World's coolest mom

I am happy to say that I am friends with the World's Coolest Mom!  Let me explain...

Yesterday was going to be a great day.  Our oldest didn't have school and we were all excited to play like we did throughout the summer.  Don't get us wrong, school is great, but we also love playing together and exploring outside throughout the entire day!  Knowing that we had a free day coming, we planned with our friends the Crumb Crunchers, to share yet another day in the great outdoors.

The Crunchers have one of the greatest yards we know, and with the promise that there were many Praying Mantis to be found in their back field, we didn't hesitate to bring our treats, nets and buckets.  We knew it was going to be a fabulous day!

We were not let down!


While most of the boys were having a great time playing in the sandbox,

...our oldest son was on the hunt!  First a little garter snake was found.
 
Then, the world's coolest mom really started to shine. Knowing the love my oldest has for creatures/critters, she decided to start their riding lawn mower to take a few swipes of the yard to stir things up.  How cool was that?  My oldest son was so excited!



Prepared with net and bug house in hand he diligently followed the mower, looking for whatever might be moving.

When movement was seen in the tall grass, did the world's coolest mom stay on her mower?  NO!  She jumped right off and helped look!

Think that was cool enough?  Not even close.  After their search, she got the 'go-ahead' from me and then let our oldest son drive the mower himself!!!

I don't know how many passes she let him take, but she walked with him all over that back field.  I tried hard to take some pictures of our oldest looking like he was out there by himself--because I knew he would think that was great, but the world's coolest mom was never far.

After mowing awhile, the hunt continued for things.

More snakes, grasshoppers, praying mantis and other insects were captures for observation.

Doesn't this just make your heart sing?  Boys, bug, and snakes.  The only thing that could have made this day better would have been throwing in a trip to the creek!

Thank you, World's coolest mom, for helping us have such a great day! We think you are amazing, and I am grateful that I get to call you my friend.

One, two, three, eight, nine, thirty-four...

This past Christmas our oldest received a money-counting bank from Grammy and Grandpa HB. This "bank" has been used quite a bit since December, but today was the first day it was ever used for the purpose it was made. Most recently it had been used as a bug home for unsuspecting insects whose paths crossed with our oldest bug catcher.

Today however, our oldest brought it downstairs (I don't remember when it was brought inside--so very likely there are stray bugs running amuck in our house! Just a day in the life of a Lowe...) accompanied by his piggy bank. Our oldest gets a weekly allowance from which he is learning how to pay tithing, how to save for a mission , and how to save for other important things such as Pokemon cards, Star Wars Legos, etc.
This amazing little contraption can tell the difference between all coins, showing the value of the coin after it has been pushed through the lid,
And then keeping a running tally of the contents of the jar.

The best part for me was that our two oldest boys were working together and taking turns. I love seeing them do things together! They were working together so well and were both so interested in what they were doing that after 15 minutes I was ready to write a letter of gratitude to the makers of the bank; pictures of the cooperation it was instilling in our boys, teaching beginning lessons in finance--my excitement was building with each minute they were busily working together. When the bubble burst and they began arguing over who would insert the next coin and who had contributed most to the contents of the jar, I just had to smile.
Those 15 minutes when they were working so intently together make me happy even now. I like looking for reasons to smile...sometimes smiles comes from the most interesting places.

Grammy's (not so) Secret Garden

I love the springtime. I know that there is still a great deal of rain ahead before the summer gets here with those wonderfully sunny, hot days, but it's these springtime days that start that excited anticipation. We had a great time yesterday over in our Grammy's back yard gardens. There is always work to do there, and I love how hard our boys know how to work with their Grammy. I'm also grateful that Grammy is so good at providing opportunities for them to work with her. They love time in the gardens with Grammy, and I love that they love it.
While our oldest has worked hard in years past, this is our middle son's first real time helping out. Grammy always has the right sized tools for whoever is helping, and that made it even more fun as he worked like a pro!

Our youngest did his part holding down the gardening tools. That wheel barrow looked like it was ready to take off until he decided to sit in it!
Our oldest knows how to work on the more difficult jobs. Here he was given instructions and then given the opportunity to finish the project on his own. He's working hard repairing a stone wall.

Now he's working hard carrying out part of a tree that didn't make it through the winter.While there is always work to do, there are always things to investigate. Our oldest is a master bug catcher. He found a great beetle and wanted to put it in a plastic bag with some dirt.
After a conversation regarding how we all breathe, he decided to find a better home for the beetle in another part of the garden--a decision that resulted in everyone's sigh of relief!

Just to show that he could, our oldest climbed to the top of one of Grammy's fruit trees. Our middle son isn't quite there yet, but he wants to be!!

After about two hours of work, with everyone feeling good about what had been accomplished, Grammy brought out fun drinks for the boys and even some money as payment! The day had a poignantly sublime affect on me. My boys can work hard and have fun. My boys can get along with eachother and they love being outside. My boys love and are loved by my mom--someone that I love dearly and am eternally grateful for.

Thank you mom for all you have done for me and all you continue to do. You have given me a wonderful example of how to be a mom and I think you are wonderful.