May has flown by. Robert has spent the whole month partying...his birthday, all sorts of end of the year celebrations at school. Ethan is into "choo choo" which is what he calls Thomas. He is getting so big and he even had his first hair cut, sort of...he got his bangs trimmed. School is almost out and summer is upon us. The garden is going crazy...I am gonna have to learn some new recipes for squash.
Summer is a tricky time for we Humphreys. I want to do everything and nothing. I want to travel and work and keep Robert busy. But I also want to sleep late, lay out by the pool and skip house cleaning for about three months. We'll have to see what happens.

Drill Baby Drill

"Drill Baby Drill" will always sound stupid from here on out. Anybody who grew up in Alabama, Mississppi, Louisana or the panhandle of Florida thinks of the Gulf Coast as our own. I am no different. When I was in seventh grade my class went to spend a week at Dauphin Island Sea Lab. We waded through marshes, collected specimens seined the bay etc. About half way through the week we had a classmate kill himself while we were there. It was a defining moment in time for me. And like everyone, where you are when you start to grow up becomes a part of who you are.

When I was in college Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Bon Secour were my playground. Hunter and I honeymooned in Seaside and watched storms come in from the Gulf from our villa. I have vacationed in Appalachicola and Destin and SeaSide with my best friends when we started having kids. Fort Morgan is one of my favorite places in the world, there are prettier beaches but that's the beach my babies play on....its where we go as a family to leave the rest of the world behind. And now all of them are threatened in a way no hurricane ever could.

Did you know that the Gulf Coast represents 20 billion in tourism, 640 million in seafood production? Over 70% of oysters and over 60% of shrimp come from there. Every oyster shucked on Bourbon St., every grilled grouper sandwich or shrimp cocktail served anywhere is going to cost a fortune for the next 5 to 10 years. And of course the people who depend on the water for their living are going to be hit the hardest.

The ecological impact is going to be horrific as well. For example. now is the time when migratory birds are stopping off along the coast on their way to the rest of the country. There will be fewer songbirds this year and next.

People in New Orleans will tell you the real disaster of Katrina was man made...this one is too. After a hurricane you rebuild, you can't rebuild oysterbeds or grassbeds...

Of course oil can be safely harvested and refined even from the Gulf...but why was no one prepared for what would happen if there was an accident? BP downplayed the possibility of this scenario and apparently didn't bother to prepare for it. Meanwhile, everyone here just watches the oil inch closer to a piece of our heart. Here's hoping its not as bad as hyped...but I plan on having seafood every day this week. It may be a while before we do again.

Scooby Scooby Doo Where Are You?

The Scooby Doo extravaganza has come to an end. We're done with round one of birthday celebrations. Round two will take place over Mother's Day weekend and on Robert's actual birthday next Monday. Everyone was pretty wiped out from the party..although it seemed to be a big success. Afterward Robert said he wanted to have another one just like it next year.

Every year I swear it is going to be a simple affair, family only and maybe a couple of friends and every year it spirals out of control...it reached its zenith when Robert turned three and his entire class plus siblings (about 20 kids altogether) showed up at our house and descended on the gymboree tumble bus thingy. That was the last party we had at the house I think...anyway this year we had just the right number of kids....and I bought everything Scooby Doo related..cake, goodies, etc. I want to be the Mom who makes a cake from scratch and crafts homemade takeaways months in advance,but that ain't happening. All in all it was a fun day. Even Ethan seemed to enjoy himself, he was full of cake and ice cream courtesy of the four grandparents and one Tia present.

In other news, Robert will portray Rainforest Tree # 2 in his class play on Tuesday. Ethan got a little trim of the bangs thanks to my talented friend Kim. Work is super slow right now (all the military families are getting ready to move). But I am thinking about doing a very specific kind of training in a few weeks which may prove to be beneficial. Hunter's work is super busy right now. My class reunion is mere weeks away and I am getting excited and a little nervous. That's about it.

Except that as I type God knows how much oil is seeping toward one of the places I love most on the earth...more about that when I get my head around it. I think I'll buy some shrimp for dinner though because it may be awhile before I get anymore.

Photos of the birthday bash and Ethan's first hair cut will be forthcoming.

What I'm reading : Finished The Help, Listening to South of Broad by Pat Conroy and reading Outcasts United by Warren St. John.
What I'm listening to : John Hiatt and Kids stuff (always)

Two Roberts

Last Saturday we planted the first annual Venable Humphrey vegetable garden. Gigi kept up with Ethan while Papa supervised the planting.

Robert was named after my paternal grandfather, Robert Venable. Grandpa Robert was a farmer and he loved it. He grew cotton and when he couldn't grow cotton he grew corn, and when he couldn't do that he grew vegetables. One winter he joined a group of men who went to work in an automobile factory up north. But it was dark and cold and too far from the land so after about two weeks he found his way home.

My Dad worked on the farm as long as he was at home, which is to say his whole childhood. He tells me about picking cotton and driving tractors and harvesting corn. But his dream was not farming. He has always said that Grandpa Robert was heartbroken that none of his boys wanted to farm. Now he keeps a few tomato plants, he has a pear tree he chases squirrels out of and makes pear preserves for us at Christmas. Not a farmer, but as close as he'll get now.

Of course, I am city girl. I don't camp, I'm horrible at growing anything. I forget to water houseplants, I don't even know how to cut the grass.

Which brings me back to Robert and our vegetable garden. My Robert is crazy about the natural world, maybe its being a boy, or because he is so curious, or maybe its the name. He is always talking about "the environment." He has single handedly forced us to recycle, often declaring "if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. " At Christmas he drew a diagram for his babysitter about how to stop global warming by forcing everyone to recycle aluminum cans. Robert also proclaims loudly how wrong hunting is (not a sentiment he got from me I swear).

I have wanted to have a vegetable garden with him for years. And this is the year. Robert worked so hard, he carried 30 lb bags of manure, he hoed and raked and planted and was actually paying attention for a change. Its like he was born to do it.

It was so cool to be working on this little patch of ground with my Dad and Robert, Daddy telling us about how they planted when he was a boy...I felt like Grandpa Robert would have been so proud. I am really trying to keep the veggies going and can't wait for Robert to have his first tomato from his own garden. I'm working on liking the dirt, but I definitely enjoyed playing in it last Saturday.

Career Day

Robert is having career day at school later this week. I received a form to fill out and send back in. Let's fill it out together, shall we?
What is your occupation? Not to be too obvious or anything, but Social Worker/Mommy
Do you have a uniform? Not unless you count the extra shirt I carry around for the inevitable grimy hand prints of peanut butter or unknown substances that wind up on my first one.
Did you have any special training or education for your job? Social Work, yes. Mommy, unfortunately no I'm like everyone else figuring it out as I go and hoping I don't screw up too badly.
What do you do in your job? I could write a book on this one. I feel compelled to start with what I don't do. I don't work for the state (never have) don't take kids out of homes, don't help anyone get on or off public assistance of any kind (unless you count the little old lady who misreads the ad in the phone book once a month and calls about her social security). I also don't do dishes or Hunter's laundry...a girl has to have boundaries. As for what I do... aside from managing a household, trying to be a thoughtful and effective parent... I would say in my paid job I help people figure out how to make their lives better. Sometimes its their marriage, sometimes its dealing with grief,sometimes its parenting. I hope and pray I do offer some small comfort to someone each day -whether its my son who got in a fight with his best friend, my husband who is stressed at work or a client who just lost their father. Some days my biggest and best accomplishment is to get green vegetables on the table, others its helping a wounded soul figure out to heal.
What do you like most about your job?
Its never ever boring, I get a ton of hugs, and I know I am doing what I was put here to do.

Easter people

After a long and fulfilling Easter weekend, I am using Monday to catch up on lots of things. Including this blog. The community Easter egg hunt was a huge success! Four churches and over 300 people joined us to enjoy the park and beautiful day. Its a go for next year, although I may hand the organizing over to someone else. Mom and Dad came for the weekend, and thank goodness they did because it was a circus around here. Between me heading up the egg hunt, Robert's game and hosting an Easter lunch with all the grandparents, if it hadn't been for Gigi and Papa helping us out something would have surely fallen through the cracks.

We had a beautiful service on Easter morning, and even survived photos..the hardest part of any Easter. The only dark spot was Emily couldn't make it because she has the flu..feel better Tia.

What I'm reading : Nothing which is about to drive me crazy...waiting on a book from the library

What I'm knitting : and iphone holder

What I'm listening to: Diana Krall

Palm Sunday

Our church puts out a Lenten devotional. My submission made it in this one here it is...

Matthew 21:9
“The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Hosanna in the highest!”

My oldest son Robert is made of pure energy. For example, he woke up at 6 a.m. this morning and by 6:15 he was literally running in circles and singing at the top of his lungs a song he’d just made up. All this was while I made breakfast on an average Monday morning. Robert loves church, he loves Jesus and he knows he wants to be his friend forever, but he really loves church. Unfortunately, his energy and my need for him to “behave” often make Sunday mornings less than joyful. There is lots of fidgeting and shushing and prompting and when he goes down for Children’s Moment I hold my breath and hope he doesn’t reveal some dreadful secret or inappropriate fact he learned on the History Channel.

But Palm Sunday is different. He lines up with all the other children in their new shoes and pastel shirts, clutches his Palm branch and for a few minutes he is free to shout and jump and generally express the joy he feels at being in church. I can’t help but think of the children in the first Palm Sunday processional. Caught up in the excitement of an impromptu parade and straining to see the man their parents have been speaking so passionately about. And then they see him and their joy is perfect. I think they recognized in him love and light and energy and a Messiah. Their joy could not be contained, “Hosanna in the highest!”

This Palm Sunday look for Robert his shirt will probably be untucked and he will certainly be loud. In his enthusiasm he may even whack another child with his wildly waving palm branch. But I will be smiling and trying to remember that church is supposed to be joyful and that he and all of his friends are teaching me something about my own faith.