Our Last Day in East Waterboro, Maine!

Today was a big, brave day for Benjamin! I didn't even get a picture of it because they waited until I went up to the house but Benjamin DOVE head first off the platform. Grandpa was out on the dock teaching him to dive and he asked if he could try the platform. Well being the overprotective Momma that I am, I immediately told him that it was much too dangerous. Well.... let's just say half way up the lawn I looked and there is Benjamin diving head first off the platform with Daddy and Grandpa cheering him on. So much for me protecting my little boy!!! Let's just say dive one was a face/belly flop but he didn't let that get him down and he tried it again! I cannot believe how much braver he has become since last summer when we were here.
I am so sad that we are leaving here tomorrow. It has truly been a relaxing, enjoyable time. All fun and not work!! Next stop will be Portland for two nights with Pete's sister and then on Saturday we pick my parents up at the airport and we will head to our hometown of Bridgton to visit our enormous family. We have rented a three bedroom cabin on Woods Pond. It should be a wonderful time catching up with family and friends. I am sure I will get lots of pictures but there will be no opportunity to update my blog - not sure if internet service is even available in my hometown :-) he he!!!

Pure Exhaustion!

We are going on day four of our stay in East Waterboro and I think this picture says it all. The kids have hit pure exhaustion today! Today's activities began after a yummy French Toast breakfast (Pete's dad makes the best French toast!)! The kids swam and swam and swam some more! I have never been so relaxed in my life! We came up from the waterfront early this afternoon and the kids just played and looked for bugs and critters around the yard. Dinner tonight -- LOBSTER! We just can't get enough of it :-)! Lucky for us, William learned some lessons on the stock market this afternoon from his Daddy and Grandpa. He was so silly pounding on his calculator keys while watching the graphs on the monitor saying "I'm gonna get us some money!" We're going to need it William if we keep eating like this!!

One Spunky Grandpa!!

Pete's dad is such a spunky Grandpa! He is so entertaining and the kids just love being around him! Not many Grandpas would be diving off the high platform or trying to flip his son and grandson off the tube with a cannon bomb!!

Homemade Mint Jelly

One of the special things about going to Grandma Peggy's house for Sophia is the common interest that they share when it comes to nature - looking for bugs, picking her garden, cooking what they find (not the bugs :-)). Peggy adores children and really makes her grandchildren, or any child for that matter, feel so special when they are visiting. She is truly a child at heart herself. The other night Sophia and Grandma Peggy picked mint and made some jars of mint jelly. Sophia had a wonderful time and loved being treated like a big girl!

Maine - The Way Life Should Be!!

We have arrived in our home state of Maine! Long ride in the car but worth every hour of it! The festivities started as soon as our feet hit the ground - four hours of swimming in the beautiful cool crisp Maine waters and then a 'grand finale' scrumptious Maine Lobster feed!!! The kids are having a blast!!

All Pupa'ed Out!!

We are all pupa'ed out after spending the afternoon with Miss Spider. David Kirk has been a favorite in our house since Sophia was a baby. I have Miss Spider's Tea Party Counting book memorized I have read it so many times :-)! Today our local library hosted a special day for the kids with Miss Spider there to meet the children. We heard stories, sang songs, saw a puppet show and made a fun little spider craft. Some of our "Sunny Patch" friends joined us up there for the fun! Even the moms had a photo opportunity with Miss Spider!!
(for those who may not know, All Pupa'ed Out is one of David Kirk's books :-))

He Delivered!!

Some of you may have seen the pictures of the unbelievable scrapbooking armoire that Pete built me this year around Mother's Day. I designed it on paper and let him know what I was wanted to incorporate into it. The goal was to lessen my scrapbooking space which was at the time 1/2 of the room over the garage. I wanted to redesign that space for Sophia's dreamy bedroom :-) Unfortunately, there was no way that the guest room bed and all my "stuff" would fit into her old room. So the plans unfolded! At first he wasn't thrilled about the idea of all of this moving around but when I challenged him to build the cabinet he was ONBOARD!
This venture led to him listing it on eBay to see what kind of interest there would be for local pickup. Well..... he just delivered an armoire to Newport News this weekend. The lady that ordered it wanted a different design which included a pull out workspace. Needless to say, the lady was thrilled when Pete delivered her armoire this weekend! I am so thankful that the project is done and I think for now, Pete is going to put his little side business on hold :-)

Photos of my Scrapbooking Armoire!











Photo of the inside of the ordered Scrapbooking Armoire!

Sophia's First Birthday Sleepover

Tonight we packed Sophia up and sent her off to her first Birthday Sleepover - Camp Rock at her friend Haley's house. The boys helped her with her bags and we drove her just down the street. She has slept over at a couple of friend's houses before but this is her first official "Birthday Slumber Party." She was so excited and thought of EVERYTHING for her bag. I have missed her the whole evening!
The boys ended up having their own sleepover in William's room. I went in to check on them and they both have their shirts off and they are sound asleep. Lately they will just rip their shirts off and get into wrestling mode. I don't know where they get it from but something about showing their chests pleases them!! It has been a great evening of brotherly bonding :-).
It is 12:40 in the morning -- only 9 hours and 20 minutes until I can go get my girl :-)

My Own Little ZOO!

William is like a little ball of energy. He is always entertaining everyone around him whether it is in a funny way or a naughty way. Those of you who know William know exactly what I am talking about!! :) (slide mouse over cube at top to see what I am talking about :-)) This past weekend we went to the zoo and I came home with very few pictures of the animals. I thought about it after - my children are MUCH MORE ENTERTAINING than any animal at the zoo (hehehe). Why go to the zoo when I live in a zoo?????

Bedtime

Nothing is more precious than following my three little ones up the stairs in the evening. I don't know if I feel that way because I am ready for a little "mommy time" or just because they usually look so cute heading up there. Usually it is a big game of chase. Pete uses that tactic to alleviate some of the whining because they have to go to bed. He has figured out that if he says "who's going to beat me!!??" it makes it all laughs instead of whining. When mommy takes them up they are usually trying to protect their bottom ends from getting my crab pinchers - usually that will turn all whining into giggles! Tonight was unique. We were home late from church so it was more like a slow procession up the stairs with some priceless conversation :-)
We had to show William on the wall how we could all make shadows and even toys could make shadows.
William: "I don't want to sleep alone. I scared of all the shadows in my room."
Benjamin: "Oh William.... don't be scared, God is with you in your room."
William: "No He's not Benjamin, He's not in my room."
Benjamin: "Oh yes He is William. You can't see Him cause God is camouflaged but He's there!"
Oh... from the mouth of babes! Benjamin has the most tender little heart, always trying to comfort William from his fears. Sometimes he can be so impatient with William and he certainly has his moments where he is outright mean but for the most part I see such a precious sweet spirit. I told him earlier today that I thought for sure God was smiling down at him. He is going to make some lady a fine husband. He is so caring and gentle and is always looking out for others. I love you Benjamin James! You make your momma proud!!

Backyard Adventures!

Today was one of those lazy days. I hung out in the back yard with the kids. Sophia has this little garden back there that her Grandma and Grandpa from Maine planted for her. She has been anxiously awaiting some sign of "something to eat". Well today she was thrilled to find the most delicious little watermelon growing. Look real hard in the picture and you will see it :-) It fits right in the palm of her hand. It is amazing to me how excited she gets over nature. She loves plants, bushes, anything flowery or green. I think that, for her, it might mean a new critter to spot. We have every bug catching device, net or cage you could imagine. The simple things that thrill them!!

Speaking of critters, we had company today - we have a duck that WILL NOT leave us alone. Every time we are in the backyard he/she comes walking up to greet us. Granted we have been known to give him a slice of bread, or two, or three..... Today the kids kept trying to chase him back to the water and within 5 minutes he would be right back for more.

Today was a big day for William. He finally was determined to drive Benjamin's John Deere tractor by himself. He is usually completely content to be chauffered around everywhere, pointing his little finger to where he wants to go. Not today... He hopped right into the driver's seat and ended up wearing the battery out! Today his little finger just pointed to wear he wanted Benjamin to sit. He kept driving by me and saying "Mommy, I not driving in your gardens!". As if I could ever be upset if he did!! He brings such joy right when I need it most!!!

I don't feel a bit guilty that my house is a mess and my laundry is stacked high! It was a pleasure watching my children play and explore all afternoon. If only I had Merry Maid catching up on the inside :-)!

Busch Gardens July 2008

Yesterday we decided to ignore the forecast for rain and headed off to Busch Gardens! Absolute perfect weather and an absolutely extraordinary day with my family! No lines and no crowds to speak of. Only complaint for the day - Sophia missed the 15 foot snake petting! She is asking this morning if we can PLEASE go back today :-) That's my GIRL for you! At the bottom of this page is a slide show of pictures of the perfect day!!

Something familiar about the picture....

After church today William settled into the recliner to watch some "racecar driving" and before we knew it he was sound asleep. I took a picture of him to capture that sweet innocence. After uploading the photo I realized that it reminded me of a photo I took of him a long time ago - about 3 1/2 years ago. He still sleeps with his arms up over his head and he has that same precious little look on his face - expression of pure peace! Time flies. He is not my "baby" anymore :-(

Fourth of July with NO fireworks!!

That's right.... NO FIREWORKS! Sad to admit this was the first year that we took our children to see "city" fireworks. We drove over to the Naval Hospital and met the Dalton's and the Melton's - prime view of the city's fireworks and then........ the thunder rolled in. Unbelievable! We still had great fun visiting and, as usual, the kids had a great time playing with their friends. I thought about cliparting some fireworks in but no luck with that :-) Maybe next year!

What??
No fireworks??

My Little Swimmer

Never underestimate your child's abilities! I learned that on Tuesday at the pool. Sophia started taking the swim test last year so that she could cruise down the big slide. This past Tuesday she asked if I would take her over to swim the test so we all four walked over to the "big" pool. Benjamin kept begging, "can I please take the test mom?" "Please just let me try?" Well, in swimming lessons they really don't have that much time swimming laps or at least not when they are not being pushed to do it. I knew he always passed the little '25 feet with no floatation devices' but had never seen him doing laps :-). I repeatedly told him "not this time Benjamin, I don't think you're ready for 25 meters yet." Well, I realized that he was just going to have to see that for himself. The lifeguard agreed to let him try. Well, let me just tell you...... he swam from one end of the pool to the other just as fast as he could move face in and out of the water, never slowed up or even thought of grabbing for the side. He wouldn't have been able to touch the bottom even if he tried. Proved me wrong!!! Passed the swim test with flying colors and spent the next hour going up and down the big slide! He was so proud of himself. Everywhere we went that day he told them that he passed the swim test at the YMCA :-)


In the background you can see the lap lanes and appreciate just how far 25 meters is :-)