Christmas Moments

I've been trying very hard to keep things simple for Christmas this year, but it's not really working.  Between school & work functions, there's barely been time to get the essentials done, let alone stop to catch our breath.  I'm still trying to mentally step back and enjoy those little moments.

You know, the ones like when your first grader (third from the left, bottom row) towers over all of the other kids at the school Christmas concert.  And then she follows her grandmother's singing advice to a tee and opens her mouth as wide as she can to bellow Frozen's "Let It Go" at the top of her lungs.

Or the moment you spy your five year old boy absentmindedly playing footsie with a cute Christmas elf.

Or the look on his face when he sports the Rudolph nose he picked up somewhere.

And capturing Annabel & Thane's first photo opp with Santa. 

Good Times!

Seventh Heaven

Annabel turned 7 earlier this week.  While we are still processing this startling fact, Annabel seems to be taking it all in stride.  Why, just this evening after she was asked to do the dishes, she very strongly retorted that she would only have to put up with this for 11 more years.  GULP - that's not very long at all!

In the meantime, we continue to live and play as usual.  We celebrated her birthday with a My Little Pony theme.  We made our own pizza's (didn't you know that horses love pizza?), made sparkly, bejeweled tiaras, and created our very own cutie marks.  Of course, opening presents was the highlight for all of the giggly girls present.

The girls played and a had a wonderful time.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!  It's going to be a great year!

The Pledge

For reasons that are still unknown to us, Thane was chosen to lead the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker at the kid's school a few weeks ago.  Annabel reported that he didn't mess up (high praise indeed), and that he even tagged on a cordial "Have a nice day!" at the end.  This is a big step for our shy little man.  He even picked out some dress clothes for the occasion. 

Great job, Thane!

Over the River and Through the Woods

The weather is getting cold fast.  A couple of weeks ago, we took advantage of a brief warm spell to take a walk along the Machias River. There is a trail on the opposite side of the river, and people walk and jog their often.  The autumn landscape was so sparse and beautiful that I thought I'd share.

Enjoy!

Giving Thanks

Our Thanksgiving this year was busier than usual - and we were OK with that.  It was our first big meal in our new dining room, and we were able to fit 12 people around the tables with no trouble.

On Thanksgiving Day, friends Troy and Melissa came over for dinner.  We enjoyed all of the traditional foods of the day, but what we loved even more was getting a chance to know these dear friends and their family a little better.  It turns out that Melissa and I grew up in towns next to each other, and she graduated from high school with an old friend of mine.  It is truly a small world!

All of the kids especially enjoyed our Gratitude tree, in which we each wrote things for which we were thankful.  It made the perfect centerpiece.

Two days later, we hosted our neighbors, the Campbells, over for another feast, this time with ham and other fixings.  Seven kids make for a fun (if not loud) evening.  We even made turkeys out of cookies, frosting and candy (what's not to love?!)

Here's Luke with his happy turkey.  I was attempting to take a pic of each of the kids with their creations, but this is how I found Annabel:

Oh well - I'm pretty sure that she was thankful!

Grampa Heydenburg

I've been putting off this post for awhile.  It's not for lack of want, but somehow the fact that led up to the post has been too raw to set to words.

You see, I lost another grandfather last month.  Don't get me wrong.  I have friends who have had to learn to live without their parents, let alone grandparents.  I know how incredibly fortunate I was to have grown up with four doting relatives.  I am grateful for every visit, card, and hug over the years, and I cherish sweet memories.

I guess the thing that gets me is that with all of the wonders of modern cell phones and unlimited call plans, we are in touch with people more than ever before.  But somehow in the sheer volume of communication, its so easy to forget to say what really matters.

Perhaps I feel this more acutely because my Grampa battled Alzheimers and, toward the end, huge chunks of his life were lost to him.  It's so insidious, this memory eating disease.  

I have often wondered at comments made at memorial services.  Why on earth do we keep silent until a cherished person is gone?  Surely loved ones would be better served by knowing what they meant to us before they passed on?  The fortunate ones know death is coming and are able to speak freely while frail hearts and minds can still acknowledge heartfelt sentiments.  For those to whom death comes unexpectedly, there is no such consolation.

I realize that life is busy and that talking to others is as easy as pushing a speed dial button.  I just hope that I will remember to purposely share my thoughts with loved ones while they can still be heard.

So, without further ado...

 

Grampa - You and Gramma lived your lives simply before the Lord.  You treated people fairly, were generous & kind, and you left a strong family legacy.  Through the good and especially the bad, you were devoted to each other.  We will miss that twinkle in your eye and that quick wit.  We'll also wish to hear some of your sound advice and insight during life's tough seasons. But most of all, we'll miss your gentle and kind heart.  Until we meet again, please know that you are loved and missed deeply.

Four Peas in a Pod

We had the best week with my folks who flew up to Maine from their brand new home state of Arizona.  Life has been incredibly crazy for them over the past two months, and we are grateful that they took time to head our way.  We enjoyed lobster together (of course!), and we had fun showing them around the area.  They even watched the kids for a couple of days so that Jordan and I could get away - YAHOO!!

As much as I enjoyed myself, the kids had the best time of all!  Annabel made a pie with Gramma (let's hope she picks up on the key to the perfect pie crust - because I sure haven't!)

Grampa and Thane opted for more manly pursuits - like watching for wildlife and playing outside in the cold.

Mostly, though, they preferred to snuggle on the couch watching movies, talking, playing games, doing puzzles and reading books.

They were truly four peas in a pod.

Follow the Candy Lined Road

Happy Halloween...

 

...and watch out for the flying monkeys!

A Day on the Farm

Winter is coming - a fact which becomes harder to ignore with our brisk mornings and shorter days.  But for a few more weeks, it's pumpkin season.  We weren't able to grow our own pumpkins this year, so we headed off to the northwest side of Bangor, where we spent the day at the Treworgy Family Farm. 

First, the kids utilized their highly developed sense of direction (which they clearly get from their mother- NOT!), to guide us through the corn maze.  This year's maze was in the shape of a locomotive, which Thane found delightful. After an hour of deliriously wandering, parched by the scorching sun, we finally stumbled upon the exit.  Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure felt like it at times.  These farm folks are marketing geniuses, though.  That ice cream seemed downright essential by the end of the maze!

After lunch, we sped off to the 3 acre pumpkin patch, where Annabel was just sure we'd NEVER find the perfect pumpkin.  She needn't have worried. 

The tractor hay ride was a blast, and driving past the apple orchard was just too tempting to pass up.  We came home with a couple of bushels full of fresh, crisp Macs.

We picked some lovely fall raspberries from the greenhouse, and then enjoyed our ice cream cones and some apple cider donuts at the farm stand.

 

The kids chanted "Hooray for pumpkins!" almost the entire way home.  Hooray indeed.

Acadia National Park

With much pleading and imploring, we finally managed to tear Jordan away from house & farm work for the day.  Our destination:  lovely Acadia National Park, which is about 2 1/4 hours from our new home.  The park was busy on this holiday weekend in the midst of Maine's peak foliage season, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Our first stop was a beach, where we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch.

We were babysitting a friend's daughter, Marlee, and she seemed to enjoy the park just as much as we did.

Here's a view of Cadillac Mountain, from a small inlet.

And here's a view of the inlet from Cadillac Mountain.

We even captured the day with an elusive family photo.

What a great day!

Fairy Land

Annabel, Thane and I all enjoyed a nice 4 day weekend, mostly because the weather was gorgeous and I kept kicking the kids outside.  After the first day, I was getting tired of hearing "I'm bored," so I gave the kids a mission:  build a fairy house.  To my relief, they did.  And they even one-upped me by building an entire village!

Fairy Land was placed on the side porch, where they hoped they could entice the fickle fairies to come out of hiding from the high grass just beyond the porch.  Annabel made a sign imploring the fairies to please come, please eat and please stay.

They even made a handmade sign directing any hungry visitors to the berry store.

A circus was provided to further entice any pixies, who we all know thrive on frivolity and daring pursuits.

Thane's major contribution was a barn, of course.  He also added a cool little tree made out of an old lobster buoy and some leaves.

It doesn't appear that any flying elves have taken advantage of our hospitality thus far, but we haven't given up hope just yet.  We'll keep you posted!

HAPPY FALL!

High Five!

We celebrated Thane's 5th birthday with a big pirate bash.  Our neighbor's, the Campbells, joined us for the festivities.  We had a feast fit for the fiercest of pirates, followed by pirate stories, a treasure hunt and a walk the plank contest.

The kids loved sailing the "high" seas, and then they helped me decorate the cake by making a pirate ship out of legos.

We all had a wonderful day celebrating this sweet boy, who is growing up way too fast!

We love yarrrrrrr, matey!

Pumpkin Chucking!

When you live miles and miles from civilization, you tend to get creative with your down time.  Here in Machias where summers are short and winters are long, we try to cram as much community activity into the few months of warmth as we can.  Today, for instance, people from miles around came out to watch local schools compete in the pumpkin chucking contest.

Here was the winning team with their homemade contraption (catapult? trebuchet?).  They placed a huge barrel weighted down with concrete in the middle of the weapon.  When they cranked the barrell up toward the top of their contraption, the arm of the sling was pushed down to the ground.

They loaded the pumpkin and dropped the weight, which unleashed the sling.

The pumpkin goes flying through the air...

...and makes a huge splash as it plummets into the river.

Voila!  Instant red neck fun.

Bucks Harbor

Jordan spent last Tuesday working as a stern man on a lobster boat.  He learned two very important lessons:  1.  Dramamine isn't necessarily 100% effective in 10-ft seas.  2.  If you can get through spending the first 3 hours with your head over the side of the boat, lobster fishing is actually a lot of fun.

It's hard to resist hours on the bold coast of Maine.  So Jordan, who has always wanted a boat and was unable to lug our old skiff cross country, is looking at lobster boats.  One of his favorites is currently anchored in Bucks Harbor (don't ask me which one).

While we were looking at boats, we came across this hidden beach at low tide.  It reminds me that the ocean is so powerful - and that rocks and trees that hold on against the relentless tide are pretty strong too!