Three and six

Rachie turned three. Jonah lost his first tooth in front of the whale at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science and his second just as we were leaving the Jersey Shore. 

We celebrated their birthdays today, in what may be their last joint party. 3 & 6 found common ground in mud (!!) and sprinklers. Jonah asked for a Spider-Man cake and told Rachel she wanted a princess cake.  

We're a month into summer, with 6 weeks to go. Our list of things to accomplish grows each day. Most of the fun stuff involves water and outdoors.

I still need to pull out the 'too small" clothing from the end of the school year and buy Jonah his next raincoat. We bought new sneakers just the other night with less drama than last year.

And Sarah's Garden is blooming like crazy in this heat. The kids know now that I pause each day to walk past and pluck at the weeds and that they cannot rush me. Rachel loves to help me water at night, although she always ends up drenched despite my pleas for her to stay dry. 

Today's party was special and sweet. But the next birthday in our family's will be Sarah's - and I'm challenged to know how to honor her on the day that is shared with Halloween. There will be school parades and evenings of trick-or-treating. How do you visit the cemetery on that day, without the clash of goblins and monsters?