Brotherly love, what's up with this???

Brady and Drew are like peas and carrots.  I snapped these pictures one rainy morning while Brady was reading stories to Drew.  It was a stitch.  Plus, they sat there for the longest time and I snapped a new picture each time I checked on them.














Ever since Drew was a tiny little thing (as you can see, he's a real boy now) Brady has treated him as an equal.  He includes Drew in every discovery and every conversation.  Often times it's a bit frustrating when Drew doesn't pay attention or has another project in mind.  But for the most part, they are like BFF and it's a kick to watch them interact.  They do so well together 90% of the time and I often think they are an unusual team, one for the record books.  In fact, on the rare occasion that Brady tackles Drew from behind, I have to smile because it seems like a more normal form of brotherly love:) 

Brady is very protective of Drew and is always watching out for his safety.  Oh, Ter-Ter......you'd better move that up or Drewey is going to get into it!  Oh Ter-Ter......you'd better move that higher!
Drewey, hold on to the railing, what are you thinking?? 

Yook what I found, Drewey!  Yet's play this game, Drewey, you can be the girl.  Drew, yet's wear one green boot and one yeyyow boot and it will make Ter-Ter yaugh. 

It's impossible not to laugh around these two, together they are candidates for a comic strip!

A matter of life and death

Jude is quite the little thinker.  We were in the kitchen recently baking Pizelle (again) and he wanted to talk about dying. 

I think he first learned about dying when he was being prepared by his parents for his great grandmother's funeral last summer.  At the time, he was not quite 3 years old.  I remember the day of her service so clearly.  Jude's great grandmother was my mother-in-law, a woman I had learned to love, respect, and appreciate;  Ben was going to eulogize her and he's such a wonderful speaker, I wanted to be there with him;  Jude did not respond well to the scene in the funeral home, so I kept him with me in the very last row of the chapel. When Ben got up to speak, Jude escaped my grip and ran up the center aisle, DADDY!  Ben, the consumate teacher, handled the situation beautifully.  And this is Jude, my Oma's great grandson.  I'm glad you came up here, Jude.  Jude was then escorted OUT by his mother before he could take over the microphone.

Anyway, I digress.

Our recent conversation in the kitchen, nearly six months later, was not a matter of life and death.  It was much more important than that.



Jude:  Nini, what happens right before you die? 

Me:  Well, first of all, dying is not a bad thing, Jude, everybody gets to do it.  And the BEST way to die is after you've lived a nice long life and have lots of stories to tell.  You want to live a good life, too, so you don't feel bad about anything when you die.

Jude:  Oh.  But why do you die? 

Me:  Well, it's because your body wears out.  Like some of your toys that get old and don't work anymore. 

Jude:  Oh. 

Me:  Do you think you will come to visit me when I get old?

Jude:  It might not be a Nini-day on the day you get old.  But maybe Brady can come. 

Me:  Ok. 

Jude:  I want to die on the same day you die, Nini. 

Me:  That would be perfect, Jude, because I don't think I could live without you.

Where have we been???

Well, I'm not sure what happened to most of January and all of February, but now it's March, for heaven's sake.  Because I don't want any of these amazing days to blur in my head, here's a little catch-up pictoral of life at Grammy Camp in the dead of winter.  I should mention that nobody calls me Grammy, but, whatever:)



There was enough snow ONE DAY to get out there and pretend we lived in Anchorage.  Drew wasn't too sure about this stuff......


Brady really loved the scene and hiked all over the field -


This is Frosty the Leafman


Jude and Ada settled in on the counter for a long discussion of something important, no doubt.


Ada is riding the rocking camel, side-saddle, very ladylike:)  This camel was a gift from their great grandparents to Jackson Grove who outgrew it about 15 years ago. 


Jude is helping make Pizelle.  Typically, we only make Pizelle at Christmastime, but now it seems we make it on request:)


Brady is swimming in a small sea of wine corks!


Drew stood at the window one entire morning, watching the arborists trim the fruit trees -


Jude, the Paratrooper


Don't jump, Jude!


I love it when a little one is old enough to sit happily on the kitchen counter.  This is Ada, so busy with a pen and a scrap of paper. 


January was rather action-packed, actually, now that I think about it.  Ben and Linden moved to a new home which created a alot of activity leading up to the blessed event:)  Not to mention the activity around the settling in process.  I had the kids here in an attempt to keep them out of harm's way during the move and it was interesting to talk with Jude during that weekend.  He was nervous about the process, "But my bed won't fit in Dad's car.  And my dresser, Nini, it's so FRAGILE."  I took them home to the new house the day after the move and all his fears were aleviated when he saw his NEW ROOM with all his familiar things in it.  Linden must have really scrambled to get Jude & Ada's rooms in perfect working order before we got there. They nailed it. From that moment on, both children were so jumping-up-and-down excited about their new home. 

Anyway, so far the weather hasn't been so bad that we have started feeling like a bunch of compressed molecules.  And spring is in the works.  Yesterday was a glorious teaser but today feels like winter again.  The daffodils are running late but promise to be a real photo op when they all bloom.