Fall of the ice cream cone; rise of the rainbow; some slept through the night and some didn't
Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 1:34PM 
There was one bag of corn chips. Both of them wanted it.
;)
So Margie cooked some broccoli. I was a little skeptical, but Jobe loved it.
So did Kalib. I was just amazed. I hated all such vegetables when I was small. I liked peas, though. And green beans.
After they did such good job at eating their broccoli and potatoes, I figured the boys deserved a treat. So I loaded them and Margie into the car and off we went to Dairy Queen. I ordered small cones dipped in chocolate for Margie and I.
"Baby cone, baby cone," Kalib said as I did.
So I ordered baby cones for Kalib and Jobe.
They were greatly enjoying them but then, as we drove up Church Road towards home, Jobe began to shriek. Yep, he had dropped his cone. We could not see it anywhere. When we got home, I found it lying beneath my seat. Amazingly enough, it was in pretty good shape. Only about a teaspoon of ice cream had leaked onto the floor and there were just a few flecks of dirt and grime on the ice cream and cone.
I gave it to Caleb, he cleaned off the flecks and ate what was left of it.
Jobe, standing at the door.
A bit later, I found them all in the back of Caleb's truck. Kalib and Caleb were grabbing at mosquitoes. Jobe was feeding them.
Yep. The mosquitoes are back.
Kalib, Jobe, and the pickup truck. Mosquitoes are flying.
I left Caleb and Kalib to fend for themselves and brought Jobe into the house to get away from the mosquitoes. His grandma snatched him right up.
The news was on, and at the very moment that I took this picture, a story came on about a four-year old boy who had been run over by a car in Anchorage. A reporter was at the hospital and right after the story began, she reported that she had just gotten word that the boy had died.
In this way, it was a very hard day for Anchorage. A man crashed his Cessna 180 on the railroad tracks and it exploded and incinerated. He died, his mother died, and three of his children died. His wife and one child had been left behind to mourn.
He was reputed to be a skilled and safe pilot and a good Christian. He had gone to Russia many times to preach the gospel as he believed it and, according to the news, everybody who knew him and his family thought highly of him and all of them.
Also, in recent days, five climbers have been killed on Denali and two more on a smaller mountain that stands near it.
It is a frightening world that we bring our children into, yet we always keep doing it and they always go forth into the risk and danger - which is exactly what we want them to do.
To climb Denali was once a goal of mine, but May is the month to do that and May always had other conflicts and then a time came when I decided that window was behind me and that I would set my sights on lower mountains, mountains to hike in, and be content with that.
Oddly enough, hearing about these people dying on Denali has rekindled my desire to climb the mountain. If I do, I've got to do it soon, like next May, before I get much older.
I'm not saying I will, but the urge just seems to be growing stronger and stronger.
Uncle Caleb and Nephew Caleb were rewarded for their battle by a magnificent rainbow. I discovered this later when I found them in the house and Caleb showed me a pic he had taken of Kalib on his iPhone. I immediately rushed them back outside, but the rainbow had greatly faded now, and because he knew that I wanted him to be, Kalib pretended to have no further interest in the rainbow at all.
For those who are Facebook friends with Caleb, you will be able to find his much more magical and magnificent iPhone picture of the rainbow and his nephew there.
The last time Jobe overnighted with us, he was still sleeping in his Apache cradleboard. Now that he has outgrown it, we were not quite sure where he should sleep. Margie decided that she would sleep with him in the guest bedroom. She propped a mattress against the wall, pushed the bed against it and there the two slept - he protected on one side by her body and on the other by the mattress.
This is how I found them this morning.
One single "click" from my camera and Jobe woke up. He instantly rose up and extended his arms over his grandma outward toward me. I had no choice but to let my camera down and to pick him up and hold him.
I carried him into the living room, we took a seat on the couch and with my left hand I activated my camera. This is just how it is between Jobe and I.
It has been this way since he became conscious of the world about him.
I use the lens cap on a Canon lens, but I lose lens caps all over Alaska and elsewhere, so I often must make do with whatever brand of cap I can find.
Kalib slept quite a bit longer yet. This is where he spent the night - next to me on the master bed in the master bedroom. Jimmy and Pistol-Yero also slept with us. Chicago usually sleeps here on this bed, too, but she has an irrational fear of little people and so would not come him with Kalib on the bed.
She stood in the hallway, complaining, for maybe two or three hours right during that part of the night when a person lying in bed really wants to be bothered by nothing, when he wants to sleep soundly.
Kalib slept right through all the cat-er-wailing, but not me.
Margie says Chicago woke her up, too, but Jobe slept peacefully through the night.
Reader Comments (11)
Oh my look at my babies! The look like they are having fun...I'm glad. I think that is Jobe's first ice cream cone! I miss them already...give them hugs and kisses for us...
Thanks again.~ Love
I just adore the boys . Mosquitoes are bad in my neck of the woods too, i think that is what makes me love snowy winters.
Oh, my. The little boys have changed so much, as is the nature of young people. Thank you!.
I have been watching your grandsons grow. The love you have for them shows in so many ways!
Please read the following from the American Academy of Pediatrics about rearfacing carseats and child safety. I would hate to wake up to a blog post of catastrophe!
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/carseat2011.htm
Hey Bill, I was just thinking about you and the changes in media, etc, your saga in navigating this whole new world. Anyway, I've been seeing a bunch of "Patch" articles coming out. They're an upcoming news site written by locals in various "Patches". I've applied to them, as they don't have anyone in AZ yet. Might be a thought for you to get with them.... I'm betting they don't have anyone in Alaksa, and you would be PERFECT for them. Patch.com if you're interested. You could freelance for them, or apply for an Editor position. Give it a look see.
As always, I don't always comment, but I always love what you write. Muzzy's haircut is adorable :)
Those dratted mosquitoes have arrived here, too. Drat!
That picture of Jobe and you is adorable..
THANK YOU FROSTFROG...
Everyday we walk,we eat ,we sleep ,we play,we cry ...along with you,your family,
your people...and I am thousand miles away...and I connect...
amazing journey...
keep sharing my friend, WE LOVE YOU...
your civil
To carseatmom-
Thx for Yr concern...I'm aware of the regulations, Jobe is within proper weight & height to face forward...but always a good reminder.
Wow, Lavina - I thought he had ice cream cones before. Well, he did enjoy it - until it fell. We knew it would fall, too.
Twain - mosquitoes are the curse of the north. When you finally get nice weather - here they come.
Kathryn - Yes, the change can be quite shocking, especially this time for me, after the six week gap that began when they took off traveling and ended when I came home from my most recent trip.
Thank you for the concern, catseatmom. We have been following the safety guidelines that we were given but the article you refer to is worrisome.
Mikey - good luck with Patch and let me know how it works out. You are the second to suggest Patch to me. Ruth Deming already works for them. You are probably both right in that I could work for them, but I have a vision of my own that I am trying to reach and I will not reach it with Patch.
Darn, Whitestone!
Thank you, Ash. The little one is adorable and for some reason he likes the homely one and I agree - that is adorable.
Civi - thanks, always good to hear from you.
That one pic of urs n Jobe.. my two favorites from Alaska!!! Made my Day!!! Hugs!!!