scenes from the petting zoo

You may remember that last year my mom got chickens for Mother's Day. This spring, my parents also got a new goat, Coco. (The much-loved goat Tater died last year.) Coco has been feeling lonely and shy in her pen, but you know how it is: A solution usually presents itself in a rather handy form. Specifically, in this case, in the form of Lil Debbie, a pot-bellied pig. Now Coco and Debbie are BFFs, and nobody has to be lonely anymore, and all is right at the farm. Except maybe with the chickens; those suckers will peck your hand right off if you're not careful.

turkey vultures

This morning, Henry noticed something disturbing: Right across the street, up in some pine trees, there were about 30 turkey vultures. We were in a hurry to get to school, so I told him I would keep an eye out for them, and luckily they were still there when I got back home. I think they must be confused about this weird non-winter and migrating back northward. Anyway, they were close and creepy and quiet. Probably pooping all over their own legs while they waited for something to die so they could have a nice breakfast. Yarf.

"winter" photography workshop

A while back I signed up for a winter photography workshop at the Dunes, thinking I would learn some new things about my camera. The workshop ended up not being so much about the mechanics of photography, though, which was okay. Instead, we got to look at a bunch of winter photos taken by one of the two staff photographers for the Indiana DNR, and he gave us a few tips, then we headed outside to wander around and take pictures of the winter scenery. Unfortunately for us, winter didn't exactly get the memo that it was supposed to show up, and it was sunny and in the 50s all afternoon. Sigh. Still, it was a fun day, and I got a couple of good pictures and even managed to strike up conversations with strangers. Progress is real.

max at eleven

This year, Max wanted one thing and one thing only for his birthday: a phone of his own. The end is upon us, friends! These kids keep taking steps away from us and into their own bold futures.

So, do you remember when Liam turned eleven and I wrote about how he had abruptly turned the corner into being a moody preteen? Yeah, apparently that wasn't a one-off. Max is right there too. He is so crabby about everything lately! There's no telling what will set him off: a good morning greeting, an attempt at a hug, a raised eyebrow. Wish us luck, people. I'm not sure how we are going to successfully shepherd these three into adulthood.

But behind his moodiness, our Max still shows his sweetness ... sometimes. He LOVES babies, and he's thrilled every single time he gets to spend an hour or a day or an overnight with his younger cousins. His patience with them knows no bounds, and we think he would make an excellent pediatrician, though he tells us he would rather be a teacher. This is, I'm sure, not at all related to his hero Mr. K, who was his teacher last year and continues to host Max and a couple of other boys in his classroom after school on Mondays to do homework and play board games.

This year, Max graduated from elementary to intermediate school, so he has to ride the bus to school in the mornings, an event he dreads each and every day (trust me, I hear every morning how unfair it is). I pick him up in the afternoons, and almost every day he can be found hanging out by a big bush with a group of friends. Our Max is the type of kid who makes friends easily and comfortably. We're not sure how that happened because the same can't be said for either of his parents, but we're so glad. He doesn't really schmooze or glad-hand people; he just has this effortless charm and a willingness to listen to people, and those make all the difference.

Speaking of listening, when all five of us are in the car together going somewhere, and Mike and I get caught up in conversation, thinking the boys are all occupied in back with video games or movies, Max (who sits behind me) is almost always listening to us quietly, all the while giving the impression that he's not. But inevitably, he won't be able to stop himself from asking a question or offering his opinion, and then the truth comes out. I'm sure he learns a lot that way, probably sometimes more than he bargained for. Watch out for him; he's a sneaky one.

I asked Max what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he requested all the chocolate. So I made him a chocolate layer cake with chocolate chips and a Hershey bar baked in, frosted with chocolate and with more chocolate chips on top. It made my teeth hurt just looking at it, but he was pretty happy.

Have a wonderful birthday, Max, and may you always be so easily pleased. We love you!