I'm Back!

We're back on line and I've got lots of pictures to show you. I'll have to to it in installments, because I can't upload them all today.

First of all, many heartfelt thanks to Edwin, Cedric, Tyler, Peter, Martha, Chris, Mary, Laura, and Joanie who were here helping with this big move. It was a long day of heavey work, and we greatly appreciate every one's help.

Let's start with moving day. It was exciting when the day finally arrived. We'd been thinking about it and planning for it for months. It was funny to see some of this furniture that had come from Grammie's house go back to Grammie's house.

Martha and Joanie show off their muscles.

The couch goes for a ride in Tyler's truck.

Joanie and Laura help keep the kids out of trouble. They both brought games, puzzles, and other activities to keep the kids busy and out of the way.

What a job to dismantle the playground...

and move it. I wish I had gotten a picture of Peter driving this precariously down the field, but I missed it. What a sight!

A break for lunch on the porch.


After lunch, it was back to the business of putting this thing back together. It was no sooner assembled, than the kids were out there on it.

Then came more furniture. Heather's crib in the "sewing room."



Wayne and Cole's bunk beds in Julie's old room.

Check in within the next couple of days for more moving day pictures and scenes from our first week in our new home!

Moving Day

The big moving day is amost here and there's lots of last minute things to do, so this will just be a quick little blog post to say we might be in "blog blackout" for a few days until we get our computer set up and running again in our new home.

This is where we've been for the past 10 years - the first home that we enjoyed as a family of five. Lots of memories here. It's been a good house, but Martha offered us an opportunity we couldn't pass up. Good bye Drew Place. I hope some other nice family with kids moves in to sleep in your bedrooms, play games in your living room, and run around your big yard.

Hello Elijah's Place. This house, although we haven't even moved in yet, is also filled with memories. Most of them are happy, some are sad, and a few, bittersweet. Looks quite stately right now, doesn't it? Soon the driveway will be strewn with bikes, and Tonka trucks. There will be a swing set out back. There will be bunk beds, dolls, tractors, games, music, dancing, birthday parties, superheros, snowmen, snow forts, and sliding. Get ready, Elijah's Place. We're coming.

More Maine

Actually, let's start with New Hamshire.

Remember several weeks ago when I took Cole and Heather to Maine, I showed you some pictures of the playground in Gorham where we take a break, and across the road is an old train that has been turned into a museum by the Gorham historical society? Well, this time, when Wayne, Heather, and I were passing through, the train cars were open and we got a chance to see some of the exhibits inside.

The kindly gentleman who was in charge let Wayne ring this old steam engine bell. It was very loud. Good thing Cole wasn't with us. Wayne really enjoyed ringing this bell. He did it over and over. The whole town of Gorham was probably wondering what was going on.

Look at this old smoke stack, tall as Wayne, that fell off a train during a terrible derailment accident between Gorham and Berlin back in the early 1900's.

This is a miniature model train that runs through a model of Gorham. It's been painstakingly had crafted by train buffs and historical society memebers over the course of 20 years and they still add, change, tweak, and maintain as time goes by.

And a trip to maine would not be complete without a visit to one of its rocky beaches.

Grandchildren, Great-grandchildren, Cousins

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Christine, we didn't go hungry at Mom and Dad's 60th anniversary. I wish I had gotten a picture of all the crock pots full of delicious things she had made, not to mention salads, sandwiches, chips, veggies and dip. She did it all. All I brought was the paper products. My defense is that a 6 hour drive from Vermont would have spoiled any food that I might have tried to bring.



Also what I didn't get a picture of was the cake my sister, Diane brought. What was wrong with me that day? I usually take pictures of everything.



Heather is the first granddaughter to come along for my parents. However, they did have a few great-granddaughters to prepare them for her arrival.

Here she discovers her long, lost twin in her 2nd cousin, Ava Marie (first cousin once removed? I don't know.) I tried and tried to get a picture of them together, but they were extremely uncooperative,as you can see. Ava is 5 weeks older than Heather.

See the family resemblance?



Also thanks to my sister-in-law, Christine, we had some nice shade from this canopy so we could sit out on the lawn.



Here's Elizabeth (Christine and David's granddaughter) with Ava.

More great-granddaughters, Kiana who will be going into 4th grade, and her younger sister Anastasia, who will starting kindergarten very soon.

I did get a few pictures of some grown-ups, but they told me they'd kill me if I put them on the blog. So you'll just have to make due with these cute kids.

Stay tuned one of these days of Wayne and Heather at the shore.

60 Years

Sixty years ago today, on the very day she turned 18, Harriet Sarah Feeney said, "I do," and became Mrs. Linwood Oxton.

This is them then:

Here they are now. How many of us will make to that 60 year mark? Unbelievable.

What Life Was Like In 1948:

Average Cost of new house $7,700.00

Average wages per year $2,950.00

Cost of a gallon of Gas 16 cents

Average Cost of a new car $1,250.00

Loaf of Bread 14 cents

Movie Ticket 60 Cents

World SeriesCleveland d. Boston Braves (4-2)

Kentucky Derby Champion: Citation

The 1948 winter Olympics were held in Switzerland and the summer Olympics were in London

Edwin Land (US) invents the Polaroid Land camera

and Far Away Places by Dinah Shore was one of the most popular songs of the year.

Happy Anniversay Mom and Dad.

Happy Birthday Mom.

We love you.

Grammie's Birthday

Lisa and Dan hosted a birthday barbecue for Grammie at Stuart and Emile's camp on Shadow Lake. They've rented it for the week. The weather has been questionable, but today, in honor of Grammie's birthday, it was clear, breezy, and beautiful.

Cole enjoys gazing at the sweet frosting as Lisa covers the cake.

Elijah is almost 9 months old. Look at those adorable curls on the top of his head. Does he just get cuter every time you see him or what?

Dan did a magnificent job cooking hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.

Here she is, the guest of honor. Martha Alexander - 77 today and going strong!



Elijah devours a plate of food.

Wayne takes a break from tadpole hunting to refuel.

Cole enjoys the burger and fruit salad but keeps asking about the cake.

Wayne goes back to tadpole hunting.

His persistence pays off. A bullfrog tadpole.



How many people does it take to light 77 candles on a breezy day?



Well, she didn't have to worry about being able to blow out all those candles. Mother Nature did it for her.


Uncle Cedric tries in vain to convince Cole that the happy Birthday song is not terrifying.



Poor Joanie can't catch a break with W,C,H around!



And they keep Lizzy pretty busy too. Luck for me to have Joanie and Lizzy around.


Happy Birthday Grammie! We enjoyed honoring your 77 years. Here's to many more.

Heather

She's the cutest little girl this side of the Atlantic. What more can I say?

See for yourself:

Rainy Day Project

Cole's friend, Fintan, had a birthday party the other day. I took Cole, Wayne, and Heather. They all had a terrific time playing in Fintan's nice, big, flat backyard which contains a toddler friendly playground and a huge, built-into-the-ground sand box bordered by big rocks for climbing. There was grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, and Fintan's Mom, Sylvia, had made homemade buns and rolls in addition to the birthday cake. I think Sylvia makes bread for her family every day, early in the morning. It was a great birthday. Fintan turned 4. He was very excited.

Anyway, being at Fintan's birthday made me start thinking ahead to Wayne's birthday coming up in about a month. It will be coming up close after The Big Move and The Start of School. It will be a transitional period for all of us. Wayne wants to invite friends and have games and all that traditional birthday kid stuff. With a Batman theme. (Sorry Brian, Batman wins this time)

Yesterday was a rainy, rainy day so I decided to harness some of W,C,H's indoor energy and put it to good use. Wayne wants to have a pinata at his party, so we got started on a homemade one. It was our first foray into the messy world of papier-mache.

The King Arthur cookbook Grammie gave us has some kid projects and recipes for things like playdough and this recipe we used for papier-mache paste. Wayne is stirring out the lumps as it cools enough for us to work with.

While the paste cooled some more (it took a long time) we made strips of newspaper.

Heather had a great time ripping up newspaper. It was like a toddler dream come true. Little specks of newspaper everywhere.

We used a big balloon as a form. Everyone got their hands in on the project - dipping the strips into the paste and then layering them onto the balloon until it was covered. Make sure you notice Heather getting in on the action down there under Wayne's arms. She wasn't about to be left out of this delightfully gooey fun. Actually, she did a pretty good job of pressing the paper strips onto the balloon. She understood what to do just from watching her brothers.

During this whole process I was dreading the clean-up, but it actually was pretty easy, thanks to the newspaper we had spread all over the table. Not as much got on their clothes or the floor as I had feared, (aprons packed and moved) everyone just needed a quick hand wash and they were as good as new. Now the pinata has to dry for 24 hours before we decide whether or not it needs another layer. I'm not sure how strong it should be to challenge a group of blindfolded 7 year olds, whacking at it with a bat.

Stay tuned for a future pinata chapter - painting Batman on it. I know you'll be riveted!