Snowshoeing and the best darn sled eva!

We went snowshoeing with auntie today. It was really fun. the snow is so deep and crunchy on top it's impossible to walk in. the snowshoes work great! it's actually a lot easier than i had expected. the weather here was beautiful today too. not too cold and no wind. My mom sent me this rad sled for Indigo! (thanks mom we really love it!) I love it! it has a back and a buckle and an enclosure so he doesn't get the wind. He actually fell asleep today while we were out. We saw plenty of tracks, turkey, deer, and fox we think. we didn't make it to the river though. the boys were too tired. Still a great time though.


Some people ask what we do for fun up here in Maine, just grab a pair of giant googly eyes!!!!

Our First Maine Christmas

It was lovely! Really! Mike and I got to bed at a record early time this year. We actually had everything wrapped before hand! We only had one put together item and then just set up. 10:45 pm in bed!! Crazy! last year with the drum set and electric guitar it was hours of work for mike. I wrapped gifts last year for three hours on Christmas eve!




Ok so i was up at 5:30 crawling right out of my skin wanting someone to wake up! Of course this would be the day even the baby slept in. 7:00 Harland and Indigo got up, so we woke the bigs and into moms room for stockings. They shared stockings this year because our baskets are still in MA. Next it was out to see what Santa brought. SKIS! for the three older boys skis boots and bindings. And a ride on toy for Indigo. Clearly Santa is not have a rough financial year like us! But with season lift tickets all ready purchased what choice did he have really! Santa also slipped awesome new boots under the tree for me. Interesting since i clearly told santa no gifts for parents we just couldn't afford it and i didn't get him anything but i did need the boots and i love them. They feel like slippers and i haven't taken them off yet. Too bad i have to wear them outside!




Indigo instantly had a tantrum because he couldn't make the truck move, so we quickly moved on. Blankets next! We made thomas tie fleece for the littles. We left the skull blanket kits unfinished so the boys could do it themselves. they are too small tied so we were thinking grommets or something. Indigo loves his! We had our usual oatmeal for breakfast while the cinnamon bun dough was rising.



Presents went remarkably well. I was concerned this year. It gets tougher and tougher to keep things "fair" with ages ranging from 14 years to 15 months. The Bigs are just so much more expensive. It worked out fine. I think the littles had like 1 or to more gifts than the bigs. I cut the words "Guitar and Drum lessons " into letters and gave the vowels to one and the consonants to the other. It took 45 minutes for them to get it. They are thrilled.



The biggest hits this year were the thomas tunnel, the card board house you color yourself, and as usual, they all love their little lego sets i got them.




The day was awesome quiet and fun. I didn't cook, we had veg turkey, stuffing and cranberry subs, so i could play and relax. As you can see here i also didn't clean. We did honestly do several pick ups but the aftermath was still pretty bad. I'll get to it today.


So right now mike is at the ski shop getting bindings set so we can go to Saddleback tomorrow. They will all take their first lesson and hopefully be on their way to an awesome winter of skiing. Harland says its a cool way to spend his 5th birthday. I can't wait! I know they will love the music lessons as well once they get started.

My only sad note was that i really wanted to do mostly homemade. I did do the blankets and capes for the littles, but no desks or kitchen set.





The fact is we started to late and don't have enough time. We spent a bloody fortune per usual. My kids really do appreciate it and are very grateful but we need to plan better for next year. You can't live on a strict budget all year and then completely blow it on one day. Even if it is a blast! watch for my new years post. I have big plans for changing things around here. we'll see if i actually follow through.
Merry Christmas to everyone! We love and miss you all!

Let it Snow!

While we were away, i wrote this while we were off line

Winter Epiphany shattered with two words (Friday December 12, 2008

So If you read my past blogs you know how excited I was that we would be all set during a power outage. We have that amazing wood cook stove. No Problem! OK well Thursday night Mike came home from work with the weather report. See we have no Internet or Television so no weather report. Mike tells me we are expecting a bad storm, not sure of the details but Ice and freezing rain was mentioned. No Problem....the STOVE!!! Well as mike is talking to the true Mainers he works with one asks him if he he has oil lamps. “Ya, we have one, and a battery lantern.” he also tells them about our wonderful stove and how for the first time ever we can heat our house and cook if we loose power. Here it comes. “Ya, but you have no water.”he said. “last time we got an ice storm the power was out for 14 days” NO WATER! What? How? We have a well, that means an electric pump, no power, no water. We are so city, DIR! So that settles in and then I start to think........no power for 14 days!!! no way to clean diapers, batteries in lantern gone! Oil in lamp gone! Sun goes down at 4:30! NO WATER... No WATER!!!! we are screwed! So we click into high gear. We eat dinner, make a list and split into teams! Mike and Forrest went to the store, 35 minutes away. Gaynor and I start filling any and all available containers with water and prepare to bake 2 dozen muffins and cinnamon buns. Have to be prepared and what would we do without cinnamon buns? Mike said the store was dead, so funny, plainly these people actually prepare ahead of time, not like in MA! Long story short, the power only flashed, although we are not in the clear yet, it is all going to re-freeze tonight. But now we know, we need to get our act together.
On a lighter note, what an amazing scene. Everything (I mean everything) was covered with ice, trees, ground, cars, power lines, everything. These pictures don't even do it justice. It looked like the trees were made of glass! Even the pines were glowing in the sun. The entire mountain looked like it was made from crystals. Truly amazing. The pictures would be even better without the power lines and/or orange cones. But in my defense, once the sun came out and lit it all up it also started melting off the trees soooo fast it was literally disappearing before my eyes. I was trying to hurry before it was all gone. Also, enjoy the fruits of our snow flake making frenzy!

Still here........

so obviously the internet has not shut down yet... however, i called the cable company to get broad band installed and the earliest date they can come is DECEMBER 24th!!!!!!!!!!! so hopefully there will be a cancellation before then. In the meantime i'll have lots o'time to get going on Christmas projects. here are some last minute photos.

Mike working on the roof




Chipattis, oh how we love thee We eat this Indian flat bread 2-3 times per week!






Laundry basket races, an every day occurance here. i have even found a way to get them to clean up like this.





This is how the boys were keeping Indigo busy while i made the phone call to the Cable company. too cute!