Camping with minimal travel

With the semi-official start of summer Ericka and Mathias decided to camp in the back yard last night. I was in the house with a jar of Claritin (Johan also slept indoors). It is practically against the law to camp without making s'mores so a campfire was made and marshmallows grilled. Yum! Mathias is already lobbying that we should do it again.

Hanging out with Farmor & Farfar

Grandma and grandpa visited last week. While here they did their best at spoiling the boys with toys and goodies. It was also the first week of real summer weather! The grass was growing and the sand box was inviting.

Timeless

In the last 365 days everyone got a year older. It seems the one exception is the beloved mother of the boys!

As the old adage goes, you're only as old as you feel! I'm guessing spending your days playing with cars and watching Caillou is a youth elixir!

Happy Birthday, Ericka!

Our boring house doesn't even travel

The boys watched, and were quite enamored with, Disney/Pixar's Up.

Johan may never look at balloons in the same way again!

A gift for mom

For Mother's day, the boys commissioned Sarah Liu, our new favorite word smith to write a poem for mom.

At a future date, when she's the Poet Laureate of New York, you can say you read some of her work here first!

Motherhood’s Symphony

The prelude to motherhood
seems so calm in memories,
life’s waiting room
protecting this small part
in an anxious womb,
Mathias’ tiny heart
beats steady and staccato.

For when a child, eager to meet
his mother, arrives so early,
the world takes note:

one tiny grasp curled
around a mother’s pinky,
watchful gazes,
through glass and tubes.

These mothers are given
an extra measure of moments,
to steady their fears.

And when a jovial Johan
arrives, a clanging cymbal,
and joyful harmony,

What else can be heard,
but symphony in his laugh?

For you can hear the beauty in
the cries and falls,
the sighs and calls,

the smashing bricks and
crashed toy trucks and
the whirring tiny engines,
And how they wind our

strangest sounds into
conciertos new!

And so:

We three boys would like to say
we love you more each passing day
And hope you live to see the way
our children’s children laugh and play.

On a day like today

Around the world, Mother's Day is celebrated on 30 different dates. The second Sunday in May is a popular choice with almost 80 countries celebrating.

If you are in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, etc.. Happy Mother's Day!

Tree huggers

Mathias Hilmer helped me plant the plum tree the boys gave me for my birthday. With the assistance of an eager 4 year-old, a hole the size of an average Christmas ham was dug in just under 60 minutes.

The result looked great. Maybe Mathias did inherit his grandpa's green thumbs!