Party

Well it was a great 12th birthday party for n this weekend.  Four friends came and spent the night.  There was loud music,  pizza, cake and ice cream, running around outside,  twister in the dark, helium balloons, dancing, movies and a late night of talking till the wee hours.  All the excitement brought back fond memories from my childhood...

The birthday weekend continues tomorrow!  It is the actual day so we'll do something special; bowling, lunch maybe paint your own pottery.  It will be fun.  It is so hard to believe that twelve years have gone by so fast.  I'd like the next twelve to take their time, please.  

Peace!

Music New to Me

Ok I just found a local production company that presents up and coming artists for free each week down by the waterfront.  Most of the music is indy/folk, something I enjoy.

I just found this video; I find it haunting and I love the tone of this artist's voice.




What do you think?

Another new to me musician is Sarah Blacker.  She has an amazing folk/indie voice!  Check her music out here.

Peace!

August Break 8/3/10

August Break 8/2/10

August Break 8/1/10

Waves

Well hurricane Bill blew through the east coast last night and left behind some incredible surf! Mid day 'n' and I went down to the beach to see if any treasures had washed ashore. We decided to take a short walk as the tide was coming in and the waves were huge. We met up with our friend J the lobster man. He was retrieving one of his pots that had come undone and was being washed ashore. As we walked further we saw another of J's pots. I tried to retrieve it for him but only ended up getting completely soaked from the wast down by the huge waves crashing on shore. I have to say that the waves were so large that they made me a bit nervous. We went back to tell J about the other trap and walked over to help him retrieve it before it ended up washed out to sea or crashed against the rocks. So as we pulled in the trap J noticed that it held a good sized lobster. Once again we were the proud recipients of a yummy lobster lunch. I can't wait till baking weather returns so that I can make my Mum's homemade Irish bread and bring him a loaf to thank him for his generosity. He is such a nice man and reminds me so much of a grandfather figure from my youth. So back to the lobster... J showed me how to hold the lobster so that I wouldn't get pinched and he told me (in his Irish brogue) to run it home and boil it up right away. That is exactly what we did, well we didn't actually run but boy did we walk fast!

After lunch we decided that we would return to the beach at high tide with camera in hand to check out the surf. It was unbelievable. The sound of the surf crashing against the beach sounded like thunder. I've never seen the tide that high. I ended up taking over 900 photos! I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites with you here.

Summer

So we're having a real stretch of summer weather this week. It has been hot and humid for the last several days with temps reaching mid 90's. We've had a relatively cool summer so it's nice to have some of this hot weather before everyone gets ready to go back to school. 'n' and I have been going to the beach and swimming in the ocean. Yesterday the water was cold but the last few time prior the water has been warm and lovely. Even when it's cold there is something wonderful about swimming in the ocean. I love it.

Just a quick update. It's time to suit up and get ready for another beach morning.

Peace!

The Birthday Marathon!

So it began two days ago with the arrival of a package from Grammy (via cousin A) and a card from Auntie 'F' for 'n's 9th birthday. She was sooo excited. Usually when we receive gifts from Grammy they come in a box unwrapped well not this time. 'n' was so excited to unwrap her gift. Check it out.


wonder what's inside this package?

oooh look it's wrapped.....

I know I can get this out...



This is so fun!

Wii American Idol 2 Yay!!!!!

NOW I'll read the card.

The marathon continued with her actual birthday..... August 6th...... special tv privileges, special lunch, special treat from Rose and Vickie's up the street, trip to the jewelry store to order a cape cod bracelet. What a great day.

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear 'n'

Happy Birthday to you!


Lest you think the marathon is over......it is not. The big party is tomorrow. 'n' only invited a few friends, her best friend might not be here as she had some sort of stomach bug. Very disappointing but we'll do the best we can to have a fun day. We worked on her cake tonight. She is having a beach themed party. 'N' will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday. Definitely the marathon weekend.


The ocean cake

working on the cake

kelp in the ocean

fish in the sea




Where have the 9 years gone???

What A Day!

So today was a beautiful warm summer day and we were lucky enough to spend a good deal of it on our beach down the street. 'N' was reluctant as he is most days when we venture out but 'n' and I convinced him that a trip to the beach would be great. Every time we go down we have a blast...usually just the three of us...and today was no different. High tide was around 10:30 and we were at the beach and in the water by 11:00. It was cold at first but soon we became accustomed to the temperature of the water; about 67 degrees according to online resources; and spent almost three hours straight in the water. Oh what a gift to be able to float on the ocean waves, feel the sun on my body, breathe in the salty air and listen to the shore birds and boats in the distance. Aaahhhh. While we were on the beach we saw our fisherman friend 'J'. He was returning from checking his 10 lobster pots. We were happy to see him. He commented on the fact that he had not seen us on the beach lately and wanted to know if we were OK. We chatted for a bit as he was getting ready to go up his set of stairs. Then he offered us one of his 4 lobsters. I said "no,no,no you don't have to do that", but sure enough about 45 minutes to an hour later he came down with a lobster cooked and ready to eat. That marked the end of our beach trip. We drove home, showered off and had a delectable lobster lunch!

Later in the afternoon we got a call from an investor who is quite interested in Dad's home. We have a tentative appointment to show him the house this Thursday afternoon. Please send positive energy our way that day for the best result possible. More about this in another post.

Peace!

A New Friend

As you may know I am lucky enough to live in a beach side community. We've lived here for many years and enjoyed our private but rocky beach as a place to go searching for seaside treasures. The east coast shore has been hit by a series of strong storms over the last month and as a result we now have a sandy beach. This may not sound like much but after needing water shoes to swim and being unable to walk barefoot on the beach comfortably we are so thrilled. We've been down the beach three times this week. Soooo much fun for me. I could just sit by the ocean all day, not in an attempt to get sun and a tan but just to soak in the ocean. I love everything about the ocean: the sounds, sights, smells and feelings it evokes. I'm happy to be by the water in the warmth of the sun or in the mist or fog or even the in light rain.

Over the past two years on occasion we have met up with an older gentleman during our beach excursions. I would say he is in his late 60's or early 70's. He reminds me of someone from my childhood-a grandfather figure. He always says hello as do we when we see him. This past week was the first time we have encountered him this year. 'n' and I actually look forward to seeing our beach friend. Today we planned a long morning/early afternoon excursion to the beach. It is cool and misty, the perfect beach combing weather, for me anyway. So off we went in our jeans and sweatshirts, ponytails and baseball caps with a plastic bucket for large treasures and plastic bag for small treasures. The beach is within walking distance but due to the threat of rain we decided to drive. During the brief car trip 'n' expressed her hopes that we might see our little old beach friend. Alas when we walked down the ramp we were alone on our now sandy stretch of beach. I must say we were both a bit disappointed but we were happy to be together on the beach. We walked in the opposite direction from where N usually leads us and quickly found several large chunks of frosty, beautiful sea glass. In case you are unaware; sea glass is a bit of an obsession with me and I am constantly on the look out while we walk the beach. It was clear from the debris on the beach that the tide had been another extreme high tide early that morning. As we continued our walk we came upon a huge lobster trap covered in sea weed. Upon further investigation we discovered what looked like a live lobster in the trap. How exciting. Looking back up the beach we noticed our friend had come down to the shore to check on his small boat. Long story short we walked back to tell him about the trap. He was pleasant as always; commenting on how 'n' and I are the only fisher women around. We walked with him down to the trap. Finally we introduced ourselves and found out that our friend 'J' was originally from Ireland. Galway to be precise. He hails from the same town from which my maternal grandfather emigrated. I also found out that his sister and I share the same name. He knew of my grandfather's surname. Funny how there could be so much in common with a stranger. Turned out the pot was too big for our friend to use, but he was able to open it up and inspect the lobster. It was still alive. He insisted we bring the lobster home and boil him up. He even gave me cooking instructions. While we were sad to leave the beach early we were happy to have spent time with our new friend, find some beautiful sea glass and then bring home the catch of the day. 'n' and I will be looking forward to seeing 'J' the next time we visit the beach.

Peace!

Good Morning

Well today is the first day of summer camp at school. The forecast is for wet weather mid day. I'm hoping school is just north enough that we will avoid the rain and be able to eat lunch outside. It should be a fun day. I'll be working on felted soaps either today or tomorrow with the children. Last year we worked on soap and the kids loved it!

I have a great video to share with everyone. The kids and R made a 'movie' trailer for a scary movie. Uncle T did the narration. It is a hoot. Having trouble with YouTube however so I'll have to come back to it later.

Here is a link if you are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNIb76Dn9Dw


Hope everyone has a wonderful day today.

Peace!

Summer's End

Well it has finally hit me...we're going back to school on Tuesday! I visited my friend's 1st grade classroom the other day. She is teaching in a very quaint school. The building is small. It is 100 years old and there are only 8 classrooms from grade 1 to grade 4. There is a very homey feel to the school and everyone seemed quite welcoming and pleasant. We helped her do a few things and visited for a while. She showed me a bit of the curriculum she has to cover and I was amazed. It is so much more than what I was expected to teach when I was in that position over 10 years ago. It makes me wonder what all this pressure does to our kids. So much is mandated by the federal and state government but funding isn't there to support the mandates. I just don't get it. I guess that is why I joined Stand for Children in the hopes to change how programs are funded and to improve things for kids now.

On Wednesday the kids and I went to my school. I hadn't been since the end of July. I have to say I've felt guilty not going in this month, but I think it was good to have that break. It was great to see my colleagues and get into my classroom. There is a lot of work to be done this year as we are going for recertification by the NAEYC. It is a rigorous process and will certainly focus us on what we are doing well and what we need to add to our program to ensure the best results for children.

Last night we had an interesting sight in our back woods! I'll back up a bit by saying over the past month we have enjoyed seeing a family of turkeys stroll through our back yard and up the wooded hill behind our home. We have quite a bit of 'greenbelt' land surrounding our property. It is unbuildable land that provides the home to many kinds of birds and small animals. Now apparently it is also home to the turkey family. So back to last night...R was outside on the deck and the kids and I were inside, it was about 7pm, suddenly I hear R say "Turkeys in the trees, turkeys in the trees" So out we all go to see this unusual sight. Sure enough there was a large mother turkey with her baby turkeys three roosting high up in an oak tree. What a sight! I took some pictures. You will have to click on them and zoom in to get a good look. I'm hoping to crop and enlarge them at the printers so that I can share the pictures with my students in late October/early November.

The Fair!

Well the end of the summer isn't the end of the summer without the fair. Last night we went to our local fair. A friend was supposed to be in the motor cross race and that was the catalyst that sent us out and on our way last night. We approached the entrance and sat in traffic for a while but it was fine. We parked and set off on our adventure, camera in hand. The kids were excited. There was fair food, rides and games to experience.

We started off getting tickets. The first ride was the haunted house. I passed on it and took some photos instead.

I was lucky enough to ride the ferris wheel twice once with each child.

I also had a turn on the merry go round. So much fun! I have to say that when I was a kid I went to this same fair, but I don't remember having as much fun as I did last night with my husband and children.

Now as I write, the air feels much more like fall than summer. Sigh... Love so much about fall; the weather, the coziness, the holidays, but the return the regular school schedule...not so much!

Peace!

Bittersweet

Well once we have celebrated all the August birthdays, Papa, hubby and kids(Whew!) the truth sinks in...the end of summer is upon us and it is time to get ready to go back to school! Many Moms are thrilled when time comes to send the wee ones back to school. I guess I'm a bit out of the ordinary as I enjoying having that unstructured time to be with my kids. As much as we get on each others nerves; I just love being with them. I remember being a kid and thinking the summer was just so long. Times have changed and even the children think that summer went by to fast. It is also time when I start gearing up to go back to work. It is interesting even with the experience I have I still get nervous when I have a new group of children coming into my class. When I think about it rationally I know I shouldn't be nervous: I know what I'm doing, I'm teaching preschool so the children enjoy school, parents are usually very supportive and wonderful, and I have a fabulous teaching partner and work environment. All of this being said, just typing this part of the post gives me an upset stomach! Oh well. We will all get through it and it will be fine. I picked up a cute outfit for open house with the parents so that's a help.

On another note my computers are giving me trouble. The laptop has power port issues...soon to be fixed thanks to my QVC/Dell 3 year extended warranty! And the computer that I am working on now is a dinosaur and in desperate need of updating. It is a little frustrating when I am used to my quick laptop. So it may be a few days before I can visit all my favorite blogs :(

Hope everyone is enjoying these last lazy days of summer. We are and will be slowly returning to our school year schedule over the next two weeks...earlier bedtimes and up earlier in the morning.

Peace!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well as you can tell from the title of this post it is very HOT here! It is summer so the heat is understandable, but it totally drains my energy. The children and I have been enjoying the ac in my bedroom this afternoon. Soon I will have to venture downstairs to make something for supper. I'm thinking sandwiches and potato salad(homemade earlier today! yummy)

I just read an interesting post over at Mindful Life. It centers around the difficulties of blogging. She hit on some very interesting points such as the fact that blogging tends to be a one way relationship. People check in occasionally or regularly but rarely comment or become engaged with the author of the blog. I guess it begs the question: Why do we blog? Is it to share information with family and friends? Is it to journal our everyday experiences? Is it to connect with new people and develop relationships? Or is there another reason to blog...to share creativity, viewpoints, perspectives, information? When I examine my own reasons to blog I find that I fall into several categories. I would like to have more connection or feedback from my readers but should that be my focus? I'm not sure.

I think I will give these questions some more thought and return later to add to this post. N is clamoring for the computer so off I go!

Peace!

Taking a Breath

So today I am taking a breath before my children finish school tomorrow. Over the past week I have had many commitments and preparations to attend to before the end of the year and before I could take this brief moment for myself.

Yesterday we delivered end of the year gifts to very special teachers. Each teacher received a hand made wax print card with a lovely note from their student. Each element of each gift was carefully thought out and planned. We decided that a Borders gift card would be something that the teachers could choose to use for themselves, their families or their classrooms. Beautiful gerbera daisy plants were purchased along with clay pots that were later painted by n and me. I also made special cards for each teacher with notes of thanks. Teachers work so hard all year to meet the needs of every child. It is important to me to take the time to acknowledge all of their efforts. One very special teacher is retiring from our school this year. She was my second grade teacher, my mentor when I first started studying education and my champion this past year when I came up against some difficult circumstances as n began first grade. I spent time this past week creating an herb garden for her, printing a special card and then drafting a heartfelt letter of memories and thanks for all she has done for the children of our community. She is such a special lady. So as you can see I haven't had a minute. On top of all this I lead the final Stand meeting last night and we devised teams to research a variety of topics for possible local action in the fall. It was a celebratory meeting of sorts as we move forward with renewed energy.

So now I will take a minute to soak in all that has happened over the past week before I look ahead to what will be a glorious two and a half months off with my children. I plan to enjoy every minute because I know this time is fleeting and I do not want to look back one day with regret. So this summer my focus will not be on how clean my house is or how tidy my gardens, it will be on enjoying the warmth of summer with my beautiful children and husband.

Peace!