Rudy turned one, but my camera died.

Little Rudy turned one this weekend. He's practically just as big as Remick and about equally as demanding at the moment, but he is SO cute, and serious. Matty had a little birthday party for him which was fun. They're living in Raph's Aunt Pammy's house, since she moved to the Caribbean, and it was fun to see them in a house. And we got one of our last glimpses of Abram and Ny and the kids before they go back to Thailand next week. The great Matty dispersal! When we moved back here, we came to be near family, and they almost all moved away since then! I miss the old days, but I understand people need to move on I guess. Anyway, Rudy's a cutie...

Mini Photo-shoot with Mary and Peter

Mary is one of my farmer friends, even though she really isn't a farmer either. She lives on an absolutely dreamy farm though, and she does their education side, since she is a teacher too. Her husband is the vegetable farmer on the otherwise organic dairy farm. I was so excited to finally meet little Peter who is complete love. My kids were a bit wild in her 300+ year old farm worker dwelling, but she took it in like air. It was a good glimpse into her future anyway. She's so cool. I have girl-crush on her. And Peter. And their adorable house on the river. And she's crafty. Did I mention my girl-crush...
Remick took the picture below. That's the nicest picture of a pair of lips ever. Apparently he's meant for photography:)

Random updates.

We've had a lot of inside action this week between the broken leg and some chilly weather. I got this marble run at the dump on Wed, which has provided pretty much constant entertainment for the boys. Please note Remick wearing the rubber glove given to Makili by the Orthopedist on Thurs. Treasure! Both gloves are now in the freezer full of water for some fun this week.One day this week (they've all sort of blurred together at this point?) I woke up and though I saw an owl outside in our field. I was SO excited and hustled the boys to the window even though they didn't really care that much. So I threw my coat on and went outside to get a closer look. I looked up Maine owls on the internet and couldn't find one that looked like it, so I followed it all down the street to get a closer look before I finally decided that it was actually a baby hawk, which upon further research I now believe to be a Cooper's Hawk. I am pretty hopeful he'll call this area home.
This is an exciting new addition in our house - an upstairs bathroom!!!
And the barnwood floors now with finish in our bedroom. They look awesome and I sort of feel the need to give a little "I told you so" to all those who doubted me when I was out there pulling board off the barn in 40 degree weather. It was SO worth it!!
And I'm trying to remember this smiling face when I'm about to lose it from the whining. Thursday was great after he got the cast, but Friday I almost lost my shit. This kid is off, and it isn't just the broken leg. I don't know if he's sick or what but he has not been himself.
This is obviously pre-broken leg, but I just think it is so cute how Remick wants to do everything his brother does. Of course sometimes that leads to broken bones, but sometimes it's cute.
And this moment, I am enjoying some blissful serenity. My family went up to Ann's last night while I was at work. I think this is actually the first time I have ever been away from them both over night. I got to sleep in my own bed and lay there awake this morning. I got to do a little sewing and listen to great music. I got to blog and drink my coffee without waiting on anybody else. It was just the refresher I needed for another week.

Glimpsing Other's Lives

Watching Remick so quickly make due with his cast, scooting all over the floor with his cast sticking out ahead of him like a compass, almost brings me to tears. Okay, so it does bring me to tears, but I'm not known for hiding my emotions. I've read a few blogs of people whose children are battling pediatric cancer or prematurity, and they often talk about their children's ability to life life fully, bravely facing the obstacles in their way. They talk about the unfairness of having their children deal with such adversity. I in know way can begin to fully understand what have experience, I will say that seeing Remick make due with his cast, find new ways to aggravate his brother, and get around, and not seem at all affected by his obstacle gives me glimpses of these feelings. I feel badly that he can't jump off the couch like he normally does, that he won't be able to run around in the grass (though it's covered in snow this morning) now that we can finally go outside, that he won't get to go swimming in the pool we've booked for a few weeks from now. I am so thankful our period of adversity is so short. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child battling adversity forever. To see them and know all that they were missing out on, and to watch them face it all with a smile on their face. I really can't imagine that.

Magic Boot

That, my friends, is a cast, or as we've been calling it, a magic boot. Yes, little Remick took a tumble off a swing on Tuesday and got a sprial fracture to his tibia. He's quickly learning to scoot around with his magic boot, and I'm grateful to know what is wrong, since I spent a lot of yesterday waiting for news only to be told his x-ray was inconclusive. This morning at the specialist there was nothing inconclusive about what they saw in the same x-rays. They say he'll heal quickly and four weeks from now, be able to take it off. Poor guy.

A Send Off.

One of the families in our circle of friends is headed to California this spring. Ryan recently was hired by the DEA and had to be away from his family for five months for their version of boot camp, and now they're being "deployed" to San Diego. Some other friends rented the fish and game building a threw a little shin-dig for them this weekend. It was a nice time and the kids were certainly happy to see each other! I was given the job of coming up with kids' activities. Can you guess what they were?
Cape-decorating (yes I was somehow convinced to sew 15 capes ahead of time for this party!)


By the way, you know what's cuter than one baby in a kilt? TWO!
There was no shortage of sugar, and Madelyn was definitely not holding back:) Right out the of the bowl!
Coordinated t-shirts~!


And of course the face painting crayons were broken loose too!

So Much Going On

Our lives have been pretty full lately. So many things to write and show, but also warming weather which turns my attention quickly from an indoor focus to an outdoor one. We had a day near 70 this week, and I wasn't interested in sitting at the computer on a day like that. And even today, in the upper 40's, I spent an hour cleaning up the yard (so much yard work to do!!) and am headed back that way to work on some compost-spreading in the garden (already!) I'm trying to resist the urge to go spring crazy and be mindful of the fact that I don't need to have everything started in the greenhouse just yet, and that there will be many many beautiful days and ever warming windows of time to get the unlimited list of projects slowly pared down. To take it slow and enjoy things like Remick's face upon holding his first worm (REALLY wasn't so sure about it!) or Makili being fascinated with birds' nests and eggs, and collecting sprouting buckeyes. Here are some highlights of the week:

Makili's first sleepover:

Remick's obsession with rainboots. Never mind they are two sizes too big. If big brother has them, he NEEDS them!Renewed interest in the potty and face-painting crayons.



Finding a skateboard hidden in the junk in our yard!Getting laundry on the line

Digging in the compost pail (this has not been a highlight of my laundry pile.)
Looking for worms!!!
Makili's love for "his" garden, where he has already planted peas (a bit early, but can't hurt, right?)
Shrinking snow and gardens unleashed for the work of the season to begin! Happy SPRING!

Did it really happen?

My mom was here for a week and I almost feel like it didn't happen. This is a busy time for exchange student work and I had a huge training yesterday. I pretty much ignored my children all week since she was here and I feel like I barely spent time with her:( I think my iron must be low, cause I barely feel capable of functioning lately which doesn't help. My kids loved having Grammy here, and Remick in particular would completely ignore me if he didn't get the answer he wanted and turn directly to Grammy to get what he wanted. Sneaky little thing. We also we lucky enough to get a quick visit from my Aunt Suzanne who came up to spend a bit of time with us. It was SO nice to see her. I am such a lucky person.

I'm feeling a little down and sad this morning. I'm tired and my day started off with Makili crapping on the floor (he was naked and thought it was a fart!) and Remick coloring all over the couch while I was upstairs doing laundry. I'm trying to clear out the greenhouse but we still haven't built any shelves so I feel like I'm just moving mess from one area to another. And on top of all that, my mom is gone.

I'd pay money to see this.

She's a natural. That's all I have to say.