Let it snow!

Let it SNOW! In the last couple of days about 9 inches dropped on us and blanketed our home once again. We've had a mixture of rain and snow, but as you can see... mostly the white stuff. We're not complaining. It is December in Maine. What would you expect? The girls love the sledding, building snowpeople (Frosty & Crystal), and trying out snowshoes and x-country skis. And the snow doesn't stop any of us!



Get out there! That is the motto of my exercise "boot camp". It doesn't matter about the snow, sleet, below zero temperatures... we're out there! And at 5:45am no less. It is a great group of people and what a way to jumpstart the day. We've been on holiday, but I'm looking forward to gettng back into the groove of things. I took the picture above (but the woman in red is my neighbor and partner in crime). We always look at each other and say, "What the heck are we doing up at this hour but after the workout we know why."

The picture of the snow covered trees is taken from my neighbor's house... You don't realize how big those trees are until they look like they are about to come crashing down! We only lost a few branches.

Hope you all have a wonderful 2008.

Halloween

Happy Halloween & November! We've been busy carving pumpkins, trick or treating and going to Halloween parties. Now that it is over... there is even MORE candy in this house. Trying to keep my hands out of the candy jar... that is a hard one! The girls ask once and awhile for a piece of candy... but out of sight out of mind. I never really took stock in how much energy Halloween takes on all of us. K slept until 9:30am yesterday... one pooped princess (Cinderella). M (a spider geisha girl) didn't want to go to gymnastics yesterday because she was exhausted. They both found the energy to tumble about. And while we were carving our pumpkins... M said, "Remember when we did this with Auntie M?" Great memories! Now to get ready for Thanksgiving! Tally ho!

Inspiration

Well... I'd have to say that my Mother's paintings give me inspiration to do my own. I never realized that she was such an artist until AFTER we left home. Here's one of her paintings that I get to have hanging in my home.

As for my own paintings... I'm in bit of a slump. Currently I'm working on a landscape (which I find extremely difficutl). I'll share with you all, but know that it is a work in progress. My artist friends at work were so kind to give me some great feedback... now it is just time to gather the energy and just do it.

I'm trying to get the girls into drawing and painting more. They love to pull out the pens and paintbrushes and go to town. It is amazing to see what they come up with. And the amount of artwork that comes home from school and daycare. Yikes!

My brother is also an amazing artist and someday I'll have some of his work posted here too!

Well the Red Sox are on for Game 1 of the World Series. Let's just say that "A" is in all his glory!!!

Carrying on the tradition

This outfit is one that my Grandma Holland made for me in 1976. It was the bicentennial and I needed a Pilgrim outfit -- so Grandma came to the rescue. Only she made a traditional Dutch outfit. The stitch work is amazing - pleats and lace. I wore it with pride and now both TMG and MER have sported the outfit. Can't wait to see who else will try it out.

Apple Sauce

I never knew how easy it was to make applesauce -- thanks to Mimi and her Foley food mill. Mom, I've included a picture of the food mill so you can find one too. No more peeling apples! Hurray!

Wash Apples

Cut into quarters

Put into pan - little bit of water

Cinnamon

Sugar

Simmer on low heat until apples soft

Put Foley food mill over pan and you've got some great applesauce!

C

Painting & such

I've been doing a little painting. Here's my favorite right now. I took this picture of Ringo about 1992 at camp. He was one of my favorite dogs to have around.

K & I are at home today. It is rainy and yucky out. We're making applesauce and keeping her under wraps. She's fighting off croup and today she woke up with crusty eyes -- AGAIN. This is week 4 of the crud. Thank goodness we can just be at home for the rest of the week.

We hosted the Gordon clan this past weekend and had a blast. Our neighbors came over and we had a "meat fest". A was in all his glory. Unfortunately my brother came down with K's creeping crud. Sorry D!

That's all for now. I'm not sure how much we'll keep this site going... but it is fun to try.

c.

hello

We're coming up to speed with this new technology. Thought a blog would be fun to do and keep you all in touch. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.