Tommy

Max caught this photo of Tommy, G's kitten. Papa, took G to get a kitten, it was love at first sight. G named him after Papa (i guess you could have figured that out)


Henry is afraid of him and Mica tried to kill him. great start.

cruel

I set my alarm for 5:30 so I could wake up and get a head start on all that I need to do today. Instead... I fell back asleep and dreamed that I accomplished everything . Needless to say when I woke I was annoyed that nothing was done and now I have to duplicate the work I did in my sleep. grrrr


We have had an emotional week. Aidan and Max have graduated. Two very large leaps. They both did great. It's all good, just a bitter sweet. I will post images later. Today we are having G's b'day party.

This past week was very hectic with the kids year end events and such. The weekend turned out pretty great though...I am really happy with the photo's from Saturday night... I hope the museum is too. this is my fav


It took us 5 hours to get home from the Cape Sunday night.. I felt like I was sleep walking all day Monday. Since it was Aidan's graduation on Monday I am feeling it may have been a good thing. I didn't cry. That morning when he mentioned that he was going to miss this friends (not all are going to king with him) and teachers I got a bit weepy. Not looking forward to Max's graduation tomorrow. high school....yikes

Michael showed us how to make sure he got hte biggest piece of cake.

Lucky for us G didn't try the same thing (G's cake was actually first so I guess it would have been impossible..unless he is psychic)

lovely faces
Here Dad was grilling up some lovely veggie kabob's that Georgia made... corn on the cob and asparagus. yum

sorta cool...

women in art

though I find it odd that they are only white women.

Baby G... no longer a baby

Does anyone know of any kittens in need of a loving home. G's b'day is coming up and he wants a kitten (or a pup or a hampster... he just loves animals) more than anything.

also.. we are putting together a baby book for G ( poor 4th child that he is). if you have any memories that you woudl like to share please e-mail them to me.

poor boy.. on his b'day Aidan has a 9:30 game...basketball... then we drive to boston.. him to the cape... then Michael's party. it's all good but he is counting down the days and there seems no time for him.

almost there

I am almost done with my web site. not sure if I love the front page.

also... if you know anyone who in intersted in throwing some green for a movie, Rival's, about football and class warfare let me know.

Getting ready for the big weekend of parties down south.

You may remember Gabriel. she worked in our store for a number of years. you also may remember that she left to help her family out on their farm in Georgia. This is her farm journal While always interesting what they have been going through with this drought has been heartbreaking.

Good People of Maine...

Today I will be at the International Festival in the Public Market from 1-8pm. I will have a table looking for vendors for the Saturday Market and The Market House's day tables. Drop by and say hello.

Aidan got the game ball this morning! woo hoo. Ari and G's game is @ 1. (not sure how I'm going to do this)

People of Boston... I wish you were here.

People of Italy... have a glass of wine for me.

last night Chris and I watched My House in Umbria.
All day I dreamed of sitting in a gorgeous flower garden while wearing a lovely linen dress, sipping grapa and smoking cigarettes. oh.. and eating a fresh salad and bread. instead... we're all too tired for art walk. max and Aidan aren't even home.

good thing I have a new book to read. Italian Fever by Valerie Martin!

just thought i'd share.

zombie part 3

have I ever posted about the same thing 3 times before? i think not. but... I had to share this .

watch the second movie. that is G (and yes...he's biting his fingernails) and Aaron.

Here are some photo's from zombie kickball's flickr page. If you look around you'll see some pretty great zombie action. there are a few images of young boys in bright orange. that would be mine.

edited to add these http://www.flickr.com/groups/61319076@N00/pool/page5/. aaron is in black not orange.

funny thing is... when karin opened the link the first thing she saw was a couple of her friends. what a small world!

Since I seem to take my camera almost anywhere you would think I would have had it when Gabriel learned to ride a 2 wheeler and the kids played a kick ball game with a bunch of zombies. But I did not. If i can find an image from someone else I will post it. Besides the fights with angry little league parents(a team of young players were having practice on the field. some of the kids were afraid of the zombies. parents got mad. zombies threatened to eat their brains. ya know normal stuff in the un-life of a zombie. I do understand why the parents were upset but they WAY over reacted. they called the police, the police were like, "Dude, there's nothing we can do about your kids being afraid of zombies. maybe you shouldn't have raised a bunch of scaredy cats" ) it was hilarious. I think Gabriel was a bit afraid but wouldn't' admit to it.

sick

the Saturday Market is going forward. I am both excited and terrified. why terrified? because it came from my brain, is mostly organized by me (I have received a great deal of help from some people who I will forever be thankful to. Especially allowing me to back off on the public communication aspect. Lord knows what I'd be quoted as *saying) and I am so very ADD.

There was a mention in the forecaster this week. We have a few vendors who look great. but no Vintage/antique vendors, I am feeling anxious about that. It was pointed out to me yesterday that on the application it states no vendor can be part of a store front. what I forgot to mention was that this does not apply to vintage/antique dealers! arg...

oh.... Jennifer and I are getting closer to a web page. woo hoo


* when being interviewed by a local paper when our house burnt down I was quoted as saying, "the kids lost all their Christmas presents". Like that was my biggest concern. My sophomore year social studies teacher read the article out loud to the class, I was so pissed and vowed to stay away from that side of the pen/lens.

Joelle, Sammy and Z are here. yipee!

I am a mean mommy... i had the boys go to school. i am feeling like they missed so much when we were away, aidan has track and we need to pick up K and S. guilt.

The other night Chris had a dream that we lived in a modern apartment. It got me thinking... I wonder what life would be like to live in a place where you didn't' risk blowing a fuse every time you vacuumed.

things i loved about yesterday:

-The boys met a friend at the Y

-Aaron played with a friend from school who also lives in the neighborhood. G played with them for a while too. then... the dad walked them home.

-G and Aidan played baseball on the western prom and I sat in the car knitting and listening to my book on tape.

-Aidan was a mothers helper for a few hours

-Max's friends came over and I had enough ice cream for everyone

-Max then went out with and was home exactly when we told him to be

-Aidan is happy he made the track team

- I loved living in Portland.

things I didn't love about yesterday:

-it rained

-I do not see any green coming up from out yard

-Max and I stayed up to watch Zach Braff on Saturday Night Live and it wasn't funny.

-I wanted to take a nap and couldn't

-the cleaning fairy didn't come. again.

-chris's arm hurts badly. we do not have pain medicine so i bought scotch (pain med of years gone by) and it was yucky.

-I really wanted to shoot and didn't have any film

today Aaron was told he no longer has to wear his splint. he still should not play sports but otherwise he can do anything.

so, dear blog reader. I think you are ready for the true story of how Ari broke his hand. you can see from the photo above that it looks much like the one sir potter received on his forehead. this household too received a visitor of the darker nature. Aaron, with help from Raccooni was able to fight off lord V. It was a tough battle, the rest of the family were held back by a curse and could not help. I won't go into details. I sent the info the Ms Rawlings (she was desperate for ideas) and she is using it for book 7. Needless to say, Aaron was victorious, he and Raccooni unharmed, except for this scar.

was so nice to go the Y with my ipod. much nicer walking the streets of Portland with a soundtrack. yesterday, on my way to the bookstore I was listening to the Lennon Covered cd that I got in Ireland. I love Elbows cover of Working Class Hero. If I can figure out how to post music I will. I am sad that we will have to quit the Y.

Looks like everyone got into King. Aidan is a happy boy.

my mothers day gift

except mine if pink. plus... a handmade clay vase & bowl, an origami bowl filled with tickets for massages and snuggles, a lovely drawing, flowers, magazines and a babysitting promise.

i used a massage coupon this evening. Ari and G have now decided to have a spa in the house. my coupon included a guest so chris got a foot massage also. we should ahve thought of this years ago!

Happy Birthday PaPa

on Saturday we met Papa, Michael, Karin and Asser in Portsmouth to celebrate. Had a great time. Portsmouth is such a cute little city. I felt but jealous of Portsmouth's cuteness.

Papa was wearing an H because he was HAPPY

fake mustaches are fun

ran into a state trooper from 1975

G aged quite a bit. he is now a very serious old man

Can you guess who this is?

Karin is NOT wearing a fake mustache. this is the real her DEAL WITH IT.

though it was only 3 of us standing in line we ordered 8 ice creams. it took a long time. I felt a bit bad for the people behind us.

Michael is SO nice giving the friendly giant a lift.

No comment.

We've been Hoopled

I will only bore you with a few of these images.

part of Susie's backyard

on the Dead River. this pretty little hidden beach looks ideal. yes?? no! there were so many gators and snakes here. SCARY

In North Carolina. This reminded me of a fairy tale.

Spanish moss is so pretty

animals

here are some animals we encountered:

aren't we brave. the hippo was called lou. short for lucifer. ooohhh

okay... so I hate the disney channel, disney marketing, most of disney movies. but I forgot how much I loved the park. I found that it was even more fun as an adult. why? because it's just plain ole fun AND you get to see the faces on your kids. sort of like these faces.

the castle was so pretty. my favorite memory was when the boys and I decided to ride Dumbo and it worked out that we were on Dumbo, in front of the beautiful castle, in the air as the fireworks were going off. besides Aaron's being terrified of being up so high and desperately trying to lower our elephant, it was absolutely magical. all we could see was the vast sky filled with exploding colors and a fantasy multihued castle.

after a long and wonderful day we waited for our boat ride back to the cabin. I was amazed by how many people brought babies. I can't image it was much fun for them

Gabriel was speechless after Space Mountain. but the wait almost was what put him over the edge.

because you deserve to smile today. :)

sorry it's taking me such a long time to write about the trip. We have returned to a very busy week. plus our friend David is staying with us until his opening! Once things slow down I will, I promise.

Here the boys are running with Jane and Don's miniature horses. yes... running with horses. heaven

i liked their doormat. Chris and I thought one could be appropriate for us.

speaking of running into things...poor Aidan

Next time we travel south I would love to spend more time in Virginia and the Carolina's. there is so much to see. At Jane's I read a piece on Gullah Island. would love to go. I think it was the trees that really captured my heart. Besides Jane, Don and the horses of course.

We're in Virginia. Got to Jane and Don's around 7pm. i wish I had my camera out to catch the boys faces when they saw the miniature horses. they are about the size of Gabriel. I'll take some today.

We found spring! It's so beautiful in southern Maryland and Virginia. I love the trees. Jane has a gorgeous yard. lot's of stuff from my youth so I am having all sort of memories. Right now I am sitting @ my grandmothers dining room table. Jane has a photo of my mother and me on my first birthday sitting at the end of this table (like I am now).

we kept seeing signs that said, "Friends meet at Horne's". Of course we found that funny. so when Chris needed a cup of coffee he stopped in. The lady didn't' have change for his purchase and asked him to wait while she ran home to get it. Chris suggested she check in another register and surprise, there was some money. oh... Aidan needed to go the bathroom so we stopped off at a store, there was a sign by the rest room that stated, "blankets are not paper towels" I think it was a way of saying only flush toilet paper. I think.

oooohhh, not so pretty but earth friendly.

we have two different directions for getting there. AAA triptix has us going NY, NJ on 84. mapquest has us on 95 straight through. Once we hit south Jersey they follow the same route.
if you have an idea of which the the better route would you e-mail me? I don't htink I ever went by 84 but will if it's quicker.

thanks

another option from the Drudge Report, the Drudge Retort

Now I am going to start researching places to eat on the way down.

My Mom and I took G and Ethan to see Meet the Robinson's yesterday (cool animation was it's only plus). we were surprised to see that so much destruction was caused by this storm. Many huge trees on the ground. very sad.


so much work to do. I think we may be in better shape than it looks... it looks pretty bad. down to the nitty gritty details and cleaning. I am not really sure where to start so I'll spend some time here.

we are all very excited to leave. hoping we can track down spring somewhere.

Max's photo's

Exactly

Big

Saddness, ground zero

A root of a tree from 9/11

Hans tells Max all his secrects

Karin and Anilla are cute

This is not a color one would find in nature

View from Anilla's window

Where's Max's head? I see Swathi!

It looks like we have found an answer to our lawn issue, clover. though I do hate the thought of being trendy , it really may work for us. plus, sending the boys out to search for a 4 leaf clover can be a great way to spend a hot summer afternoon.

I am not worried about this at all. nope, not me. not at all.

Max and Karin are due to leave NY Sunday night. I am sure they'll be fine. yes? I know if I suggested they leave early they would be sad. I may just have to make them sad. They are having such a great time though. This morning I was a little sad (therefore I should want to make them sad?) because Max is having such a great time he doesn't' want to talk to me on the phone. I am rambling. sorry, just imaging what college will be like. Maybe I should emotionally cripple him so he stays with me forever. yes, good idea.

Last night I watch the Illusionist. if you have seen it or read the short story please tell me what you thought. I feel a bit disappointed with the happy ending and wondering if that's how it happened in the story. what? you say I should go read the bloody story? umm... okay, another good idea.

this is not us. this is.
sort of cool that there is a Longfellow Books in both Portland's.

i just dropped Max off at the bus stop. He and Karin should get to New York around 12 or 1am.

RIP Mr Vonnegut

big decisions

Max is going to Cheverus. I paid the deposit yesterday. Still sounds strange to my ears but it does feel right. He is very happy. he is going to the jazz concert tonight, checking out his new digs.

We are going to Florida as planned. Ari looked on the Disney website and found a good amount of stuff he'd want to do. plus, we will bring something to protect his hand (bubble wrap?!). Of course we then remembered that the point of this trip was to see family. I can guarantee that they won't jostle his arm. chris's dad has obtained golf carts for the kids to drive. oh my.

shopping is not fun

i tried to get some clothes for our trip today. was able to find the boys some things but I hated everything i saw. At least I hated it on me. didn't' find anything downtown, tried the mall (major yuck), always hear people say they find things at Target. All i found was crap. I guess I am not really sure what I like. i think I need a fashion consultant. Wonder if they do goodwill. That's most likely where I'll end up.

I am wondering if it is Portland or me.