Well, the sun is gone and the rain has returned. Seattlites are grateful -- 25 days with no rain was a bit much. The plants were all beginning to fade into that gray colour which is more characteristic of the Sonoran Desert than of the Emerald City.
As for the people? I have been laid low with allergies and both boys have been suffering consequently -- when Mom gets sick just by going out the door, the boys go out in the yard alone and that is just not satisfactory -- they would much rather have Mom there:>
But, as I said, the rains have returned so we have been out. My rose garden is exploding with color and scent these days and the job of dead heading seems endless. The Cherry trees are putting out fruit, though Tom has no doubts that the squirrels and birds will beat us to the ripened fruits. But the boys did beat the critters to a few treasures. On a recent walk around the neighborhood, they found a patch of wild Salmonberries and proceeded to clean the bush. The best moment was when Jason, his mouth full of Salmon berries, told me that we needed to pick them in order to make a pie. LOL. Silly child. I pointed at the bush and asked 'What berries?' He was surprised. ' Where'd they go?' I pointed at his mouth. Sigh.
And with the first day of summer comes the end of Baseball season, at least for the boys. I can't pretend that I am not grateful. The kids were fun to watch but coaching a motley collection of 4-6 year olds of varying skill and developmental levels through the wilds of baseball was demanding. Jason's final game was quite good. He got hits every time at bat, doubles and triples mostly. And even Xander did fairly well, though he did have a tendency to look at the airplanes as they went overhead rather than at the ball.... For some reason that completely escapes me, both of my sons want to be catchers. I really think that it must be the gear rather than the position. That is especially true for my youngest who is always careful to select his 'hat of the day.' No, I am not kidding. The child wakes up, takes a look at the clothes I have set out, decides whether they suit his mood. If they do, then he dresses and marches off to choose hat and shoes/boots. It is nearly impossible to predict what choices he will make on this so I just watch. Jason is so much easier in this: the only potential issue with him is textures and at this point, most of his clothes are cotton, his prefered fabric.
It is very strange, looking at the boys. They have grown so much and so fast. Jason is as tall as his dad's shoulder and Xander is at Jason's shoulder. When I look back at films of them as babies, something clenches in my heart. They have come so far. Ah, but occasionally I miss those baby days. Xander is torn about it. He wants to be bigger but... he dreads the day when everyone will be living in different places. Near tears the other night, he demanded to know whether his older brother would always live in the same state as he did. He is not one to let go easily. Jason soothed him and they both fell asleep fairly quickly.
They do well together, my sons, except when they are tired and then the usual sibling spats arise. Hmmm... Jason accused Xander of hitting him the other night and when I asked him if Xander (who denied having raised a hand) had actually hit him, Jason's response was 'He hit me with WORDS!' Argg...
Both boys are becoming frighteningly skilled with language. They are both very attentive to what is said and can nitpick statements with the best of them. And both have a large vocabulary -- picked up to a great extent fromt the books that they read/have read to them. Xander surprised his Nonna at the ball fields this past weekend when, having dragged her off on a treasure hunt (complete with a map that he had drawn himself), he responded to her question about getting lost with 'Don't worry Nonna, we will check the map periodically.' She asked me 'Periodically? Where does he get this?' Hmmm... really, that is not one of his bigger words.
And then there was his phone call to his gran in Arizona. He had asked me 'Do womens' butts stick together?' (This was a follow on question: he had commented that his penis tended to stick to his bottom in the mornings and was curious about whether such things happened with women. I said 'no' since women were missing one of the pieces in the equation...) I said 'That is a question you could ask your Grandma Pat.' Opps... Moms really should be careful what they say! He immediately marched off, grabbed the cell phone, called Gran and as soon as he heard her voice, asked the question. Grin. You should've heard her sputter!! I heard it from clear across the room, which was when I realized what had happened...
I guess that is where the expression 'out of the mouths of babes' comes from, hmmm? And Xander is not alone in the flabbergasting department. Jason has his moments as well: the most recent was when he decided to start laying out his life goals. He has done something similar every year since he could first talk -- first his decision to be an astronaut (after he'd been a professional athlete and scientist). His next 'Life Choice' was to become a lego designer -- and that one still peeks out occasionally. Recently, though, he has decided that there are two possible routes he would like to follow -- web designer (he is trying to create his own lego building web site where he plans to publish building instructions for his various creations. Xander, of course, wants to do what his brother is doing which gets challenging for Mom on occasion) and oceanographer. "I really love the ocean" he sighed the other night and began quizzing me on all the fields he would need to study in order to achieve this aim. Then 'So, when do I start High School?' popped out. I blinked, taken aback, and said 'Well, I don't know... there is no need to rush it.' He just shook his head. He is like me in that his interests are many and varied and he wants to study all of them NOW! Korean, Latin, Chess etc.
Xander, of course, follows his brother faithfully. Since Jason is excited about starting up the new school year ('I really think we should do some school work this summer, Mommy," says Jason, 'I need to be ready for the fall!') Xander is equally concerned. "What grade will I be in, Mommy?' he demands. 'Kindergarten' I respond. 'Is that a HIGH grade?' he asks. 'What is a HIGH grade?' I query. 'As HIGH as Jason.' 'It is the right grade.' I parry. He thinks about that... then, when we stop at the library, he starts bringing me 'School' books -- 'We should read THIS ONE for school,' he tells me, handing me a book on Numbers and another on Volcanos.... and mind you, these books were taken from the adult non-fiction area. (We were there because Jason was looking for something.) I agree that we can read them and pluck a book on Plate Techtonics as well, since they'd been asking about earthquakes and volcanos.
Then, last night, in the car on the way home, Xander asks about printing his own money... oh, heavens! That, of course, led into an entire discussion about the Treasury and the government and the process of creating and controlling money which then devolved into a give and take on the issues of Inflation versus Recession etc etc etc. How much did either boy understand? I don't know for sure but I do know that it is going to come back at me sometime this week. It always does.
And now I must run. Boys will be waking soon and we have to take Jason to the church so that he can continue with his book cataloging job:>
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