

X is for x-rays you've had:
Probably around 15 - ask me tomorrow, and it will be 16!

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
Steakhouse Cuts with Bacon Wrapped Onions and Chopped Salad

Z is for zodiac sign:
Gemini

Tag to anyone who wants to play!

Wimp

My SIL Terry thinks she's so good grabbing 6 jars of peanut butter at Publix. Top this, girl! I saved $30 in peanut butter yesterday!!I'm really working this Grocery Game. And in the back corner, you can see the remnants of the last peanut butter sale Publix had. Do you think my boys like peanut butter???

What happens at naptime

This is what I found when I went to get Sean up from his nap - I guess I didn't get the memo that it's backwards day!
And yes, that is a Pull-Up on his head, and his t-shirt on his toosh!

Fun with Friends

Two weeks ago, the boys and I went over to my friend, Anna's house, for a playdate. I've known Anna since October when I joined my local MOPS group. She was at the table I was assigned to. Over the months I have really gotten to know her, and when I broke my ankle, she was instrumental in getting people to my house and helping out with meals. I couldn't have made it through that time without here. But I digress...

Little did we know when we planned to get together that there would be brush fires in the area right behind Anna's house on Thursday afternoon/night. There house was never in danger, but it meant that the boys had to play inside. Which was fine for them. Brian & Sean had a great time with Ephram & Connor. Even Colin joined in on the fun.We had lunch together - chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Even the mommies got to sit and chat for a bit. It's so nice to have friends here.

It's back where it belongs

5 years after I had to take off my college ring, it is back on my pinkie.

The Westhampton Ring is a very special signet ring. It is such a unique design, sporting the "W" for Westhampton College, and an image of North Court Tower in the center. I had seen this ring my whole life on my mother's hand. When I went to University of Richmond, I just knew which ring I would be purchasing come my junior year. I didn't even need to look at the many selections. And in all actuality, the majority of my classmates got the same ring.

Westhampton College (the women's college of the University of Richmond) has a Junior Ring Ceremony. When my parents went to school there, and also when I was there, it was a really big deal. All of the juniors dressed in long white gowns, and were "presented" at the top of the staircase (the same one from "Gone With the Wind") by their father. Their father then turned and put their college ring on their finger. After descending the stairs, the women went and got in place to form a large letter "W" - think marching band on the field, but with pretty girls all dressed in white and in a beautiful hotel lobby! It was a beautiful memory that is forever engraved in my mind and heart. I wore that ring every day, rarely taking it off.

When I was pregnant with Brian, my whole body swelled up. Around February/March, I had to take off all of my rings for fear of having to have them cut off if I didn't act myself. Just like my feet, my fingers grew in size and never returned to my pre-pregnancy size. I had my wedding bands resized a long while ago, but had never gotten around to getting my college ring resized.

When we were packing up to head up to my 15 year college reunion, on a whim, I took my ring out of my jewelry box, and brought it with me. The joy when I saw a "ring guy" sitting outside of the bookstore. I explained what I wanted done, and presto-chango (well, about 4 weeks later) - my ring was returned to me. This time in white gold, since I don't wear yellow gold anymore, and in the right size. It feels so strange, but at the same time so comfortable to have my ring back on.

Simple Woman's Daybook

HT: Elizabeth

~ Do stop by Peggy's for all the links entered in this week's Simple Woman's Daybook ~

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Outside My Window ... Huge smoke clouds from the grass fires burning nearby.

***

I am thinking ... about what I would need to throw in my car if someone comes to the door and tells me I have 5 minutes to evacuate.

***

I am thankful for ... my children, my husband, and the firefighters who are working tirelessly to protect people here.

***

From the kitchen ... there will be quesadillas cooking for lunch - special treat for my quesadilla-loving boys.

***

I am wearing ... an orange Picante t-shirt and gray shorts.

***

I am creating ... a website for my aunt - well, I'm the creative expert, Chris is the technical one.

***

I am going ... to go to my Christ Renews His Parish Team 25 meeting tonight and I'm so excited since I haven't been able to go for the past 2 weeks due to Chris' travels - I need this time tonight.

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I am reading ... A Mother's Rule of Life. I'm trying to get back into a groove

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I am hoping ... to take the boys in the pool.

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I am hearing ... Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too.

***

Around the house ... I will be folding laundry, and putting my Shark Mop (Mother's Day present) together.

One of my favorite things ... kissing sleeping boys.

***

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I hope to be able to find someone to watch the boys so I can get my hair cut tomorrow afternoon. I also have my final MOPS meeting of the school year on Thursday. And on Friday I think we are heading back to the zoo.

***

Here is a picture thought I am sharing ...

Cherry blossoms over Westhampton Lake with the Commons in the background.

Grampa's New Toy

When we got over to my parents' house yesterday afternoon, everyone took us out back to "check" on our burgers. Imagine our surprise when we saw a wave runner docked next to his boat!

Lori & Lou took the wave runner pretty far out to a sandbar about a half an hour away. When they got back, Kellie and her boyfriend James took it out for a quick run. Then Chris and I got to take a turn. It was a really windy day, and I'm not quite sure why I decided that I should be the one driving the wave runner, but I did. As we took off, we were rocking pretty good - I started to freak out a bit. I was really concerned we were going to tip - and we were only going about 6 mph! Chris calmed me down (like he always does), and we headed back into the cove on the other side of my parents' house where it was a bit calmer.

After we got back, my dad decided to take the wave runner out. I thought it might be something that Brian would like to do, so we got him out of the pool, put his life jacket on, and James handed Brian off to my dad. And off they went!



P.S. - Brian & Grampa went 40 mph plus! What a daredevil my big man is!

Visit with Great Gramma

Let's go back almost a month now...I left off reviewing our "vacation" with our last full day in Northern VA. On Thursday afternoon, we packed the troops back into the van and headed down to Chesapeake to visit with my grandmother, her husband and my mom's youngest sister and husband. We had decided before we left Florida that we really couldn't be in the state of Virginia and not arrange to visit with Gramma. After losing my other Gramma last year, I am very aware of how precious each visit is and how I want to be able to record for my children how much they are loved by my Gramma.
Somehow we underestimated how long it would take to get down to Chesapeake, so we ended up arriving in the early evening. My Gramma can't drive after dark, so we only got to see her for about 30 minutes before she and Lyman had to head back to their house.


Chris, the boys and I spent the night at my Aunt Gail and Uncle Gary's house and the next morning headed over to my Gramma's house to spend some more time with her and Lyman before we headed over to Richmond for my 15 year reunion. Brian, Sean & Colin had a ball with Great Gramma and Lyman. Gramma fed us some breakfast (bagel for the boys) and then took all of us over to a little park in her neighborhood.

We played, ran around and had a great time. Lyman didn't hear us leave, and when he came out of the bedroom, we were all gone! He went searching the whole neighborhood for us - which for an almost 90 year old man is a pretty big feat if you ask me!

After we got back to their house, Gramma took Brian & Sean in to wash their hands. As you can see from this picture, the water play got a little crazy! They ended up "washing" their hair as well.

I'm so very glad we were able to spend some time with my grandmother. I know she enjoyed seeing the boys, and my boys loved spending time with her.