Living Room Campout

Nope, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I decided to take advantage of the Valentine holiday to have a pink background. I'm not sure what I think about it - it's a little odd to see pink next to my boys. However, it's only once a year and only for a little while.

Anyway, last night we fulfilled one of Joshua's "life long dreams" - his words, not mine. We had a Living Room Campout. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the fire place, made s'mores, ate chips and had a great time. The whole night Joshua kept pointing out how this was way better than a real campout because we were warm, dry, and we didn't have to drive anywhere. I would have to agree because I got to sleep in my bed :-). After dinner we hooked up with PopPop, Grandma Johansen, Uncle Ben and his family for a little Mario Kart Wii tournament. Joshua and Jacob were excited to have someone new to beat and they were HORRIFIED when their parents used their Mii to race. The utter humiliation was almost more than they could handle. It was a great night!

Winter!

At 7:45 this morning, Jacob was putting on his work clothes and headed outside to finish stacking our wood. We had mentioned last night that we couldn't attend the school's "Santa's Workshop" fundraiser until our work was done. Tell you what, give Jacob a job and some motivation and that boy is on it! We were very grateful because as you can see it started snowing this afternoon. Nothing major, just beautiful snow that won't be canceling school. This evening we participated in the town's Christmas Festival of Trees. They have a tree decorating contest and gingerbread contest as well as all kinds of decorations, and of course Santa. We decided to walk up to avoid the parking dilemma. This was fabulous until we realized that on the way down the wind was no longer at our back. Andrew and Samuel were frozen by the time we got home. However, we all enjoyed the walk - it really felt great and it was a fun way to enjoy the snow.

Andrew and Grandma

Helping PopPop

My dad did all kinds of household projects for us while he and my mom were here. One of them involved some plumbing. Helping PopPop work is always a favorite pass-time for grandkids. Andrew is loving this "helping opportunity." Seems to me he's a lot more comfortable under there than PopPop. Thanks again!!


More wood!! I don't want everyone to think that when you come to my house you have to help stack wood - however, if you come anytime during firewood season it's a good chance that wood hauling will be a frequent activity. Thanks to Christian, Robyn, Daddy and Pop for all their help stacking 3 cords of wood on the Saturday after Jacob's baptism. What would have taken us days hours upon hours to stack was finished in an hour and a half (thanks to Grandma also who took the car for an oil change :-)). Andrew wants you all to know that he is not taller than the wood, but PopPop is.

Maine again

Catch Grandpa!!

Aaron and Samuel enjoyed getting in trouble (and causing trouble for each other) all week long. Today they truly enjoyed climbing all over everything.

Grandma and PopPop

Grandma and Andrew

Rachel

So, it's impossible to describe how much I love this place. It is, perhaps, my favorite place on earth. We were blessed with a beautiful day. You'll notice that most of us are without coats. We stopped at the Stonewall Kitchen store on our way to the lighthouse. The adults had a great time testing all the samples they had laid out. Everything from chocolate covered pretzels, to salsas, to jams were available for the tasting. The children happily played in the grassy area next to the store. And thanks to Adam and Christian's willingness, Robyn, Grandma, PopPop, Grandpa Green and Aunt Bethany stopped at the Kittery Outlets without children. It was a truly fabulous day.

Cousins here for the baptism

Jacob's baptism was on Friday, November 20. Christian and Robyn came with their family, Grandpa Green and Aunt Bethany came and Grandma and PopPop were here too. Things couldn't have worked out better with their travel and things went smoothly. It's hard to describe a baptism, but we were grateful to have family around.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!!

Our Jacob is eight years old - I can hardly believe it. We had a party for him the Saturday before his birthday and he thought it was great (I guess that's what counts). I was reminded how much I like birthday parties at the park or beach :-).

It looks odd, but tastes great!

My parents have been here for two weeks and we canned chicken - twice. I'd never done it before and if you like canned chicken from the store this is FABULOUS (even if you don't like canned chicken from the store). Anyway, our chicken was obtained from several different stores and as you can see, you are what you eat. Apparently (so far as we can figure), the chickens on the left ate marigolds and it turns their flesh orange. I must say that if I'd seen chicken like this the first time it would have turned me off forever. However, the taste is the same and it's a great thing for food storage.