10.30.2008

A little bit of Christmas...

As many of you know, I would start the Christmas season right now if it were socially acceptable. Twenty-four hour Christmas music on the radio? Check. Shopping with the hordes of people? Check. Tree up and decorated in November? Check. I’ll take any and all of the Christmas spirit I can get, which is why a run-in with a very special person yesterday jump-started the season for me.Nora and I had a little grocery shopping to do so we headed off to the local market. Nora was a little tired and probably could have used a nap, but I just needed to grab a few things and decided to chance it. As we walked through the double doors and grabbed a cart, I could sense a mounting tantrum. She wanted to walk and knew I was about to stuff her into the seat. As I tried to navigate her legs through the bars and she started to stiffen and arch her body and scream a voice behind us said,
“Hello little one.”
Nora immediately fell silent as she stared at the man standing behind me. He reached around me to grab a couple apples (this all makes sense now) and said,
“You’re being good for your mom, right?”As he walked away he turned and winked at me and as he did so I noticed that he looked exactly like Santa Claus! Short, white clipped beard, round spectacles, rosy cheeks, all the signs were there! Nora stared after him as he walked away, and was, surprisingly, perfectly well behaved for the rest of the trip. Looks like she’s not getting any coal this year!

10.28.2008

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience."
-Ralph Waldo EmersonWhat a wonderful visit we had in Vermont! It was so nice to hang out with our friends again, especially little Gavin. He is so sweet and so big with the most amazing blue eyes. I hope they stay! Nora and I had a great time, and were able to do some lovely relaxing. I know we were on vacation, but Vermont just has a laid-back feel to it. You're out on a hill in the middle of the woods with no tv, no internet, and you're forced to slow down. I really enjoy that every now and then.We spent the first few days hanging out at the house, going on a walk now and then or into town to the co-op. There was lots of picture-taking, baby-bouncing, and delicious-food cooking. Whenever Meg and I get together something delicious almost always results! (Except for the unfortunate chocolate-tequila incident, but hey, we were young!)
Of course, we couldn't resist trying to pose the two, but that didn't work out so well. I won't post the other twelve pictures from that series...
Megan and Chris also keep chickens. One morning, Nora and I stepped out on the porch and suddenly, as if we had yelled, "Free food!" or "Come peck our ankles!" the chickens flocked towards us, wings flapping, feathers flying. Rather than reacting in any sane manner, by, say, screaming and running back in the house, Nora smiled in delight, jumped off the porch and proceeded to chase the chickens.
These are laying chickens, by the way, not that they'll ever do that again after their encounter with Nora.
I had to post this picture, mostly to make Shane jealous. We woke up to a (very) mini blizzard one morning, and Nora excitedly yelled, "Water! Water!" while pointing outside. My goodness, what a genius I have to know it was water in a different form falling outside! (That's what she meant, right?)
I really shouldn't be posting this picture. It's mean, I know, but who wouldn't want to see a picture of Meg doing the 'keep the watching children occupied' dance? Plus, she doesn't have internet. Hehe.
Oh, this is a lovely one, too. More fun with the wedding veil. Chris wasn't too impressed that we were torturing his child while he was away working so hard.
On our last day there we all (Chris included) took an afternoon road trip to New Hampshire to visit our friends Rachael and Ben. They have an adorable little house on a lake, with trails behind it that lead to a lovely little pond. We walked back there and enjoyed the amazing Fall weather that is quickly winding down to Winter. (The picture at the top of this post is from their pond, too.) Here Rachael gets a little contemplative. (Or maybe I just randomly snapped a picture of her walking to the dock. You'll never know.)
Finally, after a long day of driving, and visiting we headed back to their house for a delicious dinner and dessert prepared by Rachael. Thanks for having us, guys, and thanks to Meg, Chris and Gavin for a wonderful visit! (And the wonderful gift of a diaper sprayer. You guys are awesome!)

10.24.2008

Well, somehow we’ve finally managed to make it back home for a few days. It feels as though we have been on the go for weeks, and in fact we have been very busy. After spending last week visiting with my Mom, we left last weekend for a trip to Vermont to visit Megan, Chris and little Gavin (and their numerous farm animals.) Nora and I made the trip alone, managing to only stop once during the four and a half hours to get a snack and do a diaper change. The ride home yesterday was a different story- I must have been tired, because I made more than one wrong turn and we ended up spending six hours in the car. Poor Nora was screaming in the backseat for the last hour or so, but I couldn’t stop- Barkley had to be picked up at the kennel by five and we just made it. Thankfully we’re home this morning and I’m trying to get to the library to make a blog post- a big deal lately! If we had internet at the apartment it might be a different story. Oh well, here goes!
This will have to be a post in two installments- our time before heading to Vermont and the actual trip. Two weeks ago we celebrated Hayley’s birthday at my parent’s house. Nora tried on my apron I used as a kid while we were doing some baking and it almost fit her; it was just a little big.

Later, we headed up to their house and met the rest of the family there. We spent a bit of time playing outside in the lovely fall weather.



A few days after Shane headed off to a workshop at Schoodic Point. He was able to see an amazing sunset and get some great pictures.

And finally, the highlight of Nora’s week was when she received this awesome tricycle in the mail from her Grandma. She was instantly enthralled with it and has been ‘riding’ it ever since. Of course, her feet don’t actually touch the pedals, but she doesn’t seem to care. I wonder if she’ll notice if I hide it until Christmas?

Oh, and a quick note of congratulations to my aunt Debbie, who recently closed on her new house! Woohoo! We can’t wait to visit and check it out, Deb!

10.15.2008

So sorry everyone,

For being such an awful blogger! I have an excuse, I promise. Nora and I have been at my parent's house since last Friday. On Saturday morning my Mom took a fall off her horse when she spooked. (The horse, not Mom.) After having surgery Saturday evening to insert a plate and pin, she is now recovering from a broken femur! We've been visiting her while Shane spends a few days in Schoodic Point for a workshop. I'll update with new pictures when I get the camera back from Shane and do some editing. For now, here are a few straight out of camera shots (read: totally unedited) of Nora doing some light reading. I just love her!

10.07.2008

Oh, and...

I thought you all might want to check out this star studded video:
Are you going to vote?
(click on the words above)
It's fun, but has a great message. Bye!

Happy Birthday!

Today, my little sister, Hayley, turned 20! This is amazing to me, because it really seems as if she just graduated eighth grade. I cannot believe she is a sophomore in college, although it isn't that surprising as she always seemed more grown up than me. A few (okay, many) years back, we went on a hike . We ran into another group of hikers and after talking for a few minutes asked them who they thought was the older sister (by six years- not exactly a small margin!). Of course, they guessed Hayley. I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as I just got a haircut that's been quoted as 'cute, but you look like a twelve year-old.' (I'll let that person remain anonymous. ) Anyway, happy birthday, Hay! Yes, that shot is over a year old. I don't exactly have a plethora of pictures of Hayley.
Oh, and I have been a very bad sister-in-law of late. Ashleigh, Shane's sister, had a birthday the weekend we went to western Maine. She is now 26! Woohoo, and happy birthday, Ash!Isn't is annoying when you go to find a picture of someone and there's a boyfriend/girlfriend in the picture who has since been 'let go'? Well, this picture was taken last October and Nate is still around! Yay, go Nate. We think you're great. Is it fate? (I couldn't help it.)
I don't have a lot to say about this next picture. It really speaks volumes on it's own, don't you think?
Fall in Maine- our favorite.
The other night while driving back from my parent's house, Nora and I passed this. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this- I think my heart skipped a beat. Yes, it may only be October, but I'm one of those freaks who thinks the Christmas season should start, um, right about now. Of course, I felt slightly idiotic when my friend Emily told me these people keep this tree lit all year...
Last week the previously mentioned Emily and I (and Jonas and Nora) took a little road trip down to southern Maine to visit Megan, who was staying at her sister, Eliza's house. Here I am holding sweet little (fat) Gavin. Nora and I are taking another road trip next week, this time to Vermont, so be prepared to see a lot of Gavin in the future.
This is Harrison (Harry for short). The kid just doesn't stop, I tell you. I tried to snap a picture of him pushing along his little cart, and this is what I got:
And here are all the lovely ladies (and their children) during our visit. Can you believe we got this picture in only two shots?
From left, we have Megan holding her son Gavin, Emily holding her son Jonas, Ella, the big kid of the group (she's in kindergarten!), Nora and I, and Eliza holding her son Harry. It was definitely a fun time, and we'll be sure to visit again soon. Thanks for having us, Eliza!
These next pictures are of the last few days that Nora, Shane and I have spent together. Saturday we went to a local Waldorf school to check out their fall festival with Tara, Josh, Kalen and little Wylie. Nora had a wonderful time exploring the outdoor toys. The next day, Sunday, Shane and I walked her down to the city park to play on the playground. She loves swings, as you can see from her expressions. (Except for the picture she is crying in- apparently she doesn't like being hit in the chin by a swing? What a strange child.)





Have a wonderful week, everyone!