The smell of boys

I want to remember who they are now. I want to remember their smell of sweat, sun, and hay. The way little boys smell no matter how many baths you give them.I want to remember the way they love to  fight battles when they've never really fought one before. Swords and sticks and a country hillside and the hours fighting and hiding. She's in the mix ,their sister. She is never far behind them and they don't seem to ever mind. Oh, the pasture is full of their play. The laughter and echos being heard from early morning till dark time. She looks at me and says, "you want to hear my voice?"

'Sure I do" I said and she yells hello out over the hillside and her voice comes back and she looks at me and smiles and says "isn't that neat?"

Why yes it is..Can I bottle it? so when the hillside is quiet I can open my bottle and hear their laughter. sigh..... 

Bed time stories, Little Bear, ice cream, bikes, and swimming have filled our summer with some wonderful memories. I look out across my hill and know that this too shall pass. This season of having them little. They grow so much everyday and fight as I may they don't slow down. The hay bales are harvested for another winter and they play, jump, and grow right through another season of my life. 

The summer of 2010 gone but I'll never forget