Returning to Earth

Greetings my dear familia,

It has been centuries since my last post and I am so sad about this. Where has the time gone? I've loved seeing everyone's posts and hope none of you have decided to throw in the towel. Mum, now that you are all hi-tech you really must contribute.

So I am finally writing because I must before I forget all the firsts and special moments we've been having lately.

First off, we got to see Auntie Tenney's cactus bloom again. It has the most beautiful red flowers. They only last a day so you really have to be watching out for them. Our bamboo has just shot up. It's at least 15 feet above the planter. We're pretty sure if we'd been sitting in front of it for a day we could've seen it grow.

For the boys, the big excitement over the last two months has been the celebration of Bennet's second and Sam's fourth birthday. We had an alien space party complete with alien goo (homemade playdoh), an asteroid pinata and lots of little green alien cupcakes. The weather was dismal and half of Sam's friends canceled with colds but that didn't keep us from having a big blast of a time. Over Sam's actual birthday weekend we went to Train Town for Bennet and the Oakland zoo for Sam. We really did it up.

On quieter but more meaningful notes, we had a benchmark moment last week. Sam can now, by himself, on his tippy toes, reach his bedroom wall light switch. He's very, very proud of being able to do this. No more needing Mama to turn on the light because it's dark and so scary.

Bennet is saying new things every day. His vocabulary and humor amaze us on a regular basis. Right now he is in to wearing his diaper on his head and singing "dipie head, dippy, dippy dipie head". We are all for this as the other big deal has been Bennet's efforts to wear big boy underwear. He loves his Elmos and now that we are giving him stickers for peeing and one miniature marshmallow for poohing, he wants to use the potty ALL the time. This may seem mundane to some of you but to Mama Jojo it's all I can do to contain my excitement. PLEASE no more diapers! Bennet's little bum is so cute in those tiny big boy underwear!

Sam was so excited about this afternoon's happenings he couldn't take a nap. This evening we went to Sam's first Tadpole class. He has wanted to take swimming classes for sooo long! I almost missed the boat. We snagged the last spot in his age group for the entire summer. We zoomed to class, fumbled through getting a locker, getting changed, rushing to go outside, and then I realized I was the only parent there in my swimsuit. Sam got to take his class all by himself. His cheek muscles must be sore and his belly must be full of half the pool. He just couldn't stop smiling the biggest, widest smile you've ever seen. The whole way home Sam kept asking "Was that fun Mama? Was that fun?!" He loved every minute of it. We have 8 more classes. He thinks he'll be ready for surfing when we're done.

Tomorrow is Bennet's first day at big brother Sam's school. Bennet will be a Dragonfly. Both Sam and Bennet can't wait. Sam has promised to take care of Bennet on the playground. Bennet and I observed last week and the teachers all thought Bennet was very ready. Bennet jumped right in to play with the kids in his class. Most of the boys were wearing high heels and skirts, the girls were giving baby dolls baths in soapy water and Bennet was carting a grocery cart around with his phone perched between his shoulder and his chin. He spent a great deal of time talking to Ama while he shopped. When it was time for us to leave, Bennet did not want to go. It may be a little rough tomorrow without me there but I have a feeling that will last about 45 seconds.

As for our progress North it's been one step forward and one step back every other week. We really wish we were out of all the limbo. We were almost in contract for the sale of the powder coating operation last week. Now were are delicately renegotiating. Please cross all of your fingers for us. Today I received a call from a friend of a very good friend whose sister and family are in need of a rental. I believe I may be showing them the house this week. I told them the monthly rate and gave them an Aug. 15th move-in date. Now hold your thumbs as they do in Sweden for us. Ahg. We're hoping to give our Portland renter a heads up by the first of July. Trying to remember to breath....

We spent this Sunday at the beach. It was wonderfully mellow. We flew kites, threw balls for the dogs, made sand soup, played in the igloo, ran in the surf, raced down the dunes, took naps and snacked on yummy bread from the Wildflour bakery in Freestone. Mmmm. It really was just what we needed.

Miss you and love you all,

Jocelyn