Summer time...or just June

After falling down several times Colter declared our house too dangerous because he was always getting injured!  This was our solution:

After more than six months of asking every day, I finally let the girls have a lemonade stand.  A million thanks to our kind neighbors and friends who stopped to buy a glass.  The girls were over the moon and made about $20.

Will and Wyatt properly finished the trampoline carve out.  They just needed to build the bottom and side retaining walls and drop the trampoline in.  SUCCESS!

We did our annual double whammy in celebrating Father's Day and Will's birthday.  I may have under did things this year...the kids didn't even know it was Father's day until the talks started at church.  I didn't do much better with Will's birthday.  Next year...42 is a better age to celebrate anyway...right?

We had a crazy heat spell to start off June.  It was over 100 degrees for the better part of a week.  Colter escaped to our gigantic bath tub.  Wyatt and Clare got to escape with friends to Water World.  Bless these amazing mommas for taking them!

Did you know there is such thing as cotton candy grapes?  One morning I was surfing facebook and there was a post from Miss Jenny, Lorien and Wyatt's Kindergarten teacher.  She said cotton candy grapes were at Costco.  I had never heard of such a thing.  Later I was at Costco and remembered Jenny's post.  I figured I'd try to find the grapes.  I found them and cracked open a case to try them...as soon as I chomped down I exclaimed out loud "OH MY GOSH! THESE TASTE LIKE COTTON CANDY!"  I couldn't believe it.  I promptly put two cases in my cart and headed to check out.  At home the kids were equally amazed.  I think they ate both cases in a matter of hours.  You win Costco...

Lorien headed off to Girls Camp the second week of summer.  She had a great time. This year the level five girls participated in several adventures: horse back riding, a wicked high ropes course, kayaking and hiking.  We were so happy to have her home safe and sound at the end of the week.  She was so happy to go out to dinner and fill us in on everything.

Clare has been missing her favorite Stanford sweatshirt for months.  It wasn't at school, friend's houses, church or dance.  I figured it was long gone...but miracles happen and she found it the very last week of dance!  It is a small thing that feels like a big thing.

Middle School Swim

Clare is a lucky girl.  She has a large friend group with a variety of types of kids.  She has church friends, school friends, dance friends, specific class friends and lots of kids over lap in those groups.  Today, a church friend organized an "incoming sixth graders" pool party.  It was mostly her church friends, boys and girls.  The mom who organized the event has four sons and was looking forward to putting together a fun and funny photo shoot.  Naturally, the boys were not interested in participating but the girls were happy to oblige.  Out came the floppy hats, sun glasses, pink lipstick and magazines.  The girls took turns posing as glamorous movie stars.  It was adorable.  

Most of the time was spent swimming and playing yard games.  I am so glad Clare has a good group of friends.  I am so glad she mixes with a variety of kids.  She has had some ups and downs with friends but because she is friendly with all she has never felt alone or left out.  

Clare will be my third kid to start middle school in the fall.  My kids are growing up and there isn't really anything I can do about it.  I am thankful to have had two positive experiences with middle school for Lorien and Wyatt.  It makes me much less nervous about Clare.  It will be a good year!  

Girl row left to right: Clara Hagen, Clare Anderson, Gwen Newport, Emi Porter, Sammie Lou Edgren and Sydney Smith.
Boy row left to right: Cole Mckenna, Austin Shelton, Gavin Chromy, Ethan Shelton (not a 6th grader) I don't know the next kid, Drew Thompson and Davin Rees

Can you see all the red lipped sass happening with this group of pre-fashionistas?

Good Bye Vacation Land...

My flight left Wednesday morning at 5:30 am.  So, I booked a hotel for Tuesday night so I could be closer to the airport and make it over in time.   This meant I had to leave my Mom's house a day early.  But I needed an Italian sandwich, a whoopie pie and to sit by the sea one more time.  It was so heavenly!  I miss this kind of Maine so much!  I miss woodsy Maine too.  I bought a book for the kids called "The Wicked Big Toddlah".  It is full of funny Maine stuff that all makes me homesick.  I love it.

Anyway, we sat by the beach and ate our Italian Sandwiches and whoopie pies.  I soaked in the smell of the air and the feel of the sand.  It was lovely.

Then we went into the Old Port for ice cream and souvenirs...and silliness.

It was a great way to end the trip.  I could have used a few more days with my Mom.  I wanted to ask her some more family history questions (I got a few in) and soak up the rural Maine setting.  But I love the Maine coast and Portland.  I just want to listen to oldies music and eat familiar food at the beach.  It heals my soul and feels like home too.

This is a water bug.  They are all over the place in Maine.  You stand on one, hit your friend and say "water bug" I don't know why...it is a Maine thing...or just a My Family thing?

The kids and Will were still alive after a week of no Mom.  I needed the trip home and was so grateful they all pulled their weight to keep the house running so I could go.  Next time they can all come too.

I love creepy old things...in the day time...

Maine is full of old houses.  Most of them are inhabited by crazy people who love to live in historic places.  Some are abandoned...and when ever I drive by an old house I wonder who lives there and what is on the inside.  

Luckily for me, my Mom has a friend who owns an old empty house near her home in Wilsons Mills.  So on Monday we headed up there to explore (with the owners permission of course).  My Mom checks in on the house every once in a while.  The owner lives down in Massachusetts and can't get up as often as she needs to check up on the place.  The house was owned by her Maiden Aunts who lived in Philadelphia and summered in Maine.  When the Aunts passed away they left their summer cottage in the exact condition it had been in their living and vacationing years.  The house passed to their younger brother who was the current owner's father.  He moved up to the summer house a few years ago and just lived in it in its old/original condition.  He carefully moved his diseased sister's stuff to closets and lived in a couple of rooms with what was left.  He was sick and passed away in the house, after his daughter came up to care for him in his dying months.  And now the current owner, Caroline, is trying to weed through a lifetime of summer vacation home things and get the house sold.  She has pulled out what she wants and the rest will be sold at a yard sale or estate sale.  

We stopped at camp to check in on the place before going up to the old house.  I haven't been up to camp in ages!  I probably wont go up again.  The property was sold and just a few of my mother's siblings went in on buying the camp.  It wasn't practical for any of my Mom's kids to go in on it.  We all live too far away.  Anyway, we can visit...some day...maybe?

Now this creepy, amazing, old house!

It is like a deteriorating time capsule.  There is this large room over the garage called the "drying room" where clothes lines are strung from wall to wall so you can hang laundry to dry when it is raining.  There are old Adirondack chairs matching the green shutters that would be placed on the porch in summer.  There were flower arranging vases, frogs and floral wire, one of the aunts must have had an eye for flowers.  It was awesome.  We found old news papers and letters dating back to the 50's and 60"s.

The interior rooms were in bad shape, it was awesome.  I wouldn't have gone inside for a million dollars if it was dark, but in the light of day...and with my Mother...it was so cool.  The history and decor, the architecture, wallpaper, dishes and furniture...it was wonderful.  

Don't you wish you could buy it and fix it up?  It would be such a lovely summer cottage!  Heck, I'd raise my kids there year round if I didn't have to shovel snow or swat blood sucking flies away.

At home with Mom

Immediately after the wedding I drove up to the Wilsons Mills house with my Mom.  Oh, we had a post wedding dinner with every one...and then drove over to Wilsons Mills.  I relied on my Mother's directions and we almost ended up in Canada.  No joke.  Luckily we caught the error and turned around.  

I got to see my Mom's house again and see her collection growing...

I got to see all of my kid's art work and pictures up around her home...

I got to visit and soak up my Mother and youngest brother, Oliver.

I got to see her gigantic dog, Babe...

I got to see her chickens...inside the house and out...

I got some extra time with my sisters...I miss them all so much!

I got to meet Travis, Camie's new husband.  Truth be told, I knew Travis from our high school years.  He and Camie had been best friends.  They lost touch over the years and reconnected a little bit ago.  They decided they loved each other all along and should just get married.  They have been living happily ever after since March.  He is absolutely fantastic.

It was blood sucking fly season in Maine.  The weather was perfect!  Not to hot and muggy with a nice breeze every day.  BUT the black flies, mosquitoes, noseeums and ticks were out in droves.  Ticks weren't really a problem as we didn't venture into the woods.  But if you stepped out side for a second you'd be swallowed up by all of the flying, blood sucking bugs out there.  Maine, the way life should be?  I did get to go on an early morning walk with my Mom before the heat and bugs were out.

I also got loaded up with lilacs, rhubarb and Hawthorne branches to bring home to show my kids.

A word about Oliver:

Growing up I was his biggest champion.  He was born when I was eight and I was in love from the moment I saw him.  I helped with his care and entertained him endlessly.  I know all of the words to most Disney movies because of Oliver.  It is a skill I frequently use to entertain myself.

When I moved away for College it broke my heart to leave Oliver behind.  I still saw him and got loves from him in the form of him putting his hand on my forehead and bringing his forehead to touch his hand too.

But getting married and moving away has made my time with Oliver nonexistent.  How could he remember me when I'm never around?

Anyway, I rented a fancy car for my trip to Maine.  Really, I rented a regular car but when I got to the rental counter they only had 2 cars...a Ford Mustang and a Mercedes SUV...I picked the SUV.  It was the fanciest car I've ever, ever, ever been in!  After the wedding we picked Oliver up at his day nurse's house.  Oliver hooted and giggled the whole way home.  He loved that car!  The next morning he tried to get my mom to take him out for a drive in the car again.  We finally figured out why he loved the car so much.  It had a rear view back up camera and navigation screen in the front dash console.  Oliver had a special picture he had torn out of a magazine of a car with that kind of screen.  He loved it!

But the bigger deal came the first night I was home with Mom and Oliver.  Mom had gotten Oliver all ready for bed.  He had been casually avoiding me all evening.  He doesn't like change or disorder and new people living in his home are both change and disorder.  Anyway, Mom said good night and Oliver put his hand up to do his forehead-love-trick.  Mom got her love, then he put his hand up in my direction.  I brought my forehead down to his hand, he held his head there for a second and then turned and kissed my cheek.  I told him good night and I love you, walked out and burst into tears.  I am crying typing all this too.  It made my heart so happy to know he does remember me...even if it has been years!  He sure is a special guy in our family and it makes my heart pitter patter to know I might be special to him too.

 

Wedding roundup

So much work, so much wonderfulness.  

The wedding was a hit!  Josh and Tori wanted to basically elope.  They decided instead to have a very small private ceremony in the back yard of Josh's childhood home.  We primped and prepped at the hotel and then drove up to the wedding location.  A few of us able bodied, hardworking, creative girls headed up early to get the decorations set up.  The weather had been threatening rain all week.  Did I mention it was to be an out door wedding?

I love my sisters!  Where is Lesley?

The rain started in little drips right as the decorations were finished (I stabbed about 50 flags into fabulously prepared holes in the yard...thank heavens for ant hills).  The rain wasn't too hard and the guest list was small so we all gathered under a little awning to witness the event.

Josh and Tori were married in a beautiful ceremony under an owl and red umbrella.  It was so darling to hear their vows and watch their personalities happily bounce off of each other.  It was sweet and emotional.

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Tori and Josh Burnell!

A Surprise for my Niece...

Victoria's getting married!  Victoria's getting married!  

This darling woman has found the man of her dreams and is getting hitched this weekend!  I am so happy for her and her groom to be, Josh.  Somehow I managed to work out a week long escape to Maine so I could be there for the festivities!  Truth be told, I haven't been home in a very long time and was way over due for a visit.  I also could not whip up a better excuse than seeing Victoria and Josh tie the knot.  

We made "Bride Tribe" tshirts and headed to IHOP for a pre-wedding work breakfast.

Unbeknownst to Tori, her two gal cousins had made the trip out for the wedding too.  We made bonus tshirts for them and had Tori open them at breakfast.  She was so surprised!

Then commenced an afternoon and evening of partying and wedding work!  We went to the beach for a few pictures, danced to some music and headed up to Augusta for the "Practical Magic" bachelorette party.  We watched the movie and did as much wedding work as we could (bouquets to be made, dresses to be ironed, decor to be planned and finished) it was a whirlwind.

I was just so happy to be back in my home state, with my home coast, and my home people.

First Friends...

When I was a little girl, I remember hearing my mother talk about a family that had just moved into our area and who would be going to church at the same place as our family.  I remember hearing they had four kids and were moving from Germany!  I thought it sounded so exotic!  Who would move from Germany to Maine?  Did this family have any little girls my age?  Did they speak English?  I was probably 5 or 6 years old and these were the thoughts that occupied my mind.  

I don't remember my first meeting with this family but the did have a little girl my age and we became good friends.  We were in the same grade at school and just a couple months apart in age.  We went to the same primary class and although we went to different elementary schools, we were in the same high school.  I remember sleepover parties at her house, playing hide and seek in the dark and laughing all the time.  

I also remember when her parents got a divorce.  I remember my heart break for her and her siblings.  I remember when, just a few years later, my parents got a divorce too.  I remember going to my friend for comfort and solace.  

I remember talking about boys and kissing.

I remember being on the cheer squad together, co-captains our senior year.

She was one of my best friends!  Well, we've grown up, married and cultivated our lives.  We've never lived as close to each other as we did as kids but we've always been friends (thanks Facebook).  

Over the weekend, this dear friend and her family came out to California for a visit.  They made time in their fun to come to Danville and see us.  It was beyond wonderful to catch up and reconnect in person.  We laughed plenty, talked about boys and kissing (even if those boys were our baby boys) and talked about how life was going.

It was fantastic to see Lorraine and her family.  Next time we will have to make our way up to Oregon to see her home and life there. 

Thanks for the visit Geoff, Lorraine and Gabe!

Dancing Clare

Clare LOVES to dance!  She is a fantastic dancer.  This year she only took one dance class instead of two.  It was better for her schedule (time for homework on Mondays) but she missed being in two dances at the show.  She is planning on taking two dance classes again next year.  She also decided to try out for Team.  She wants to dance as much as possible.  Unfortunately, she did not make team but she did her best and knows what she needs to do to make Team next time.

Her show was great.  Her dance studio is wonderful and I love that she goes there...even if it is a long haul to get up there.  We are lucky to have a great carpool.  

A sweet memory about Clare and Andrew I want to remember.  After Clare got the news that she did not make the dance team she told her best friend/cousin.  "Andrew, I didn't make Team."  Andrew's response was immediate and sincere "What?  But you're the best dancer!"  (it melted my heart).  Clare explained the reason she didn't make team was because there were too many kids on team and there wasn't space for her.  Andrew offered sincere comfort of "Well, you'll definitely make it next year!"  It was so sweet to see him so supportive of her.  Cute kids.

The School Year Ends

It's the last day of school!  It feels too early to be out of school.  It is nice to be out so early...but I know I am not going to be happy when the kids have to go back to school in August.  I just want school to start after Labor Day.  For no reason other than that is what I am used to...so...I don't have a really good argument.

Anyway, I managed to snap a picture of Adell and Clare on their last day.  Lorien and Wyatt left before I realized I wanted a picture of them.  Colter had his last day a week or so ago...and I didn't remember to take a picture then either.  

Clare graduated from Elementary School!  She is the first of our children to have attended the same school from Kindergarten through fifth grade.  Greenbrook has been a great school for our family.  Clare has loved being in the "oldest" group of kids at school.  She is excited for middle school but bummed to go back to being in the "youngest" group of kids.  

I wish I got a better picture of Clare and her teacher...but this is it.  Mr. Richie was a great fifth grade teacher for Clare.  He was funny and made learning subjects Clare is not passionate about (math) enjoyable for her.  She really lucked out every year she was at Greenbrook.  She had fantastic teachers and classmates!

Way back when Clare was in first grade, her teacher was Mrs. Kunle.  Clare loved having Mrs. Kunle for a first grade teacher.  She was kind and supportive.  Adell lucked out and got to have Mrs. Kunle as a first grade teacher this year too!

Adell got double lucky really.  Adell had two teachers as a team, Mrs. A and Mrs. K!  Adell was in heaven all year with this dynamic duo.  We know Mrs. A (Aplanap) from church and of course knew Mrs. K from Clare's year.  Mrs. A and Mrs. K took great care of Adell for her first grade year.  Adell loved school and loved her teachers.  Adell also got to be in class with a few of her dearest friends, Maggie R, Maggie H, Julia and Violet.

Lorien finished her last finals and Wyatt ended his seventh grade year in Middle School.  We've finished another year.  We are all happy for summer vacation.  Sophomore year was stressful for Lorien.  She has been thoughtful about her classes for next year to help reduce her stress.  Wyatt's year was a good one too.  He worked hard and is looking forward to being in the "oldest" group of kids next year.  Now bring on SUMMER!