Impromptu New Year's Eve Picnic

Thankful

This morning the girls were playing upstairs as we were doing chores downstairs. Lee came downstairs to tell me something.

"Daddy, I'm so glad that I have a sister. Otherwise I wouldn't have anyone to play puppy, kitten or store. That's what we're doing now, using our new cash register. Okay, bye."

Then she ran back upstairs to keep playing.

There was no context. We hadn't be talking about being thankful, there was no recent discussion about how the girls should appreciate each other. It was just a spontaneous outburst of gratitude and appreciation.

Love makes me feel all warm inside.

Oh, Christmas Tree

This was all Clara's idea. She and Bridges made it right outside Nancy's window, who was very pleased (she contributed the bows).

The Golden Egyptian Cat

Lee seems to enjoy trying to stump Santa each year. This year she asked for a golden Egyptian cat. I was doubtful, but he managed to pull through.

Gingerbread Houses 2010

We did a community-wide gingerbread project this year, taking orders for houses and then making fourteen identical ones. I baked all the gingerbread at home, and then we had an assembly party with a few of the older kids helping.

Decorating day (on Thursday before dinner) was lots of fun. I had loads of candy (much of it pulled from the depths of the freezer), and everyone had a grand time.

Bridges' House, Complete with Solar Panels from his "BSS"

Proud New Homeowner

Lee Won the Prize for Most CSI (candy per square inch)

Reading Aloud

It's Super Baker!

Junior Minstrels Concert

Ice Skating

Everyone was out today shoveling snow off the pond so we can skate again. Clara didn't like the skating so much, and preferred to just run around in her boots, or crawl around on her stomach and eat snow.

Libby and Lee

Libby and Elisha

Clara

Solar Panels

There's been a lot of activity here lately involving the installation of solar panels. Bridges and I were actually interviewed on NHPR which was kind of interesting.

I'm glad I'm not up there on the roofs in this weather.

You Know You're in NH

I had one of those "I know I'm in NH" moments this morning at our new pediatrician's office. As part of their welcome packet they gave me a brochure on firearm safety.

Who Needs To Ski?

We made the call not to bring ski equipment when we went to Loon for the Polar Express. There was actually decent snow on the slope outside the condo, but the girls had a great time, even though the sled was a plastic bag with a handle (which we had actually used once before with Dave and Mer).

Polar Express

The train ride in pyjamas was fun...

...but the best part was the elves.

Clara's Birthday

For Clara's birthday we went to the Museum of Science in Boston. Then, since it was on a Thursday, we had cake after dinner in the Common House.

This is one of my favorite cakes I've made.

A Bit of a Mismatch

I'm pretty sure Clara doesn't know how to play.

Letterboxing

We started letterboxing this fall. The kids just love it, and will happily hike longer distances if they know there is a stamp at the end. Lee's stamp is a snow leopard, and Clara's a tiger. Both my girls are Big Cats!


This particular day we were looking for a letterbox that involved walking the length of the McDowell Reservoir, which was significantly longer than the clues said. It was chilly, and as you can see the girls weren't dressed warmly enough (thanks, Mom!) because Clara is wearing Bridges' fleece vest.

We finally did get there and find the letterbox (which was also a challenge as the clues were not clear), but instead of walking back to the car, we walked out to a nearby road, and the girls and I waited while Bridges ran back and got the car. We had a fun time waiting, as there was ice forming on some big puddles and breaking that up provided lots of entertainment.

The Umbrella

Clara's developed a reputation around Nubi for being relatively impervious to the cold. It's November, and she's still often seen running around in a t-shirt with no shoes on. Actually, the week before last we had a rather warm day and both she and Lee went swimming in the pond (which was chilly!), although Clara was the only one to submerge herself.

Last night I brought them home from Ms. Melody's in Hancock, and it was dark and around 40 (although not raining). Clara had picked up this orange and blue NY Mets umbrella from the Mini Mall (definitely over the size limit but I let it slide). So there she was, walking up from the car in a t-shirt with her umbrella open over her head.

Clara, I said, don't you want your fleece on?

No, Mommy, I have my umbrella!

Of course.

The Mini Mall

Peterborough has the nicest dump (er,sorry, I mean to say Recycling Center). You drive in through this forest of pine trees, and then opposite the parking area is this beautiful garden full of flowering plants. The people who work there are nice, and it's a pretty pleasant experience to go there every week or so.

There's also a Mini Mall, where you can leave things you don't want and take things other people have left. The kids love the Mni Mall, and if they come with me to the dump they get to take home one small thing (it has to be approved by me). It's really interesting to see what they choose, and I like that they get some new object in their life but it's recycled.

I do, however, need to start insisting that we bring something to the Mini Mall each time.

Lee's First Song

Lee started piano lessons this fall, and I really like the way the teacher started her off. She started with simple ear training and learning familiar songs by ear, and all along she has encouraged her to improvise.

This was Lee's first song. It's a bit slow but wait until the end.

Halloween

We had quite the front porch this year, with all of Liam's great decorations spread around. The kids in the neighborhood had a ball triggering all the sensors.

Lee painstakingly drew and colored each of the pictures on our front door the week before Halloween. She was so proud of them that we taped them up. I quite like the effect.

On Halloween night, Clara was a zebra (again) and Lee a bat (again) and we went around the neighborhood and then to Hancock with Elisha and Libby.

Halloween 2010

Clara's First Horseback Ride

Well, technically Jimmy Joe is a pony, but he's as tall as a pony can be before being a horse.


Clara was rapt during the "tack-up" process.

There was a lot of adjustment needed for the helmet.

I love the blue stairs.

She rode around the ring five or six times. She didn't come close to reaching the stirrups, so it was all her balance and legs keeping her on.

"I want to go tomorrow!" she said.

Mackworth Island

One of the things we did when we were in Falmouth was go out to Mackworth Island, which is known for its collection of fairy houses in the woods. It was fun to explore, looking at all the houses people had created from natural woodland and seaside treasures.

Some Cool Fairy Houses

Lee with a Fairy House of her Creation

Clara on the Beach - Cold but Barefoot

Lee on the Beach

Boo!

Meredith gave the kids black t-shirts, Halloween decals, and sparkly fabric paint. Heaven! Lee decided to keep paint a pair of pants and put the decals on her shirt. It's quite the look.

Pickle and Cosmo

Britton Boys

We spent nearly a week in Falmouth watching the Britton boys while Deb and Alan went on a cruise. It's fun to dive into a house full of boys. The last time we did this was five years ago, and it was amazing how much easier everything was.

My Sister's License Plate

Clara Swordfighting

The Blanket Ride

Lee, with Jeans, a Sword, and a Ninja

Losing Clara

The other day we lost Clara. It was the scariest moment I've had since having children. I was busy packing and getting ready to leave, and the kids had been playing outside and inside. Daniel and Xan were around, as was Johanna. Clara had gone upstairs to pack up her backpack, and she had been up there a while. I figured she needed some time alone as she will often take some time to herself. But all of a sudden I realized I hadn't seen her in quite some time. I figured she had fallen asleep, which would have been odd but not unheard of. So I wandered upstairs, and she wasn't there. That's odd, I thought. I looked around the house and didn't see her. I asked Lee, who was playing outside, and Lee said "Mommy, I haven't seen her in a long, long time."

I searched the house again, even pulling down the attic stairs and looking and calling for her up there since I had been up in the attic earlier. I looked in the basement where the cat sleeps, and behind the couch. Then I looked outside. Then I started to panic. I got Johanna involved, and soon Bridges heard what was going on and got off his conference call. This turned into an all-neighborhood search. We went in everyone's house, we searched near the pond, near the screen house, etc...Bridges searched the house again, even going up in the attic again.

I was really scared, because I knew she wouldn't have wandered off by herself, so I thought that something terrible must have happened. I experienced a flash of a future where I would never know what had happened to her, and it was absolutely awful.

But then, after what seemed like a long time, Bridges yelled that he had found her. She had climbed up into the attic, laid down behind a bean bag chair so we couldn't see her from the top of the stairs, and fallen asleep so deeply she didn't hear us yelling for her. We had closed up the stairs after she had fallen asleep, so she was shut up in the attic while we searched the neighborhood.

There were lots of tears, especially from Lee. It's scary to see your parents so frightened.

Swim Group

This is my new swim group at Nubi. It's rare that all of us go together, but usually there is a subset of us walking out to the car at 6:15 am (and sometimes 5:30) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Columbus Day Visit from Aunt Lee

Aunt Lee came to visit us for the first time since we've been living at Nubi. We had a great weekend, and having a visitor was a wonderful excuse to put aside projects and do some sightseeing.

There was lots of things going on, including an art tour and a wool arts tour. We did two stops on each. We also went for a nice hike up Mount Skatutakee and went apple picking at Norway Hill Orchard. We had fabulous fall weather the whole weekend, although the colors seemed a bit muted, perhaps because of the summer-long drought.

The woods leading up Mount Skatutakee were absolutely magical - lots of big rocks covered with moss. Lee was on the lookout for fairy homes, and there were lots of them.

Here's the view of Monadnock from the top.


Here are Aunt Lee and the girls in the apple orchard. It was a beautiful spot, and we only picked Macs based on the opinion of the matron of the orchard. It's hard to imagine anyone picks anything but Macs with her sales pitch.


We took a beautiful hayride at one of the wool tour farms.

I saw some of my favorite chocolate-brown sheep. Lee got to lead around a baby alpaca which was unbelievably soft. It's wonderful to see how much more comfortable she is now with animals.

Of course, a few of us from the neighborhood were window shopping for animals. What should we get? Alpacas, goats, sheep, miniature donkeys? Really, who can resist a face like this?