Summer Times of Wonder

... and just like that, summer got away from us.

I will try to catch you up as best I can in one post.

pictures ARE so much better than a thousand words so Ill use lots of them!

My kids for the summer. I was so outnumbered.

Annabell (& Puppy) spent most of her time 'concentrating on her music'.

New favorites included Umbrella, Girls Just Wanna ave Fun, and Realize.

Matt and I at Radiohead. THEY SO ROCKED. I heart Thom, Jonny, Colin, Ed &Phil.

Now, its ok to cry at the sight of these next few. I TOTALLY did.

First day of Pre-School.

WHO gave her permission to grow up?


The dress that ALMOST made me wish for one of those mother/daughter outfits.

Annabell and I went to the Cheshire Fair aka Redneck-palooza.

But she LOVED the rides.

Me- down 17 pounds since July 1st!!

Matt- handsome as ever

We got up to Maine and as you can see, Maizy was totally happy.

She got to sleep with us in a tent, spend all day outside by the campfire or swimming

& got lots of attention and fun with all her 'cousins' (everyone in the fam has at least 1 dog)

And the big story of the trip to Maine: RANDY IS OFFICIALLY ENGAGED!

Mom and Dad are finally gonna be rid of all the kids.

The proposal was wonderful-

at Nubble Light and Nana and Nunu were on hand as well as everyone else.

But like all good things

our Summer ended.

But it ended just as it always has...

On Wells Beach

Take a farewell look at the waves and sky.

Take a farewell sniff of the salty sea.

A little bit sad about the place you are leaving,

a little bit glad about the place you are going.

It is a time of quiet wonder...

Lately...

We have really been taking advantage of the warmer weather. Over the Holiday weekend there was lots to be done in the garden. Annabell got to plant her own garden. Matt stayed true to his promise and pulled out the ugly yews that flanked the breezeway door in a most unimaginative way. I was thrilled to put some very fragrant roses in their place. I also picked up some Cleomes and sunflowers seeds as both of these did really well last year. My clematis vine has taken off but I am still waiting on the blue flowers. I am planning to extend Annabells garden area and take up more of the front lawn. The grass is not anything to write home about so I am just going to plant some perrenials in there. Matt is not aware of my plan yet, but I am confident he'll be grateful for less lawn to mow. In all my efforts in the yard I discovered we have more than a few red ants out there this year. I also overdid it just a little bit. Sunday I was a bit dehydrated and sunburned and what have you. By Monday I was feeling much better again and right back out in the dirt.

The town has contacted us about trying to aid in the drainage problem we have out back. The Ashuelot River sends water out behind our back yard. Its a bout 1/2 way into our property. If they are actually able to dry this up a bit the possibility of having a huge garden out back is so exciting!!! Right now it is too difficult to get beyond the brook/mud. But if I could past it, I have a huge wide open field just begging for attention! Matt has been trying to tell me all along its not worth it. But Im thinking he's looking at it from a lawn mowing perspective. He made sure to tell me again this weekend how much he detests mowing. I guess if I am to get anywhere close to convincing him of the benefits of extending our yard, I will have to start doing some mowing. Altho if we were able to get a secondhand ride-on mower, Im betting he would enjoy the chore...

anywho thats all the excitement here!

Playing catch-up

I know I go too long between posts. Especially when I look at some friends blogs and see some of them are able to check in (yikes) DAILY. I continue to attribute my lack of continuity on my ENFP-ness.

Its easiest to update by thinking most recent back.

This weekend we had our special assembly day. I heard about 20 minutes of the program. Reason being, A. It was hot as hades in the auditorium. Seriously, over a thosand people need cooler temps than the 75 degrees we were all sitting in. Combine that with the various perfumes, deodorants, hair products and flourescent lighting and its just a recipe for disaster. B. We arrived a little later than we would have liked. Natick is now an hour and a half drive for us in Keene. Due to the fact we arrived after the session began, we got less than choice seating. I was hot and in the middle of the row which only served to remind me of my claustrophobia. C. This the first assembly day we have attended since Annabell became toilet trained. (footnote- she hadn't pooped in 2 days) All the factors considered made for a miserable almost 4 year old. She was wearing a gorgeous ivory 'Princess Dress' that I feared for in view of the fact that her potty- regression has taken the form of pooping in her big-girl panties. (YES- this is what the post is about.) Needless to say I brought her to the potty every time i thought I smelled something. By 11 am it was painfully obvious annabell has an issue using foreign bathrooms. She would not even pee there. I planned for this tho and we had brought her potty in the truck with us. After lunch we tried to get her to use her potty but she wouldnt and was just becoming more and more irritable. In the end, we decided it would be best to leave. Based on the fact that we werent getting anything out of the program and Annabell had begun crying a lot and was pretty much distracting everyone who she was near. A few pics of us in the parking lot trying to convince her to potty.

The plan all along had been to go visit nana and nunu after the assembly. So we left and went there early. It was so nice to visit with them. Being far from them over a long hard winter made visiting difficult. I talk to them on the phone but Nana reminded me it had been quite a while since they saw us. Nanas health isnt great to say the least and she is very tired. But she and Nunu loved seeing Annabell. Ama and Papa came by as well as Auntie Di. Annabell entertained the crowd by entertaining herself and singing 'My Girl'. We hope Nana and Nunu are able to come up with ama and papa next time they visit the 'good side of the mountain'.

now for your viewing pleasure, the latest song Annabell has stuck in her head...