the gripe doesn't fall far from the tree.

for the past couple of days it's been nothing but blue skies and white puffy clouds and spring sunshine. pure bliss.

aaaannnd, it's not going to last. i know it won't.

hey, i'm not employing my usual pessimism! it really won't last. the lord of the ring has chosen to be a weather blog groupie and he's got some new weather guru he follows who knows EVERYTHING and he said it won't last. something about la nina and all that. at first i made fun of him (default) but now i'm hooked too. it's not going to last.

anyhow, i'm making the most of it while its here!

so for the past few days we've been outside. doing little jobs here and there, pulling weeds, and generally just enjoying the weather.

these are the kinds of days i just love home schooling so much. wingman and i did grammar while i pulled weeds, and i helped him with his math while i raked up said weeds. and for the past couple of days he's been able to make his lunch and bring it outside to the picnic table. the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and he quietly gets to enjoy his lunch for as long as it takes him to eat.

we are a privileged group here at the big red house and there isn't a day that goes by that i don't thank my lucky stars for that. amen.

today when the duke finished greek he came out with his lunch. wingman was done and kinda just goofing around and distracting the duke from enjoying his sandwich. so, i told him to just go over and sit with the buddha for a few minutes and enjoy the quiet.

so he was sitting there for a few and he turned to me and said smiling

"he always has a smile on his face!"

(i love how wingman can continually be smitten and amused and glad at things that he's already noticed a million times before)

and i said

"yep. he's got it together, that one"

then the duke said

"poor buddha. man, he's been through a lot!"

and thinking he meant like, you know, ALL that buddha actually went through to become buddha and all buddha has to go through to remain relevent in today's modern and cynical world and all that jazz i said

"yep, he's earned his seat under the tree"

"yeah, i mean, the birds are always poopin' on him, and remember those kids who came over and were kicking him! WHO kicks the buddha!?! oh, oh, and remember after your party we found that someone had rested a grape soda can on him? really! grape soda! and it was just some ol' cheapy store brand, too!"

then wingman piped up

"i KNOW! who rests their cheap grape soda on the buddha! WHO? WHO does that!"

yep.

thing is, the dude can handle it. the dude abides. it totally does not matter in the grand scheme of things. because he's the buddha. it's like it's required for him to exercise his patience, you know?

but, i love that they are all up in arms about it.

my little gripey curmudgeons. does this heart good to see that generations of family tradition won't die with my boys. i just may weep.

in other news baseball hits full force this week with extra practices the rest of the week AND the first game of the season for each of the boybarians.

hey! wanna guess when the sucky weather is returning?

yep.

x.