go fly a kite

or take a quick snap with Mama . . . 

or wave . . . 

or go for a walk . . . 

or drive your beautiful 1965 Sunbeam (hi, Sabra!) 

St. Philip's

I hope you'll take a moment to sign another petition related to St. Philip's, the Episcopal church in my hometown that may be moved. This petition asks the Mayor and Town Council of Walnut Cove to publicly oppose the use of their streets in the move of St. Philip's. You can use the button on the right side of the screen or click here to sign.

inappropriate behavior

This morning, the boys were on the porch and they looked so cute and sweet from the front yard. So I got the camera and tried to get a picture that looked as adorable as what I'd just seen not 60 seconds earlier. 

Instead, here they are going bonkers.

trying to climb the porch rail

Really?

Hey, Macon, let's bang our favorite toy to death. It makes a great sound, plus, maybe we'll break it! 

Swim suit alert! Please note that Jed is wearing real clothes! After 6 or 7 straight days (I am not kidding) in his swim suit, he finally opted for a standard t-shirt and shorts. 

brothers

One morning this week, Jed was watching Sesame Street. Macon joined him. 

Later in the day, Macon brought me a book to read, but I was working on making dinner for them. The book, however, was one that Jed has memorized, so I told Macon that Jed could read it to him and Jed sat down in the blue chair. That made Macon scream because Macon likes to sit there to read, so I suggested that Jed scoot over, which he did (wonders never cease). Then, as Jed started to turn the pages and read, Macon snatched the book away. That made Jed scream, so I told Jed to just read whatever pages Macon turned to. Again, he followed my suggestion and they "read" the whole book together.

more crane action

A couple of years ago, the State Employees Credit Union started working on their new building. Since then, the crane has been a fixture on Jed's skyline, visible from his school and from many vantage points around downtown. Just last week, Jed spotted it lowering a port-a-john and begged me to take a picture of it. Then, on Saturday, I was downtown and saw that the crane itself was coming down. It was fairly well dissembled by then, but I came home, collected the boys, and returned to the scene. There was plenty of action left, and even 24 hours later, they were still working on it. 

potty on the way down last week

It takes 2 cranes to take apart one crane.

And it takes two boys to supervise. 

 Plus at least 10 workers who appeared to have no other job than to watch. 

happy birthday, Uncle Brian!

while Jed's away, Macon will play

Macon only goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he and I enjoyed some rare house-to-ourselves time yesterday morning. 

And some then-and-now shots at roughly the same age. 

and they're off

Today was the first day of preschool. Jed headed off to the pre-k class, and Macon had his very first school day in the 1-year-old class. 

I was feeling a bit sad about Macon's entry into his mom-free life, but I ended up volunteering so I didn't come home to an empty house. For nearly the entire day, I managed to steer clear of Macon and keep him unaware of my presence, and except for the one brief interaction I had with him, he was cheerful and didn't shed a tear. Jed, too, seems to like his new class a lot and I think he'll thrive with the additional structure that comes with the "pre-k" level. 

Macon carbo-loads before school. 

Jed takes a bow on the steps before we leave.