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!

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.

Last Fire

Although I love spring, I am always sad to see the end of buring season come. I love the smell all over the area of woodsmoke as we and our neighbors burn the deadfall from the winter storms.

Munchkin Girls Gone Wild

Most of the time, the munchkins were really really good. But sometimes, they got a little bit wild. After all, with all the excitement, fun and then all the waiting, it was to be expected.


The huge pieces of frosting laden cake from the Superstore didn't help too much either. Or maybe they did help. The girls certainly had a lot of fun!



When we were doing the Oz performances, the little kids all had "holding areas" where they waited for their turn to go one stage. Since the show is about 2 hours long, and the munchkins are on for about 10 minutes, there was a great deal of waiting around.





After doing two shows in one day, the girls got a little wild.


They were restricted (by other chaperons, for sure), to one small section of the white board to write on. They thought this was funny yo show how they might have to get creative about where to draw.


As if those big red cheeks weren't enough.

Last year, Ella did a visual presentation for 4-H on Duct Tape (The Duck That Doesn't Quack - Duct Tape). She won at the State Competition, so the pressure has been on. Well, self-imposed pressure as always *grin*.

This year, she did an entire presentation on Artist Trading Cards. It was beautiful. She had sponge-painted all her "boards" (the posters that the kids use as an outline for the presentation). She made one HUGE Artist Trading Card so that everyone could see what it was. Then she found a great way to mount all the atcs so that they popped off the display.

But, then, in February, she decided to do a visual presentation on the eye.

Deep breathing exercises were used.

And then she set off to work again.

She ended up making a beautiful cross-section of the eye from large pieces of that foam paper (why didn't they have THAT when I was a kid?).

She worked really hard, and set up a whole new project. We are going to the county visual presentation this weekend, and if she does well then she'll go on to the state competition.

We'll keep our fingers crossed.

This is one of her "visuals" for the VP. It shows an image of the inside of an eye and some fruits and veggies that contribute to eye health. as she says (every time she practices), not only are they good for your eye, but they provide nutrients for your body to keep your eye healthy."

This is her title page (ohh....it feels like you could be right there listening to her, doesn't it?)

Oh, yeah, baby, feeling like a winner. With a carrot.

Library Lovin'

Oh, I love our library. There was an awesome display here about the perils of high fructose corn syrup. After it came down, the Shellvers made an Ode to Jon Scieszka. It was so cute, because all these "cool" middle schoolers and high schoolers were like, "Jon who?!" but then when we started pulling the books off the shelves they got so enthusiastic about the books that they remembered from when they were small (oh so long ago *grin*).

Of course, the rise in enthusiasm may have stemmed from the chocolate and marshmallows and frosting that I was feeding them.

I am not above a little bribery.

That Crazy Pink Inflatable Chair

Hmmmm.....what is that? Is it a mess? It is a pile of blankets? Or is it another great use for that crazy pink inflatable chair?
Oh, the pile is moving, the white blanket is off. Everyone loves the crazy pink inflatable chair, so who could it be? The dog? Maybe. The cat? Very much maybe (see previous posts). Oh, the mystery is so very suspenseful.

Oh! It is Declan! Hulking out of the chair! Rocking the hiding place!

This is how we amuse ourselves these long winter days.

Let it Snow

Yippee!! It finally snowed here! I have been so jealous of our nearby neighbors who have gotten snow. That darn sea breeze keeps much of the snow away, but we are getting slammed today! Ella loves the snow. At the first sign, she is always out there making, if not snow men, snow slugs.
Happy snow-baby *g*. Plus, any decrease in sunlight is a "wicked good" excuse to turn on the Christmas lights.
Declan, on the other hand, was quite content to eat butterscotch oatmeal cookies and pulled a chair up by the window to watch the action. If you look closely, you can see Milo waiting for some dropping crumbs.
Then, stood by the deck door to kind of get in on the action. Ella threw snowballs at his face as he stood there laughing hysterically. It was great. he did go out, but well, the snow has never been so much to his taste.
Evidence of the sister trying to massacre her brother, I mean, the deck door.

Favorites

This looked so cool, I decided I had to try it.

The idea is stolen from some unschooler blogs I like to read (Ren's, Kelli's, Sandra Dodd's). It seemed so fun on theirs. Actually doing it was not as cool, but I was surprised that the images were so incredibly varied, given just a phrase or word. There was some choosing then, that was going on over on these other blogs and so I will revisit with a different eye, now.

The idea is to use your answers to the questions as search phrases in google images. You then get some images to choose from that were search results for your favorite food or whatever.

1. Age you'll be next year: 39

2. Place you'd like to travel: Pretty much anywhere
Okay, I don't know this little girl, but the caption said they would take her "pretty much anywhere", and doesn't she look like a wonderful travelling companion?

3. Favorite place: Cozy with my children at home with something smelling good

How funny is that? There was also a picture of a dog smelling garbage, how does that relate?

4. Favorite object: my yellow (non-down) comforter

5. Favorite food: warm chocolate chip cookies

6. Favorite animal: dolphin

7. Favorite color: beige and red

Oh yeah, baby. Now that is traveling in style.

8. Nickname: Jec

Okay, what is the deal with the mushroom? I was getting a little sick of the way I was formatting this, but I will search this image again. Oh, yes, I will.

9. Town I was born in: Syracuse, New York ... and this image is about as much as I remember...

10. My bad habit: Lateness

Learning to Knit

Last winter, I became obsessed with knitting. Two winters ago, I tried to see if I could remember how, and I did, but by the time I was able to make anything t he weather was warmer and all those fun, chunky yarns that knit up so fast were not so fun any more.

During both of those seasons, Ella has determinedly tried to learn to knit. Since she is not crazy about writing (her hands get much more tired than when she types), and doesn't like to do things that have a lot of detailed directions, I approached teaching with much trepedation.

Each year, we tried different things. Someone else teaching her, teaching herself, getting a mushroom thingie, using a loom instead, crocheting (which I am much better at!), finger knitting.

It was all frustrating.

Until this year.

I got a book I have gotten for each winter, called Kids Knitting: projects for all ages. I strewed it in the bathroom.

It worked!! Hooray! Ella was finally ready! And while I was at work, she called to ask where the knitting needles were. I said I had seen some cool yarn (Lion Brand) at Ocean State Job Lot and I'd bring some home. And so, the scarf Declan is modeling above was born.

Skating

Woo Hoo! The kids are easing back into skating, if not into the middle of the skating rink, yet.

Home days

Lately we have not enough days at home. That is my big plan for next week. Look how lovely my cozy girl is. She needs a home day.

New Beginnings

I love fall. It seems to be a time for new stuff to come up and other things to be put away. I like the holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving) and the weather (mmmm...cozy sweaters).

We are trying this fall, in the spirit of the season, a new piece to our routine. We have been having big yummy breakfasts. Well, Ella calls them weird breakfasts, but *I* think they are delicious.

We loved when we were at the conference and we would all eat and plan our day together. As Ella usually sleeps in and Declan is a bear until he eats, breakfasts together had all but disappeared from our family.

Last week we had breakfast burritos that were not a huge hit. I am going to try them again, though, because I got some farm fresh eggs yesterday and that should make them more appealing. We had pancakes which are always welcomed in the morning, and a baked french toast dish with apple-brown sugar-caramel sauce. I know! It sounds great. I have to admit, tho, it was totally stinky. We had a lovely oatmeal day, with vanilla soy milk and crunchy granola to go on top.

The topping on the coffee cake, so to speak, was the crepe day. We had crepes with all kinds of topping imaginable. We had strawberries, and raspberries, and apples and caramel and organic chocolate syrup and maple syrup and butter and yogurt and even a little left over vanilla ice cream.

Declan had his crepes plain.

Of course.

Cooking

Ella really loves to cook. She is getting good at baked goods and trying her hand at other concoctions. Yummy. Maybe she'll make some Christmas presents this year. Delish.