Fairy Houses

I am making a book recommendation for people with children or anyone who likes or believes in fairies. The book is called Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. The book is about a little girl who takes a trip to an island off the coast of Maine and while walking in the woods discovers that people have built fairy houses all over. The girl builds her own fairy house and has many suprises over her stay on the island. The book also encourages you too build your own fairy house which has become something the girls and I really enjoy doing. The only rule is you can't use anything living or artificial to make your fairy house. We have found that the Spring and the Fall are the best times as there is a lot of sticks, leaves. acorns and other things that fall to the ground. I have included a picture of our most recent fairy house. There is also a website for anyone intersted in checking it out. www.fairyhouses.com

Puppy Pals

Boom Baby!

Here is the newest member of our family, Boomer. We brought home Boomer yesterday afternoon. He did pretty well on the car ride home. He did of course do some protesting but soon settled down and slept most of the ride home. Copper has been pretty tolerant of Boomer, for an old man. The cat too, has held her ground and after a few curious sniffs Boomer moves on. The cat, right now is taller then Boomer but Boomer is the heavier one. He was the biggest of his litter and has huge paws. He will grow into a very sturdy boy. He has a beautiful, soft, silky coat.
The girls are of course in love with him. Its pretty hard to resist that face. He loves playing with the girls especially running around the yard. He likes following Copper around too, and tries to get Copper to play with him, while Copper prefers to ignore him.
So far we are all adjusting well. We've got a long road of training before us, but I think it will be a good learning experience for all of us. I will post more pictures later. It's hard to get him to sit still!

Another Soccer Mom

I have joined the ranks of"soccer mom". Becca signed up to play soccer with the local boys and girls club. She is so excited. She attended a soccer camp over the summer. (Just an hour a day for a week.) and loved it. Dom is pretty excited too, as he was a big soccer player in school. Her first game it Saturday. I am a little bummed that I will miss it because I will be off getting our new puppy. Yea, you read that right, we are getting a new puppy. We have been talking about it for awhile and decided to go for it. Copper is 11 years old and his age is starting to show. Physically, he doesn't look old. He's not even gray at all. But he is getting stiff after laying down for long periods and his hearing is going. I hope he has a couple of years left in him but you never know. I have had many people suggest getting another dog before anything happens to Copper so we decided to go for it.
The new puppy is another Springer Spaniel. A black and white male. After much discussion we decided on the name Boomer. We found a breeder via the internet. It was quite a drive, up past Franconia Notch and where the Old Man used to be. ( It still makes me sad that the old man on the mountain is gone and that my children never got a chance to see it. ) The foliage is well on its way to changing and it was a nice, but long drive. I will post more on Boomer when we bring him home.
Church
I survived Sunday at church with very few problems. The girls did pretty good, thought they were getting restless by the end. The church was pretty full and I chose to sit in the last pew.
After we were seated Kenzie said very loudly "I can't see!" but other than that we were off to a good start. After about twenty minutes Kenzie started to get restless and my little rebel wanted to stand when everyone sat and sit when everyone was standing. Being in the last row I ignored it as she wasn't bothering anyone. By the end she demanded to know, a little too loudly, what we were still doing there. After an hour mass I had to bring them to the parent meeting for Sunday school. This did not go over well at all. "You mean we're staying here?" Kenzie screeched as she watched everyone file out of the church.
I gave her a pen and a piece of paper to entertain her. Becca demanded a pen and preceded to pretend to stab her sister with it repeatedly complete with the sound effects from Psycho.
The only thing I remember from the meeting was the importance of the children attending Mass. I just smiled and thought to myself I can't wait for Dom to do this next week.

More Vacation pics.

On a Fishin' Mission

Kenzie caught her first fish off the dock at Merrymeeting Lake. It was a little sunfish or pumpkin seed.
She reeled it in all by herself and was so excited!
The girls actually spent more time practicing casting and playing with worms than they actually did fishing. But they had fun and that's what really counts!


Hopkinton State Fair

We had fun at the fair. The girls favorite ride is of course the Merry-go-round. They also had fun in the bounce house.
The animals were a big hit too, but by the time we got to the petting zoo the animals weren't very hungry. In fact many of them looked so full they could hardly move. The girls still enjoyed petting the goats and sheep!

Lost River Gorge

I would really like to return to the Lost River when the foliage changes but I don't want to deal with all the crowds! It might just might be worth it for the pictures though!

Is this the best the toy companies can come up with??

Okay, I have to share this. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't actually seen it myself. There is a new Barbie doll out. Barbie and her cute little dog Tanner. You can feed Tanner and then guess what Tanner does? Just like a real dog Tanner takes a little doggy dump. Then Barbie pulls out her handy dandy pooper-scooper and cleans it up. If either of my children ask for this toy I will of course remind them that we have a real dog and when you feed him, he too goes poop. Then I will hand them a shovel and send them into the yard.
Now for any of my dear family that is reading this and thinks it would be funny to give this as a gift to one of my children just remember I will get you back. And to my brother, don't even think of sending me that box that you are saving in the garage.

Here is the link if you don't believe me http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/activities/btv/as_seen_on_tv/
Just click on the picture of Barbie and the dog.

Vacation!

Sunset cruise on the lake.


We had a very nice and relaxing vacation and I think that is why I am having such a hard time getting back into the swing of things back at home.
The fun began the day before we went to the lake by going to the Hopkinton State Fair. The girls love animals and what better place to see lots of animals. We got there early enough to see some of the horse competitions, as both girls love horses. Then we did a few rides, checked out some more animals and of course ate lots of fattening fair food.
The next day we were off to the lake. The weather was unfortunately cool and rainy so we held off putting the boat in and just cozied in at camp, played some games and hung out. The rain stopped just in time for the sun to set and we made plans for the next day.
Monday was still a little overcast but it was no longer raining. Rebecca and Kenzie wanted to take Nonna and Nonno to Lost River Gorge so we all loaded into our car and headed north. The rain held off and we enjoyed exploring the caves and walking through the gorge. It is a really beautiful walk. It's like a combination of the polar caves and the flume, if you are familiar with either of those. The girls got to do some mining and get some treasures. After the gorge we ate lunch and stopped at a craft fair on the way home. Dom and I put the boat in after dinner.
Becca had to start back to school the next day and we fell into a routine of bringing her to school, then Dom and I and sometimes Kenzie would go out fishing until lunch, have lunch and hang out until it was time to go get Becca. Becca came home bursting with energy each afternoon and would swim off the dock. It was a little on the cool side but that didn't bother Becca. We would all eat a delicious dinner cooked by my mother-in-law and then Dom and I would be off for another quick fishing trip before getting the kids off to bed. We didn't have much luck fishing. I caught one Salmon that was a keeper and one short. Kenzie did catch her first fish, a little pumpkin seed off of the dock. She was so excited!
Thursday Dom and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and went out to dinner at The Lake House Grille in Meredith. It is actually part of the Common Man chain and the food was excellent. Friday after a quick fishing trip in the morning I went home to make a cake for my niece's bridal shower on Saturday. That evening we pulled the boat out of the water because they were predicting rain for the next few days and we knew we wouldn't have much time to use it.
Saturday I was gone most of the day at my mom's house for my niece's shower. It was nice to see everyone and to get the latest wedding gossip. Dom, the girls and my in-laws took a train ride on the Hobo railroad from Weirs beach. Everyone had a great time according to the report I got when I returned to camp. They even ate lunch on the train served in cute little hobo bags for the girls. Before I returned to camp they got hit with a huge, but quick moving thunder storm with gusty winds and big whitecaps on the lake. It was good that we had taken out the boat or it would have been banged around against the dock.
Sunday was the last day at camp and most of it was spent packing and cleaning up. It was very cool and brisk out but it was still sad to leave. I'll post again later with more pics!

Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug

I have felt like the bug and the reality of coming back from vacation is the windshield. Unpacking, laundry and grocery shopping went well despite the mob at the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon and getting stuck in the line with the slowest cashier and near comatose bagger. The cashier holds up a bag of basil and asks "Do you know what this is?" " Basil." I reply though what I really wanted to say was ,"No, actually I like to run through the aisles randomly pulling things off the shelf so I can be surprised when I get home." Someday I am going to say that because it isn't the first time I have been asked that. So one price check and one void later and I am home. I spent the rest of the afternoon making sauce. Tomorrow will be easier, right?

Wrong.
I get Becca off to school and Mackenzie and I head to Mom and Dad's house to pick up Copper.
I get delayed by some construction on the way. Not really a big deal except that I drank a bottle of water and now have to use the bathroom. I make it to mom and dad' s and after a mad dash to the bathroom, we have a nice little visit and then Kenzie, Copper and I head back. In theory I should have just enough time to drop the dog off before I have to pick Becca up from school. But of course thanks to even more construction I do not and head straight to the school to pick up Becca. So the dog is whining incessantly, because of all the peolple and cars which eventually wakes up Kenzie who had blissfully fallen asleep. She is now cranky because the dog woke her up and is in no mood to wait in the long line of cars to pick up her sister. Much whining and screeching follows and miraculously I am able to get her interested in looking at a magazine of used classic cars. Finally the line moves and we are able to pick up Becca and we make it home.
The kids and dog run off into the yard. I bring stuff into the house and come back out to find that the dog has jumped back into the car and tore into a bag of crackers. He then comes into the house and proceeds to throw up on the kitchen floor. Better the kitchen floor than my car or the rug but couldn't he just stay outside and do that?!
So I clean up the dog puke and start to gather things for dance class because Becca has dance class at 5:30 today and Kenzie tomorrow morning. I find everything I need except I only have one ballet slipper for each girl. I spend the next half hour tearing apart the house looking for the matches that had been here before we left for camp. They are of course nowhere to be found. Apparently some thief broke into the house while we were at camp and stole two mismatched ballet slippers. Hey, crazier things have happened. It is now two hours before Becca's class starts and we have to make a trip to the shoe store. This is of course when the phone starts ringing. It is my dear husband very proud of himself because he called the church to find out when sign-ups for Sunday School are. They are this Sunday and he proceeds to tell me the rest of the info and how he will go and sign her up and aren't I proud of him. I remind him, by screaming like a crazed lunatic, that Sunday he is going to the Nascar race and that means that I will have to go to church on Sunday with the two children and sign her up. I hang up the phone and don't know whether to laugh, cry or throw up. You see I can count the number of times I have been to church on one hand. I am in complete panic mode. Dom and I had a deal that if we were to bring the girls up Catholic he would deal with all that stuff because I'm not in the "club."

I of course do not have time to worry about this now because I have to get to the shoe store and get Becca some ballet shoes before her class starts. This announcement is met with much moaning and whining from the girls and to save my sanity I promptly bribe them with promises of some sort of treat. They graciously accept and are perfect angels. We get shoes and head home to get ready for dance. Kenzie has a tantrum because she doesn't get to dance today.
We make it through dance class, dinner and bedtime without much incident. I am very thankful and go to bed early only to toss and turn most of the night worrying about going to church!
This morning has gone well so far. Kenzie had her first dance class and loved it, she is already asking when she gets to go again.

Now that I have gotten all that off my chest I can tell you about our great vacation....

Thanks!

Thanks for checking back, I promise a full update tomorrow. We just got back from the lake this afternoon and I unfortunately have lots of unpacking, laundry and grocery shopping to do as well as a bushel of tomatoes that need to be made into sauce before they go bad! I would much rather grab a glass of wine and sit on my behind, but duty calls.

Swimmer and Suri

These are the newest members of our household. They are two cute little goldfish that the girls picked out and named themselves. Swimmer is Becca's and it is orange and white. Suri is Kenzie's and it is black. The timing is really bad to be adding members to the household as we will be gone for a week starting in a few days, but sometimes you have to be spontaneous and say "what the heck!" Actually we are only going to be 20 mins from home and intend to bring the fish with us. I know you are probably all thinking why are you going 20 mins from home for a week when school just started? What the heck? Right?!
Well let me explain. My father-in-law works for a hardware store that owns a camp on a lake and lets the employees take turns using it throughout the summer. The lake is only 20 mins from our house and school which means even though we don't get a turn until after labor day it is still close enough that we can still stay and Becca can still go to school. Besides who wouldn't want to spend a week on a lake even of it is only 20 mins from home? Plus it is convenient in case we forget anything, which we inevitably do.