Dieting tip

Half a cookie on your face equals half the calories .....

A few questions....

1. Do you suppose he looked in the mirror before he headed to the beach and thought to himself, "Self, I look good!"?
2. Do you think he ever experiences self-doubt, self-consciousness or self-awareness?
3. What's your best guess as to what's playing on that ipod? I'm think something by Right Said Fred....I'm to sexy for this beach......
4. Notice, the ipod is tucked into the "bathing suit". Do you suppose he was concerned about ipod lines? Or chafing?
5. Why don't more men wear these?
6. If I got one for Brad, what color would you suggest?
7. Do you think I'm really mean?

Duh!

After her second, huge bowl of cereal.... "Gracie, where do you put all that food?"

"In my mouf?"

Maine, the cherry stones are sooooo good!

"Hmmm...what are those things that look like rocks that you are all eating?"
"I really think that I would like to try one."

"I know there's still one in my mouth...
but keep them coming!"
"These things are awesome. Can I have a glass of Chardonnay?"

Whenever my aunts are around, the food is sure to be amazing. I'm really not sure how they manage to stay so thin....Jackie steamed the cherry stones with fresh basil and garlic. They were the best I have ever had.

Change in plans....

"Mommy, I changed my mind about what I want to be when I grow up."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be a dinosaur hunter instead."

Phew! No need for us to get long term care insurance or save for retirement...Sam will have no trouble paying our bills.

Maine, the water's cold

My sister moved to southern Maine a few weeks ago. She's a little over and hour from me now and it's been great to have her so close. This weekend my aunts Jackie and Ellen were visiting her. We went up for the day and ended up spending the night. So fun.

You'll just have to believe me, but the water in ME is so cold that it hurts. I couldn't get more than my toe wet. These guys didn't seem to care.

See all these big kids? They're my cousins. Sam and Grace had so much fun playing with them.

Hermit crabs are fascinating....
My little loner...
Ted was born my sophomore year of college. He's a freshman in high school this year. I am old.
My aunt Jackie...looks more like a sister than an aunt I think.

Hello Vermont!

Growing up, my family went camping in Vermont several times each summer. Every year, we would "rock hop" up the river that my hippie parents lived on before they had me. We would visit a "natural water slide" where you could slide down the side of a mountain into water so cold that you started swimming back up the minute your toes hit. We would swim in quarries so deep and so dark that I was actually scared. We fished in the river, slept in a lean-to, picked wild raspberries and ate maple sugar candy. At night, we would lay in a field and watch shooting stars. We launched paper airplanes and throw rocks from the Ball Mountain Dam and then eating at the "Dam Diner". I loved it.

Although they have upgraded from lean-to to rather large camper, complete with bath tub and air conditioning, my parents still go every year. I haven't been since before I got married. As much as I love it, the prospect of camping with really young kids has not been overly appealing. This week, we finally felt brave enough to give it a try.







































We had a wonderful time. My best camping trip ever. I get a little teary eyed thinking about how incredibly special it was to be with my parents and Brad, Sam and Grace doing the things that I loved when I was a little girl. I think my parents felt the same way that I did.

How to build a fire

when it's been raining for days and all your wood is wet.....

1. Stack your wet kindling so that plenty of oxygen can get to any flame that you may get started.

2. Stuff plenty of wet newspaper in the gaps and light. Fan and blow on it...till you get red in the face.

3. Wet wood and paper will smoke a lot.....keep small children away.

4. Once the paper has burned up, your fire will die. Wet wood doesn't like to burn. Ponder the laws of physics and engineering that you studied 20 years ago and try to come up with a better plan.

5. Sing and dance to Staying Alive in hopes that mother nature has a sense of humor....

6. When all of the above fails, get out the lamp oil and give everything a good dousing.

7. Viola! Fire!

Beautiful family Photos....

If only they would look at me....

Eye conract isn't necessary for a great photo. I mean, Brad looking down at Grace is actually sweet. Sam looking over at where the lesbian couple was getting married (gotta love MA) incredibly frustrating. We won't even talk about Grace. I'll just say she is my nemesis.

In this one, Brad is actually saying, "Look at the camera or I'm going to spank you." Sam doesn't care. He's making sure he doesn't have any stains on his shirt.

This is about the 20th one I took. I was no longer cool, calm and collected....I was yelling and threatening to leave the park and go home and take naps.

Lovely, isn't it?

Proof that I do exist

In case you were wondering, I'm the photographer in my family. I bring my Nikon D80 every where. It's like an extension of my body, and just about every little thing my kids do, is photographed. I have taken thousands and thousands of pictures of them.

When they do something wrong, I often run for the camera before I discipline. When they make a mess, I take pictures. Temper tantrums are some of my favorite photos. I've even let Sam and his friend Cooper ride around on his Power Wheels firetruck completely naked, just because the pictures were so great.

The downside of being the family photographer, is that other than our wedding pictures and the photos of me pregnant and giving birth to Grace, there really are no photos of me. I actually worry sometimes, that if something were to happen to me, my kids would completely forget me and have very little to remind them of me.

So today, I put my baby in Auto mode and handed her to Brad. Here I am. Having fun with my kids. Unshowered. No make up. Wearing the same shorts that I've been wearing for three days...It's real life.

It's exactly the way I want my kids to remember me.

He knows me

At 8:00 this morning....

"Mom, it's your lucky day!"

"Why?"

"There are two beers in the fridge!"

She's getting big

Almost 22 months.

"Drinkin' Beers"

Last night we grilled steak tips wrapped in bacon for dinner. As I came around the side of the house carrying a stack of plates, Grace proclaimed, "Mommy! Drinkin' Beers!"

and she was, sort of.

She managed to get a little taste. It took a second to decide if she liked it or not.

She did. Doesn't it look like she's on her 2nd or 3rd? I promise she only managed a tiny sip before

Brad took it away.
She didn't like that at all. She fought him for it.
When she lost, she pouted.
Then she started eating her feet.
Light weight.
Something tells me that I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this one for the next 19 years!

Big Rock on Your Head

The other day we were going to pick Sam's friend Andrew up from camp. As we drove past the cemetery Sam exclaimed,

"Mommy, look at that place with all the flowers! It's really beautiful!"

"Yes, it's pretty isn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure is. What is that place mommy?"

"It's a cemetery"

"Oh. What's a cemetery?"

"It's the place that they bury people when they die."

"WHAT?" (said with complete disbelief and like I was a little crazy)

"When someone dies, they put them in a special box and bury them in the ground."

"No. They can't do that to people. It's not nice."

"It's okay buddy, because the person isn't alive anymore. It doesn't hurt them."

"It doesn't hurt?"

"No, not at all."

We picked Andrew up and on the way home, as we drove by the same cemetery, Sam explained it to Andrew.

"Andrew. See that place with all the flowers? That the place they put you when you die. They just stick you in the ground and cover you all up with dirt. Then they put a big rock on your head."

To which Andrew responded,

"Does it hurt?"