Party in Pictures!

Partay!

Well the parties are over! The kids had a blast this weekend. 'n' enjoyed having her girlfriends over yesterday. Unfortunately only three girls were able to come to the party and one came down with the stomach bug the day before the party. The two girls who came had to leave early but we were able to fit all the festivities into the shortened party. The girls decorated canvas bags, enjoyed water gun fights...especially chasing 'N'..., ate snacks, played limbo, had cake and ice cream, opened presents and destroyed the fish pinata! We got all this done between 1 and 2:30/3:00. It was jam packed fun!

Decorating bags :)

Girl power!



Get Him!!!!

You can't get me!

'N' a good sport for letting the girls chase him down and soak him with the water guns and pails of water! He had a blast too.

LIMBO.....

How low can you go?

Cake and ice cream!

So today was 'N's party. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Peace! (and quiet)

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???

African Prayer

I found this prayer over at Coy's blog. It struck a cord in me as did the rest of her post and I just had to share it with everyone.

a traditional African prayer ... Let us take care of our children for they have a long way to go ... Let us take care of our elders for they have come a long way ... Let us take care of those of us in between for we do the work ...


Peace!

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!

Decisions

For the past six months to a year I have been grappling with some serious decisions regarding my Dad and his home, my childhood home.

You see Dad is on a fixed income and can no longer afford to keep his house. My brother and his family have lived in the basement apartment of the home for the past 8 years. The original purpose of them living with Dad was to help him financially, emotionally and with the upkeep on the house after my Mom passed away suddenly. Sadly this has not been the reality of the situation. The help has flowed in the opposite direction. It has been a difficult road as Dad has felt like he has been responsible for raising another family. Neither of us have had the courage to tell my brother and his family to leave the residence. In retrospect I wish I had had been able to be more forthright in my approach as I dealt with this situation. Sadly it has come to the point that we do have to sell the home. Right now we are thinking that it will have to be an investor that comes in and purchases the home. A lot of work will be needed to bring the home up to par, however the land that the home is on is worth the work.

There are panoramic ocean views

views from the deck

as well as access to a private beach.

beach access

Dad' beach

It is situated in a lovely ocean side community. I only wish I had the funds to purchase and fix up the home myself although that would open up another can of worms with my brother. The situation is so frustrating and I find myself procrastinating and creating other jobs for myself rather than attending to the sale of the home. I guess deep down in my heart of hearts I just don't want to sell that home. It's the home in which I grew up and where my Mom died. It is where my father planned to be buried from. I have so much anger pent up inside me toward my brother and sil. Why couldn't they have done the right thing all these years???? How can anyone think they can live for nothing and take such advantage of an elderly parent. I'm sure you can sense my angst. I guess I just need to move forward with my decision. I'm praying for the strength to do what needs to be done.

Peace!

Adventure

Today was filled with adventure. We started out by watching the History Channel adventure Expedition Africa . It chronicles the experiences of four 21st century explorers as they try to recreate the experiences had by H.M. Stanley in the 1870's as he desperately tried to find a missing David Livingstone in the African jungle. The children were very interested in this program, especially 'N'. The show highlighted the beauty of Africa as well as the dangers. I was completely captivated by the story. So much so that I am in the process of doing research on both Livingstone and H.M. Stanley. I'm looking forward to learning more.

On to our own adventures. After lunch we decided to head down to the beach for the afternoon. We packed up drinks and a few snacks, towels, bags to hold our treasures and books and other various items that would keep everyone entertained. It was the type of day that most folks wouldn't typically see as a beach day. These are the day I enjoy most on the beach. We had the entire stretch of beach to ourselves. We walked to our favorite rock and then set up camp.

'N' quickly climbed to the top of his rock as 'n' and I searched for treasures. We found many shells as well as beautiful bits of sea glass. The wind picked up and the sun went behind the clouds but we continued to enjoy our time on the beach.

Both of the kids went into the water and spent a good amount of time wading. As they enjoyed the water I sat and soaked in the peaceful atmosphere. Clouds passed us by and sprinkled us with tiny drops of rain.

Finally we gathered our supplies and returned home.

It was a wonderful day. We are hoping to continue with our adventures tomorrow.

Peace!

Old Pics

So I finally figured out my new scanner and finding inspiration in the DVD I wrote about in my last post I thought I'd share some of the photos I scanned last night.





When my Mum was young she never thought much of her looks or herself. She always thought she was too thin and was even teased about her size. I remember conversations about this subject. When I look at her in these photos I see a beauty. I think she was exquisite. I find it so interesting that body image was an issue even in the 40's.

Faces

As I sit and watch the continuing coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial I find myself becoming emotional. I am sitting with the emotion as I know it is not about the loss of Michael Jackson but my own loss that I have managed since my childhood, beginning with the loss of my beloved Aunt for whom I believe I was named. These feelings are compounded by a beautiful DVD PowerPoint presentation I received from my Uncle P who is the only surviving sibling from my Mum's family. He and I correspond via email and he has sent me several photos over the past months of my Mum; I knew this DVD was coming but What I didn't know was what it would open in me as I viewed the photos and listened to the music. I am welling up just thinking about the experience. This PowerPoint was produced by my second cousin, Uncle P's granddaughter and it was certainly a labor of love. It is a pictorial history of my Mum's family beginning with photos of her parents...Nanny and Papa... It is more than a Power Point it is a tribute to a family who existed in a bygone era. I saw faces that I see in my minds eye when I think of my childhood. The were smiling at me from my computer screen. I felt like I could reach out and touch them, oh how I wish I could.

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!

Last Day Celebration

Wow what a busy day!

Today was the last day of school. The children went off to school with mixed emotions; happy for summer yet sad to leave their current classmates behind and a bit apprehensive about what lies ahead. In the past I have picked them up at school on the last day of school. Today they both opted to ride the bus home today as it will be the last time they ride the bus together for two years as N is moving on to the middle school and n won't join him for two years. Anyway I planned a bit of a celebration for today. We invited a few friends over for snacks, cake and ice cream. I went to the store while the kids were in school and picked up some healthy fruit and a bunch of kid favorites: twizzlers, reaces pieces, swedish fish, gummy worms, doritos... It was like kiddie heaven. We also grilled hot dogs and hamburgs.

As an end of the year gift the kids got a Wii system. Chances are we are the last out of all the kids friends to purchase this system but I think it was worth the wait. We spent all afternoon and much of the evening playing Wii sports. Boxing and bowling are hilarious. The other games are fun too. I am totally going to get the Wii fit. I can't wait. I heard of an acquaintance who lost 50 lbs just using his Wii to exercise to. Boy if I could lose that much weight I think I would feel so much healthier. It would be awesome.

I'm hoping to make more progress with my etsy over the weekend.

Well it's time to retire for the evening.

Peace!

Farewell

So last night's ceremony was obviously a tremendous amount of work for 'N's teacher and certainly something that the kids will always remember, but.....

Her favorites were obvious and many of the awards lacked depth(in my opinion). The best thing she could come up with for 'N' was that he is totally into video games. While he does love his video games he is so much more than that and it saddens me that she didn't know more. She found a cool game related candy item for 'N' but she didn't even know that we don't own a Wii. Oh well it is time to move on. Last night there were lots of emotion on 'N's part. Already he is missing his school, his friends and even his teacher. I think it is just nerves. I know he is ready and will do great. I hope that he truly connects with his teachers next year. It just never truly happened this year.

On a different note I said farewell to the summer program at school today. I am happily finished spending my time at work with children. As much as I love teaching and being with preschoolers, I am so excited to have some time off! Yay!!!

Hey I finally started my etsy shop! Nothing is listed yet but I will work on that over the next few days. If your interested in seeing the set up so far go check out

www.randomserenity.etsy.com

The name is thanks to 'N'. Had some other names including Surfside Serenity in the running, but I liked the idea of the serenity being random. It keeps me from being tied to the ocean theme. Let me know what you think.



Peace!

Moving On

Well tonight it 'N's farewell ceremony at 7:30. He will be saying goodbye to 4th grade, Mrs. R., I.B.Elementary School , some friends who will be going to a different community school next year and four years in our small neighborhood school. He is ready. He is excited. He is eager. He wants to move forward to the intermediate school, into the larger world. I however am not. I want to keep him insulated and safe for as long as I can. It is the mother in me and I can't help how I feel. It's much like when I left him at Kindergarten years ago... I know he will do well and we will both be fine. He will likely thrive and I will get used to a new normal. Tonight's ceremony will look back at all he has done and then we will look forward to what will come. This is a special time.

I think I'll bring tissues! I'm off to get ready. I'll report back soon.

Peace!

Happiness

What a great weekend!

The sun came out finally on Saturday and I spent a good part of the day outside with 'n'. She played as I worked on the NAEYC portfolio annotation that I must complete by the end of the summer. It was lovely. The sky was a beautiful crisp blue, the air was clean and the sun was so warm. 'n' worked on a number of dance/gymnastic type routines and impressed me with her rhythm and ingenuity. 'N' played happily with a friend for the entire afternoon. We enjoyed a fish dinner at the dining room table(such a treat!) R had a gig so the children and I spent a quiet evening together.

Today the girls and boys split up to get some things done. The boys went to the movies and the girls went shopping for end of the year gift supplies. 'n' and I have already painted the clay pots that will be given with lovely geraniums. We were able to find a box for a set of handmade cards for 'n's teacher too. It is very pretty. Last weekend we created the wax prints for the cards and this weekend we assembled the cards for Mrs. K. I think she will love them. I was hoping to find scented geraniums at one of our local shops but have yet to find a suitable scented geranium plan. I'll be searching some more tomorrow after work. Wish me luck.

We also went in search of the chemical lye to be used in making homemade soaps. I've been curious about making soap for some time and now have several books on the subject and a keen interest in gathering the needed supplies to start this new endeavor. I'd like to be able to use some of the handmade soaps for felted soaps. I think the handmade soap will be a lovely addition to the felted soaps I've been making. I'm hoping to create an inventory so that I can finally start my etsy store.

Now the children and I are sitting in the living room as the cool ocean air floats in over us through the open windows. I love this time of year.

Peace!