May 2009

I know it is long past, but there are so many fun things we've done since the beginning of May, and I don't want to forget them. 

On May 9, we took James to National Train Day. Maybe it's a marketing attempt by Amtrak to get people excited about train travel again. But it seems to be working! At least on us. We toured an Acela train, a sleeper train and an area commuter train. 

James loved it. And his mommy & daddy are serious about taking a few train trips as our children get older. We hope that at least one will involve a sleeper car! We'd like to take a trip as a family before the baby comes in November. And although James' favorites remain freight trains, he's okay with the idea of riding a passenger train.

On May 15 -17, Ben went with a few of his buddies to a NASCAR race. I had the joy of hosting my dear friend April. In no time at all, James "bonded" with her Lane & Ava. They played so well together. He still talks about them. That Saturday, we went to the Zoo. 

And that evening, April and I enjoyed two hours to talk - no interruptions, no distractions. Our children slept. We caught up. What a gift of grace from our kind heavenly Father. 

The following weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day with my sister's family. There's nothing quite like small town America for remembering those who have given their lives to purchase our liberty. We met my dad (a Veteran) at the parade. James couldn't get enough of farm tractors, fire trucks and the high school band. Being there with his cousins was icing on the cake! He was just remembering it to me the other day.

The very last weekend of May, my folks came for a visit. Mom came Friday. Dad arrived by train from a visit with his sister on Sunday evening. Oh the thrill for our sweet boy. The third subway ride in a month. And meeting Papa at the train station. Wow!

One very cool moment happened that weekend. I had never discussed "same" and "different" with James. But after Mom and I had manicures and pedicures on Saturday, James was inspecting, and all at once, arms spread out, pointing at both my feet and Mom's, he loudly proclaimed, "Same!"

To mark the end of our preschool year with James' four friends, Dorothy, Dalton, Faith & Anna, we visited an area park that features a carousel and train ride. We were sad that Anna & her mommy couldn't come. God gave us a glorious spring day. The children (and their mommies and younger sisters) seemed to have a wonderful time.