November 2011

We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Cashmans at Fred & Judy Edling's house. As always it was a day of delicious food and fun company.

The line-up of young turkey eaters: Henry, Cousin Ava, Cousin Bella, Ella, Jack & Sam.

Uncle Jim with Bella & Ava.

Aunt Lolo & Bella.

Judy & Kathy.

We've taken to doing regular "night walks" before bed this fall. This particular night Sam put on his knight's night tunic (i.e. reflector vest) and grabbed a wooden knife so he could slay dragons (trees) as we walked across campus. Squire Jack was of course right by his side.

The Olcotts joined us for breakfast one Sunday morning. Twins Liliana & Phoebe were awfully cute additions to our table setting.

Memory Lane: November 2010

Just one shot for November 2010 Memory Lane. This one melts my heart because it's all the little daily moments like this one that have bonded Sam & Jack so tightly.

October 2011

Last year we hired a chimney sweep to do an annual cleaning. Two guys arrived, scrubbed the chimney for 15 minutes and charged us $90. Hmmm...that doesn't look too difficult, thought my ever frugal husband. So, this year he bought his very own chimney brush for $80 and on one unseasonably warm October morning he climbed up to the rooftop to do the job himself. Sam even got to join him up there - just like Bert from Mary Poppins - a dream come true. All went very well initially. However, while afterwards cleaning out our wood stove pipe in the living room, the shop vac blasted out a huge puff of soot. A fine black powder now covered every inch of our living room! Luckily we were both in good humor that day because what followed was a day and a half of the most thorough cleaning we've ever done...every item in that room was either vacuumed, washed, wiped, and/or shaken out. Depending on how you look at it, we either should have saved ourselves the hassle and hired a professional...or, we got both a clean chimney and a clean living room for only $80 and some elbow grease!

In other exciting news this fall, Sam learned to ride on two wheels! We were pleasantly surprised by how quickly he took to it. I had pictured a long, painful process full of tears and meltdowns, but apparently this boy was born to ride.

And perhaps not too far behind, here comes Jack...

Some good fun in the fall leaves:

This is how the leaves looked before they turned brown!

Bowdoin's campus provides fantastic place for kids to ride and run. We feel lucky to have it as an extension to our backyard.

Daddy and Jack on campus.

Halloween 2011 was fantastic. Sam continues to love dress-up so prepping for Halloween is full of excitement. This year he decided to be Professor Potts, the inventor, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Kevin and I collaborated and came up with a costume that very much pleased the professor. After all, what little boy wouldn't be thrilled with rockets on his back?!

Jack wore the hand-me-down Max costume from last year. It is a bit big on him but he was thrilled and seemed to especially love his long bushy tail.

My friend Hiroko came over with her three kids, Coco, Ellie and Auggie, and we marched together in the Halloween parade. Ellie was especially sweet with Jack and held his tail up much of the way down Maine Street. So cute.

Jack, Sam, Coco and Ellie.

Hiroko with Auggie, Jack and Ellie.

My Uncle Tom and Aunt MaryLou came for a visit this fall. They live in Japan so it has been many years since we've had a visit together. After graduating from high school I lived for six months outside of Tokyo with Tom & MaryLou and their five young kids (they later had a sixth, my cousin Grace). After experiencing their young family many years ago, it was a treat to have them experience mine. Having raised six children, they are experts on little ones and made fast friends with Sam & Jack.

Uncle Tom playing trains with the boys.

Mormor, Aunt MaryLou, Uncle Tom, Sam & Jack.

MaryLou showed the boys how to make leaf boats.

And how to be the wind!

MaryLou, my mom, & Tom. Thanks for including us in your east coast tour, Aunt MaryLou & Uncle Tom!

We also had another fun visit from Morfar who was working all month on a project in Massachusetts.

Morfar & Sam bonded over books.

This one on how things work was a favorite for grandfather and grandson alike.

Thanks for trekking north, Dad!

Memory Lane: October 2010

Halloween 2010! Sam wanted to be a monster so we chose Max from Where the Wild Things Are. It took me an embarrassingly long time to sew his costume but I must admit that I was pretty pleased with myself in the end. Sam loved the costume and wore it almost daily straight through Christmas. Jack, on the other hand, was not as thrilled with Halloween 2010. We started off on the wrong foot by waking him from his nap to go to the town-wide parade down Maine St. Our little giraffe was cold, cranky, and not overly impressed with the whole ordeal.

Uncle Willy and his girlfriend, Alicia, came for a visit on their way from a vacation to Acadia. The boys love spending time with them.

We gave Sam a djembe drum for his birthday. It was a hit!

I took this picture of Jack looking so cute all bundled up for a walk...

I thought I'd just pop out his puggy (pacifier) to capture a smile...

Bad idea.

Quick recovery...phew.

September 2011

September is typically a glorious month in Maine. With some rather warm weather this year, it felt like a true extension of summer. Here are few images of how we spent some of those lovely days.

My sister snapped the two photos above with the very groovy Hipstamatic app. I'm a sucker for this vintage look and love the timelessness it gives to an image. Kristin pointed out that the shot of Sam & Gordie playing in the water captures the graceful quality of little boys at play. In real life it can sometimes feel like crazy energy to adults, but to kids I bet it feels more fluid and free. I'll need to gaze at this photo now and then to remind myself of that!

Aunt Kristin with her two best boys and her favorite birthday trifle.

Sam with Uncle Bobby and Gordie.

Sam is a kid of phases. Here he is in his "tucked, too-high short shorts" phase. Unfortunately I didn't capture the look as well as I had hoped, but let's just say there were days when one couldn't read the writing on his shirt because his favorite blue short shorts were nearly up to his armpits. Oh dear. Glad that phase seems to have passed.

Our local health food store keeps a small fleet of kid size shopping carts. As long as the boys are not in race car mode, it make shopping together fun, easy and awfully cute.

Sam has always shown a passion for listening to and making music, but for a long time he had no interest in drawing anything beyond scribbles. Much to my delight he eventually starting making more intentional pictures. This "pirate ship" was among his early representational drawings. I was so excited that I took a picture!

Morfar came for a visit and we went for beautiful boat ride in Casco Bay.

Captain Jack.

Kristin and Bobby have a wonderful skiff that is easy to beach. Here they are securing the boat while Sam & Gordie play.

We went apple picking on a humid, 70-something degree day. Even without the requisite crisp air we still managed to have fun. In fact, we got carried away and accidentally picked 32 pounds of apples. Oops. Many friends and relatives will be receiving apple sauce this Christmas!

Sam turned FIVE at the end of the month! He opted for a family-only party this year which was small but nice. Unfortunately Kevin's sister and family got all the way to Maine and then had to turn around due to a sick puppy.

Sam on his real birthday,

at his party,

and at preschool.

Five is good.