our memorial day weekend 2012

-wow, what a weekend.  it really all started on thursday night with cade's graduation from preschool.  he was adorable, in my opinion, and was very serious about it. 

-then, on friday, since we had the day off, we went down to harrisburg for a trip to the state museum, which we had heard good things about.  it was well worth it.  for $5 ($4 for kids) each you get entrance to the whole museum, which features several different exhibits from geology to biology to art and history, all with a particular focus on pennsylvania.  and it is all so clean and well-kept, not to mention designed in a very circular and interesting way. 

-friday night we met some friends from new jersey for dinner, and had a great time, and then followed that up on saturday morning by having breakfast with more dear friends, who have since moved to michigan.  it was a delight to catch up with their lives and be blessed by that ongoing relationship.  then the weekend took a different turn as jackson was interested in helping to set the agenda.  he wanted to play chicken feet ( a domino game), so we played that game as a family.  he wanted to start a puzzle, a 1,000-piece job which is a comic-style picture of the united states.  we enjoyed the day in the yard, and then retired for the night. 

-after some wonderful worship on sunday morning, and being reminded to "just breathe" the breath and power of the holy spirit, we enjoyed a peaceful afternoon, continuing to work on the puzzle, another game of chicken feet, playing in the yard, and then watching a doozie of a thunderstorm come through from the front porch.  once the lightning stopped, jack and cade and i went out in the yard and played tag in the pouring rain.  they thought that was the coolest thing ever.  we followed that up with a wii dance party (just dance 3) and had a blast doing that.  before collapsing into bed, we finished reading roald dahl's "charlie and the chocolate factory" which we had been reading before bed over the last week or so. 

-monday was simply gorgeous here, so we spent most of the morning outside.  we planted some plants, tended to our garden, played in the kiddie pool, trimmed the bushes, and just enjoyed the sunshine.  after lunch we finished the puzzle, and then ate a bunch of chocolate while watching "charlie and the chocolate factory." 

-so it was a great, and full, weekend.  and to those whose service, commitment and sacrifice have made such blessing possible, i say thank you very much.  i hope i am doing my part, too, to make the world a better place, by raising boys into young men who will be full of life and love and a vision of a world in which anything is possible, even peace.  i thank those who have stood on the front lines of battlefields and war zones, and those who have fallen there, too.  and i choose to respond by exercising my freedom in joy and in love, dreaming of a day when the only casualties are those in history books, and daring to raise my children to believe that such a day is possible.