Section 60 is the area in the Arlington National Cemetery where the soldiers that have died in/in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried (along with some previously buried there during the Vietnam War). I took a minute to stop by there and walk around, and while doing so captured these photos. While there (45 minutes total), we saw 4 different funerals happening. It struck me at how the reality of these wars has seemed to disappear into the later stages of the evening news or the back pages of the newspaper. When you take a minute and walk around a place like this, it leaps right out and grabs you with a violent thump. Sharing these are my little part in reminding us all about what is happening and what we need to be thankful for. Yet another view of what war actually looks like.

*as with all photos on this blog, if you keep clicking on the photo until it is the only thing in your browser, it is the best viewing quality

I am confused. All that I hear from our friends that have older kids is how expensive sports are: $50 here, $50 there, gear, tournaments, travel, etc, etc, etc. I don’t get it….Ezra’s first venture into sports cost us a whopping $15 (including gear, game fees, field fees, coaching fees, etc). Okay, so perhaps the coaching isn’t up to par, and the field is a little smaller than regulation size, and the gear is on the entry level side of the scale….but he doesn’t know the difference. Is it possible to keep this up through high school?

PS – the second photo is moderately interesting: the camera on the phone caught the ball in motion, thus elongating it.

The sun is out, new friends down the street have been made, and Saba and Savta are back in town. The special combination of these things lead to an unlikely result: new ways of getting around. Ezra’s new friends – Ben and his new big brother Jake – have been showing him the ropes behind the wheel of a John Deer Gator. And when we went to the airport yesterday to pick up my parents, they introduced him to a new way of getting around the airport (I wonder if that works on the smaller carry-on suitcases as well).

Now that we got that out of the way. On the heels of Ezra’s recent ‘I pooped’ revelations and his near-obsession with being in the bathroom when either of us are in there, we purchased Ezra his first training potty. He really enjoys sitting there like a big kid, although he has little idea about what to do…except that he oddly knows what to do with a piece of toilet paper when you hand it to him.

Well, we all made it through. Ezra did great, and Ahna and I made it without crying (although there were moments. Thank goodness for focusing on photography and holding him still).

We had invited Cyrilla and Tanner over for some dinner, and decided to take advantage of them being here by putting Cyrilla to work. A little fussiness, but no crying…and a lot of moving around, as you will see in the photos.

The goal was accomplished: loose a lot of the bulk and length without loosing the curls and the cuteness. See for yourself: