Timber!

The outdoor adventures of the boys continued today. At my first check they were racing their bikes. Second check they were "fixing" their bikes. Third check they were "feeding little green berries to the ants". Fourth check they were playing with the rakes.

I was busily crossing stuff off my "to do" list when Aiden hit the door. "Mama! You have to come and see what happened!"

I stayed seated and did a quick mental check. No one is screaming. No one is bleeding. Calmly I asked, "What happened Aiden?"

"You have to come and SEE!"

"Buddy, can't you just tell me about it?" I already knew the answer but had to ask anyway. Miracles still happen.

"Mama," Aiden started, exasperated with me, "I was playing with this big stick and it broke. It just came off and now there are no more leaves or ANYTHING!"

"Hmmm..." I stalled, still trying to work. This did not sound like anything unusual.

"MAMA PLEEAAASE! Can't you just come and look?"

I followed him outside and headed to the row of bushes and hanging branches that line our driveway. Then I noticed that Aiden had not stopped. Instead, he ran to the front yard where we have two trees given to us when we got married.

When I looked where Aiden was standing, I noticed that something was missing. There in his hands was one of our trees. Granted, it was the one that had never flourished, but it had stood there since we moved in almost nine years ago.

Dawson stood with the two branches in his hands. Aiden looked at me with his devilish grin while he held the trunk in his hands. "Do you think we can play with these now?"