Our Summer (thus far), in pictures

Here is a glimpse at what we've been doing, since I last posted pictures...

This first picture was taken to show off how BIG Will's ear got after he was stung by a bee. The poor kid -- it was huge and swollen and bright red.
The kids and I tried to go to the beach on the 20th. The horizon started looking quite yucky as we neared the shoreline. I told the kids they could play in the sand, but they weren't going in the water till after the storm passed.

We went back to the car in the parking lot as soon as I started hearing thunder. The storm was moving QUICK. Here is a picture of the clouds. It was amazing how quickly the front was moving in!

I became more than nervous when the wind picked up -- I wasn't going to take any chances that a tornado might appear! So we headed out of the park. By then the rain was torrential! Here is a picture of my windshield....the wipers were going on high and still couldn't keep up!

Nora's Second Birthday dawned a beautiful day! The kids and I took Mr. Mark to the orchard to feed the ducks.

While feeding the ducks, we spotted another kind of bird....

A CRANE!!

Later on that evening, Nora got to open her presents. She LOVES her Cinderella doll!

Then, after another quick moving rain storm, I brought the kids outside. I haven't been puddle jumping in so long! The kids' excitement over splashing all over the driveway was so worth it!!

After getting all wet from jumping in the puddles, we came inside to sing Happy Birthday to Nora. (She was DRENCHED and wanted her dress off as soon as we came back inside, hence the nekkid birthday pictures!)

Before we knew it, we were on Friday the 23rd. Grace's 10th Birthday! She had three of her best buds over for pizza, movies, and a sleepover. The other three kids all spent the night at Aunt Rachel's house. It was pretty strange for Gordon and I to sit upstairs in the livingroom, listening to Grace and her galpals gabbing away in the basement. If I didn't know better, I'd have guessed they were teens already!

Gordon has been on vacation since last Friday. It's a 'working vacation' in as much as we're working on some projects around the house. First we finally completed Phase 1 of the downstairs bathroom.

And then I finally painted Will's bedroom and pulled it all together to look cohesive. No longer does Will get stuck with a jumbled mish-mash!

And now we're getting ready to head to Vermont for the weekend! I'm sure there will be a LOT more pics to share with y'all. Be on the lookout!

Are you still there?

Hello, faithful blog readers. I'm so sorry that I've been neglecting you! I swear, it has not been an intentional neglect.

Since my last blog post, I have discovered that I am NOT, in fact, able to hand in a resignation. I must soldier on. I have to cowboy up and deal.

Lucky for me, Gordon has been off from work on vacation since last Thursday night. We haven't gone anywhere spectacular. We've stayed home thus far.

Boring, I know. But there's good reason! We've been working on projects around this Crazy House. We now have completed Phase 1 of the downstairs bathroom renovations. William now has more than a mish-mash themed bedroom. (It has been painted and has themed wall-art and REAL window treatments!!) Most of the brush that has graced our front yard has been chipped and removed from the premises.

While there are still more projects that we plan on tackling, we ARE going to be vacationing for a bit too. We are going to head to Vermont early Friday morning, for a weekend stay in a cottage at the campground my uncles both stay at seasonally. All of my sisters and most of my nieces and nephews will be in VT for the weekend too. We're planning a Celebration of Life, in honor of Dad. Today would have been his 70th birthday.

And now I must get going.....I'm on my laptop, sitting at the picnic table in our backyard. I think I just might join the girls in an energetic match of soccer! Or maybe I'll just grab a beer and sit here and watch them play while listening to Billy Joel on the CD player...

resignation letter

Do you think it's possible I could hand in a letter of resignation and still be taken seriously?

These two pre-tweens are driving me insane! One is yelling and bossing. All.the.time. The other bursts into tears at the drop of a dime.

Lord, if you're listening, I think Your faith in me is too strong. I don't know if I can handle this!!

Slacker Blogger

I know, I know. No new posts from me in a while. I'm well aware. Every day I tell myself that I'm going to post an update, complete with pictures, but the time to sit in front of my desktop just doesn't arrive.

Will you forgive me?

How about if I point out that I have at least gotten so far as to upload a lot of pics from my camera? Now I just need to look through them all. And figure out which ones are blog-worthy.

Here's a quick update:
Yesterday our baby girl turned TWO years old! We celebrated by ordering pizza and grinders from the local pizza shop. We followed the takeout dinner with a robust version of Happy Birthday, Nora. Then we ate some yummy birthday cake.

Monday the kids and I attempted to go to the beach. The Weather Gods had other ideas. A nasty, very severe thunderstorm struck less than a half hour after we arrived at the shoreline. I had hoped to 'weather' the storm (yes, pun intended...), as I've camped at the beach many many many times in my life and have 'weathered' thunderstorms before, but the storm struck so hard and swift that it scared the bejeezus outta me. So we surrendered and headed north, hoping to get far away from the storm front.

Last Saturday we had our annual BBQ. It was an absolute success, ifidosaysomyself. LOTS of great friends and family visited. The weather was picture-perfect right up until the very end, when a short thunderstorm rolled through. Perfect timing.

And now I must get back to referree-ing the childrens. Because the family is becoming a crazy, chaotic mess. And the childrens have no respect for eachother. The screaming and shrieking and fighting are insanity-inducing. Anybody have a straight-jacket they can lend me??

So many happenings!

We're getting to the point of the summer where we're going to be busy. REAL busy.

This Saturday we will be hosting our annual BBQ/picnic. We'll have burgers, dogs, salads, and lots of fun. It's great to get to see so many of our friends and family that we don't get to see on a regular basis.

Next Wednesday, Nora will be turning two. Can you believe she's already looking at another birthday?? Where has the time gone?

Anyway, poor Nora is getting the short of the stick in the birthday department. Gordon and I both agree that at this age, big birthday parties are more for the parents than the child. Seeing as we'll be seeing our friends and family at our BBQ, we decided to have only a small celebration for Nora. We'll have cake and ice cream after dinner to celebrate. We invited Nora's godparents, but they won't be able to make it. They're on vacation from work that week and are going to be out of state for the day. So it'll be just the immediate family singing Happy Birthday to Nora. I'm sure she'll enjoy the cake and ice cream regardless.

Then, two days later, Grace will be turning TEN. Yes. A full decade has gone by since we first welcomed our sweet girl to the world. On the one hand it seems like such a long time ago, on the other, she's literally growing right before our very eyes. I almost can't handle it!

Grace has asked if she can have a sleepover birthday party. We sent out invitations to three of her best buds. While Grace would like to plan every single second of the evening/night/morning, I'm trying my best to encourage her to just go with the flow. I suggested she and her girlfriends can play a couple of games, but that they may want to just 'veg out' and hang.

Finally, the last weekend of July, we will be heading north to Vermont once again. Dad's 70th birthday would have been July 28th. Mom would like to celebrate Dad by having everyone together that last weekend of the month. We have booked a cottage at the campground. Rita and her clan also booked a cottage. Pauline, Rachel, and Becky (and their respective families) will also be in VT, though they'll only be visiting the campground during the daytime hours.

AND THEN it'll be August already!?!? I can't believe the summer is already halfway through. I feel like I'm being jipped here -- I feel like we haven't done a lot of significant things. Good thing it's the little things that matter most when it comes to making memories, right?

Summer Dance Fest

Every summer our town throws a big picnic-style party on the green. Townsfolk come down the green early in the day to stake out their spot. Some grill, some bring picnic dinners, some purchase the grilled chicken meal that a local organization sells.

There is usually a clown that does balloon animals, a face-painter, a magician, two bounce houses, and nonstop music from a whole host of bands and a DJ. Basically a plethora of activities for kids of all ages. The best part of it all is that the evening is capped off by an annual fireworks display.

This year's Dance Fest was to be held last Saturday. It got postponed to Sunday afternoon, however, because of the threat of impending thunderstorms Saturday afternoon. A good call by the people in charge, in my opinion, because we'd have gotten drenched Saturday and Sunday's weather was picture-perfect.

My highlight of this year's Dance Fest was that I saw a dog that looked like she was Lexi's twin sister. I couldn't stop myself from going over to talk to the owner. I was super curious about her dog and explained how very similar she looked to my own dog. After talking with "Maggie's" owner, I'm almost certain that there's a very real possibility Lexi and Maggie may be sisters!

Now I'm just wishing I had thought to take a picture of Maggie to share with everyone. It was almost crazy how much she looked like our Lexi. I still can't get over it!

Bee Sting

Poor William got stung on the ear yesterday afternoon.

I bet y'all are asking the same exact question I did. 'HOW did he get stung on the ear??'

I mean, it's not like he was walking on the grass with his ear. Or sitting on the grass with his ear. What on earth would make the bee sting him on his ear?

Gordon was all apologetic. It was his fault. Apparently he'd disturbed a nest located in the frame for my clothesline. The bees attacked Will, who happened to be nearby, instead of Gordon.

My poor baby boy's ear swelled up to at least three times its normal size. It turned bright red. It looked fake and unreal.

Luckily a dose of benadryl and a couple of hours helped everything get back to normal.

Finished my second 5k!!

Last night I ran my second ever 5k. Even without the best training schedule (because I procrastinate entirely too much!), I am proud to say that I did rather well. I finished more than four minutes faster than I did my first 5k!

Melissa and Gail, friends of mine from Weight Watchers, and my friend Kelly (we used to go to church together) all ran the race too. Melissa is already looking into the next race that we should enter. She mentioned one in the middle of August. I'm waiting on more details for it, before I can know for sure whether or not I can register. But as long as I'm free of other commitments, I'm IN!

It's over...

The following is a picture I posted in early spring 2009. It was a part of my abandoned Project 365. I took the picture because I wanted to document that it was the first day warm enough to begin hanging the cloth diapers on the line.

There's just something about seeing a full clothesline. I love the simplicity of it. I almost feel myself connecting to the women of my heritage, doing exactly what they did to get their clothes dry.

But we will not see cloth diapers drying on the line again. Eleanor does not wear them anymore.

NO, she's not yet potty trained. But we're working on it. Slowly. Eleanor is definitely showing interest in learning to use her 'potty power' and being a big girl who wears pretty panties. We're trying to encourage her without adding undue pressure. The promised prize of M&Ms seems to be helping our cause.

While in Vermont, I had been using disposable diapers on Eleanor. Most of the times we've gone to VT, I have used 'sposies. It's easier to relax if I'm not washing load after load of diapers every day.

Plus, it's a LOT less to have to pack if we're using disposables instead of the cloth dipes.

Before returning home, Gordon and I talked about the use of disposables vs. cloth diapers. We have both been very happy with our choice to use cloth. But I'm tired of washing diapers every day. And Gordon pointed out that we've gone through a LOT of oil from all of those loads washing. (Our hot water heater is heated by oil)

So we've agreed that we're done. Two years was a good run, but we're done. I'm very hopeful that we'll have Nora potty trained by the end of summer. Even if we're not, though, it'll be ok.

Disclaimer for the 5k

For those of you who do not live in New England, I have a news bulletin for you. Well, maybe more of a forecast. How 'bout we call it a forecast-bulletin, k?

New England is experiencing a HEAT WAVE.

It's stinkin' hot around here. Seriously. Everyone gets stinky within minutes of stepping foot outside, no matter how much deodorant they use. I, for one, am using oodles. I hate to have that stinky-pits smell.

This forecast-bulletin is to serve as my backup plan. You see, I SHOULD not, CAN not, WILL not even consider running a 5k in heat like this. My un-conditioned body simply won't take it.

So, for now, I'm praying to the weather gods that they show me some mercy. I pray that a huge thunderstorm rolls through New England and takes this nasty heat and humidity with it. Before Friday. Please?

Is it really too much to expect the weather to act accordingly to my wishes?

I'm not above begging.

Another 5k

This Friday I'm planning on running my second ever 5k. Once again, I use the term 'running' loosely. I still can't run a 5k straight -- even if my life depends on it.

One would think that I would have used these last few weeks to work on getting better at running longer distances. One would be wrong. Dead wrong.

That's not to say that I haven't done anything in all this time -- I HAVE gone out to run since that first 5k. I just haven't done it with enough regularity, in my opinion. I haven't made running the priority I should. Too often, I have allowed myself to fall on the easiest excuse over why I couldn't/shouldn't go for a run at any given time.

But I've made the commitment to do this 5k, so I'll be doing it. I just hope I don't embarass myself by running an even slower time than I did a month ago. I also hope that this will be a lesson to myself that I need to stick with this running gig.....I won't ever get better at running a 5k if I don't run regularly on my own time.

Pictures galore!

The following are all pictures taken while we were in Vermont....they give just a tiny glimpse at our week away. Sharing more pictures won't help convey the calming relaxation I experience there, it would just fill up my storage space here on blogger. You'll forgive me for going the easy route, right?

Will honed right in on Anthony's Hess truck collection. Luckily Anthony was a really good sport and let Will play with a couple of the them.

No story behind this pic of Grace, except that my girl is growing up right before my very eyes....
Nora slipped off the couch while sleeping....and continued to sleep leaning up against the couch just like this! Fresh mountain air will do that to ya.

The highlight of staying at Nana's VT house? Getting to use her jacuzzi tub!

I just wanted to throw this one in....there's something about this shot that speaks to me....it's probably simply because I'm their Momma.

The kids and I extended our stay through the holiday weekend. Gordon drove up on Friday to join us. I shot this pic shortly after he'd arrived. Do you think they were happy to see him or what?!?

Nora was all tuckered out come nap time...

Even Will ended up taking a snooze....

THIS is what I look forward to the most....well, next to spending quality time with my family....

I mentioned I wanted to take a drive up Mt. Philo after dinner, to try to get some shots of Lake Champlain. Uncle Bert kindly offered to let Gordon and I take his Miata. Mom offered to watch the kids. So Gordon and I went for a drive. It was a LOT of fun!

This is one of the many gorgeous shots I took while on that drive...

'Uncle Cracker', aka Uncle Rick, always has goodies on hand to share with the kids. You know, treats like oreos, crackers, and all sorts of junk food. (Being that he drives truck for Kraft, he's a bit of an expert in all things snack related) After getting Nora all sugared up on oreos (her newest favorite cookie) at the campground on Saturday, Rick taught Nora how to 'scrub her mug'. That's my cousin, Obe, helping.

Dianna roasting a marshmallow while Maggie, Rick, and Bert sit around the campfire. The perfect end to a great day at camp.

We returned to camp on Sunday, only to have Rick drag us off on a boat ride. He let all three of the big kids drive the boat. William took his task very seriously.

Dianna getting some sun while we motor on down the river...

Grace loving on Dixie...

Eleanor and Gordon

There's even a picture of me, thanks to the fine photography skills of Dianna!

Rick took us to a nice sandy shore on Lake Champlain. The kids had a blast exploring the shoreline.

We came home Sunday evening. Everyone was sad to have to leave. I think it's safe to say that we're all looking forward to getting back up there again. Good thing we've already planned our next trip up will be at the end of the month!

We're Back!?!

We returned home late last night. Our impromptu getaway got extended by a couple of extra days. Gordon drove up to join us for the weekend.

I'm swamped in dirty laundry and STUFF from the trip. I'll be back in another day or so with pictures and stories to share. Be on the lookout!