Blue Skies!

The above picture is what we experienced last Thursday and Friday…isn’t it beautiful?! Big fluffy flakes-I think we must have accumulated about 3 inches. But weather changes quickly, because today is Tuesday, and this has been the last few days:

Coming in for a landing...

beautiful weather for the park!

zoom!

It’s been gorgeous since Sunday. Thank you Jesus!

Grandma came through Surgery fine but is understandably worn out and still has a few little heart issues to deal with. So keep the prayers coming…we love you Grandma!

And to all my friends who I have neglected sending emails to lately-I’m waaaayyyy behind-so sorry! Let me catch up on my house a bit and you’ll get a well deserved hello!

Stay up there, already!

Don’t you wish the leaves would just stay on the trees? They are so pretty up there in the fall, and are even pretty on the ground, but then they start to pile up. Therein lies the problem.

Beautiful! When it's a leaf, here or there.

And pine needles...let's not even get started with pine needles.

Combine the two, and you're really asking for trouble.

Maybe the boys could haul 'em all away?

Maine life ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at! Or it is, actually, depending on your sinus situation in the fall. But boy, you have to be of hardy stock to live in a place like this. Because it not only involves raking, but hauling and stacking, too.

from this...

to that.

But for me, it’s still The Way Life Should Be. (Although I could be easily enticed to move south about mid-February through, oh, April. I would have no problem with that. Just so you know.)

Mini-Date on a Sunday Afternoon

Too often lately, this little family has been workingworkingworking (two houses is no small matter…two houses which need work, that is!) That includes Sunday afternoons…a day in which we so desperately wish to “rest”, so today we decided to do just that.

While Daddy took Jack, Momma took Ryan on a mini-date. Ry is my Mr. Independent, and Jack is Mr. Momma’s Boy, so my dear oldest doesn’t often get the attention he really, truly needs. Therefore, today it was the two of us and the park.

Leaf peeping, rock throwing, seagull chasing, picture taking. Perfect afternoon. And this verse kept running through my head…

“You will go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands”. (Isaiah 55:12)

Tell me now, does it not look like this nature is bursting forth into song? And aren’t the trees clapping their hands?

pretty ladies, all in a row...

happy kid by the river

big splash!

(oops)

Sorry, I couldn’t stop!

An hour with my son at the park, reveling in the fantastic display that God created for our enjoyment…equals “rest” to me. Having fun with my family this evening, enjoying each other’s company instead of painting/sanding/floor laying…even better!

So Many Posts, So Little Time!

I have a plethora of things to share with you, but I don’t want this post to be a mile long, either!  I’m just so…joyful lately, that I can’t get enough happy thoughts out of my head.  Although I was hesitant to let go of summer, and although it really hasn’t even sunk in that it’s gone yet, this fall has wiped those sad-that-summer-is-over thoughts right out of my mind.

It’s GORGEOUS here!!

Mom called me early this morning and said “I just dropped dad off at work-get ready right now because I’m coming to get you!”  And she did!  I woke the sleepy boys up by saying “Let’s go to Dunkin’ Donuts!” which made them pop right out of bed, of course.  Not every morning that you get to start your day with a donut.  We hit up Waterville and bought pumpkin coffee and pumpkin muffins and chocolate donuts, then headed straight for Belgrade Lakes.  The fantastic thing is that although the color is awesome on the way to W-ville, it’s tempered a little bit after that, meaning we get to enjoy it that much longer down south.  Yipee.  

Here is a little “photo tour” of our morning…

Dock behind Day's General Store

When we arrived at Day's, there was a couple sitting at a picnic table with coffee and newspapers. Once they finished, they hopped in their boat (far right) and toodled on home across the lake. My kind of life!

The flower shop

Minus the shadow of the power line, isn't that climbing vine pretty?

I want to use this color scheme for our house someday.

Just beginning to turn...

"Riding" sculptures at the art gallery

YeeHaw!

I’ve often said that some of the best picture opportunities are right on I-95, but it’d be a major risk to pop out of the car on the side of the road and snap while vehicles are whizzing by!  So I took a few anyway, which aren’t that superb since we were going 65 mph and they are through the window.  But what can you do?

river, stil as glass.

home we go...

Oh, I have so many more pictures.  You have no idea.  When I start snappin, I start snappin!

I want to share with you soon some memories of our evening walks, and some really, really fun vintage finds I uncovered that will definitely be gracing my walls and couches…and of course I have more Nora for you!  Oh, and I was chosen to start doing book reviews for Waterbrook/Multnomah!  Ahhh! (I’ll be blogging all about the books).  All that and I’m strongly considering moving my blog to a format that is better for photography.  Do y’all blogspotters enjoy your formats?  Are they easily customizable?

Well, that’s that for now.  Have a fabulous weekend, filled with apple cider and pumpkin hunting!

More Nora

Fall flowers!  I love the light in the first picture; it’s on our neighbor’s stoop.  And I’m crazy about the color of the fence in the second picture.  It’s right outside of Uncle Deans in Waterville, for the locals.  It’s the prettiest pale blue. My camera didn’t focus on the flowers so much, but that fence is something else.

Speaking of pale blue-I was wandering through our Dexter house yesterday, and realized that although I am NOT a pastel person, our house is filled with it.  Pale blue, sage green, buttercream…what is WRONG with me?    Actually, it does really lighten the house up, and with what I had planned for the walls, it wouldn’t of turned out very girly at all.  But it still made me laugh.  Poor boys, surrounded by all that day in and day out.  Hopefully prospective buyers will either love it or think “at least THAT will be easy to paint over!”

And here is our second Nora letter, for your laugh of the day!

The Country Fair

Oh, ya’ll I shouldn’t be blogging.  You should see my kitchen! (No you shouldn’t).  I tell you, I never realized how spoiled I was having a dishwasher.  Actually, for the first 5 years of marriage I didn’t have one, but it was just the 2 of us, so no biggie.  But after having one for the last 4 1/2 years, and then moving here and NOT having one…good grief.  Blessedly, we ordered one which Erick is going to install tonight.  In the meantime it’s taking up space in the middle of my tiny kitchen, the countertop is covered with the dish drainer and drying dishes and everything is just a grand mess.  But that is not what this blog is about, so I better get to the jist of the story, right?

Monday we went to the Harmony Fair, which reminded me so much of the Curry County Fair which I grew up with.  The animals, the 4H displays…it was fantastic.  There were fancy tractors and cars; even a parade, and I have to tell you that I am KICKING myself because I didn’t get a video of the boys’ reaction to the parade.  We have a special spot for our local parade, up on a little hill, set apart from the crowd.  So the boys have never really caught on to the  fact that floats very often throw candy to kids.

They realized Monday that floats do, in fact, throw candy to kids.  It was absolutely hilarious.  They were almost unbelieving that candy would just be tossed to them willy nilly.  Talk about two giddy boys!  We aren’t really a candy family-it’s a very “special” treat thing, so to have it thrown at them in gobs and masses delighted them to no end.  (It is now tucked away in a hidden spot to be given out occasionally…with the hopes that it will be forgotten about completely!)

After the parade, well, I’ll just post pictures which will sum up what we saw.  What a good day we had!

sweet 2 day old calf!

petting a llama

can't pass up fair fries!

there was a young girl sitting on her grandpa's lap steering his Farmall in the parade. Memories! That used to be me on the farm, sitting in my grandpa's lap with my hands on the wheel...

I have quite a few pictures of bright shiny tractors-I loved wandering through and snapping away. But nothing beats a weathered workhorse!

pretty cars, too...

colorful prizewinners-I am absolutely going to garden and can next year!

Ok, must get to parenting my children.  Ya’ll have a great weekend, and catch those local fairs if you can!

Camden Windjammer Festival

Last Saturday, in pictures:

The crowd starts to gather for the Lobster Trap Race

Would you let your children race across these?

25 traps, strung together with rope...

Standing by, in case he was needed!

Most kids ended up like this, about 4 traps in.

Now THIS kid...made it look SO easy. He literally flew! He was last years winner, running 2500 traps before he gave out. He won this year, too, but I'm unsure of the total count. He was AMAZING. And just 6 years old!

Ryan wanted to run.  I actually think he has a good build for it.  But I can’t imagine ever giving my “ok” for him to do anything like this!

The boys found some shade under a temporary gazebo during our picnic

and then they somersaulted up and down the hill at the park. over and over again!

We were able to tour the sailboats. Jack thought we were actually going to sail, and was seriously distressed that it was just a "tour". He and Ry were able to "steer" in place on the Mary Day, which made up for the disappointment a little bit!

We wrapped up our Camden visit with a sailboat cupcake from Boynton McKay, before heading on to Linconville to let the boys play at the beach. Oh ya'll...I'm not ready for summer to end! How about you?

A Good Day

You know what verse was running through my mind today? Luke 2:14…

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men!”

Oh, ya’ll it was an almost achingly perfect day.  Beautiful, Gorgeous, are you KIDDING me, God?  Is this for real?

I just wanted to run up to people and give them hugs!  Seriously!  Say, “Do you realize what a gift this is?”  You feel such wonderful weather, and see such beauty, and ponder the fact that God intended perfection, and peace, and that one day what we see here will be what we will eventually experience, but a thousand times better.  Man.

Mom and I did our Route 1 day trip…Belfast, Camden, Rockland.  It was just…very good.  I’ve about run out of descriptions!

Camden Bay

I didn’t snap too many pictures.  But I couldn’t help but get the next shot.  It’s in honor of my southern friends. 

Grits! Doesn't that beat all?

Well, it’s high time I crawl into bed.  Just wanted to document this day before I hit the hay.  And just gotta say it again…

Glory to GOD!

Vacation Part One

Erick and I are currently on a little trip in Newburyport, Mass.  It’s hot as blazes outside, so we are  hangin’ out in our air conditioned room right now; thought I’d use the time to blog a little bit about the trip we just took with the kids!

They’ve been so good this summer, what with our bouncing around from house to house, and the endless work everything has entailed.  We figured they deserved a little treat, so we took them to meet this guy:

For non-parents, that is Thomas the Tank Engine, hero of those ridiculously overpriced train toys.

It was a great surprise for them…we didn’t tell them what we were doing until we arrived.  We were able to take a ride on the train and partake in the various other activities that were offered, including chomping down on 3 dollar corn dogs for lunch.  ($3!!!!)

train ride

We also camped out and had a blast taking an evening dip in the ocean, and then one in the morning around 7:30 am.  The water was warm. In Maine.  We took off without our rain fly, which was actually great because rain wasn’t on the horizon, and we drifted off staring at the stars.  Threw some roasted hot dogs and smores in for good measure.

isn't this what camping should look like?

view from inside the tent. cute kid included.

water baby

deeper and deeper...

sunset swim

silly daddy

we had the beach to ourselves in the morning!

they were offering me gifts of seaweed. awww.

sandy toes. the sand came home with us and ended up trailing it's way through the house...

home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Well, we are getting ready to go find a place to eat, then take a stroll on the boardwalk.  Hopefully it’s cooled down a bit out there.  Good night!

Lord, Help.

I’m hooked.  This is really ridiculous.  I let my children eat them before breakfast, just so I could have some too.  Ack.  I’m such a good mother!

Good news is, we just shared two packages, making that 2 Little Bites a piece.  Now I do believe they are all gone, and I’m going to have to practice some serious self control not to make a mad dash to Shop n Save to purchase more.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

***

Erick’s last day of summer school is today, so tomorrow we are finally going to treat the boys to a well deserved vacation.  We are taking them to see Thomas the Train near Boothbay at the Railway Village, then we are camping out at Hermit Island, fitting in some time at Popham Beach.  I’m so thrilled.  Monday, E and I will head out for a couple of nights, and we plan to spend a day in Boston.  It’s a pre-10 year anniversary trip; our anny is in October, but it’s hard to find the time for a vacation during the school year.  Anyone have any suggestions for must-see’s around Beantown?  Even though we are only about 3 hours away, I haven’t been there since vacation when we lived in New Mexico.  That was eons ago!

***

And here is a little sneak peak of the New House.  Be still, my heart…I’m so happy I could burst.  I finally feel “at home”, as much as I can before I reach my true Home.  I can’t wait to share “afters”.  I can’t wait to put my own spin on the place.  I’ll follow up with a few more pics and stories in the next post!

Have a great weekend, ya’ll!

red front door! i love red front doors!

and...i finally have a porch. blessing upon blessings.

more to come soon.