Bonfires

This is when the building begins.

Throwing all the wood over the sea wall.
We don't actually build a bonfire ourselves. Our neighbors are the ones who really coordinate "our" section of the beach's fire. So we all always try to help out. See little Declan and Boston crossing the rocks for more wood? What beachy troupers.
They are getting bigger...and bigger... and they are going to be SO BIG!
Oh, yeah, baby, they are ready for some flame!!

These were really beautiful this year. Sometimes, the temperature, the tide and the wind all coordinate to make some really beautiful fires. But, alas, with all the fireworks going off and the kids running wild, once the flames started I *had* to put the camera down!

Fourth of July Talent Show

Well, it was really the 3rd, but that's how we roll.

Among other festivities, we had the annual Talent Extravaganza.

Ella MC'ed and coordinated the talent (which is a bit like herding cats, but she got the job done!).

The karate girls. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera to get a clear picture of the kicks. Even in the sand, don't they look strong, focused and intense? Uh huh, they are.

The girly-girls doing the Cotton-Eyed Joe remix dance to The Dog Song by Nellie McKay.

The diaper dance karate improv roll in the sand having fun routine!

Oh, this was coerced participation in the show. Ella: "You can pretend to kill each other!" The boys: "YEAH! Then we'll DO IT!!"

Everyone took a nice bow :) We couldn't quite get our diapered lady to join in, but she got plenty of applause, too.

What a game!

And although I have been obsessed by the Celtics championship, I don't mean that game.

I mean t-ball. How fun is that game? That's the D-dog in the red shorts and white/blue hat.

Declan decided to play this spring again, and he has loved it. He was kind of not really really sorta ready for it last spring. I think the lying down in the outfield was the clue that he was not quite into it.

Fast forward to season 2008! Whadda battah!

He is so into it. Not even the cicadas could distract him. He said that he loved t-ball, but really felt he needed to play to get ready for little league. So sweet. This season his coaches were great and really engaged all the players. They made a team out of the kids, which really didn't happen last season and made for some wicked awesome Saturday mornings this spring!

My New Nephew

So I have a new "nephew," isn't he cute? Sadly, a while ago, my brother and his family lost the dog that they had had before they even had children. She was a great dog, and came all the way from New Mexico with them. Finally, after much grief, they decided to get another Chow Chow. He is very tired out from his day at the beach. Doesn't he look just like a little teddy bear?
He already looks like a "manly dog," I think, in these pictures, so the remote will give you some sense of his teensy weensy size. Well, he was the same size as Joy. But he'll grow.

Birthdays

Who are these girls and why do they look so grown up?!?!?!

Not only were they grown up, but they were also *goofy*

Ella is turning 11 next week. This year, as a party, she decided to go to a movie and to lunch in the mall with her two BFFs.

It was a blast.

I had to laugh because when we were going over the schedule, Ella was concerned that there seemed to be some "lag" time, and what would we do in the mall. I said we could ride the carousel there. Her reply? "Mom. We're. Eleven."

Note the pictures of three very happy girls on the carousel.

Visitors we Love!

We had the best visit with our friends who came from California. I love the WHOLE family. The kids all got along great. Later I will post more, but here are a few shots of the gang.

Because of the configuration of the ages, there were plenty of different combinations of friends who could hang together; girls, boys, youngers, olders, tweenies with adults, etc. These two loved hanging out!
Aren't they a gorgeous family? This is at the Kennedy Memorial in Hyannis. We drove by the compound, but maybe those shots will be on my friend's blog.

We went to see the Fort Hill area in Eastham, and there was plenty of poison ivy to avoid, but I think we did alright. Ticks were also present to join in the fun, as usual on Cape Cod, but we seemed to do okay there as well.

This is outside the Three Sisters Lighthouse at the National Seashore. The kids all went up in the light house. I've always thought that I would like to be a lighthouse keeper, but the tour guide made the lamp lighting schedule sound a lot like a nursing schedule and I am all set with that *grin*.

Declan's "Dog Show"

Last night at 4-H, Declan was able to be a part of the action with our Junior Leader and her dog, also a pug, named Ellwood.

The Cape Cod Kennel Club was running an event called Rally-O (for Obedience), and we got to participate along with the kennel club. There were some great dogs there, including a miniature poodle in a little diamond collar! Too funny. These are the kids getting ready to take Angie and Ellwood into the cheese ball rally race!

First they did Rally-O the regular way (no cheese ball racing), which Milo and Ella had never done before.

I am always so impressed that she will go out there in front of everyone and do these trials! He and Ella got a 70 out of 100 points, which was pretty good. She misunderstood the directions, and thought that you *could* touch your dog, which you can't, so they lost a bunch of points for that. Also, Milo was his usual drama queen self and gagged, so she got a "too tight on the lead" deduction.

After the more intense graded parts, they did a fun event where you had to go through the agility course with your dog and carry a spoon with a cheese ball in it (hee hee). Of course, the dogs were very very interested in the cheese ball! Ella used one of Steve's dogs for this event. Labs are far more interested in cheese balls than pugs, but Ellwood used a different kind of bait. Ella was so proud to get to the end with Angie. Angie is such a sweet lab, but she can be a bit interested in all that is going on around her. Ella did a great job keeping her focused on that cheese ball lol.

So, these sweet dog folks let Declan compete in the cheese ball rally. Ally, our junior leader and Ellwood's owner, walked Declan through it. She did a great job of letting Declan be independent and be supported at the same time.

He was BEAMING with pride at being included in a 4-H/Kennel Club event. Then, he won an award! Fourth Place! He was so excited! Everyone clapped and clapped!

Declan is so ready to be a part of this. Ella is more interested in the social aspect, and has a bunch of friends at 4-H. Declan is really into the whole dog part. When he was doing the event, I could see that "calm assertiveness" that Cesar Milan talks about. Ellwood even jumped on him at one point, and he just kept on with the sit command. So cool. For someone with so many strong personalities around him all the time, he definitely is his own little character.

Butterscotch's Day Out

How cool is this? The kids took Butterscotch out for a walk in the yard during one of the beautiful days we had.

Boston LOVED Butterscotch, and they got along famously.

I am not sure if Butterscotch really understood what was going on at first, but then he seemed to really enjoy his fun in the sun.



Sometimes you buy things and you think, am I really actually buying this? Have I gone completely crazy? That's how I felt about buying Butterscotch's "outfit." But this made made it all worth it.



And just in case you were wondering about the much talked about cat (see earlier posts), he is still getting plenty of lovin'.

When I went to wake Declan up the other day, this is what I found. Ella and I crept around to get the camera and got this shot before either of them woke up. Is that a picture of love or what?

It almost makes up for the bunny incident. Oh, what the heck, it makes up for the bunny incident.

Easter Part Two

It was harder than we thought to find those eggs.
But victory was hers!

Cousins. We love cousins.

The girls are about 9 months apart and the boys only five months apart. And five inches apart *grin*.

Easter

This year, Declan was completely pumped up about Easter coming. And it must have lived up to his expectations since he was asking today how many days until Easter. It was so early this year, I think Ella's estimate of 364 was a little short.


We had a lovely day at my aunt and uncle's house. Both of their children have been deployed in Marine units to Afghanistan two weeks ago, so keep them in your thoughts for a safe return. They've all signed up for Skype, so they can communicate over the internet for free with video! But, the military is requiring that the soldiers pay a small fee for the internet access. Hmm. Well. That is all I will say about that.

This year, the kids really wanted ugly dolls for from the Easter Bunny. I also thought the Easter bunny should add something cute, but he needn't have bothered as the kids loved those ugly dolls exclusively.

I think at this point in the photo shoot, Ella was getting a little cold. Declan wore his dog sweater. I love that sweater on him. He looks like such a little Cape Cod preppy kid with his cords and turtleneck and dog sweater.

We have been crazy with rehearsals for the Wizard of Oz, which was featured in the entertainment sections of the Cape Cod Times and the Barnstable Patriot this week. I wonder whether that is a testament to the production or says more about what is available for entertainment in March (the cruelest month in a resort area).

I didn't have enough to do......

....so I decided that I was going to cave to the lobbying by my son.

It was so very very worth it.

The plan was to name him Boba Fett. But, Declan decided that he was too sweet and should be called Butterscotch. They love each other!

See for yourself.

We rescued him from the local animal shelter. I think he has spent more time in Declan's arms than in the cage since we got him home. He is the sweetest, lovin-est guinea pig I have ever seen, not skittish at all, even when the Queen of All Puggies and Creatures in the House had to give him her inspection.

Shake Things Up

Okay, the Christmas decorations are down, the day is grey and the video games are getting old (I guess that's what happens when you have a LEGO Star Wars marathon).

So, it is time to start shaking things up. We have had some fun around here making things and creating science experiments, and we are really s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g our comfort zone by going vegetarian.

When we are transitioning away from holidays, it seems we have to put a little more effort into being engaged. Here are some things we've done to shake off the cobwebs of Christmas and get more into the fun of winter (an oxymoron if *I* ever heard one, but my kiddos like winter and who am I to say anything.....)

Some things we have done to get the fun rolling again are:

*museums (especially small-ish ones, like plastics or associated with a college. I think we'll hit the MIT museum next time we're up there.)

*a new crafting tool (next time this happens, I have my eye on a wood burning tool, I may get it sooner, but right now we have enough craft material lying all around the house for me to want to buy something new. Both Ella and I are a little in love with the Crafty Chica)

*bowling, roller skating, or a video arcade (last time at the arcade,my dd got a Newton's cradle http://www.officeplayground.com/newtonscradle3.html with her tickets won on the games, and there have been some unbelievable discussions that branched off from that toy!)

*a new music CD or video or computer game...or season three of the Gilmore Girls

*a road trip (even just to the next town over)

*the supermarket to buy strange fruits and veggies and figure out how to cook them (we have a coconut sitting on our counter right now waiting for a smashing)

*a day/week of foods from a different place, or eating on the living room floor instead of the table, or breakfast in bed

*checking out books from a different library (somehow I come out with completely different kinds of books from the library on the other side of town...we've been all over looking for our Gilmore Girls DVDs)

Spectacle of Lights

Last night we went with Meg and her young friends, Paul and Doug, to go to the Spectacle of Lights. Declan had a blast riding the carousel. Once you are up there spinning around it is pretty fast and high, but he hung in there.


We went through the whole display of lights, which was extraordinary! We saw some friends there, which is always nice. I am still adjusting to the small town nature of Cape Cod (in the winter especially). We saw three families there that we knew! People always wonder if home schooled children are going to be well-socialized. It was nice to see that last night my children made friends easily with the two boys they'd never met, and then saw plenty of people that they knew from their wide world experience.

Ella and Boston went with Nana to the Nutcracker Ballet. It was a magical night by all accounts. They were beautiful, and B. was so excited to have Ella all to herself. She kept hugging and kissing Ella. They got all dolled up (I did their nails), and then they snuggled on the couch and read the Nutcracker book together.

Meanwhile, the boys and I had a great time, plus I got some one on one time with the fabulous Shyah while the boys wrestled and ignored me. She is a beautiful, smart, fun baby. I am so glad that she came along!

Night Time Sledding

One of the things I love about homeschooling is the freedom to do things at different times. Like sled late on a Wednesday night.

We were hanging out with the dogs (Joy for some reason is all thrown off by the snow and can't just do her usual quick business), and the small rise behind our house had become a slippery frozen slide.

Oh so very fun!

Centerville Stroll

These small children adored Frosty! They followed him down the street, and told him, "We love you!" and "We know your SONG!"

He was very nice to them and said he would pass along their messages to Santa. Oh, yeah, baby! Marshmallows on a dark night in the middle of the street!?!? Does it get any better?
And then my camera died. So, I missed pictures of Shyah with her dancing toes in the stroller. But, the memories are in my head.