hold the sun in the sky for me

We had a wonderful weekend.  Lots of sun and playing outside.  My boys just don't want the day to end!  They are pushing bed times back later and later (easy to do - it's light outside now until far after 8pm)

Yesterday in the car on the way home from a soccer game:

Eli: "Momma, can you make the day longer today?"

Me: "Like keep the sun from setting?  Momma can't do things like that!"  

Eli: "Yes you can!"

Me: "Tell me how."

Eli: "Well, just get a long rope and hold the sun in the sky for me until I am ready to go to bed.  Or maybe a hose would work, too."

The garden is 90% in.  It's quite a process to till, get the fence up and get the black plastic mulch down. The black plastic mulch was a tradition in my Dad's garden - helped warm up the soil for the tomato, pepper and eggplants.  Our growing season is so darned short - we've got to do what we can to maximize our time! Fence?  Oh yes.  The alternative would be feeding a family (or two) of deer.

In other news, Noah has been visiting several doctors lately.  We have fondly named Dr. Nadeau "the wart doctor".  Noah has been cultivating a large Plantar's Wart on his "next to the thumb toe" toe. Have you ever heard of the thumb toe?  Yah, me neither, but I totally knew what he was talking about when he said thumb toe.  Warts aren't a huge deal, but this little sucker has been pretty painful to walk on at times. Next week will be his 3rd or 4th visit - seems that this wart is especially tough. Dr. Nadeau delights Noah with his fun tricks with frozen nitrogen.  He's instructed him to bring a marshmallow to his next appointment.  

Look, Mom.  A wart.  Looks pretty good now, actually. 

In addition, Noah took his 5th rapid strep test of the season a couple days ago and for the fifth time it came back positive.  Goodness gracious, we are tired of strep throat!  Noah has moved up to a "third level" antibiotic that has been a challenge for him to take.  Amoxicillin was actually quite tasty mixed into the pharmacist-mixed cherry stuff.  But this is yucky.  No way around it.  The best way to take it is to throw it back like a shot of tequila with a milk chaser.  So what happens when you have strep throat 5 times in 4 months?  You get a date to get your tonsils out - July 2, in Noah's case.  

OK, enough with gross pictures of warts and strep throat!  

It's our tradition to open up camp on Memorial Day weekend, and that's just what we did.  Despite a particularly pessimistic forecast, the weather wasn't too bad.  I got a chance to do some cleaning, fly a kite, pick up sticks from the yard, help with a bonfire AND get our first lobster of the season.

We are so lucky to have this place.  I love that I can pack up the car and be there in one hour.  I don't work in July, so I am planning on spending as much time as possible hanging out in Belfast.  I've got a list started of the things that I'd like us to do this summer.  Seems like if you don't make a plan for things, the days sort of melt away and all of a sudden it's September again.

Gene was working, but Mark and Lisa joined the boys and me.  It's nice to be back, Oak Cliff.

Bedtime stories with Auntie Lisa

We love Belfast City Park!

Waving hello to Mark and Lisa.  Our camp is across the bay from City Park. 

AND (drum roll) we have a new member of the family.  Say hello to Coco:

The Bangor Humane Society was overrun with kittens, so we decided that Fluff needed a friend.  Coco is part way cute, and part scruffy.  So far, he's a pretty cool little guy.  

Finally, today is Mark's birthday so I have to send out a happy birthday to my little brother.  I dug around hoping to find a really dorky picture of Mark and I when we were young.  I had great success! 

Yes, my hair is feathered.  Yes, I have ruffles on my shirt.  Love the fence.

We will go to the Bangor Waterfront tonight with a bunch of friends to see Dave Matthews Band.  A nice way to celebrate 40+ years of Mark Erhardt!  :)  Now, if only it would warm up a little bit.  I put on sandals this morning, but I'm going to run home and put on socks and shoes.  And a raincoat.

A year later...

...I am resurrecting the blog.  Unbelievable how quickly the months fly by.  To my credit, there have been some changes.  I have a new job - again - and therefore had another year of learning the ropes. I've had enough time to do the regular day to day stuff and not much else.

Fortunately, I found myself another bunch of fantastic professionals to work with and a place that is exciting to come to each morning.  I am now a Student Support Specialist at The College of Education and Human Development here at UMaine.  I get to meet with students every day, teach a little bit, and support young men and women as they prepare to be teachers.

Now this is a pretty cozy office, isn't it?  Thankful for former students and Noah and Eli for great art. 

So, yeah, I've been busy but posting every once in a while is something that is important to me. I'm going to be setting myself reminders on my phone so that I have a more disciplined approach to putting some words and pictures down on the page.  Or the screen.  On the web.  Well, you know.

Dilemma #2.  Do I try to catch up or just travel along like I have been here for the past year?  I've thought and I will probably do a little bit of both.  But for now, the news of the day.

As expected, Noah and Eli are growing smarter and stronger every day.  Some photographic proof:

Eli is telling fantastic stories to anyone who will listen

Noah hard at work

On the way to work/school.  Notice Noah's teeth - he lost almost all of the front ones at once.  

Noah's spelling words this week

We are settled into our (fairly) new home and actually finally sold 10 Old Mill Road in April.  It made me sad to finally say goodbye to our home in Old Town, but the couple who bought it are thrilled and will take very good care of the land and the house.  I will never have a back yard like this again.  Sigh.

On the flip side, though, I will no longer be paying (gulp) two mortgages, two oil bills, two insurance bills, two sewer, water, electricity.  That allows us to feel more joyful in our new home.  

This is a pretty awesome backyard, too.  We are in the process of planting for this season! 

Noah is crazy about soccer and baseball right now.  It was a lonnng winter around these parts (more about that later) so I am thrilled that he is spending more and more time outside.  A good story:  It was threatening rain this past Sunday, and I warned Noah that that his soccer game may be canceled.  He was super concerned, and kept asking me what he could DO to make the soccer game happen.  I explained that there really wasn't anything we can do about the weather; we need to just wait and see. This wasn't a good enough answer.  Noah needed to DO something.  He asked me, "Momma, is this the kind of thing I can pray for?"  I said, "yes, for sure.  Praying is great that way."  Then we talked a little bit about how prayer works in ways that we don't understand the whole way, and sometimes when it seems like a prayer hasn't been answered for YOU, God has a different plan that we just don't know about.  (See, I say this because my iPhone said there was a 95% chance of rain, right?)

Well, that kid prayed.  And he DID play soccer on Sunday.  It didn't start raining until 1/2 way through the game. So right now, he's a believer.

Noah and his buddy Nicholas after a very rainy soccer game

Noah making a play at first base (thanks, Aunt Lisa, for the great photos!)

Ready to root on the Bruins in a playoff game!  

Here's to Spring!  This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, so we are eager to get down to camp and open the place up.  The weather has been iffy, so we are crossing our fingers and toes that it clears up enough to get out and see how the beach has changed over the winter.  

And next on the to-do list is planing the garden.  It's time to do it, but it's been really rainy for the past week.  I'm not sure if it's going to dry up enough for us to swing it this weekend.  Our growing season is really too short.  

Ok, I'm setting the reminder on my phone right now to check back in and write next week. 

OK, it's really Springtime now.

Beautiful days in Maine!  Oh my goodness.  Windows open, flowers blooming, bare feet.
I've always wondered if the first Spring days feel as good in parts of the world that don't have bitterly cold winters.  Us Mainers put in some hard work for the reward of spring.  Around these parts, we are celebrating as we dust off the bikes, put the snow pants away, and say goodbye to fat oil bills ... for a while, anyway.

Sweet Eli waters the daffodils

 
And with Spring comes soccer for Noah.  The Bangor Soccer Club brings together kids from the all the towns that surround Bangor - I believe there are more than 900 little soccer players that converge on the 10 fields by Bangor High School on Sundays.  Noah is thrilled to have a uniform (he is #7) and play REAL games.  In the games, it is 4 vs. 4 - and no goalie in the net.  It's adorable.  And, by the way, I thought he looked all grown up.  Check out these photos that Auntie Lisa took at the game:

Noah says "I'm open! I'm open!"

Hooray!  We just scored a goal!!

After the game, we went to Moe's Original BBQ for some refreshments.  Yum and double yum.  I am sure that it makes my North Carolina family more at peace knowing that there's some BBQ in this neck of the woods.  Even better?  Moe's is owned by one of my childhood friends, Dewey Hasbrouck, who returned to Orono, ME after many years in the south.  Not only do I get a good friend back in town, I get some BBQ as well.

We think this might have to become a Sunday-after-the-game tradition!  In the photo: Redneck Nachos. (I had a big salad the next day)












Back at the house, we are so excited to break ground and get a garden in.  This will be creating garden #3 from ground zero for Gene and me.  Once at 14 Old Mill, then 10 Old Mill - now on Winterhaven Drive.  Last year just didn't feel right without a garden growing in the back.  I love this time of year - I always think about my Dad.  Mark and I would help him make the rows, put some seeds in, and line the rows of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant with black plastic mulch.  I think that I came to love vegetables because the process of planting and watching them grow unfolded before our eyes in the backyard.
My Dad would check out recipes for zucchini, swiss chard, sugar snap peas - we had the chance to sample all kinds of cool veggies.  And of course - they always taste best when they are picked moments before.  I have those cookbooks and I just love seeing the rating system (up to 4 stars) and the comments that my Mom and Dad put in the margins.

I remember Mom and Dad making sauerkraut in crocks in the basement, canning tomatoes, and putting away carrots, potatoes and rutabaga in the root cellar.  Hmmmm.  Gosh, it's been awhile since I've had rutabaga.

The end of April also brings Gene's birthday! We had a wonderful day to have a BBQ and celebrate with friends and family.

Gene gets some help blowing out the candles on his birthday cheesecake (baked by Auntie Lisa, of course)

Spring also brings out the tractors!  In our front yard, the back yard - and the real tractors, too.  Here is Noah checking out Farmer Jake and Farmer Mark spreading poop and plowing the fields. 

Happy Springtime, everyone.  

One week ago

One week ago, I was sitting in my office and heard someone across the hall say "Oh my God.  Have you heard about what happened in Boston?"  We got together and read the little bits of news coming from the Boston Marathon.  I had two good friends down there - I checked on Facebook and saw that they confirmed they were safe.  Their kids (one is Noah's best buddy Ben) had been on the Cape with relatives while Lauri and Jen were at the race. Relief. 

Here is their story: http://www.wabi.tv/news/39308/boston-marathon-runner-finish-line-volunteer-from-old-town-speak-out









The rest of the week I watched my friends in the Boston area through Facebook as the story unfolded.  Katie, a former student, lives in Watertown and took photos out the window while she spent her day inside during the lock down.  Mark and Lisa had tickets to the Bruins game on Friday evening.  It was cancelled and they returned on Saturday to a safer Boston - but a changed Boston.  She took a bunch of great photos and they tell their story on Facebook.

I am still working through my feelings - most of them have to do with how very fragile this life is.  What we love can be taken away in a second.  Usually my head always goes back to how important it is to live in each moment: not spend too much time thinking about stuff that has already happened, or wishing about things that haven't happened.  I need to focus on how truly wonderful each of my regular, routine days are.  I get to see things through two new sets of 6 year old and 2 year old eyes.  I get to work with college students as they figure out how to be a student and adult in an environment away from what has been familiar for 18 years.  It's good work. 

On Saturday, Noah, Eli and I went on campus to "run" in the Healthy High 5K.  It was a wonderful day - gave us a chance to see friends and gather with other people in a way to have a race experience that was filled with joy, life and celebration.  It felt good.  Here I am with the little red wagon crew (I stood out like a sore thumb - the woman walking/running a 5K pulling a red wagon behind her with 4 little boys).  You see now why I put run in quotations! 

Noah, Ben, Jeremy and Eli in the wagon

Noah loved it!  I was holding him back, so he went on ahead with Ben.  They finished with a great time - Ben's Mom Lauri was at the finish line and got them snack and Gatorade while I finished the race with the wagon.  Half way through, Eli wanted to "run" the race, too!

 

Noah showing off his race shirt and medal.  What a big boy!

Eli checks under these turtles in the garden for worms and bugs every day.  He calls them "wumms."

So we celebrated.  Saturday evening we played outside too late when we should have been in the bathtub.  We had big, messy ice cream cones along with our cucumbers and dip.  We got into bed and snuggled and I felt so blessed - so lucky - to be safe and warm and have my two little boys right here with me.
My heart aches for little Martin Richard and his family.

I'll leave you with Eli the hockey golfer.  He enjoys the wider surface of a mini hockey stick to get the balls where they need to go!  Super cute. 

 

Wasn't it just January?

Well, spring is sneaking its way into Orono, ME.  True, the calendar says that it's spring but it's a much more subtle than that.  We get a few brave crocuses that pop out of the ground on a sunny day, and then the next we can get something like this:

It looks so pretty, but really, by March, we are so darned sick of the snow we can't even enjoy it.  Well, I can't.  The boys had fun. 

I'll pop in a few more photos that still have snow in them and then I promise things start to look a little less like the North Pole. 

Noah and I are having so much fun discovering the trails within the Orono Land Trust that surround our house.  There's a great video segment about the trails here, too. 

There's an entrance to the trail right across the house.  We can go right and hike up hills, left to see the porcupine poop tree.  I'll have to get a photo of that one next time.

Noah by the Big Old Tree.  The Big Old Tree is a symbol of the OLT

I can't wait for warmer days and playing outside without boots.  

Eli is quite a conversationalist these days.  I am in love with "I lubbu"  I lub bu.  It's sweet and we've all started saying "I lubbu" to each other instead of the much longer and over used "I love you." 

He's started going into an empty room and closing the door when he needs to poop in his diaper.  I think that this is a clear signal that it's about time to talk potty training!  I don't work during June or July this year (something new and foreign to me!  No more 16 hour days with UB students!) so I will have some time for spring projects (aka hanging out with my favorite boys).

Fell asleep in the car last weekend.  I put him in the livingroom and he slept for 2 hours.  Sweet little guy!

My hiking buddy.

Easter was a beautiful day.  We all went to church in the morning (Auntie Lisa and Uncle Mark, too) and then Auntie Denise, Uncle Ernie and Curtis joined us for Easter dinner.  We had a baked stuffed haddock recipe that is a keeper, along with salad, asparagus, rice and of course - dessert!  Auntie Lisa made yummy carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting. 

An Easter Egg Hunt in Maine.  Colorful eggs on brown, muddy grass. 

What is it with boys and sticks?  Even on Easter Sunday????

Noah is reading like crazy.  It's so much fun - of course he is finding words EVERYWHERE and feels like he is unlocking one mystery after another. I love that he's reading some of Eli's books to Eli at bedtime. 

Noah also continues to love his art class with Valerie. We've got him signed up for a spring soccer league that he's looking forward to: the Easter bunny even brought him some shin guards! 

We are crossing our fingers and toes that the house at 10 Old Mill Road sells this spring.  You can imagine that paying an extra mortgage and oil bill each month isn't comfortable....so if you have a "sell this house" dance that you do, keep us in mind.  We love our new home, but boy!  Won't it be nice to only have ONE mortgage payment. 

Auntie Lisa and Uncle Mark gave Noah bean a new bike for his birthday!  Last weekend he was able to take it for a spin.  It has something that he has been dreaming about: hand brakes.  "Eat your broccoli so that you can grow big and strong and ride a bike with hand brakes some day."  Check out how big he looks!

 And other photos....

Lots of light sabre duels in this house.  Boys crazy about Star Wars!  All the boys :)

Eli and Mark read

Snuggles with Auntie and Fluff