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

A Donkey and a Sheep of Unpredictability

I am happy to say that we have become more regular in our church attendance.  For awhile there, it was difficult to get to the 10 am service because it was in the middle of nap #1 for Eli.  Noah was a little hesitant about Sunday School, too - he would promise each Sunday that he was big enough to sit through the whole service and pay attention.  Well, that just didn't work.  He gave it a go, of course, but by the sermon he was squirming all over the pew and driving us (and the people around us) crazy.  

Advent seemed like a wonderful opportunity to embrace the season and get the boys involved in their first Epiphany Pageant.  They learned the story of Christmas through acting it out!  Brilliant, really - Noah started connecting all the dots about Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, the manger, and the carols we've been singing.  

Eli was cast appropriately as a Sheep of Unpredictability.  Isn't that great?  Perfect.  He and his companions were running all around the church during the rehearsals.  You can see that he had a little apprehension about the costume: 

Noah was pretty excited to be THE Donkey on his first venture into live theater.  After all, this was not just an animal - this was the donkey who walked with Mary and Joseph.  Noah went for realism during the rehearsals and walked on all fours.
He found that it was sort of uncomfortable and made his hands dirty.  The costume was a little hard to manage - we found out later that until this point, the Donkey had been played by a service dog.  Still makes me giggle out loud.

 The performance was on Epiphany - the 12th day after Christmas.  This timing was wonderful.  We had a little time to get through the busy end of  December and by January 6th (Epiphany 2013) we could take the time to really celebrate this miracle.  Noah did a stellar job and thanks to our practice, has O Come All Ye Faithful, We Three Kings, The Friendly Beasts and Go Tell it On the Mountain memorized and ready for next year.
Eli was unpredictable, for sure. I never would have predicted that he would get in front of the church and lay on his back.  That was a new one for me. This picture still makes me giggle.

From here on out, both Noah and Eli have been really great about Sunday School.  They have made new friends and found that going to church this way is much more interesting and fun for them.  They are both back with us by communion and get the best of both worlds.

On days that I have a few minutes and don't have anything that quickly comes to mind, I'll retrieve some of the stories and photos from the fall.  Amazing that Friday is Feb 1st!  How can that be?

Say hello to the new 6 year old

Oh my goodness?  Do you remember this?  It was cold - yup, almost as cold as it is today in Orono, ME.  We left the garage and the thermometer in the car said 10 degrees.  Not for long!  It was warm in the garage!  7, 4, 3, -3.   -3 is where we are at.  Brrrr.

 So this weekend we celebrated the 6th birthday of that little urchin - Mr. Noah W. Schaff.  First, a spaghetti dinner with 6 of his good buddies: Luis, Ben, Sam, Owen, little brother Eli and Lucas.

Then the Star Wars cake!  Thank you Auntie Lisa for the cake (and this photo!) 

I love Noah's expression - is he thinking about what to wish for?  Perhaps he can already can taste the cake?

Later on we celebrated with the family: Uncle Mark, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Ernie and Auntie Denise, Nana Paula and Grampa Steve, Mimi and Howard Keene, Mike, Mel, Emmy, Allie and Nurse Leslie, too!  What a celebration.  I didn't do a great job at getting photos that evening, but thank goodness Lisa snapped a few.  I like this one of Eli helping out (he loves blowing out the candles, too!)

Love this crazy wonderful boy.  He loves whipped cream (see pic) and asks for popcorn every night.  His favorite foods still include Yummy Orange Chicken (boneless buffalo wings from Geaghan's) Lobster Stew and baby shrimp.  

He is nuts about Star Wars right now, and is slightly obsessed with making it to the next "level" in his Star Wars video game.  Gene has the Wii hooked up in the basement and last night Noah was dressed in his Jedi Robe as he played.  

He is playing Rec Basketball and swimming on Tuesdays.  He has progressed in swimming a great deal.  A year ago at this time?  He was (at times) scared to go in the water.  Now he is jumping in the deep end, swimming and diving for rings at the bottom of the pool.  So cool what some practice and time will do.  

He continues Art lessons with Valerie Wallace.  He is so good, and just loves the time that he spends with her.  Check out his project for Dr. Martin Luther King Day: 

I can't get enough of this guy.  Here's to many more birthdays, Mr. Noah Wilfred Schaff.

knee deep in birthday season

January brings cold weather, a chance to put away the Christmas decorations...and pull OUT the birthday wrapping paper!  This family doesn't stop at New Year's, we keep rolling with
January 3 - Faith's birthday
January 7 - Lisa's birthday
January 17 - Noah's birthday

I'm not even counting Lisa's dad and sister-in-law  - they are January babies, too.  So as you can imagine, the month feels like one party after another.  Perhaps this is how we will make it through the sub-zero weather that has landed on Orono, Maine?

The view from our back porch

I asked for a low-profile birthday this year, and it was lovely.  We went out to dinner at Woodman's  and I enjoyed a Lemon Drop, a beer and the best hamburger a girl could ask for.  Auntie Lisa created this amazing Strawberry Lemon cake that was the perfect way for me to end the day.  Here we are (Eli is tons of cute, but check out Noah's face.  That is priceless)
My family couldn't help but shower me with gifts AND I got an ambush party at work, too.

Truth be told, we haven't been able to properly celebrate Lisa's birthday.  This is tragic and wrong, because she is the one who orchestrates most of OUR birthday celebrations.  We were able to slip her some flowers and homemade cards, but she's got a little pile of presents at our house still waiting for her.

She's making plans for Noah's kid party (will post pics later) that happens on Saturday.  You will notice that there is a Star Wars theme!  Noah just can't get enough of Star Wars these days.

Last night, we went to Governor's for Noah's traditional "On my actual birthday DAY" birthday and along with friend shrimps and pie, Noah got balloons and a big to-do.  Nice having friends (thank you Robert Jackson!) on staff.

And at school?  Oh, just like any other day.

Except sharing homemade chocolate chip cookies with all his friends and teaches.

Wearing the birthday crown.

Having a crowd of high school students from China sing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese.

Hand delivered bacon pizza from Pat's (thank you Auntie) at lunchtime.

Auntie Lisa, Owen and Noah on the first day of school

And a few more updates in pictures:

Another example of Noah's artwork.  He loves going to Art lessons every Monday with Valerie Wallace

Noah and Eli working at the kitchen table

Noah and Lisa outside of Penobscot Theater's performance of Annie

And perhaps the best for last?  Eli has been requesting to sit on the potty to pee!  Here he is in action.

Nice to be back and communicating with all of you, my friends.  Up next: report from the weekend birthday parties (yup, parties) and a look back at Christmas.