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!

digging a hole

A few weeks ago Will decided to get to work on digging a whole for the trampoline.  We have a weird slope in our yard and putting the trampoline in part of the slope is a great way to utilize the weird space.  Will has been working hard on research first and now is getting to work.  He is so smart and works so hard.  He was excited to do some manual labor for his work outs and get a perfect retaining wall made.  He recruited Wyatt and the other kids to help here and there...mostly it was Will and Wyatt.  So...here are some progress pictures: 

Fun fact, along with the progress of the hole and wall you can watch the progress of Will's hair.  He just got it cut the day he started on the project...and it is just about time for another hair cut.  

We set the trampoline into the hole to test out the size when Will was done digging.  It was a perfect fit!

Photo credits: Colter 

Hole dug, time for wall building.  These guys are such hard workers!

The biggest wall is up!  They need to build walls on the side and one more big wall down the hill a bit but this first wall was a big deal and a big job.  They are awesome!  

Getting the flu sounds nice...

Dear Mom,

Was the end of the school year as crazy for you when I was in school as it is for me now?  Did you have a million kid activities to attend and a million major school projects to herd the kids through?  Did you wake up in a cold sweat four nights a week certain you had forgotten to attend some kid's special end of the year stuff?  How did you survive?  I remember having a spring concert in elementary school but not open houses.  I also remember keeping my school load to myself.  Am I too wrapped up in my kids crap--not letting them figure it out on their own?  Or is modern parenting just different from when I was a kid?  I don't know.  Maybe we can talk about it in person soon.

Last week I was listening to the radio and a news report came on that a major out break of the flu was terrorizing some of the northern California counties.  Whole school districts were shutting down due to lack of attendance from students and sick teachers.  The reporter then proceeded to describe the symptoms of the flu.  Followed by the recommendation, if you had flu symptoms to quarantine yourself and get plenty of rest.  I seriously thought, well that sounds nice.  I wonder how I can get the flu?  I'd rather say locked up in my room barfing my guts out than keep up with all of my kid's end of the school year crap.  That's what my life has become, Mom.  Thinking that getting the flu would be a welcome relief from life.  I need a vacation.  Can it be summer now?

There is never any food in the house for lunches.  I don't have the time for major grocery shopping.  I just get milk and cereal when we are out.  I think Adell packed a couple of scoops of cottage cheese and an old juice box for lunch yesterday.  Mom, I never realized what a blessing it was that our family qualified for free lunch every day.  We never had to figure out what to pack in the morning.  It would have been dried rose hips and homemade granola every day anyway.  Hot lunch is over $5 here...we are too middle class to afford that!  So, the kids pack whatever they can find in the morning.  Sigh.  

Mom, I know this May has been even busier than ever.  I think the end of the school year surprised all of us, students, parents and teachers.  It seems like every day has been an open house, concert or major project due.  I am just about ready to raise the white flag.  

Here is a run down of the last two weeks.  I love you Mom.  Thanks for reading.

Love,
Cassie

Lorien's Orchestra concert was first up.  I signed up to bring cookies...like I needed another thing to do.  Lorien's band teacher was taken to the ER the afternoon before the concert.  I think she hurt her back during marching band practice.  I also think she was looking for a break...  Students filled in for her as conductor and the concert went off without a hitch. 

Next up came Clare's Activity Days Talent Show.  It also fell on the same night as the Father-Son camp out...so we had fun getting the boys off to camp and getting over to the church for Clare's show.  Clare did a dance number to "It's a Hard Knock Life" thus the orphany looking clothes in the first picture.

Then the much anticipated elementary school open house night.  Clare needed to be Amelia Earhart for a living wax museum project.  On Tuesday afternoon she told me she needed her costume the very next day...So I stayed up until midnight sewing a bomber jacket and aviator cap.  Woof.  It was exhausting.  Then, the next day after school when I asked her how it went...she said..."Funny story...I didn't need the costume until tomorrow..."  Very funny.  

I realized there were only two years when I had three kids in elementary school (Clare's Kindergarten, Wyatt's second grade and Lorien's fourth grade and the following school year).  Those were hard years...three classrooms and three kid's proud projects to see.  Not easy.  The girl's class rooms and projects were great.  Will and I had to do a bit of tag team as I had a finance class to attend the same night.  Glutton for punishment.

On to the next week of crazy activities...First up, Adell's Patriotic Sing concert at school.  I also had a Relief Society Presidency meeting at almost the same time.  Luckily, Adell's class was first!  She saw me, I saw her.  She sang, I took videos and pictures.  Amazing.  On my way out of the concert, I got a call from Clare.  She had left her binder at home with part of a major group project in it that was due that day...could I please bring her binder to school?  Sure.  What's one more thing to run around for?

Clare had her very last elementary school band concert.  It was also the same day Will and I took Lorien in to San Francisco to see Hamilton but that deserves it's own post.

On a totally related note, elementary school band teachers should qualify for Sainthood without any discussion.  Have you ever heard an elementary school band play?  If you have, you should agree with me.  Band teachers are amazing people.  We have a particularly awesome band teacher in Mrs. Knight.  She taught Lorien for the few months she took clarinet.  Wyatt when he played saxophone and Clare with the flute.  I know how much all of my kids practiced (zero times) and Mrs. Knight was able to encourage sounds out of all of them...music even.  Thank heavens for elementary band teachers.

And finally, Colter's last day of preschool.  Popsicles, diplomas and scrap books were handed out.  Colter was just pumped that he wouldn't have to leave home anymore.  Please bless him to like Kindergarten in the fall!