We (heart) James!

I remember numerous play-times (in today's hip parlance, "playdates") that my sister and I had with our cousins as children. Mark and Suzanne lived only 5 minutes down the road (by car, of course, as it is West Michigan I'm talking about), and our mothers made sure to get the four of us kids together with at least some frequency. I guess I'm not sure exactly what that frequency was now, so many years later, but enough that I clearly remember several different playdates and the fact that getting together was an expected, and eagerly anticipated, occurrence. My children, as of the moment, have no blood cousins, and even if they did, said cousins would be hours away. Thus we find ourselves with a need which I imagine many others share in these days of smallish families and often itinerant living: the need to create "families" of sorts with people to whom we are not related by blood. We are very thankful for the friends with whom we've been blessed here in Chicago, and I think it's safe to say that they have indeed become our family away from home.

With my husband teaching a night class once a week at DePaul, the boys and I have had the opportunity to spend some extra time with Katie and James, as Clay sometimes works Thursday nights too. We typically share a meal, let the boys play, and then scrub their dirty buns.

Jonah and Manny look on as James demonstrates the proper way to throw a ball across the room.

Manny doesn't look impressed. In fact, I don't think that he's paying attention at all.
"Manny. Manny. I can teach you." I don't think James got the memo: Jonah likes sports; Manny's the smart one.
The boys pose happily for a picture...
...before going back to ignoring each other and their mothers. Scoops, bowls, balls, and hoops are way more fun.