The Hobby Horse

Just as I'm getting the hang of this blog thing, my camera decides it's going to start showing signs of its age. I apologize for the grainy photos- but they're all we've got until I can afford to buy a new camera.

The weekend wasn't as poor as the weatherman had forecasted. In fact, it was quite lovely. Ed was gone to Wheelock, so Elijah and I were on our own.

Saturday morning Elijah, Zoe the dog and I went to the Underhill Old Fashioned Harvest Market. We thought we'd get there early, both to beat the rain and so that it wouldn't be too busy. Apparently, many folks had the same idea! It was already hopping at 9:30AM- even the Boy Scouts selling popcorn and the cotton candy booth were busy. We had a lot of fun checking out all the different vendors, watching the children in the Bouncy House, visiting with the fireman in his uniform and petting the miniature horse.

Zoe didn't care much for that last activity. But she was happy because she garnered a lot of attention. Many dog lovers in Underhill, I guess. One woman stopped to comment, "What interesting hair!"
I wasn't sure if she was talking about Zoe (wiry and crazy), Elijah (half curly, half straight and sticking up all over the place), or me (I hadn't showered yet)...as we all could qualified with "interesting hair" at that point. I like to think she was talking about the dog.

We even ran into a couple with another Griffon (a 4-month-old puppy), which was fun since it's such an unusual breed in this area. Turns out they got him from the same breeder (Cedric's friend Mickey Murphy up in Lyndonville), and he came from the same mother as Zoe.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so I have no photos of Harvest Market.

Today (Sunday), Eli played with magnets...

...wore camouflage jammies so I might not be able to see him getting into mischief...

...and rode on his hobby horse in the basement, which scares the heck out of me. The horse AND the basement. As you can tell, Daddy was back home by this time. When it was just Mommy, we played with magnets.

Yes, that's an axe off to the side. So see, I'm not just overprotective!

There's an interesting story about that hobby horse. Years ago, our road dead-ended at the town line. There is one private house at the very end. By the time we moved in, a class IV road had been punched through, but the traffic was still pretty light. Four years later, the road has been widened, two new developments have been built, with another in the works. Ed and I always felt so bad for the occupants of that house- we figured they'd lived there in relative privacy for years, and now suddenly it's like living in the suburbs.

Eventually, a For Sale sign went up and they sold their house. How sad!

Later, we learned from our plumber that those people actually sold their house and bought a big fancy house in one of those new developments. Not so sad anymore!

But anyway...A few months ago, when they were getting ready to move, they must have cleaned out their basement. This rocking horse was out with their trash. It's pretty cool and kind of old-fashioned looking. So I put it in the back of the Subaru and drove home, thinking that Ed was going to roll his eyes at yet another of my little "roadside treasures." But he liked it too, so we stuck it in OUR basement until Eli was old enough.

Which he's not yet.

But he uses it anyway.

Next to the axe.

It's always great to have Daddy home!

Until next time...

Open House

Tonight was Open House at MMU.

You might be asking yourself, "What could be worse than having to turn around and go BACK to school for 3 hours at night?"
And we might answer, "Having to PAY a babysitter so you could do so!"
The highlight? Bumping into Martha, of course! Upbeat and beautiful as usual.

Ed's off to Wheelock tomorrow (bird season weekend) and Elijah and I are having a relaxing low-key weekend at home. Our trip to Maine has been cancelled, due to bad weather. It's just not fun to sit around the cottage in the rain! So we'll stay home.

What's the Hunter Safety mantra? Know your target and what's beyond? Saddened by the tragic death of a local retired college Prof, who happened to be the grampa of former students of ours (Erin and Katie Wry). Julie must have known him...

On a lighter note, Elijah has discovered how to clap his hands. He enjoys the reaction he gets from us every time he does it. Precious!

Happy 10th wedding anniversary to Leslee and Mike. Wow- has it REALLY been 10 years???

The Last Weekend of Summer

What a beautiful last weekend of summer here in Northern Vermont! We traveled down to Middlebury for Matt's race yesterday. He did great, placed 2nd on his team. St. Mike's has some good young runners this year and it's nice competition. Here's Matt and the Red Squirrel (Stefan Bibb). What a big, tall guy he is!

Matt, Ed and Stef:
Elijah enjoyed some people-watching while savoring a graham cracker:
And then he worked off that graham cracker by getting a little exercise himself:
Matt, before the race starts:
Here's Matt, rounding the corner towards the finish line. He eventually catches and passes this other St. Mike's runner.
It was a lovely day and we had a very nice time. Sort of sad to think we'll never be at Middlebury to watch Matt run again.

Today I headed to the Adams Farm Harvest Festival with Elijah. A little overcast, but the weather cleared by the afternoon. There was a petting zoo (including a kangaroo and a monkey!), apple picking, hay rides, a puppet show...Tons of fun stuff to do!

Here's Elijah talking me into picking him an apple while we waited for our cider donuts to be ready. "C'mon, mom, no one will ever know!"
So I did...
And he ate...And ate...

And ate!

Finally, here is a shot of Eli enjoying his new outdoor swing, courtesy of his Great Aunt Emilie Alexander:
It was a great day! Now I'm off to grade lab reports for the remainder of this perfect pre-fall day...

Until next time...

Porch Renovation Photos

I keep promising to send Mom pictures......Here is a slideshow documenting our new sunroom being built. Hope this works!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28897115@N08/sets/72157606315452563/show/

Finally the weekend!

Finally our first full week at Daycare. Eli did great, despite a cold that just won't go away... Needless to say, every time he even SEES a Kleenex, he screams bloody murder! Tomorrow we'll go see Matt run in his Cross Country race down at Middlebury College. We are very excited, as it's Matt's last season running. Here's a great picture of Matt and Eli that I love:

On Sunday Elijah and I are going to the Adams Harvest Festival. Should have lots of new pictures to post! Next weekend we're going to Maine, for one last hurrah before it's closed up for the winter. Speaking of Maine, here are some photos from our last time there. But first, a sweet one of Mom and Eli, sharing a special moment from earlier this summer in Maine:
When we arrived,we had the pleasure of spending some wonderful time with my cousins, Todd and Kim, and their kids Sophia (4) and Dominic (2). Here are the "cousins" (first cousins, once removed? Second cousins?): The next day (Saturday) was Todd's birthday. Here's the happy family:

That day was going to be very special. My best friends from college were all congregating in Maine for SlackerFest II (SlackerFest I was at Patti's wedding about 1 1/2 years ago). We rarely see each other. Matt lives in Maine, Sarah's family was vacationing there, and so I decided to go up for the weekend. In true Patti-fashion, she called the morning of (on her drive to Maine), announcing her participation in the 'Fest.

Here's Matt and his wife, Anne, with their 3 lovely and very well-mannered children: They live in Westbrook,ME
Sarah, her husband Sergio, and their two little cuties: They live in CT

I think this was one of their first vacations as a family of four. I believe I heard Sarah describe it as the "Vacation From Hell," although I never did find out the details....

Elijah and Maya (Sarah's little girl), who is about 5 months older than Eli:

Patti. 5 1/2 months pregnant, not that you can tell!

Thankfully,Patti (who lives in Nashua) stayed the night with me in the cottage. I didn't have to be alone on the peninsula with the "Bone Snatcher!"

Finally, Matt with the two littlest kiddos:
What a blast! So great to see everyone...Looking forward to SlackerFest III in 2009...

In other travel-related news, we went to Dad's during Labor Day weekend. Here are a couple pics of Dad and Elijah:

Until next time...

The (Northwestern) Vermont Edition is Born

Well, everyone's doing it...So here we are, starting our very first blog. Mostly for our family down in Southern New England, to keep you all feeling connected with Elijah as he grows and changes...We'll see how this goes...Not sure we'll ever have much interesting to say- we're leading a pretty simple life these days. But I promise the pictures will be worth it!

Does anyone even remember when Elijah looked like this...?
December 2007

As you know, Elijah has recently started attending an in-home daycare while Ed and I are at school teaching. He has finally gotten used to "Auntie Lynn's House", as it's come to be known. Today (for the first time), he didn't even cry when we dropped him off. Milestone!
Here's Eli's first childcare provider, "Gramma Gail". She watched him from April 2008 until June of 2008, when I returned back to school.

This first picture was taken in December.

And this one in June.
We'll have to get a shot of Eli with his new Daycare Provider, Lynn.
Aside from getting lots of love, food, and socialization, Eli also got his very first cold last week. The first of many, I'm sure! Might account for two VERY sleepless nights here at #48 Comette Road.

So we had to cancel our weekend plans to attend the Tunbridge World's Fair with the Tolles (Dan and Rebekah). They went anyway and reported that it brought out the most interesting folks in Vermont.

In fact, here are the Tolles now...in true Cougar Fashion
Back to infant milestones...Eli's...not the Tolles'...

Crawling up the stairs and standing on anything that will support his weight (and many items that won't!).

Not sure I trust that gate at the top of the stairs!

Until next time...