WAAM

Adventures in Africa

2011-10-08T19:13:00.004-04:00

I'm borrowing this idea from my dear friend, Dana, who is currently in Cameroon. While she's gone, her husband is blogging all her texts and emails for us. I thought that was such a cool idea and I wanted to do the same for Eric's trip to South Africa this week. Plus it was a good excuse to jump start the blog again.

So he's in Cape Town for a few days and then is heading to Johannesburg. I guess I have to be careful what details I include due to the secure nature of his work. But I can tell you that Maeve steadfastly insisted that this time she does not want a dress from Africa but a pair of shoes. When Eric claimed not to know her shoe size she was quick to solve that problem: "I'll just come with you and try them on!" A great solution except for the $4000 plane ticket. He is loving being right on the coast and went running this morning. Something strange was happening with the GPS tracker he usually uses for distance and he finally quit after what the GPS said was about 3 miles. But when he tracked it on an actual map it turned out that he ran 10 miles! Eric was so surprised because he hadn't been breathing hard at all, and then he realized that he's now at sea level instead of the high altitude of Albuquerque so his lung capacity was huge. I don't really understand how someone can accidentally run 10 miles. I would have quit long before then!

Other cool things are seeing a sea lion swimming along the shore while running on a beach path and visiting the market where there is a shop that sells beautifully carved ostrich egg lamps. Definitely things we don't have here!

Little Artist

2010-11-04T13:18:00.006-04:00

So back in Vermont a group of us ladies got together once a month and called it Mom's Night Out. One Friday in May we went to a really cool place in WRJ called Tip Top Pottery. We had such a great time that we decided to go there again the next month and this time to bring our daughters (all of us had little girls close in age). Maeve just loved painting her unicorn. So, for a teacher's gift, I thought I'd bring Wells to the pottery place and have him make something for Mr. Haley.
He designed and painted this great little plate. I was surprised since Wells usually hates coloring and drawing and things of that sort.
Tip Top Pottery, it turns out, runs several week-long summer camps, so I asked Wells if he'd be interested in attending. The camp offered pottery every morning and then other art activities in the afternoon like batik, acrylic painting, sketching, tie-dying, etc. Wells was enthusiastic about the idea. And it turns out that he's quite a little artist! His painting teacher, Rebecca, who is awesome, noticed that he had some talent for painting and brought this to my attention one day when I went to pick him up. She said he was delightful and that art was his new favorite subject. He really does love painting so for his 10th (!) birthday this year I bought him some canvas, paintbrushes and paints. Here's a mini show of his artwork to date:

Hermit Crab

Hornet

Piano on Pond Surrounded by Frogs
(this was a gift for his piano teacher)

New Mexican Praying Mantis

The Kindness of Musicians

2010-09-20T00:08:00.003-04:00

Wells's violin teacher is out of town. So, this Wednesday, I decided to take him to the New Mexico Orchestra Chamber Music concert, held at the violin shop. A small venue. So I called on Wed. afternoon to make sure there were still tickets available. "Oh yes, we will have tickets at the door," the woman assured me. "The box office opens at 6 and the concert starts at 7:30." That is all she said. So, I forced Wells into some decent clothes and we arrived at the concert a little after 7. Only to be told, by the same woman I spoke to on the phone, that the concert is sold out. I was a little upset and protested and recounted our earlier phone conversation. Where she tried to convince me that she told everyone to buy tickets in advance due to the size of the venue. She did not tell me that. During the conversation a few people started surrounding the table. I didn't realize it right away, but they were the musicians. They began trying to help. One woman suggested that the piece they're performing is very popular and I should leave my name and number and they will call me if they do it again. Another man offered to have us sit just outside the door to hear the music. I replied that, although a very kind offer, my son was taking violin lessons and I wanted him to see the musicians, their posture, how they hold their instruments, etc. He nodded. Then, a very nice man with an accent came over. He shook our hands. He said, "Please, leave your name and number. Come to our next concert for half price. And please, come backstage and talk with us afterwards." Then he said, "I am the conductor of the orchestra." I didn't know if I should feel honored or embarrassed. I think it was a little of both. He guided us over to the table, insisting to the nasty woman that she write my name down. Then, with another plea to enjoy our evening and many apologies, he went in to begin the concert. Late. Because of us. The frowny woman did take my name but NOT my phone number and I didn't want to press the issue. But Wells is so excited to meet the musicians at the December concert that he's been practicing a song to play for them. So, I guess it turned out to be a great concert after all!

Weather.com

2010-09-14T11:32:00.002-04:00

This was a funny story from April or May that I wanted to remember. After Eric had his job interview with Sandia, his mind was totally on Albuquerque and moving to Albuquerque. I think, mentally, he'd already left. So, one day as I was getting the kids ready for school, he called to check on how I was doing. I asked him to give me the weather forecast for the day so I'd know what clothes to put on the kids. He said something like, "Oh, it's going to be a beautiful day in Vermont. Really sunny, high in the 70s." We were both surprised at that forecast since it was gray and cold and drizzly outside, which fact I mentioned. He said, "Well, it'll probably clear up soon." So I dressed all the kids in shorts, sandals and sweaters, thinking it was going to clear up and warm up any minute and sent them off to school.

An hour later it started to snow.

I don't know what those teachers must have thought of me sending them to school in shorts and sandals and no coats. They couldn't go outside for recess because they were freezing. Poor kids.

And where did that beautiful forecast exist, you wonder? That's right: Albuquerque.

NOT Vermont!

Spider Princess

2010-09-13T14:39:00.003-04:00

I asked Wells to play nicely with Maeve for a little while so I could get some unpacking done. This usually works as long as he comes up with a game she's willing to play. And he's generally pretty flexible. Well, they came up with quite the collaboration this time: spider princess. It combines the best of both worlds - a remote control tarantula with tiny little princesses. The tarantula (named "Fluffy") even consented to pull Cinderella's carriage around the house. It was the most bizarre, hilarious thing I've seen in a long time.

They played spider princess for quite a long time. Thanks for not eating any princesses, Fluffy!

"I Am"

2010-08-28T09:53:00.002-04:00

A poem by Wells, age 9

I am made of elements, I am complicated.

I wonder why my mom won't buy me a mindstorm.

I hear my seeds,

I see my favorite dream.

I want a mindstorm.

I am made of elements, I am complicated.

I pretend I'm a bird

I feel trees

I enjoy swimming

I worry of bullies

I cry of pain

I am made of elements, I am complicated.

I understand stories

I say, "by the way",

I dream of a mindstorm

I try to write this

I hope to finish soon

I am made of elements, I am complicated.

Nobody's Perfect!

2010-08-20T22:24:00.003-04:00

Since I have months of posts to fill in, I thought I ease back into it with just a small, simple story.

Today was the second full day of school for the boys at a brand new school. There are a lot of new things at a new school. I don't think I fully appreciated what a big adjustment it would be. But they are doing great and I'm so proud of them.

After a long day of school and rules I promised the boys they could play the Wii for a little while. Originally I said half an hour but then I realized I wanted a little more time to myself (isn't that what TV is for?). They were already playing when I went in and said, "If I let you play for one hour will you turn it off when I come get you - with no complaining?" W says, "Maybe." I said, "Maybe?" He answered, "Well, I'm trying to say yes but I just can't. I mean, nobody's perfect."

I appreciated the honesty.

We agreed that I would tell him when time's up and give him a bonus 5 minutes if he needs it to finish in a good spot.

After all, Nobody's Perfect!

AMEN!

2010-03-15T09:55:00.002-04:00

I recently read these words from the blog of Shannon Hale, author and BYU alumna. http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html

I'll just quote her feelings about housework because I Totally Agree:

"OK, really I should say, I plan on accepting that fact any day now. I wish my carpets were vacuumed weekly, that I had a meal plan and didn’t panic when 6 pm rolls around and the kitchen is stone cold. Our backyard is literally a back yard, and I still can’t manage to keep it weed free and full of happy plants. Really, you’d be shocked. And don’t look under my bed. But my priorities are: Max’s needs, husband time, writing, feeding self, sleep, bathing self, church volunteer responsibilities, paying bills…housework comes somewhere down here, maybe after Essential Grooming."

Thank you, Shannon.

COOOOOOODE

2010-03-08T11:41:00.003-05:00

I had to post this funny story from M and A on Saturday. I was sick and spent the day lying in bed. W had bruised his back earlier in the morning by sledding into one of the three trees on our property so he was also quietly lying in bed which made for a very peaceful day. For some reason M and A were playing this secret agent game which went like this:

M: (knocks on A's closed bedroom door)
A: Cooooooode?
M: Pieman!
A: No, M, that's not the code. Do it again.
M: (knocks on door)
A: Cooooooode?
M: Pieman!
A: M! The code will never be Pieman!
M: Well, what is it then?
A: Sword! Knock again.
M: (knocks on door)
A: Coooooode?
M: Pie! .....man?
A: NOOOOOO, M! Sword! Sword! Coooooode!
M: (very satisfied). Swordman!
A: I give up. You do it. (knocks on door)
M: Coooooooode!
A: Sword!
M: Nope!
A: What is it then?
M opens door and whispers to A.
M: Code?
A: (disgustedly) Tinkerbell

A Cactus Lesson

2010-03-01T23:24:00.002-05:00

Today I learned a very valuable lesson about cacti. Or cactuses. Whatever. I spent the morning with a very nice Realtor driving me around and showing me potential houses in case we do actually (slight shudder) move to Albuquerque. And I want you to know that I just spelled that correctly without using spellcheck. Anyway, of course many of the houses had cactus plants growing in the yard. I don't think I've ever seen a "wild" cactus before, so naturally, I had to touch one. Very, very bad idea. My two fingers were literally stuck to the cactus. I mean, I could not pull them off. At all. The Realtor asked, "Are you ok?" Have you ever had to say this sentence: "No, actually, I'm stuck to a cactus." She said, "What?" I said, "Seriously, I cannot take my hand off this cactus." At least, not without a great deal of pain and bleeding, I was thinking. She suggested I pull my hand really hard. Of course, once I did that I ripped a big chunk off the cactus, destroying years of growth. I can't think of a time recently when I've felt more idiotic. Luckily the Realtor had a pair of gloves in her car so she grabbed the piece of cactus and held tight while I literally ripped my hand off the barbs. It hurt. A. Lot. But I only bled a little!

And now the cactus was stuck to the Realtor's glove. She had to step on it with her shoe to get it off.

So, the lesson is, Don't Touch the Cacti (Cactuses). Ever!

Christmas Vacation: by Guest Blogger W

2010-01-10T21:20:00.005-05:00

We went to Edmonton this December for Christmas. And since we flew with airmiles (thank you, family), I had to take the kids out of school a week and a half early. They were heartbroken. W's teacher gave him an assignment to keep a journal of his trip. Priceless:

Dec. 12: First we drove to the airport. Then we went through security. Then we went to look out the window. I saw many strange and beautiful things like airplanes, trucks and birds. It’s amazing that planes can fly.

Dec. 13: Things I noticed about Canada that are different than Vermont: it was freezing. I could see my breath indoors. It was -40 degrees Celsius. In Canada they use Celsius not Fahrenheit. With wind-chill it was -58 degrees. It was the coldest place on earth. At the airport I heard people speaking French. That’s because Canada has two official languages. French and English. I also noticed that people are nicer in Canada. They act like a waiter at a restaurant, asking what we want. I try to be really nice back.

Dec. 14: We went swimming today. It was really fun. It had a current you could go under and the water would push you along faster. I liked it when the bucket dumped on my head when I was under water. Since I’m 9 I can go everywhere all by myself. I went on the slides, too. I didn’t even have to pay attention to the red light green light thing because there was nobody else there. All the other kids were at school. Ha, ha, ha!

Dec. 15: I got to try on a snowboard. A snowboard looks like a gigantic piece of cardboard in the shape of a rectangle. There’s metal on the bottom to help it slide in the snow. You can also sit on the snowboard and ride it like a sled. You can go really fast. But they don’t let you do that on the ski hill. Awww, that’s too bad. The boots were a little big and they were cold at first. My aunt is taking me snowboarding when it warms up.

Dec. 16: last night I played on the wii a long time. But forget about that I have something BETTER to tell you. I went to a museum. We saw diamonds that my uncle Steve put there. I learned how First Nations, that’s like Native Canadians, caught fish. They sharpened sticks and stuck them in the mud so when the fish tried to jump over the sticks it killed them. I took a picture of plastic fish guts which were pretty realistic.

I got to see one of the biggest spiders in the world THE GOILIOTH BIRD Eating TARANTULA. It was cool. THE END.

Dec. 17 2009: I went SKATING! It was fun. I had black HOCKEY SKATES. The blade was so sharp I cut myself without knowing it. It’s easier to balance than you think it is. There are lines on the rink and you follow them.

Dec. 21: We had a family Christmas party and went dancing and played tag. I played my violin with my cousins. Santa came but it was really my grandpa.

Dec. 26: Do you know what a quad is? It’s like a 4 wheeler made for all seasons. We hooked sleds up to the quad and we went around in circles. Anson’s sled hit a giant clump of snow and his foot almost broke my NECK when he fell down onto my sled.

Dec. 28: we went to the biggest mall in WORLD. There were lollipops the SIZE OF MY HEAD. There was a giant robot dragon that breathed real FIRE. There was an electronic whoopee cushion. There were under water fish tanks. You had to take a submarine to see them.

Dc. 29: Do you know what a GT. Racer is? It’s a sled. A sled that has a steering wheel. It steers so good I went over about ten jumps. The hill was huge. It was dark out but the moon was bright enough.

Dec. 31: We went to the mall's waterpark . A. hated the slides. I hit my SHIN real bad on NESSIES REVENGE. OW ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ! I went on 3 out of the 4 scary slides. The slides were sky screamer, howler, nessie’s revenge and tropical thunder. My favorite slide was Blue Bullet.
THE END

Rock, Paper, Scissors...

2009-10-26T13:53:00.003-04:00

So any of you who are nerds like us and watch Big Bang Theory will recognize this flowchart:

We had a very, very long drive last week (6 hours each way) and the boys were arguing about which movie to watch on the dvd player. W was, of course, trying to manipulate things so he would win when A suggested rock, paper, scissors. The only problem was, A won. This did not sit will with W's nine year old egocentric sensibilities. Eric laughed and said, "you need to play rock paper scissors lizard Spock." W has never seen that and has no idea who Spock is so he invented the following:

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, WORM, LEAF

I don't have time to diagram a cute little flowchart but here are the basic rules:

Worm wraps around Scissors
Rock crushes Worm
Leaf covers Rock
Worm eats Leaf
Scissors cut Leaf
Worm eats Paper
Paper beats Leaf since paper is made from trees

I don't think he knew why we were laughing so hard from the front seat. In the end, A watched his dvd and W played on the iPod. The secret to happy travellers: each needs their own entertainment center.

"A Carrot Tale" by Guest Blogger W

2009-10-19T20:28:00.003-04:00

I am so pleased to welcome my very first guest blogger, my soon to be nine year old (at midnight!) W. His first blog is a response to a homework assignment: Pick a fruit or vegetable. Describe how it goes from the farm to the market.

Hello my name is carrot. I grew in the dirt on a farm. Then I was picked by a farmer. I was washed and scrubbed and put into a bag. Then I was shipped to the market by a big truck. Then I was bought and dipped in ranch dressing. OH NO!

We'll be back with any teacher's comments in the future. Thanks for your blog today, W! And Happy Birthday tomorrow!

Why I Nearly Failed High School Math...

2009-09-22T10:56:00.004-04:00

So while shopping at Home Depot one day I came across this little booklet near the Behr paint: Disney Princess Dream Room. Of course, M's little eyeballs spotted it and immediately the campaign for a PINK room began. I delayed by telling her to wait until Grandma came, and then she would help me paint the PINK room. Grandma came, saw the picture, thought I was crazy, but agreed to help me anyway. It all sounded so simple:

Instructions:

Make a mark every 16 inches across the ceiling, walls and floor. No problem, right? Easy.
Now connect the marks to create a grid. This, as it turns out, was much, much, much harder than it sounds.

Problems even Einstein couldn't solve (I bet):

In order to make straight lines, you really need a straight edge. We did not have one. Our tape measure kept curling up so our lines were way off. (NOTE: a piece of edging, while straightish, is not a good substitute for a real straight edge)
It's really kind of hard to connect dots all the way across a wall, especially when some of those dots disappear into the corner. (and the piece of edging you're using is neither straight nor long enough)
Did you know that pencil does not wash off walls? I went through approximately 17 little tiny erasers trying to get the marks off so we could draw new, equally incorrect marks.
After a while we realized that for some unknown reason, connecting 16 inch marks created a 12 inch square. Not all of our squares were 12 inches. So we found a 12 inch square template and tried drawing squares on the wall. That worked for one row. Two hours later, we gave up.

Frustrated, I said to my mom, "You know, I bet this is really easy to do if you just have the right tool." Without missing a beat she says, "What we need is a plumb line, you know, with chalk." I grit my teeth. " I have one of those in the garage."

I even had extra chalk.

5 minutes later the lines were connected.

And guess what? Chalk comes off the wall really easily! No erasers required!
GRRR!

This is the (almost) finished product. Surprisingly easy, with the right tools.

And don't even get me started on the castle stencil...

P.S. My husband explained the math to me. For those of you who want to know it has something to do with "a squared + b squared = c squared divided by 2" or some such nonesense. Email him if you really want to know.

A Few Funny Comments

2009-08-16T19:11:00.003-04:00

It's summertime and we've just been doing summery things. Mostly watching it rain (this year, anyway). So I haven't posted any stories lately since all the summer posts from last year are still applicable. But there have been a few funny comments I wanted to get into writing. In no particular order:

A: "I was doing Yoda with mommy this morning." W: "Yoda's a person, not a thing." A: "Mommy, what was I doing with you? Yogurt?" Mom: "Yoga" A:"Ooooh, right, yoga, not Yoda!"
W got a letter in the mail from his third grade teacher. It said that "the first day of school is right around the corner." So W refused to go around any corners for two days because he was hoping to avoid the first day of school.
A: "I know why so many girls like me." Mom and Dad: "Really? Tell us, why do so many girls like you?" A: "Because I do my hair so handsome. Except some days I do it rock star style instead. All spiky."
I have to add this story: A Bee Story Part 2 - Eric found a hornet's nest buried underground at the bottom of the stairs for the playground slide. He got away with only 1 sting; I got 3. He attacked the nest a few hours later dressed in: a wetsuit topped with rain pants, rain coat, knee high rubber boots, gloves and M's dress up veil over his face. Also armed with 2 cans of Raid and a bug bomb. He dug out the nest and killed the remainder of the hornets. Or so we thought. A few days later A comes screaming into the house with a hornet attached to his ear. The poor kid's ear swelled up twice its normal size. I asked him how it happened and it turns out that W and A were playing at the playground and saw it buzzing around. W gave A this classic advice, "Hold still and it won't see you and you won't get stung." Uh, we had to correct him that actually holding still is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you want to do when you see something with a stinger flying at you. Run, run away fast!

New Pets

2009-07-12T05:32:00.003-04:00

Due to our chipmunk vacancy and all the resulting trauma from our Animal ER, I gave in and allowed the kids a trip to the pet store to choose a pet. The caveat: hypo-allergenic, inexpensive and kid-friendly. We started out looking at garter snakes. They're pretty cute, actually, especially the little ones. But it turns out they only eat these little feeder fish (read: trip to the store every week to buy fish plus the burden of keeping said fish alive) and they're "very fast" (read: impossible to catch once your child drops it). So that was out. Next we thought we'd try some tree frogs. Their little sticky feet and bulgy eyes are cute and they eat live crickets. However, they're coated in a special slime and cannot be handled; apparently if the slime wears off it leaves them susceptible to infection. So we moved on to hermit crabs. W really, really wanted one. M didn't care. A really, really wanted a frog. But we had to all agree on the pet choice and A was outnumbered. So we came home with three hermit crabs, a heating lamp, sand, a few extra shells and some crab food (comes in a jar, awesome. They even had little tiny "Crab Cookies" as a treat!). These are the almost perfect pet. The kids can take them out and exercise them, give them short little baths, and let them crawl around on their hands. There's no poop to clean up, no sneezing, no smell and I think we could take them on vacation. So, introducing the newest members of our family: Sebastian, Gary (pictured) and Merilina Seraphina. What's really kind of hilarious is how much these hermit crab personalities mirror the kids. Sebastian is W's pet and he's by far the most outgoing. He loves to explore and is always crawling around and climbing on the wood in the cage. Gary is actually very shy and will only come out when he's on A's hand but then is very affectionate. And Merilina Seraphina came home in a bright purple shell and promptly changed into a bigger, better shell, so she reflects our little clothes horse, M. So funny!

Animal ER

2009-06-29T18:25:00.004-04:00

Yep, we need an animal ER around here. It's been animal adventures the last few weeks. Unfortunately, not all the stories end happily. I'll start with the most dramatic, titled in W's journal as "Day of Death."

One day we found a cute little chipmunk in our house. He had been attracted by the sunflower seeds we scatter on the deck for the chickadees and finches. A very friendly, young chipmunk, easily tamed. We had him eating out of our hands in no time. And he would nonchalantly stroll into the house and run around the kitchen for a while with the kids chasing him until he got tired and ran out the door. Well, we also had some "pet" salamanders and some "pet" algae living in a tub out on the deck. One night it rained and rained and rained and rained and the water level in the tub went up and up. The next morning A came screaming into my room, tears streaming down his face: "Our chipmunk is dead!" Tragically, he had drowned in the salamander tub. It was really very sad and we all cried for a while. Then we held a chipmunk funeral. Here's a picture of his grave:

There is a family of robins who build a nest under our deck every year. Right now there are three nests, all on top of and beside each other since they feel the need to build a new one every spring, apparently. This year there were 5 baby robins in the nest and we watched them hatch and grow and eat chewed up worms. The day after the tragedy with the chipmunk W came screaming into my room, tears streaming down his face: "One of the baby robins fell out of the nest and is dead." Yep, it was true, although I think it was pushed out of the nest by the other 4 greedy little birds. W, still crying, observed that "it didn't even have a feather! Why do little things always have to die?" I had to agree: "Life is hard for little things." We buried it with the chipmunk.They now have a plan to pad the ground under the nest next year with foam to catch any other baby birds that happen to fall out.
A few nights ago, Eric walked into the house with a baby killdeer (bird).

Thankfully it wasn't dead or injured, just stupid. 4 of these little babies were running across the road and he stopped to pick one up and bring to safety (via our house). I don't know much about these birds except that they lay their eggs right on the ground, usually in a rocky area and if you approach the nest the mother bird will flap around like she has a broken wing and lead you away from her eggs while the father bird flies around and screeches at you. They are very fast runners as you probably could have guessed by looking at this baby's long skinny legs. So let's hope this one survives!

We've also had all manner of frogs, toads, grasshoppers, leeches, daddy long legs, etc. as "pets". M had a pretty pink grasshopper that she loved to death. And W is dead set on capturing a dragonfly and putting it on a leash made of dental floss. I do not know where he gets these ideas but I wish him luck!

Little, Little Bird

2009-06-25T07:44:00.002-04:00

This little hummingbird in Eric's hand is not (thankfully) dead. It is just stunned. I went out to the garage to take care of some recycling and heard this strange buzzing noise. Looking up I noticed these two things flying around and at first I thought they were bats since it was dusk. But bats flap more and looking closer I discovered they were actually hummingbirds. Eric was mowing the lawn so I waved him down and warned him to be quiet and come see this. We watched the two birds for a while and suddenly this one just dropped onto the cement. Of course we thought it was dead but nope, it's little heart was beating super fast and it was still breathing. See how it's holding its beak in its little claw? So cute. We went and got all the kids out of bed to come see the little hummingbird and in a few minutes it woke up, looked around (I ran for the camera again but...too late) and flew away. We see it once in a while, sipping nectar from our iris flowers. Now how many kids can say they have a pet hummingbird?

Stars and Stripes

2009-06-03T15:53:00.003-04:00

Hello, poor neglected blog! Here's a story for you:

Sunday, May 31 was the first annual "Hope of America" concert here in VT. When the directors were recruiting singers I asked W if he wanted to be in it. "Nope," was the firm reply so I didn't pursue it much. Then, the night before the concert, he realized that all of his friends and most of his cub scout den were singing in it and therefore he MUST be part of it. I whipped out the cd for him to listen to that night only he fell asleep after the third song. Well, I figured, he's just a little guy and no one will expect the little ones to do much singing anyway. Rehearsal started at 5 p.m. sharp and they were so adorable (I don't have pictures yet but will soon). All the kids had matching T-shirts and a few of them even knew the songs! The directors put in a lot of work and it was a very professional show with a slideshow during the song "Thank You, Military" which touched even the heart of an unpatriotic Canadian. There were many vets in attendance and they were each presented with a certificate of thanks. The only negative aspect of the concert was the weather. Yes, we all prayed that it wouldn't rain but no one thought to pray that it wouldn't snow! You would think, on May 31st, that the weather would be summery and beautiful. Wrong. It was so, so cold. We had frost overnight. The poor little kids, after being outside for 3 hours, were just little frozen popsicles. But on the way home in the van, heat blasting his face, W proclaimed himself "tired, happy, and proud." I asked why he felt that way. "Because, I got to be one of the 4 most important people there. I got to be the "O" (in the song V-O-T-E)" He was the best "O" I've ever seen, I must say. Possibly the only "O" I've ever seen, but still, his timing was impeccable. Those piano lessons must be paying off.

P.S. When the color guard presented the flag and we all stood for the national anthem (W with his left hand over his right chest since the poor kid is left handed and probably doesn't realize his heart is on the left). I was singing along with my hands in my pockets (remember: COLD!) when A turned to me and tugged on my arm. "Mommy," he whispered, "you have to put your hand on your heart." "Oh, sweetie," I replied, "I just can't do that. It feels too weird to me." "But mommy, everyone puts their hands on their hearts during the song!" Daddy intervened, "A, this isn't mommy's country and it's not really her flag so she doesn't have to put her hand on her heart." Now, just to emphasize, I'm happy to be living in this country and I support and thank the military for their service and have very good friends in the air force. I've learned the pledge of allegience, I sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and I have an American flag-type thing on my front door this time of year. But for some reason I just cannot put my hand over my heart when I see the flag (or whatever the protocol is). I don't know why, I just can't do it. Someone asked me , don't Canadians do that, too? And I think my mouth gaped open in horror. No! I exclaimed, and if we did that would make doing it here even worse! So, anyway, happy Memorial Day from a flag waving Canadian.

Our Easter Tradition

2009-04-17T08:49:00.003-04:00

I'm not a big fan of the Easter Bunny stuff. I think it's too confusing to kids when you try to mix a religious holiday with Wal-mart. Fortunately we live so far away from stores like Wal-mart that my kids haven't really seen the huge extravagant Easter baskets out there. We start our day with a breakfast of "Eggs in a Nest", which is whipped egg whites baked with the yolk in the middle.
They also got these really cute sugar cookies made by a lady here in Vermont. A had a hard time eating his baby chick's eye which reminded me that I always hated to eat the eye from my own chocolate Easter bunnies. He really wanted to keep the cookie as a pet, but soon learned that some pets are just too delicious to save.
This our annual tradition. I make baskets out of chocolate and then fill it with "Nature's Candy": strawberries, blackblerries, raspberries and blueberries. And a few chocolate eggs for fun. The kids love their chocolate baskets and fruit and I think it keeps them from bouncing off the walls too much...yeah, you're right, probably just wishful thinking on my part.

A Rite of Passage

2009-04-16T10:29:00.001-04:00

They grow up too fast.

Yesterday, W, after taking a shower in my bathroom, came downstairs with his hand over his chin. "Mom, I need a band-aid." Yep, the chin was bleeding from a little cut. "What happened? How did you cut your chin?" "I was trying to shave with Daddy's razor."

He's entering waters where mommies dare not tread....

Have a White Day

2009-04-15T12:31:00.002-04:00

W's school has implemented a new disciplinary system (good luck, I say). It goes like this. Each child starts the day with a "White" card. If they get one verbal warning for misbehavior they have to change the White card to Green. After Green comes Yellow with a 2 minute in-class time out. Then Red. Ooooh, Red is bad. With a Red card comes a note home written by the student explaining their "poor behavior choices" that must be read and signed and returned by a parent. And then, the very worst: Blue. Blue means "you blew it". It also means all the other warnings plus the worst punishment a second grader could have: you must stay in for recess and do extra homework!!! Dun Dun! So the teachers explained the concept to the kids and then they had a practice week. W proudly told me he "only made it to Blue twice". Umm, good for you? So on the real week we cheered him on and wrote notes in his lunch box: "Have a White Day today" and "You can get a White card today, I know it!" Day One: White Card=success! Day 2: Red Card=sad boy and sad mommy (I also made him write a note of apology to the teacher for his "disrepect" which is what came home in the note). So let's up the ante. Every day you get a White card, I will pay you $1. This works. Really well. Because now, at home, if he starts to misbehave, I threaten to take away the $1 he earned for his White card. And I'm noticing a lot less arguing about things. I think I like this card system! Of course, I had to add some really dire consequences for Red and Blue cards, like an extra page of writing homework (shudder!) and cleaning up for 1 hour (the horror!). So last week, after the Red card, he got White for the rest of the week and we were so proud of him. I asked him how he did it and this was the response: "You know mommy, it's actually pretty easy to get a white card. I just have to do what they tell me." Smack the forehead. Duh! He just figured that out, can you believe it? How has this kid gotten through 8 years in life and 3 years of school not knowing that you're supposed to do what adults tell you? I can tell I'm in for a fun time with this one.....

A Story: Kind of Gross, Mostly Hilarious

2009-04-01T13:48:00.006-04:00

Okay, in full honesty I have to say that Eric hates this story and will not be happy that I'm repeating it. However, it was such a memorable incident that the kids still remember it years later. And since I seem to be in this "write it for posterity" mode, I thought I'd post it. It's for history, right?

It all started at the Big Lake Half Marathon in New Hampshire.

May 7, 2005.

What is significant about that date, you ask? Well, let's see. In exactly 4 weeks my third baby would be born. Two weeks after that we'd be moving to a new state and starting a new job. What kind of crazy person at 8 months pregnant packs two kids up in the car at 6 a.m. (gotta get there in time for registration) to drive an hour to then "watch" the husband/father figure run a half marathon? Which, by the way, takes an hour and a half to run. It was cold. Really, really cold. And very windy. Also? Raining. I couldn't exactly take the kids outside and let them run around and play since I couldn't keep up with them at that point. So we decided to meet Eric at the finish line. He took off and honestly, I can't remember what I did for the next two hours except wait in the car which was getting very muggy and hot with humidity and 3 (and a half) people sitting inside it. Then comes the inevitable.

"Mommy," says W. "I have to go to the bathroom." A was only 17 months old at this point and still in diapers but W was another story, of course. I sighed. Do I even know where the bathroom is? Do I actually have the energy to unseatbelt these kids and drag them around in the freezing rain looking for a bathroom? No, I do not. I spied an empty water bottle on the floor of the car and handed it to W. "Can you just pee in this bottle?" "Sure, Mommy." And he did a great job. Of course, not wanting it to spill, I screwed the lid back on and LEFT IT IN THE CUP HOLDER of the car. Shortly after this the race was winding up so we headed out to the finish line, just in time to cheer Eric on as he won his division. Hooray for daddy! Now can we get back in the car and go home because we're tired and freezing? He was a very good sport and agreed that we could leave right away, but not without first waiting for the official results to be posted so he could collect his prize: a bottle of maple syrup with "Winner, etc." etched on it. Very nice. Still looks delicious. Does maple syrup get better as it ages? Anyway, we piled into the car and the first thing I said was, "Oh, see that water bottle, there? Don't drink it," and explained W's predicament. Unfortunately, my husband has the WORST memory ever and a few minutes later, while I was enjoying the scenery out the window, he unscrewed the lid of the bottle and took a big swig. C'mon! He'd just run a half-marathon and was very, very thirsty. You see a water bottle sitting in a cup holder...what else are you going to do? I cannot imagine the disgustingness. Of course he spit it all out immediately and stopped the car right then and there to pour out the contents and throw away the bottle. He was so mad! And I can't blame him for that. But W and I could not stop laughing and to this day when we're taking a road trip, every time Eric opens a bottle of water W will say, "Hey, Daddy, do you remember that time..." Yes," snaps Eric, "don't talk about it." It is definitely not one of his favorite stories. But it still makes me laugh.

And also, I wonder: Why did I ever leave it in the cup holder to begin with?

For Posterity

2009-03-13T11:11:00.002-04:00

This one just has to go down in the history books. W had an assignment at school: Create a dinosaur. Draw a picture of it, describe it, and write a short story about it. Here it is, word for word (Although I tried to scan the picture and it didn't turn out. You'll have to use your imagination)

"My dinosaur's name is Calvenasurus. PS Calven for short"
"It lives in Sharon"
"It likes to eat schools"

"Calvenasurus is part dinosaur and part robot. He has wings and robot claws. One day Calven ate my school. the end. by W"

It must be every 8 year old boy's dream to have his school eaten by a part-robot dinosaur.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T07:34:00.002-05:00

I don't know exactly when Valentine's day became a children's holiday, but I think once you have kids that's all it's about. And I can't believe how much work it is! Even if you do those commercial paper Disney character valentines, you still have to write all 30 names of every kid and teacher in the class and then multiply that by the number of children you have. And then, of course, you have to make cupcakes for the class parties and then you have to deal with your kids bouncing off the walls after eating the cupcakes and lollipops from said party. Anyway, the reason for this post was something pretty funny that I found in W's Valentine mailbox after it was all over and we were looking through his valentines. Keep in mind that this boy started a "Get Rid Of Slimy girlS" (otherwise known as G.R.O.S.S.) club at school, a la Calvin and Hobbes, his heroes. When asked which girls are slimy, he responded, "Oh, you know, the ones who like Hannah Montana and Fairies." Well, sure enough, in his valentine's box there was a Hannah Monatana valentine. But I noticed something strange about Hannah's face. W had drawn glasses and a beard and mustache on her. It was such a classic boy thing to do, I had to laugh. I mean, do people really still draw eyeglasses and mustaches? I guess so...

Big Dollies

2009-02-17T07:25:00.005-05:00

Recently I volunteered to help with a school fund raiser and ended up in charge of the lunch. We are having a chili cook-off and I thought it would be great if the prizes were aprons. So last week I wrote out a nice letter and dropped it off at this lovely store, http://www.vermontapron.com The owner, a very nice lady, and I chatted for a bit and she agreed to donate an apron to my cause (she actually ended up giving us three which was sooo kind!). I had little M with me and she was thrilled to see all the pretty, flowery, lacy items all around the store. But I didn't notice her eyes getting really big at the sight of the life-size mannequin sitting on the store checkout table. She tugged on my arm and whispered, "Mommy, are those girls dead?" Poor thing! We explained they weren't dead, just plastic, "like big dollies." Ok, she was fine with that idea. The store owner said it happens all the time. Once, she was changing the clothing on the mannequins in the display window and she took one of the arms off only to hear a little boy screaming outside on the sidewalk.

I Would Be A Dragon...

2009-02-04T18:15:00.002-05:00

This is just one of those silly little games you play in the car while driving (which we do here A LOT). But it made me laugh really hard so I thought I'd post it as a memory for later.

Mom (trying to get kids to stop screaming at and kicking each other from across the van): Kids! KIDS! If you could be any kind of animal, what kind would you be?

W: A bird. So I could fly around and be cute and eat bugs. Actually, I'd be a hummingbird who sips nectar and I'd be really fast.

A: I'd be a baby bunny, so cute and soft and fuzzy and cozy.

W: Yeah, but then you'd get eaten by a fox.

A: No I wouldn't! Foxes don't eat bunnies, do they mommy?

Mom: Sorry, honey, actually foxes do eat bunnies. (A starts to get tears in his eyes) But, but! Wait! Baby bunnies are also really fast and good at hiding. Okay?

W: Yeah, and rabbits have sharp teeth so you could chew the fox's leg off.

Mom: Ooookay, what about M? What kind of animal would she be?

M (looking at W for approval): I'd be a bird, too.

W: Yeah, we could be birds together. M, would you be a pink bird?

M: Yes. A pink bird with sparkly feathers. (of course)

W: Actually, I'd be an Ever Bird, half woodpecker and half hummingbird and all the colors of the rainbow.

A: What about you, Mommy? What kind of animal would you be?

Mom (having never actually thought of this before): Hmm, that's a good question, A. I'm not really sure. Maybe a bird? Something that could fly...

W: You could be a cicada, they fly. Or a grasshopper.

Mom: No, no bugs. But I'd want to live somewhere warm, like Hawaii....

A: Mommy, you need to be a mommy fox so you could protect all the little baby bunnies and birdies.

Mom: That's true, I would need to protect you. I know! I'd be a dragon. That way I could fly, I could sleep all I want, I could protect you with my claws and fire breathing and I'd be warm all the time.

W: Yeah, and you'd have lots of treasure so you can buy us anything we want.

Mom: Um, hmm. Wait, we're forgetting Daddy. What kind of animal would he be?

W: A bear.

A: Yeah, a big fat bear with a big belly!

W: Who toots all the time!

All: Hysterical giggling

So Unfair!

2009-01-28T09:04:00.002-05:00

Today there is a Winter Storm Warning (this is how they say it on the news, capitalized and boldface) that stretches from the tip of Maine to the Ohio River Valley. Ice storms and feet of snow await. Over 500 schools in the Boston area are closed today. Every school in Windsor County is closed today except...ours! W was fit to be tied as I bundled him out the door for the bus. In fact, as we were waiting at the bus stop, a nice lady even stopped her car to inform me that "school is closed." "Yes," I replied, "only, not ours." This made W even madder. Waving at his sad/mad little face in the window I did kind of feel bad for him. But when I walked in the house I did a little dance of joy because I don't have to go anywhere today. So you know what that means: Snow Day! We'll have some fun at home and let the bus do the driving. And all this snow means great snowmobiling on Saturday. So bring on the Winter Storm, we'll do our best to enjoy it!

A Little Late But...

2009-01-21T19:03:00.003-05:00

Yoda Soda, Tie Fighters and Find the Jedi game

Dark Side Cupcakes with Vader and Rebel Cupcakes with Lego Luke

Cool masks: R2, Grievous, Obi Wan and Padme

Making Padawan Pizza

Jedi Lightsaber Training

I know it's a little late but these are some pictures from A's birthday party in November. Poor middle child, always neglected, right?

The New Word Around Here--"Bling Bling"

2009-01-20T06:41:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I know I haven't been posting much these last three weeks. Want to know why? This is why:Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to visit this Christmas, staying three weeks, organizing my kitchen, spoiling my kids, fixing the basement and teaching us how to Pimp Rabbids. Bling Bling to you too.

If Only...

2008-12-29T13:41:00.005-05:00

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?

2008-12-19T12:58:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-19T12:41:00.002-05:00

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?

2008-12-19T12:27:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-12-11T06:35:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-12-08T15:30:00.006-05:00

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

2008-12-08T12:19:00.004-05:00

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...

2008-11-20T10:33:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-10T10:05:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-06T07:44:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-28T09:56:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-10-20T09:03:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-13T06:34:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-11T08:34:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-10-09T14:49:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-05T10:01:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-04T18:40:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-04T18:33:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-30T13:16:00.002-04:00

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:

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.
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?
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!
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

2008-09-28T07:32:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-14T08:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-10T10:29:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-08T10:41:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

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?

2008-08-14T21:02:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-16T17:09:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-07-13T00:17:00.005-04:00

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?

2008-06-24T08:23:00.002-04:00

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

2008-06-18T15:34:00.003-04:00

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:

hatchet (made from a rock and a stick)
handles for a knight's shield
several parts of a cardboard box rocket ship
joints holding together a cardboard box princess castle
tool belt
police officer handcuffs
knight helmet and armor repairs
wart remover
trampoline net fix
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

2008-06-16T14:22:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-06-16T13:59:00.006-04:00

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

2008-06-12T08:52:00.002-04:00

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

2008-06-06T07:49:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-05-28T09:25:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-27T13:05:00.003-04:00

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.

Leaf Peeping

2007-10-10T09:26:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again, when the "sky is high and the horses are fat" as they say in Korea. The fall foliage this year has just been spectacular and while I don't have the best pictures, here are a few scenic views close to our house. Just trying to make you jealous!

Kid's-eye View

2007-10-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

W took these pictures one day and I just think it's fun to see his view of the world.

Spiders

2007-10-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

Just a few spidery things to get you in the Halloween mood....Some dewy spiderwebs in the morning fog and a spidery M, in her costume and loving it.

Beach Baby

2007-09-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

This picture was just too cute, I had to put it up. And you can follow this link to a little movie about the Beach Baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?

Surf and Sand

2007-09-03T20:27:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went camping for the first time since W was a baby. Our new tent was so great with the two rooms and the boys really enjoyed racing around at night with their flashlights pretending to be motorcycles. We even made a new friend: a walking stick, the coolest bug I've ever seen.The next day we went to Salisbury Beach, the beach we always visited when we lived in MA. It was so great to be back and we lucked out and got the perfect 90 degree beach day. We loved it. It's going to be an annual trip from now on!

School is Prison

2007-08-30T09:31:00.000-04:00

So W started first grade yesterday, and it was quite an ordeal! This is a kid who asks if the school has burned down every time we hear a fire truck siren. Or, if it hasn't burned, he wants to know if we can move away where there are no schools. W is convinced that first grade will be way to hard since he searched through the whole classroom and didn't see one toy! So, obviously, there's no playtime in first grade. And there are a lot of pencils so that means only one thing: the dreaded writing. W would rather do dishes than write letters. So, to help alleviate his anxiety about first grade, we found an extra brain for him to take to school. This way, if the problems are too hard, he can just pull out his extra brain and solve them no problem! The extra brain is very sticky and squishy and was a big hit with the rest of his class. I kind of feel sorry for his teachers...

....aaaaaaaaaawkward

2007-08-23T15:55:00.000-04:00

You know how "Kids Say the Darnedest Things"? Well, here's a sample from this last week:

So, where do babies come from? from W
How do they get in your belly? from W
When M turns 3 will she get a pee-pee too? from A
Mommy, I like this big fat part (pokes me in belly). Do you have a baby in there? from A
Dress! from M
This dress? from me
NO! DRESS! from M
Oh, this dress? from me
NO! NO! NO! (emphasized with kicking me in the leg) DRESS! from M
How about these pretty shoes? from me
Shoes! Pretty! from M

The Diva

2007-08-22T08:51:00.000-04:00

I recently read in a parenting magazine this valuable insight into the life and minds of toddlers. "Think of her as a diva. You may not dress the diva; you may only offer clothing suggestions." This is so very, very true. Consider this outfit and this is after one hour of suggestions and much crying (from both of us!)

Blue Man Group, Lookout!

2007-08-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

In case you were wondering what happens when you run over a piece of blue sidewalk chalk in the garage.

Summer is for Berries

2007-08-07T14:32:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we engaged in that timeless summer tradition: blueberry picking. Amazingly, more berries ended up in the buckets than in/on the kids. So far we've made blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, frozen many blueberries, and eaten lots. Mmmm, blueberries....

Water Babies

2007-07-31T08:02:00.000-04:00

One advantage to living on a river is that on hot days, you can hit the water. Yesterday we drove 2 miles down to a little sandy beach on the river to drop off our cousin, her friend, and their two kayaks. The water babies took off running for the beach. M has no fear of the water and with or without a lifejacket she will wade in up to her shoulders. She loves to float on her back and kick herself around and will do it all by herself (although we stay close because she can get a tinsy bit overconfident). A, who was so scared of the water earlier this year, is now a good little swimmer, putting his face in the water and kicking around with a pool noodle. He was even jumping off rocks into the water. And W, now that he's had some "real" swimming lessons, can swim underwater quite well and so he got to go on the rope swing. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Tattoo Philosphy

2007-07-28T10:08:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, W wanted to know why we can't have tattoos. I reminded him that President Hinckley has asked us not to have tattoos on our body. "But what's wrong with Thomas the Tank Engine?" W wanted to know. I realized that he didn't actually know what a tattoo is, so I explained the difference between real tattoos and temporary ones and that the temporary ones are ok because they wash off. W considered this for a second and then came out with this: "So the people at the Great and 'Bominable Church have real tattoos?" I took a deep breath (so as not to laugh) and said, yes, they might. "But we still have to love everyone, no matter what church they go to," I explained. W decided that he could do that.

Our Pet from the Pond

2007-07-28T09:55:00.000-04:00

So Thursday we took W to his swimming lessons at the Strafford Pond. It's really hard for W to concentrate on the actual swimming portion since there are so many other things to be distracted by, like salamanders and fish and water bugs and dragon flies and... it goes on. He started wandering along the edge of the pond, past the safety rope. I watched him go for a while and then called him back and explained it wasn't safe go go past the rope. Of course, the inevitable question, "Why not." "Because there might be leeches," I replied, having no idea whether there really were leeches or not. I forgot all about the leech comment until on the drive home, W claims there's something stuck to his foot and it won't come off no matter how hard he pulls. "It's a leech!" he screeches. Once we get home I check out the matter only to discover that, sure enough, it's a little tiny leech stuck between his big toe and second toe. W starts crying, "This is what I get for going past the rope? A leech stuck to me!" I was able to pull it off and show him it didn't really hurt and it was, after all, only a baby leech. So now we have a pet leech named Sucker. Of course we're only raising him until he's big enough to go to the hospital with Daddy. Why will he go to the hospital with Daddy, you ask? "Because when people get their fingers cut off, the hospital uses leeches to help suck blood back into it." And how does W know this? "Popular Mechanics for Kids. You should watch it, mom. You might learn something."