Life in Maine

Life in Maine includes snowy days, blizzards, feeding the fire, etc. But with those things come absolutely breathtakingly beautiful days like yesterday for sledding with friends. Makili was fairly fearless and adorable. And Remick was happy as long as we let him eat as many cookies as he wanted:)Raph teaching Makili to go down backwards...

Blizzard

We got hammered with snow yesterday. Raph's school is still closed again today. Wimps. (That's what Mainers say about closing school for a 2nd day.) I wish I could say that it was a great day, but honestly I woke up in a grump. I had stayed home with the kids the entire previous day and yesterday I just wanted to get out. I envisioned a really awesome hike in the snow together as a family on snowshoes, if I was lucky. I didn't count on 50 mile/hour winds. And while we were forecasted to get less than a foot of snow, we definitely got more than that. With the winds, we ended up with huge drifts that are closer to 3 feet deep. (Don't ask Raph about how much snow we got though, cause he's like the Hawaiians with their waves - a ridiculously conservative estimator.) So our hike was a strike out, though we did venture out there a few times for a break from the inside craziness. It was nice to have a bigger house though. I made Makili run up and down the stairs for a while.

We painted a lot, which we've been doing for two day, and Makili did surprise me by mixing up hi subject matter a bit. He painted a really beautiful apple tree. I find it interesting that whatever I paint he paints. I painted a picture of Makili and Remick in the bath, and then he painted one too. Maybe that's how they start? I should take a picture of them cause they're awesome.

We ended our day though with a really awesome night hike together as a family. The wind had died down substantially and Makili was able to walk on our snowy road without wading through waist-high snow. We all had a flashlight, even Remick who was in the sled being dragged, though we were able to turn them off for a while and just be in the silent woods with a yellow sky. It was a much better ending to the day. And today we woke up and Raph made waffles, so it's getting better already.

Oh well.

Raph was messing with the computer tonight, and now there is tons of space on the harddrive and NOT A SINGLE PHOTO - and he's at hockey? I'm sure there some fancy computer business behind the lack of photos, but, I mean come on, what can I write about if I don't have cute cherubic faces to lure readers in with?

When I woke up today I had a note from Makili's school asking if I could sub. Lately, there are plenty of days when getting there by 9 is a stretch, much less by 8, with three lunches instead of one, extra clothes for 2 instead of 1 - they get so dirty!, and myself in some semblance of order. But we did get there by 8! And then the teacher was there? She hadn't gotten my message, so had come anyway, so my day just started extra early.

Our buddy Laird came over after school, and it is so fascinating to watch Makili and Laird play (or any other group of young children I suppose). The way they have to work everything out and invent their own rules and all that. It has really changed Makili to be around other kids regularly. Laird is good for him, I think. Laird is the youngest of three boys, so he knows about all the big kid stuff (like bad guys, shooting, jail, being dead, monsters, etc.), but he's wildly creative. Makili is pretty literal. It might be his age (Laird is a full year older) or it might be partly a first child thing, but he is not prone to stepping outside the box. It drives my crazy since I define myself by my creativity at times. Makili wasn't interested in drawing AT. ALL. until quite recently. I was lucky if I could coerce him into drawing his favorite letter - H, but he certainly wouldn't draw people or anything else. Lately he will draw nothing but Lightning and Mater, which was sort of interesting at first, but I mean come on! We have made play-doh lightning countless times, Mack, Mater a gazillion times. It just doesn't end. Right when we moved into our house he did spice up my life with a few house drawing and some really quality drawings of our new potty, but he got over that quick.

So anyway, Laird has no lack of creativity. It is fascinating to see the two of them work this out, because for many things, Makili sees one way to do something. "No you do it this way." I hear that a lot. He certainly hasn't learned that there is more than one way to skin a cat. (What a weird expression, huh?) Today though, I heard Laird telling Makili that his people can't fly. In my head I'm thinking, "really Laird, you're going to squash the single creative flicker in Makili's imagination?" but they quickly worked it out. Makili's people could fly over the pillow, but only over the pillow (magic pillow?). I think their peoples were at war, sadly, even though I tried to get them to work together to build something? I guess Makili's peoples had an unfair advantage with their flying capabilities.

This story really goes nowhere except to point out that kids are weirdos, and I actually had half an hour of free time on my hands.

Hard Drive Space (and everything I ate yesterday) Revealed!

Raph made some room for me on the computer so I could download pictures again, including a photoshoot of my little love. I am so completely enamored with this little guy. So full of personality you wouldn't believe.







In other news, I spent six hours puking my brains out last night (take it back, EMMA!:). Which would have been followed by blissful sleep except poor Makili starting puking for six hours almost the minute I stopped. Poor Ann was here and not a one of us got any sleep last night! Makili is in fighting condition today, though my recovery hasn't been quite so quick. Hopefully tomorrow things will look up.

Conversations with Makili

This morning over breakfast:

Makili: Mom, I just saw something fall out of the tree. I think it was an acorn.

Mom: That's a really good guess, but those trees aren't oak trees - the ones with acorns. That tree is a horse-chestnut (remember collecting them?) and the other one is a maple tree.

Makili (with the light turning on in his brain): Oh! That's the tree that grows maple syrup?

Mom: Yup!

Makili (turning to look out some other windows): What about those trees over there?

Mom: That one is a maple tree too and so it that one, and the one behind it is a poplar tree.

Makili (again with lights on!): Oh that tree grows our popcorn!



Randomly while playing:

Makili: Mom, is the inside of my mouth dark?

Mom: Yeah, I guess so.

Makili: Is the inside of your mouth dark too? Can I see?

Mom: Uh, okay. (Opening mouth)

Makili: The inside of your mouth is dark just like mine and Mater's!



After school one day (the sadness and sweetness of this just breaks my heart)

Makili: Mom, some of the kids were being mean guys today at school, so I had to be a mean guy too.

Mom: What do you mean they were being mean guys?

Makili: They were talking mean and saying I couldn't play.

Mom: You know the rule at school. You can't say someone else can't play. Did you tell them that you didn't like the way they were talking.

Makili (emphatically): I don't want to be a mean guy (my heart swooning). And I don't want the other kids to be mean guys either!

Today was a big day.

I bought bras that aren't nursing bras (we're not quite done with that trip, but the investment still seems sound).

I took a shower in OUR shower, that I helped tile. It did, for the record, leak a little, but nothing a little cocking won't take care of.

(But I didn't download any pictures because Raph has yet to clear some space on the computer.)

I got to meet my old friend Emma's boyfriend when they came over for dinner. And though he didn't hang any doors as was promised:), and Makili literally spat in each of their faces (oh this new child of mine is throwing some serious challenges my way!), we had a really great time seeing them. It's nice when you still like your old friends.

Our New Years Day ended with night-time sledding. Raph and I and the kids went with Ny and Abram and Kane and Ploy sledding down a steep (by my standards) hill in the dark in the middle of a golf course. Ny had never been sledding before and rolled down the hill in one big sprawl several times, but each and every time she got up laughing and ready to go again. Makili wanted to go down right away with Raph or I and didn't fuss a bit. He thought it was great. By the end of the night (when the kids were all fairly delirious from being over-tired) he was sledding down the hill by himself over and over again. What impressed me most actually was that he walked up the hill by himself every time. He and Kane were content to slide or roll down the hill on their butts when someone else was using the sled. They were really fun.

Remick was very hesitant. I finally bribed him with chocolate to go down with Raph. He screamed like a banshee the entire way down. Then he went right back to worrying about Makili and Raph while sitting on my lap. He would whimper every time someone went down a hill, until we shined the flashlight on them and showed them that they were alright. Then out of the blue when I asked him if he wanted to go down with me (which I did constantly) he said yes. He whimpered a little bit as we went down the hill, but as soon as we got to the bottom, he said "gain." Unfortunately, he didn't walk up the hill by himself, and carrying him up the hill twice was more of a workout than I had had in years. But, it was great fun.

Some photoless thoughts for the new year.

What a year - I went a little overboard on the pictures!

We ended the year with friends, sharing a raclette dinner (a cool Swiss meal thing), and watching the kids bust a groove. It was so fun. Here are some other moments from 2010.





























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And today.
In many ways 2010 was the most stressful I can remember. The first year of the flower business, packing up my whole entire house, managing the work on the house while taking care of the kids, and then moving back into our house. Those events truly almost put me over the edge. But like most things they also brought me some of the greatest joy. I feel so truly blessed with the lovely house that was built by family and friends, and so completely awed by their sets of skills and gracious generosity. It was hard to need so much help and to have so many people fill that void and trying to learn that "done" is a relative state, but also a place from which to go forward. I am also truly humbled by the work involved in farming, even on the small scale that I sold flowers this summer, but in it I found an incredibly rewarding creative outlet that I can do while having the kids with me.

Here is a list of some of our highlights of 2010:

• moving into a house that can accommodate us (and guests!) now and into the future.
• being overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and family helping us with our house.
• making money growing flowers!
• making bouquets weekly and giving flowers to friends and family.
• a strengthening circle of friends who get together frequently - taking our kids to the Nutcracker, to the beach, to eachother's houses, and getting together as adults.
• seeing some old friends - Emma, Camille, Bob, Gina, Ethan, Isaac, John, Gwen, Dan
• surfing for my 32nd birthday
• winter solstice bonfire at the Mastersons
• watching my children laugh together
• Makili jumping off of the rocks into the ocean
• Makili ice-skating fearlessly
• laughing at my mom playing hide-n-seek with Makili and Remick (this involves sitting on the ground with a basket on your head.)
• camping in Acadia
• finding a preschool that is a good match for Makili (and me!)
• befriending the farmers at work (the farmers' market)
• meeting Rudy Olivianne and Ploy
• watching Makili and Gabrielle play and run in Arkansas
• getting to know Remick and his personality - the musical, very verbal little thing who cracks himself up and brings so much joy to our lives.
• when my kids started sleeping till 7:00!
• eating out of the garden (still!)
• seeing our friends Mark and Lauren get back together after nearly divorcing
• having many family members gather for Rudy's memorial
• seeing Makili knead the bread dough with Annma.
• Remick's total adoration of Paka and Opa
• having Becky in our lives again
• feeling comfortable leaving my kids with babysitters (even if forced by necessity)
  
• sitting on the dock in Branford
• bringing a bit of simplicity to Christmas
• Matty's baby shower - pin the fetus on the pregnant momma!
  
• the 4th of July party of course
  
• Makili calling people "scurvy dogs" while dressed as a pirate.
• volunteering to pick vegetables for the Plant-a-Row for the hungry program
• the Master Gardener program
• jumping off the dock with the Weyants at Sondog Gardens
• taking 5 kids under the age of 3 to the beach on a 96 degree day and having to walk a mile to get there (oh yeah, except I left them there!)
• watching a summer storm come in with my mom at York Beach
• the introduction of the "toy troll" into our house
• hiking Agamenticus with Ann and Larry
• mushroom hunting with the Mastersons
  

I'm sure I could think of more, but at the moment, the kids need one last snuggle from their mama in 2010. And we have a lot of memories to make in 2011 - starting tomorrow.