If Only...

At church a few weeks ago the kids made Christmas cards in their little classes. I stuck mine in my bag and forgot about it. Yesterday, I pulled the card out while cleaning the junk out of my bag. It was from A, a very sweet card. I thanked him and expressed delight in the beauty of the card, of course. He told me "and I made one for the guys who are fighting." It took me a minute to realize he meant guys who are fighting in the war as I remembered that the Primary kids had sent a care package to a soldier and his unit which, I guess, included cards. "So," A continued, "is the fighting over?" "No sweetie," I replied, "I'm afraid the war is still on." He got the saddest look on his face and said in a small voice, "You mean...my card didn't work?"

Out of the mouths of babes. If only a child's card wishing for Peace at Christmas time was enough.

Christmas Cheer or Feeling Grinchy?

This picture makes me laugh because it about sums up our family's Christmas experience thus far. W with the craaaaaazy look in his eyes since he's pretty much been a constant spazz for the last two weeks thanks to lots of sugar and very little sleep. A has been feeling "grinchy" as he says, also a result of too much sugar and not enough sleep but combined with feeling unfairly put upon as the middle child. And M, the star of any show, just bouncy and happy with an infectious smile and attitude, trying to spread some Christmas cheer. Although sometimes I feel totally unequipped to deal with their little differing personalities, yet I just have to smile at how precious and unique each child is.

Teddy Bear Picnic

I don't remember how or when I listened to it, but somehow I know all the lyrics to the entire Anne Murray album, "There's a Hippo in my Bathtub" originally released in 1977. I love that album! Thanks to the magic of iTunes my kids now love it, too. A's most favorite song is "Teddy Bear Picnic" for two reasons: 1. He thinks the line "See them, catch them unawares" is actually saying something about underwear which is hilarious to a five year old and makes him laugh every time he hears it and 2. He loves, loves, loves teddy bears. So yesterday he wanted to host his own teddy bear picnic. He set up the entire thing, complete with healthy snacks for the bears such as apples and celery sticks. And his little sister M very helpfully took one bite out of each apple and celery stick to make it look like the bears were eating. Then they came to find me, warning me to be really quiet so I don't scare the bears away from their picnic. It was just too cute. Here are the names of bear attendees (from left to right): Dobby (actually a pony and not a bear), Chuck L. Beary, Bleuberry, Flappy (the penguin), Marshmallow, Barney, Lovey Bear and Little E. And if you're looking for a great kids' album, look no further than Anne Murray and the Hippo in the Bathtub. Seriously, every song is awesome.

Are we Real Vermonters Now?

I was just reading a post on my friend Julie's blog about her trip to France including Paris. First of all, let me say I'm not jealous at all. Don't we all speak four languages and jet off to Europe? Anyway, she posted some beautiful pictures of the "City of Lights" and it reminded me of how last week we were in the "Country in Darkness." That's right, thanks to an ice storm our electricity was knocked out for 24 hours. That means no heat, no light, and, worst of all, no running water. We're pretty well prepared for the lack of heat with our little gas fireplace and we have lots of flashlights and lanterns and a camping stove to cook some hot food but not being able to flush the toilets is a true hardship. The kids loved it, though. No school and nothing to distract mommy since I couldn't wash or vacuum anything. We made some crafts, went sledding, read stories, etc. Around 2:30 I gave up trying to survive on my own and knocked on our neighbor's door. You see, they are true Vermonters: they have a generator. Now I usually pride myself on controlling how much time my kids spend in front of the TV and there are many days where they don't watch it at all. But I was ready to worship at the alter of TV that day, just for the relief of having something else entertain them. Of course then I immediately felt guilty. Eric called to say he was bringing home pizza. Yippee! Somehow the missionaries sniffed out the pizza hut and arrived right on time. As it turned out, not only did Eric bring home pizza but he also managed to get the last generator in two states. And, since Elder Merrill just happened to be an electrician they got to work hooking up our new generator. Just as they were about to start it.....the power came back on. I'll admit, I was kind of relieved since I don't always trust Eric's schemes and was slightly worried that he'd either blow up the generator, himself or the house. But I've been assured by three other highly competent Vermonters that his plan was indeed sound and will work just fine. So next time the electricity is out toilets will be flushed, houses will be warmed, lights will be on, and you will find us in the basement with the heat cranked watching WallE on the big screen with surround sound just as all true Vermonters do.

You do the Hokey Pokey...

Just a quick funny story to make you laugh. Yesterday A was telling me that he learned how to do the Hokey Pokey at school. This led to a discussion about bodies like this: "What's the biggest bone in your body? What's the strongest muscle in your body? etc." After about 15 minutes of this I asked him, "What's the cutest part of your body?" Without batting a (very long) eyelash and with absolutely no hesitation he replied, "My cute little butt." 'nuff said.

The Nutcracker with the BOSTON BALLET!

When we left Boston we left many good friends behind. And while they think it's neat that we have foliage and mud and cows and snow, we think it's neat that they have civilization, museums, theatrical events, etc. So last weekend to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary we left our kids with their Boston "cousins" and we took off to see the Nutcracker at the Boston Opera house.

Self-portrait while waiting for the show to start!

We've never been to the ballet before and I suspected the Nutcracker was the best of the best so we spent the money on really good seats and I was so glad we did! Here's a (blurry) shot of just the stage curtain:



The show was truly amazing; I wish I'd taken a picture at the end of the dancers in costume. The dancers were so talented and graceful. I can't imagine any little girl who wouldn't want to be a ballerina after seeing that! In fact, one of our Boston "cousins", Emma, was actually in the production as a very tall reindeer. She was adorable and although her part was small with not much dancing, you have to start somewhere, right?

Look how gorgeous the Opera House is!

I can't wait until the kids are old enough to see it: translation, can sit still long enough to enjoy it. I'm sure A will be putting on tights to leap around the house while M will put on her dancing costumes and delight us as our little ballerina.

Holiday Cookies

Well, the reason I haven't done much posting to the blog lately is pure busyness. When I have the time to sit down at the computer it means I'm leaving the laundry/dishes/children undone and neglected. But I have only myself to blame as I hear the words, "Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow" coming out of my mouth at church or, "Sure, we can deliver cookies to so and so" or, "Yes, I'd love to go Christmas caroling" or, "Yes, we'll be at the school dinner on Thursday to hear the kids sing holiday songs," or....you get the idea. The truth is, I really do love doing all these things and although it's kind of stressful (and disgusting) to leave the laundry, both clean and dirty, in large piles throughout the house and the toilets unscrubbed and the beds unmade, I'm telling myself that this time of year only lasts a short while, yet housecleaning is forever. Let's have fun today and make cookies and decorate the Christmas tree and bake a yummy meal for guests to enjoy since it's the Season to Give and that's what we're all about here, right? So, for the record, here's the official

Complete List of Cookies from the Cooks

• Classic Shortbread Petticoat Tails
• Lime Meltaways
• Dried-Cranberry Shortbread Hearts
• Gingersnap Raspberry Sandwiches
• Dark Chocolate Cookies with Sour Cherries
• Cashew Caramel Cookies
• Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread

It took two days, pounds of butter, lots of chocolate and other ingredients but now we're done and ready to share. Merry Christmas!

P.S. Thanks to Martha Stewart for all the recipes. We love this cookbook

My little runaway, my run-run-run-run-runaway...

Yesterday A broke a Very Important Rule. He received a very expensive toy from Auntie Sux for his birthday and the Rule was: give it back to mommy when you're done playing with it and DO NOT take it apart because the (very small) pieces will get lost. Sure enough, while I was working on the computer he came down with the toy in pieces. And, of course, one major piece was lost (I should mention the toy is made out of Lego). Since he had about 100 Lego pieces on the floor of his room, I told him to clean up his room and look for the piece at the same time. He scooped all the Legos up into the bin but didn't find the missing piece. I told him to keep looking and I sort of poked around in the bin but didn't really see it and didn't really have time to dig around looking for it. Anyway, he couldn't find it and so the Consequence of Rule Breaking came down: I took away the entire Lego bin. He ran downstairs, crying and grabbed his backpack. Then he opened up the dress-up box and started throwing costumes all over the floor. "What are you doing? Put that stuff away! "I say. "I'm packing my suitcase and I'm leaving! I'm going to live in another house," says A. Still with tears streaming down his face he opens the fridge, takes out a few apples, finds his wallet and puts his few little quarters in it and continues packing. At this point, sad as he was, it was all I could do to not burst out laughing at his adorable patheticness. So instead I pointed out that it's really cold outside. His answer was to pack "2 coats." "Well, then, which house are you going to?" He thinks about that for a second and then declares, "I'm going to live outside in a sleeping bag!" "How will you get to school?" Again, more thought. "You'll have to come and tell me when it's school time and take me there." He really had a good plan going. I took his little face in my hands and it was just so sweet with those big brown eyes, long eyelashes with tiny teardrops clinging to them, his little eyebrows all furrowed in sadness and I suggested that we wait for W to come home from school and maybe he could find the missing piece. "So will you stay in our house until then?" Sad nods. W came home 10 minutes later and he found the piece in about 2 seconds. So the bag was unpacked, the Legos returned and all was well again. At least until next time he decides to run away. Hopefully it will be to college!

P.S. this morning W was asking him how he was going to watch TV out in his sleeping bag and A answered that he'd build one. W suggested he get a job and buy one and A agreed that was a good idea and his plan is to go work with Daddy since he already has "2 quarters so I only need a few more!" Too sweet!

The Requisite Halloween Costume Photo

I didn't even bother with costumes until Friday afternoon because they kept changing their minds. It was a half day at school so once W came home we started work on the costumes. How lucky that I had just bought him these bright orange pants! As you can see his costume is mostly duct tape, silver spray paint and various hoses and tools from around the house. A wanted to be Ben Kenobi and his costume is an old long sleeved shirt of Eric's and my raincoat. I put cornstarch in his hair and made him the beard (W kept teasing that he looked like Santa Claus). He has a green lightsaber made of, yep, green duct tape and foam pipe insulation. We ran into Princess Leia and Darth Vader out trick or treating. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of the little dog dressed as yoda - so cute. M wore her purple and gold princess costume, it's her favorite. We went to Strafford for candy and then to Barrett Hall for their annual party. It was a great time, beautiful weather. One really nice thing about Halloween in small towns is there's not much candy when you get home!

Lost Curls

I know it happens to all of us, but I've managed to avoid the "Look mommy I cut my own hair" experience for this long. I had my fingers crossed; maybe it would never happen! Could I be so lucky? Nope. Last night, while getting M ready for bed, she proudly told me, "I cut off my bad hair." What? What bad hair? "Right here." (points to the side of her head where I see that, indeed, she has cut a large chunk of her hair off). Baby, I say, where's your hair? She points to the floor behind the rocking chair. There, on the carpet, next to a pair of safety scissors, are several blond curls. I didn't know how to react but I wanted to make it clear that she is NEVER to cut her own hair again. So instead of getting mad I was sad; "Oh, M, you cut off your beautiful curls? Why did you do that? You can't be a princess without your beautiful curls! (manipulative, I know)It makes me so sad to see these curls in my hand. It makes me want to cry." Sure enough, her face was getting sadder and sadder until she burst into tears and promised to never cut her hair again. Poor girl, she was so proud of herself. I'll have to get her one of those dolly heads where you can style the hair. Although then she may go cutting off her brother's hair! At least I have a sweet, curly memento for her scrapbook!

A Knightly Party

We had a lovely Knight-themed party for W's 8th birthday. About 12 kids in all, a pretty manageable number. They slayed dragons in the yard, hunted for the Holy Grail, decorated helmets, did some sword fighting, jousting and castle building. I think I went a little overboard on decorations but it was such a fun theme! Now I have to get ready for a Star Wars Padawan training party in two weeks for A. Then it's Thanksgiving, then our anniversary, then Christmas, then Grandpa and Grandma are coming to visit, then New Years, then..............REST and RELAXATION! A trip to Cancun would go over nicely (hint, hint, husband). Yeah, right, maybe if we win the lottery....

8 Years Ago Today...

On October 20th, 2000 my life changed forever. On that day, a Friday morning, a sweet little boy was born. Daddy was in California so it was just me and little W, all by ourselves. I remember snuggling him as we looked out the window at the sunset over Boston. It was a quiet, peaceful time. Probably the last quiet, peaceful time we've ever had together. Joking! (not really).

• 7 years ago today we had a Harry Potter themed birthday party. I remember that Julie and Janika and Leona were there. I think Marjie was there as well. We made wizard hats and ate Bertie Bott's every flavored beans.
• 6 years ago today we had a second birthday party. W got a new wagon and we took a walk around Belmont, playing in the leaves that had fallen all over the ground.
  
• 5 years ago today I was 81/2 months pregnant with A. We were taking W to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday party when I accidentally locked him in the car. I had to call the Fire Department and they came screeching down the street with two trucks, full-on sirens blasting. Then one guy jumps off the truck with an ax over his shoulder and I thought, "I could have broken the window myself!" But they jimmied the lock and got it open for me. The funniest part was that W fell asleep in his car seat and missed the entire thing! I did take pictures of the firetrucks for him. We finally made it to Chuck E. Cheese where he played with his friend Brielle.
• 4 years ago today we had a spider-themed party. The cupcakes had chocolate frosting with black licorice spider legs and we sat on a round white tablecloth on the floor decorated to look like a spider web.
• 3 years ago today we had recently moved to Vermont and had another addition to the family, little M. E had a business trip to Vancouver so we stopped off in Edmonton and left W and A with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days. When we returned from Vancouver we had a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday party with a really great cake with a real engine on top. Cousins and Canada friends were there.
  
• 2 years ago today the party was Krypto the Superdog. We had lots of Super Fun! Everyone got to try their superhero strength and speed.
  
• 1 year ago today it was pouring rain. Our party was all about science. We made Super Putty and different kinds of slime. And homemade root beer using dry ice. That was a lot of fun.

Which brings me back to today. I can't believe my little boy is 8 years old and in Grade 2. He's getting so big and mature, already not wanting hugs and cuddles but computer time and Legos. I hope you know how much we love you, little boy. Happy Birthday.

It's Spelled C-I-N-N-A-M-O-N

We've trained the kids to not wake us up early on Saturday mornings but to head downstairs and quietly watch TV until we get up. This past Saturday they did just that. Only they decided they were too hungry and needed to make themselves some breakfast. We've been making cinnamon toast a lot lately, so W figured he could make that, no problem. Well, when I went to check on them downstairs I couldn't help but notice this really funny, spicy smell. Upon investigation I discovered the toaster, half a loaf of bread, the sugar bin and a container of...cumin. They had mistaken cumin for cinnamon. Poor little 2nd grader, he's such a good reader and they do seem awfully close. I started laughing and explained to W, "You know, this isn't cinnamon, it's cumin. Cumin is used in chili." ""Oh," was the reply, "no wonder the cinnamon toast didn't taste very good!" It was a pretty good try, though, and they kept the mess to a minimum.

The Sweetest Rose

My husband brought me some "Thank You for your hard work and patience this week because I know I've only seen you for twenty minutes" roses. They are multicolored and just beautiful. One of the roses had broken off from its long stem and was just a short stemmed pink rose. M immediately declared it the "Belle-the-Beast" rose since she's obsessed with all things princess. She convinced her big brother to play the beast, slipped on her yellow Belle gown and they ran around the yard playing with the rose for an hour or so. Of course roses aren't really meant to be playthings so the petals all came off. Without me knowing, they snuck up to my room and helped themselves to three more roses, breaking them off to be just like the short pink one. They left the long stems on my bedroom floor. I was not very happy when I came across the evidence! Dismayed, I explained to M that those were "Mommy's special roses" and that they can't just help themselves to my things without permission. She felt bad and went into her room, crying. A just can't stand to see anyone upset so he thoughtfully headed downstairs while I was vacuuming up the mess. A little while later this is what he brought up:
He explained excitedly: "Don't worry, Mommy. M won't have to wreck any more of your roses because I made this one for her and she can keep it forever."

I think it's the sweetest rose I've ever seen.

Bugged!

That's it! Everywhere I look today I see bugs! bugs! bugs! It started with a beesting on the inside of my elbow. Finally it stopped raining and thinking to enjoy the lovely sunny day, I was sitting outside on my swing. Unfortunately I was wearing a pink shirt and the bee mistook me for a rose from the Rugosa rosebush nearby and landed on my arm. And gave me a nasty shock. Hours later, it still hurts and now I feel hypersensitive to all the bugs around me. It's like being in one of those cartoons where you can hear the caterpillar crunching and the fly buzzing really loudly everywhere. I go in the kitchen and there's a giant spider crawling across the floor (ok, maybe giant is a relative term); flies are buzzing at the screen; fruit flies have invaded the trash can; moths are waiting in the pantry; there's a fuzzy orange moth sleeping on the front door inside the house. And when I turn on the ceiling lights I can see the cobwebs and spiderwebs all over. They're everywhere! Invasion! I'm kind of hoping for snow to kill them all off.
P.S. W wants me to add, "Mommy, don't forget about all the little spiders in the corners of our rooms." Seriously, it's that bad.

So Crafty

I saw a picture similar to this in a magazine recently. The asking price? $60. I thought to myself, "That's ridiculous! I could make that." And so began my day of craftiness. First I had to find a large cone which is harder than it would seem. After searching in the (only) local craft store and the internet with no luck I remembered a craft my mom had done with a tomato cage. Right, like I'm going to find a tomato cage in October. Well, when in doubt head to Dan & Whit's, the country store in Norwich whose motto is: If We Don't Have It, You Don't Need It. The store is amazing. It's like Mary Poppins' bag where it looks tiny on the outside but is huge inside. I asked this kind man for tomato cages and he looked at me like, "ooookay, lady." But he just said, "right this way" and led me through this maze. Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever be able to find my way out again! Sure enough, there they were, the perfectly sized and perfectly priced tomato cages. I bought six. Anyway, after some trial and error with lots of crumpled up paper and surprisingly minimal frustration, I came up with a pattern, actually sewed using my sewing machine and Ta! Da! Here is my creation. Isn't he cute? This one I'm donating to the school for a silent auction fundraiser. I'm curious to see how much money he'll fetch. And hey, I have 5 more tomato cages sitting in my dining room just waiting for a crafty makeover into cuteness!

A Swamp Story

Just had to post this funny little story before I forgot it. My brother came to visit briefly and he brought the most coveted gift of all: LEGO Star Wars characters. A and W immediately went crazy for them and have not stopped playing Legos ever since (2 days). Yesterday they disappeared for a while and when I hadn't heard them in 15 minutes or so I knew something was up. My mommy sense was tingling, you might say. So I began to search the house for them. I certainly did not expect what was awaiting me nor the hilarious (and utterly logical to a 4 and 7 year old) explanation:

Mom: Why, exactly, are you playing Legos in my shower?
Boys: But mom, we needed the mist so it could be Dagobah!

How do you argue with that? Sadly, they don't realize how cool it is that their mom even knows what Dagobah is! For those of you who may not be aware, here's a picture:


What does this say about the state of my shower? Daily shower spray, here I come!

The Proof

My sister and her husband bought M this lovely book called "The Princess Primer." It's written by a fairy godmother and gives all kinds of advice on how to be a princess such as how to choose a ballgown; matching your slippers with your handbag; different kinds of crowns and their pros and cons; how to sit on a throne properly; how to tell a good prince from a bad one, etc. You would think, at age 3, M would be too young for this sort of book. Not at all! She's a born princess from head to toe. I told my sister that M reads this book every single night and that she loves it. My sister seemed a bit skeptical so I'm posting this photo as The Proof: she loves this book! Fell asleep reading it. Too cute! My little princess.

Vermont Vignettes

I can't help it. Driving around town(s) I just keep noticing things that are uniquely Vermont, at least in my life experience. Here's a sampling:

1. Finding a Nursing Home. I'm trying to find a nursing home in a town I've only driven through once. I can't remember the name of the nursing home but the vague instructions I've been given are, "Drive north on 110 and it's right as you enter town." As I enter town on 110 North I do not see a nursing home anywhere. So, knowing how things work around here, I stop at the local country store where information about every person in town can be found. I mention that I'm looking for a nursing home. Storekeeper: Oh, you must be looking for Riverside. Me: Yeah, that must be it. Storekeeper: You goin' to visit someone? Me: Vivian Kill. She hasn't been here long. Storekeeper: Oh, yeah, I know the Kills. Isn't her mother Mary? They used to live in Tunbridge, right? That old yellow house? Me: I don't know her mother, I'm just here to visit Vivian. Storekeeper: Right, right. Well, you see that sign down the road? Go past that sign about three houses and it's right there on the left. You can pull right in. Me: Thanks a lot. Do you sell any magazines? Storekeeper: Magazines? No, I have the newspaper and Vermont Life but who has time to read magazines? They just sit on the shelf and get all dusty. There's a library over there (waves at window). Me: Across the street? Storekeeper: Yeah, you see that brick building? Me: That one? Storekeeper: No, that's not a brick building. That one, over there. Me: Isn't that the town hall? Storekeeper: Yeah, it's the town hall and the library. I think it's even open. Me: Of course. Well, thanks. Storekeeper: No problem. You have a nice visit now.
2. Getting directions. Everyone knows that following directions around here is based on your ability to read landmarks. Here's an example (and I quote directly): "Go up the road to the new bridge. Don't go over the bridge but take the little road right before it. Follow that road up to the big red barn. Turn right and then go a ways up to the big pine tree. Turn left. Our house is at the end of the road next to the cemetery." Perhaps, like me, you're thinking, "No one could ever possibly find this place using those directions." However, I kid you not, as I drove up the road sure enough, there was the new bridge. And the big red barn? Huge! And the big pine tree? Only pine tree in the area. I was able to find the house with no problem. Pretty amazing, right?
3. Picture Perfect. I didn't have my camera with me, but today I saw just the ideal Vermont scene. A bumpy country road surrounded by gorgeous hills covered in bright orange, russet reds, yellows, greens and browns. To my right ran a bubbly river and directly ahead of me was a big old red barn, paint peeling with a silver silo beside it and framed all around with the beautiful colors of fall and a few picturesque cows on the hillside. It really was lovely. Too bad I don't paint!
4. Typically Casual. I was walking down the road this morning (for fitness) and this car pulled over to the right and parked. Out got a woman, gray hair flying, mud-stained T-shirt and jeans, in her bare feet. She walked across the road and into her house directly beside me. I marveled at how cool it is to leave your house and drive somewhere in your bare feet with not a care in the world. We're not in Boston anymore!
   

The Gourmet

I enjoy making good food, especially with produce that comes from our garden. So last week I worked for a while making a grilled eggplant Parmesan. The eggplants came from the garden and I made the tomato sauce with fruits from the, well, you know. Fresh mozza and basil to top it off, it was delicious. Of course most of the fun in cooking is hearing and seeing the reactions of the people you've cooked for. So anticipating positive reviews I asked my children how they liked the dinner. This is what A told me; "Mommy, about your dinner. I think it tastes like....dirt." Not quite the review I was hoping for. Oh well, I thought it was delicious!

Good Reads

I like the concept of this website, an especially good way to track books you want to read. Goodreads allows me to publish my reviews to my blog so let's try this out:
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The cover describes it as Steel Magnolias set in Manhattan which seemed about right to me. There's some swearing which I never appreciate and I felt that the characters were introduced so randomly and haphazardly that I had a hard time remembering which story went with which character for a while. Towards the end I predicted what was going to happen but still found it very moving. For me the last few chapters redeemed the book.


View all my reviews.

Brotherly Love

Since I'm not actually a boy myself, I've often wondered about the relationship between brothers. They play, they fight, they playfight, they work together, they lock each other out of their rooms. Last weekend when we were running a 1.5 mile "fun" run I swear my boys were the only kids ever who could fight and run at the same time. W would careen into A who would get all mad and try to kick W (resulting in loss of shoe) and on and on it would go. I'm trying to push a stroller, run, and create peace between the boys all at the same time, not an easy task. I was ready to run for the hills, forget about the finish line! But then this morning I witnessed just the cutest, most heart-melting incident. I should preface it by saying that whenever A has a bad dream he crawls into W's bed. Most of the time they're best buddies. And A is "sooooooooo bored" while W is in school. So back to this morning. W and I were waiting for the bus when we hear, "Mommy, W, wait!" A is running across the lawn in his rainboots and raincoat. He wanted to wait for the bus with us. So we waited a minute or two and as the bus pulled up, A just threw his little 4-year-old arms around W, giving him the biggest hug and then saying, "Have a great day at school, W." It was just so sweet. It gives me hope that they may make it to adulthood without killing each other after all. Hopefully with few scars, too!

Star Wars

We are big Star Wars fans around here. Especially Lego Star Wars. The boys are convinced that they are getting the Lego Death Star for Christmas. It comes with every single Star Wars character they could ever imagine plus about 4000 pieces of Lego. Knowing how these things go, mom and dad will spend countless hours scrutinizing teeny tiny pictures in the wordless construction manual to build the Death Star. Then the Death Star will be played with for exactly 2 hours after which it will be completely dismantled and its pieces reassigned (or reimagined) as vehicles, ships, robots, etc. Not to mention the future foot pain that comes from stepping on all the little pieces that will be scattered all over my house. Oh, and did I mention that it only costs $400! Yikes! Anyway, here are a few of our favorite Star Wars characters brought to life by WAAM! May the Force be With You.

A Bee Story

Poor Princess! Yesterday was a traumatic day for her. She went out with Daddy to the garden where he was picking tomatoes and she was picking sunflower seeds. Unfortunately a bumblebee was also interested in the sunflowers. It stung poor M on her little fingers, twice on two fingers, twice on another finger on her other hand. Her immediate reaction was to put her hurt fingers in her mouth but when she did that the bee went with it! So now M's screaming with a bee on her tongue stinging inside her mouth and around her lips and Daddy's yelling for help and it was all very awful. We brought her inside and administered Benedryl, Motrin and lots of Band-Aids and kisses and hugs. Poor little thing. And the saddest part was that she had to miss her very first day of preschool the next morning because she was feverish and tired. Hopefully that will be our last encounter with bees.

Vacation...all I ever wanted?

Well, we've been back from our very long vacation to Canada for a few days now and of course I haven't unpacked a single suitcase yet. My bedroom looks like either a tornado tore through it or the dressers exploded (or perhaps both). Apparently it rained and rained and rained while we were gone and although my darling husband assured me that the weeds in the garden were "not too bad", one look at the jungle of my former garden and that was it, my job for the week. It took two days just to unravel all the tomato vines from the crab grass that was their new home and stake them up. And I discovered about 8 eggplants hiding away. Oh, and did you know that if you let radishes grow they become 4 feet high with very pretty pink flowers? I especially loved the approximately 20 3-foot long zucchini and the UFO sized yellow scallopini squash. Sigh. Oh garden, I'll never leave you again. Or at least next time I'll only plant pumpkins which can pretty much take care of themselves. So now I'm paying for my vacation which was a lot of fun and exhausting all at the same time. I'll have to blog about it later, once I find my camera in the tornado-wreckage!

The Prouty

I wanted to include my husband's account of his 100 mile bike ride to raise money for cancer research. Sounds like fun (NOT!) I had a great time. I rode the whole 100 miles! I got to the starting point at the Richmond School in Hanover around 6:45 AM.They had a ton of breakfast foods, donuts, energy bars, juice, etc. Allechante donated boxes of bakery items. You can guess where I spent most of my morning:mmmmmm, the chocolate croissants were still warm. So after loading up on carbohydrates, I got on my bike and got started on the road a little after 7AM. The prouty is not a race, you can start when you want and take your time if you like. When I get on a bike, I enjoy the feeling of whizzing fast, legs pumping,heart pounding, wind in my face, so I did not feel much like taking my time. I rode most of the course with the pedal to the metal. The first ten miles followed up route 10 from Hanover to Lyme, with Chieftan hill as the only bump in the road. In Lyme center, we took a left over the Connecticut River into Thetford. The next ten miles followed the river along Rt 5 up to Fairlee. That was a nice flat ride with farms all the way. I was surprised at all the bikes stopped along the route with flat tires. There was probably an average of someone stopped with a flat tire or other problem every 3 or 4 miles. We then crossed back over the Connecticut into Orford, NH and onto the 25A. The next ten miles were my favorite of the whole ride and consisted of a 1000 ft. climb up Mt. Cube. It was a very steady climb for several miles. I love climbing mountains on my single speed Country Road Bob bike. I had several people comment on it while riding: one "professional riding" team passed me and one the guys on the team held back to chat with me for a while.He wanted to know what I thought of the bike because he was thinking of getting one. Another gentleman who I passed along the hill, sped up to catch me to chat for a while. He was impressed that the bike could climb so well without any higher gears. Mile 30 through 50 included a big drop and another hill climb but not quite as big as Mt Cube. We went through Wentworth, NH and onto route 25 into Warren. We passed by Mt Mousilake. This part of the ride was the most scenic. From Warren,we continued through Glencliff and back to Haverill, NH in the Connecticut river valley. This was near the halfway point and was the place where I stopped first to get off my bike, refuel and reload my Camelbak. I ride with a camelbakthat carries 2L of water. By the time that I stopped, I had been riding >2.5hours and had emptied my camelbak, I was also very hungry at this point. All along the route, at about every 10 miles, Prouty volunteers provided SAGs(Stop and Go) rest stops for bikers to take a break, enjoy nutritious food andrelax. Many of the SAG volunteers give their rest areas themes and dress in costumes - so it's very entertaining! All of the volunteers were very friendly and it was fun to stop and chat with other riders and feel the comraderie. Al lof the SAG stops have food and drinks, such as watermelon, bananas, granolabars, energy bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chocolate bars, water,gatorade, etc - most of which are generously donated by local vendors. I ended up stopping only twice on my ride, mostly to reload my camelbak since I went through 6L of water on the ride. After riding for several hours straight,it can be difficult to get back on the bike and start again. Its better just to keep on going. After the SAG in Haverhill, I got back on and continued along route 10 up the Connecticut river north to Woodsville. It was here that we crossed back over the Connecticut into Wells River, VT and turned south to start our journey back home along route 5. I remember passing a sign that showed mileage to St.Johnsbury was 20 miles. I knew we had come a long way. The ride along route 5 south was the longest part of the trip it seemed. By this time, most of the riders had spread out and there were stretches of miles where I was the only rider on the road it seemed. Somewhere near mile 70 a group of two riders passed me. They were taking turns drafting off each other. I decided to join their posse. If you have never drafted before, this consists of riding very close and maybe just a bit to the side ofthe rider in front of you. It is amazing how much more efficient and faster you can travel when someone in front of you is breaking the wind. This is why birds fly in a V formation. It really does make a big difference. Anyhow, they were going slightly faster on avg. than I had been. Once I started to draft off of them, my pace picked up and I started riding even faster. When you are drafting, you really have to pay attention, especially when you are behind. The rider in front uses hand signals to indicate problems ahead, these signals get passed rider to rider, front to back of the peleton. We picked up a fourth rider in our peleton for a while, but I think we were a bit too fast for him and he dropped. I had to really press to keep up, but it made the last thirty miles just fly by. We passed through Newbury, VT and then through Bradford and on to Fairlee. At Fairlee we crossed back over the Connecticut and into Orford, NH. Then continued south from Orford into Lyme. Here I took my second rest. At this point, I had finished 90 miles, I was starting to feel a little wobbly. I had been on the bike now for about 4 hours and 45 minutes. They had stacks of PB&J sandwiches waiting and I loaded up. I probably ate about 3 whole sandwiches, a couple of energy bars and a liter of gatorade. During my training runs I had often riden to Lyme and back from Hanover, so finally I felt like I was almost home. The last ten miles were the most difficult. At this point I was struggling to keep up with my little peleton. I did the first ten miles from Hanover to Lyme in 31 minutes. I did the last ten miles from Lyme to Hanover in 28 minutes. The difference? riding in a peleoton and being "pulled" along by some experienced riders. We were passing the returning fifty mile riders like they were standing still. Finally we made it back to the Richmond school and I thanked my peleton for their support. People cheered as we crossed the finish line and I parked my bike. I made it back right around 12:30. My total ride time for the 100 miles was five hours, eleven minute, eleven seconds with and average speed of 19.5mph. They had a bunch of food and tables and tents set up. I wasn't that hungry at this point. I only had a slice a pizza and a burrito, but I did catch up with my fellow EHS team members and coworkers: Michael Blayney, Jason Angel, and Michael Cimis. They had done the fifty mile route and had started about the same time. However, they had three flats along the way and had stopped at every SAG so we got back about the same time. This was the first time I had ridden more than 35 miles at one time. All in all, I had a great time! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was a little sore after the ride but by Sunday morning, I didn't have any soreness at all. It felt good to ride with a purpose and to support Cancer research. I really look forward to riding again next year. Next year though, I'm going to take my time, stop at every SAG, enjoy the company of fellow riders more and bring along a camera.

Oh, Canada!

I can't believe how fast time is flying while we're here on vacation. We seem to be just zooming from place to place, visiting cousins and aunts and uncles and doing all that family stuff. So far our trip has included a waterpark, a zoo, the Calgary stampede, meeting the new additions to the family, getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa and at least 16 trips to Walmart. It's amazing how easy it is to just run down the street for a pair of socks or a forgotten toothbrush. Good thing I'm not zooming too fast through the Canadian money! Of course Grandma keeps telling the kids, "Don't you wish you lived closer so Grandma could spoil you all the time?" Poor kids! It's especially fun seeing M with her cousin, S. They're only a month apart and they're like little twins together, virtually inseperable. That is definitely something we will miss back in VT.

Ummm, Excuse Me, Little Boy?

On Saturday night we attended a very lovely annual garden party, although this was our first year being invited to the "event of the year" for our area. We had to prep the kids, of course: This is an adult party, you need to be on your absolute best behavior or your little butt will be spending the night in the car. The appetizers came out including lots and lots of shrimp cocktail. W and M ate about 15 pieces each while A insisted, "I don't like fish." But guess who ate 5 salmon mousse puffs? Then the main service started with the caterers dishing out the food. A thought this was the coolest thing, that he could go stand in line and they'd give him anything he wanted to eat. After a few trips to the serving line I figured he'd gotten the hang of it, so when after a while he asked if he could go get some more food I just said, "Sure, go get whatever you like." Unfortunately I didn't realize that now dessert was being put out so the buffet was self serve. A few minutes later Eric came over to say, "I just found A in the buffet line." Yes, he had permission to go there. "Well, did you know he was standing there with 5 people in line behind him, digging with his hands through the pasta salad and picking out all the olives?" YIKES! Mortification and Embarrassment! Eric continued, "The lady behind him said, Oh, that's okay, I don't like olives anyway so thanks for picking them out for me."If there was ever a time when you want to disappear...I just hope the hosts didn't notice or there go our chances for a repeat invitation next year!

Indispensable

You know that game where people ask you what things you'd want if you were stranded on a desert island? Well, if my family were stranded anywhere, the one thing I couldn't live without is duct tape. It seems like I use it daily. Here's just a small sample of the things I've made with duct tape:

1. hatchet (made from a rock and a stick)
2. handles for a knight's shield
3. several parts of a cardboard box rocket ship
4. joints holding together a cardboard box princess castle
5. tool belt
6. police officer handcuffs
7. knight helmet and armor repairs
8. wart remover
9. trampoline net fix
10. strap for a broken croc sandal

Anyway, you get the idea. Today, gasp! we came to the end of our vast supply of duct tape. Believe me, W scoured the house looking for more. We found clear tape, blue tape, Scotch tape but not one more inch of duct tape. He even tried prying the very end of the roll from the cardboard but it didn't work. So he was resigned to building his scythe out of the empty duct tape roll, a stick and a rubber band. Looks like it's time to stock up on this indispensable ingredient to child happiness. And how much did I spend on his Christmas toys again?

Pretty Peonies

I had to pick these from my flower garden yesterday after a huge, torrential rain storm that totally flattened my plant. The blooms were just too big and heavy to stand anymore on their spindly stems. I thought this made a pretty picture and wanted to share it! Too bad we don't have smell-o-vision.

School's OUT!

Yippee! Hooray! School's Out! For me, that means: no more dragging myself out of bed to make pancakes that no one likes; no more scrambling around the kitchen making lunches that no one eats; no more searching under the bed/couch/toybox/dirtyclothesbin for W's homework sheet/library book; no more dragging M out of bed and enduring her kicking and pouting and refusing to get in the van to take A to school or no more dragging M out of bed and having her go totally boneless and yet again refuse to get in the van to take A to school; much, much more housecleaning and cooking; much, much more dealing with mud/water/sand/salamanders/toads/frogs/bugs in the house; and packing up for our trip to see the Grandparents this summer. For the kids it means: yay! TV all day! So far W has watched 4 hours of the Discovery Channel's "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions" (at least it's educational) and approximately 3 hours of Spongebob (it teaches social skills? Yeah, that's what I'll tell myself). I've told them that for today they can watch all the TV they want but tomorrow they're mine. School's out also means staying up late to look at the stars; cooking about 1 million s'mores with Daddy;hunting for salamanders/frogs/bugs/mudholes/sand; and a big trip on an airplane to see the Grandparents. Let the fun begin!

Sunburn on my shin

This is the obligatory "It's so hot here we're melting" post. The heat and humidity these last few days were just BRUTAL. I felt so sorry for our poor friends visiting from Park City, Utah where it was a cool 48 degrees. At least they could hang out in our basement which was slightly cooler than the rest of the house. But of course the air conditioning in the car is broken with a $600 repair bill so that fix isn't happening. Besides, with the cost of gas, who can afford air conditioning? This is how we coped with the heat in order to not melt:
on Saturday: let the kids go shopping wearing nothing but underwear. Also, spent the entire afternoon playing in the water in our new Boogie Boards. Very fun in the current.
on Sunday: gave up on sitting in church with no fans or a/c and three little kids. Went for a walk on the lawn instead. I have to admit, I preferred it that way, too! Spent the rest of the afternoon in the basement.
on Monday:sweated, sweated, sweated. Hey, at least it's one way to lose weight, right? I think we actually ran out of ice in the ice maker. Slept in the basement again.
on Tuesday: Thank goodness for rainstorms! We had some really wild weather with tornado warnings and major thunder and lightning. The best part? No more humidity! Hooray!
I think we can all agree that summer is here with a vengeance!

Ode to a Fish

A few days ago the weather was so gorgeous that Dad decided to take the boys down to the river. Ignoring all my cautions (wear shoes, watch out for poison ivy, take the lifejackets) off they set for a grand adventure. The inventory upon returning was: two small minnows, 25 tadpoles, 5 pet snails who still reside in our bathroom and one, as yet unknown, wicked case of poison ivy on W. The bucket full of goodies sat outside on the deck for a day or so and M would go out and watch the fish swimming and stick her hands in to play with them. Everyone was abiding in peace until Wednesday. On Wednesday, M wanted to "hold" the fish. I told her, no, you can't hold the fish because the fish needs water to breathe. Then I went about doing the endless dishes or endless mopping or endless laundry or whatever I was doing at the time. About a half hour later M comes to me with a sippy cup half full of water saying: "Fishy needs help." Uh-oh. I look in the bucket. It's empty. "Sweetie, where are the fishies?" I ask. She looks at me with her innocent blue eyes. "In my shoe." Of course they are. Where else would you look for fish? Actually, she had dumped the entire bucket onto the deck and all the small tadpoles fell through the cracks leaving the bigger fish to catch. It's pretty ingenious, actually. When W came home from school he got a very heartfelt apology and hug, "I'm sorry I killed your fish," from his little sister. He and A made a casket for it out of paper and tape, wrote a nice note about the fish and buried it in the flower garden with some lovely flowers to mark the grave.

It Wasn't Really So, But it Seemed to Be...

I was walking along the river bank yesterday afternoon. The composition of the bank has totally changed; this spring brought so much flooding and such high water levels that there is now a 4 foot bank of sand along the edge. It's lovely with the birds chirping, breeze blowing, sound of the water rushing by...for a moment I felt transported back to the beaches of Massachusetts. Until the breeze brought me a lovely and strong scent of cow manure, courtesy of the dairy farm on the hill directly across the river. I had to laugh! This, I thought, is the Vermont beach! It's close to the real thing, but there's no escaping that eau de Vermont!

A Birthday for a Princess

We usually try to have a Memorial Day BBQ every year and this year we figured, "why not combine it with M's birthday since we'd only be inviting the same people anyway?" It seemed like a good idea at the time...Actually, it was a lot of fun, the weather cooperated and the kids even went swimming in the river for the first time this year. If only we hadn't tried to poison off our guests with a bout of strep throat, poison ivy and a tick! I wonder if anyone will attend next year's party...M has not put down her Ariel doll since yesterday. I think at the age of 3, she will remember this birthday and all her princess friends who attended.