Here's looking

Hank's eyes are no longer miniature Lake Tahoes.  Darker now, they demand that we return his gaze.
Their big almond shape - actually, his entire body architecture - are his dad’s.  I mean, mostly.  He does seem to be built on Andy's blueprint.  But to be fair, there’s really no place from his neck to his knees that has more than just the beginnings of any discernible infrastructure.

sun on our side

Summer leaves more room for simple delights, sprinklers and watermelon and neighborhood parades.  The clouds part and the clock stops and the front porch calls our name.
Days pass gently, the season allowing us to show our children another piece of ourselves, allowing them to find out more about themselves too: who we are when there are no schedules, what we're like when we can freely choose how to spend our time.  Family happiness feels less like a fragile thing when we can spread out and move slow, collect ants and sip coffee and lick popsicles and not go far at all.

Mayday, May Day

The boys are out of school.
I wonder whether we're ready for this.  Will we ever really be ready for any next this?
It's summertime though, finally.
On one hand, I feel the entire stadium of cheering fans rise in my chest.
On the other, I anticipate a house full of half empty milk cups and miscellaneous Lego creations, full of fighting boys who might only share snot and unkind words.
Plan A: when the sun calls us outside, we go.

shadow child

Tolliver became a middle child, and some attention shifted from him to Hank.  We've been doing our very best to address any unseen-ness he might be feeling, and have been grateful for grandparents and aunts who give him special attention, for friends who send him big brother packages through the mail, for any ounce of grace that helps us all get by.

Kentucky

We left town at the end of last week, for a family wedding.
The weekend was full of good food and big hugs, and I was reminded of the way our family eats and loves, both with such ferocity.
There is no sturdy organization of Herbert generations cemented together.  The grown ups act like kids, the parents act like children, babies belong to aunts and cousins take care of each other.  Even the littlest people know we're all related and don't much mind how.  They share candy and book recommendations and new dance moves.

The only things we forgot to pack were goggles for the hotel pool, and our camera.  So, a few photos from several phones:

1SecEveryDay

happenstance and hope

I may always wonder how these children fell into our family, three healthy boys.
I imagine something similar to the way miracles tend to fall into anyone’s life, through a mix of happenstance and hope.

Lego Guys

We separated our Legos recently.  Tuck's routine had been to build a new set following the instructions, and then immediately take it apart, dump the pieces into a huge tub with all of his other Legos, and begin to combine the parts in new ways.

Tolliver, on the other hand, is currently really keen on building and rebuilding Lego guys.  So we sorted all the small people parts into a special container.  He spends hours a day making characters whose legs and arms change regularly, who wear handcuffs and hats and goggles and braids. He creates zombies and ancient egyptians and goblins and farmers, and he keeps them all busy driving vehicles Tucker has assembled and tending structures Tucker creates.  It's turning out to be a pretty good partnership.

first image: Juliet Carey

grams

1.  three weeks old
2.  spring in Hocking Hills
3.  Easter Sunday
4.  Good Friday
5.  feeling: really tired, super grateful, extremely happy
6.  bedtime tunes

7.  when the sun wanted us outside

8.  afternoon vibes

9.  baby brother, one month

10.  potions

11.  what a joy

12.  when everything just kind of works out

13.  after school yoga
14.  Pizzuti collection
15.  setting records at seven weeks
16.  growing on each other
17.  six weeks, and several chins
18.  all the heart eyes

19.  one year of preschool under his belt
20.  doting fan club
21.  two months, and all the fingers in his mouth
22. Saturdays may be meant for brunch and books and naps
23. his whole face is captive to his mood
24. because they'll look different by tomorrow