Monday, September 29, 2008

A pox


A pox on ye who told my son that one could make jelly out of quince. (Was it me?)


We, I mean I, spent a large part of today peeling, coring and boiling itty-bitty sour fruit. You can see how it turned out based on the look on Lucas' face. Yech.

A Kitchen Upgrade

We are in the midst of chaos. Voya, the restaurant Rob is helping to open, is just about at opening date, Lucas' birthday is around the corner, and we decided to re-do our kitchen. Yikes!


Rob has been fearlessly pioneering away; burning the candle at both ends.


I have been doing what I can, including a bit of plumbing; a secret talent.


Although not finished, I couldn't wait to show you how things are shaping up.



I kind of dig Rob in his safety glasses! Now bring on the floor!!!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mia Ballerina



Mia and I have started Mommy and Me ballet. She loves it. I do too. Enough said.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Oops...

I read my last blog entry today... and was horrified at my writing and typos. I'm ashamed to admit, being the teacher I am, that I didn't edit before I posted. Ah well. My apologies to anyone offended or disgruntled by my lack of care. ;P


Today was the start of pirate week at school. Lucas, perhaps only slightly coerced by me, came fully outfitted in pirate gear. I experienced my first case of, "Oh my Lord, what have I done to my child... will he now be ostracized by the other children?" when I quickly realized that he was the only child in pirate garb. Har.


Lucas, my brave soul, was pretty much unshaken by it all and walked around proudly for almost a whole five minutes. He then took of the head-gear and continued with the day. I was happy to see that by the time I had come to pick him up there were several other children and teachers then sporting pirate-wear. Lucas also proudly showed me his telescope he had made. (Which we used to view the spectacular new moon tonight.)
Mia had her second Spanish and Art class today and I was thrilled to learn that she was LOVING it. Last week was success, but I wasn't sure if it was just a fluke. But this week... oh my... she was in finger paint heaven and completely bewitched by all the Spanish-speaking attention she was getting. She is so much fun right now. I can't wait to see how she does in her first ballet class tomorrow.
Happy sunny-days to all.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Savary Island - A Photo Tour

The end of the summer was a lovely break from work with lots of great family time at home and on Savary Island. Plans took their time to get together with Rob's unpredictable work situation, but at the last moment he was able to join us for the full week.



And Savary? It was amazing... the island was everything I had hoped. The cabin we rented was perfect; quiet, private, safe, close to and containing everything we needed. We spent our days zipping all over the island to explore beaches on the cabin's rusty, too-small bikes; Mia in the trailer and Lucas either riding his own bike our hitching a ride on my rat trap. The rain we received inspired giant forts and roasted marshmallows by the fireplace as well as slug hunting on soggy hikes. We ate oysters we harvested ourselves, built marvelous driftwood castles, collected hundreds of shells and sand dollars, watched incredulously as deer munched wild blueberries beside our porch, whispered quietly as the gigantic woodpeckers made their way through mottled trees, read our books while children slept, swung in trees, had candle-lit baths, found sand-snakes and became very creative with food rations. Lucas ate ice-cream for breakfast twice, we forgot our bike helmets and rode recklessly down bumpy roads, blew a tire, lost cash out of open pockets, and didn't care. Lucas and Rob rented a rickety scooter that cost a fortune, lost it's speedometer while driving and wouldn't start after it was stopped. Mia had baths in a bucket on the porch after the beach, played nude golf and slept in a nest on the bedroom floor. Lucas slept in a tent, played magnetic fishing by candlelight, whipped around on a hot-pink run-bike abandoned at the cabin, was buried alive, and perfected his throw of a tennis ball. It was great time to connect as a family, extended for a few days and then blissfully just us for the rest. No phones, no internet, no tv, no computer, no light. A very happy puppy and a super unwound family.

















We can't wait for next year to do it all again.