Fall Foliage Fiesta!

Well, actually it was a drive not a fiesta, but I was having fun with my alliteration.

I suppose that I now understand where my children got their desire to make their writing paper titles alliterations.  It is just plain fun!

This past weekend was huge for us, HUGE!  Tyler and I took our annual fall road trip through parts of Maine and New Hampshire.  For the second year in a row we brought some of the boys.  This year, Andrew joined us for the first time as well as Josiah and Elijah, who experienced fall fun last year and wanted to go again.  In 2013, we traveled NorthEast, or Downeast as well call it here in Maine towards West Quoddy Head and the Eastern most point of the USA.  This year we went South and West.  The Western mountains in Maine and New Hampshire are some of the most beautiful sights in New England.   I grew up camping, hiking, and swimming in these mountains and always find myself drawn to them for a fall drive.  

Our 2014 Fall foliage adventure started with a quick drive to Portsmouth NH to visit the beautiful living history museum of Strawberry Banke.  We had a wonderful time studying the architecture, gardens, and listening to the roleplaying employees.  There is something quite odd about conversing with a woman about her grandchildren when you know those grandchildren are now dead.  At one point I wanted to ask her, "wait!  Are you talking about your real grandchildren or those of your character!" Man did she know her history though.

Andrew checking the pitcher plant for any bugs

Josiah studying the compost bins so that he can build me one.

Playing on the boat outside one of the houses

After our walk through historic Portsmouth we ventured North along the NH/ME border towards Conway.  Our sole destination at that point was Mt. Washington.  We wanted to arrive by 5 pm so that we could drive up the side of the mountain and view the foliage from 6,288 ft.  It was a beautifully clear day for this and although the activity caused us to not be able to meander and stop along our journey, we all were thrilled to make it to the ominous mountain in time.  Mount Washington boasts the world's worst weather as they have calculated the highest wind speeds on its peak along with cold temperatures, snow, sleet, and everything else with only a second's notice.  The temperature on the mountain the day we visited was a balmy 64 degrees.  It was 84 degrees in the valley and unusually very hot for Indian Summer.

At the Top! 

The cog railway train came  up right after us.  Next time I think we may take that so we don't have to drive our jalopy up the mountain. 

The drive was terrifying as both Tyler and I are afraid of heights.  Tyler is a master at driving though and we made it both up and down the mountain safely.

The colors were superb!

Liberty & Independence for all

Eli milking Tilly

A funny thing happened.  Ten years ago, Tyler & I bought our first dog.  Actually, we didn't buy her.  She was free.  At 5 weeks of age we brought her home as a little black ball of fur.  Appropriately named Liberty Belle, the poor little girl had to be trained by a mad pregnant woman.  But it worked, ten years later she is a very well trained over hyper black golden retriever dog.  

Libby posing with the boys. I swear she thinks she is a kid. 

 Liberty is so well trained that she comes, sits, goes to her room, gets out of the kitchen, fetches the ball, and does all of the normal things that a dog does.  Except bark, alert us to danger, protect my children in our back woods from rabid raccoons or bobcats, and keep my goats in their pen.  Basically,  she is well trained for a family in suburbia that doesn't need their dog to do anything except leave the neighbors alone and come when she is called.

To make a long story short, Tyler and I had this predicament:

1. Liberty does not protect our children

2. Liberty is going to die in the next 3-4 years,

3. Liberty should be here to help train a new dog 

Our answer: 

1. What: An Australian Cattle Dog or Heeler 

2. Cost: cheap

3. Timeframe: 1-2 years

Current Solution:

1. What: A female Australian Cattle Dog

2. Cost: A deposit and recently milled hemlock

3. Timeframe: Now

So we have a new dog, about a year early, but affordable.  Her name?  Independence.  She wasn't free, but she was bought on Independence Day.  

Already, Indy has herded my little Nigerian buck into his pen a handful of times, and is learning the property lines by walking with the boys everyday.  Liberty doesn't seem to mind a farm dog on site.  As long as it doesn't bother her sticks or balls or frisbees.  

Deja Vu

Some of you loyal readers might recognize this photo from my 2008 blog post "My "Accident Prone" Son":

Of all of my time as a mother that episode in 2008 was the only time that any of my 5 boys had broken an arm.  Interestingly enough,  Andrew still holds the record for more emergency room visits in our household.  Deja Vu?  I think so.

Andrew's birthday is today.  Andrew is spending his birthday on the couch, because yesterday he went skiing with his uncle and aunt and spent the afternoon in the ER with his mother.  

When we got back from the hospital guess what Tyler and Eli had done to Andrew Bear?  New tradition anyone?

May your birthday be less eventful, yet more fun.  

2014 Skiing Fun!

Elijah and my dad enjoying the view at the top of the mountain.

We have gone skiing more often this year than any other.  3 times in all.  This is mostly because of a local ski resort that charges a reasonable rate for the day, but also because my father has equipment for all of us which keeps us from renting.  As a result, I can take my entire family skiing for less than 50 bucks!  We budgeted for 3 trips this Winter and we took them all.  It was wonderful to watch the boys progress in their skiing skills.  Andrew started out the year needing to ski with an adult, but as of this past weekend he skis alone and very well.  His turns and stops were so impressive that we actually took him to the top of the mountain.  He did very well, and only fell a few more times than I did.  I am not a very good skier as I took it up a few years ago so that I could go with the boys.  I am having a great time watching them and learning right alongside them.  Even though I have no plans to keep up with their growing abilities, I am delighted to be able to ski alongside them on the mountain.  

Every year, I take a lift interview with the boys so that they can tell us about their progress.  Not only do I get a video log of their skiing, but I also get to record their wonderful little voices.  

Here are Elijah, Josiah, and Andrew's lift interviews for your viewing pleasure.  Caleb doesn't get a lift interview with me as we never ride the lift together.  Caleb still needs an adult to hold a pole for him and I am just not a strong enough skier to be his adult.  My dad has graciously and expertly taught all of my boys how to ski and we are so excited to share this activity with him.  

Andrew

Josiah

Elijah

Happy Skiing Everyone!

Life Lessons

Learning as a part of life is what being a homeschooler is all about.  Word problems have nothing on us.  We live the problems, and solve them out of necessity.

What better way to learn to count money and give change than to do it?  So... Eli and his friend Ethan are having a yard sale.  Obviously, us moms and siblings are helping, but this is their venture.  They will label things, set them out, sell them, and give change. So, come on over to Leeds less than a mile off of Rt 202 and get some good bargains.

We will also be there representing our farm DozenAcre and will have breads, granola, cookies, and lunch and breakfast items for sale.  So please plan to come visit, eat, peruse, and see what types of crazy things we homeschoolers do!


May 17 & 18

9AM - 2 PM

Leeds, ME

comment or email me to get directions if you need.

Scenes From SMASH

Some of the best scenes from a Shakespeare play are direct results of the actors understanding the play so well that they add humorous elements and fun movements. All of the music in "As You Like It" is given in lyrics, but the kids had to create the music.  Not only did they do a fantastic job, but they also went above and beyond.  Here are two scenes which show you what I am talking about.

The most famous "STOMP" scene:

The "Forest of Arden" as a "character" in the play:

SMASH... again

Every year we are involved in SMASH.  Southern Maine Association of Shakespearian Homeschoolers.  A mouthful, hence the acronym.  Every year,  my boys count down to rehearsals and performances.  They love SMASH.  I love that they are learning language and a love of theatre from the best.

Here is a short video of what happens "behind the scenes"  during the performances.

If you want to see the best rendition of "As You Like It" Ever!  Check out www.maineshakespeare.com and come see the performance this weekend!

Maiden Voyage 2009: One to Remember...

The ice is gone, the sun is out, and the garden is planted! I don't know why it takes us so long to get to this point every Spring, but when we finally reach it we are glad that we have persevered. Maybe we should turn Simon's Maiden Voyage into a celebration of the end of planting season, because that seems to be when it happens. Once our Spring chores are finished the first thing that crosses our mind is taking our beloved canoe out for a test paddle. Tyler and I purchased Simon before we had children and although our canoeing availability has declined our desire to get out on the water has not. This year, Elijah and Andrew were at grammy and grandpa's house so Tyler and I swooped up little Josiah and set off for a quick paddle around Androscoggin Lake. What a beautiful day it was, and the water was incredibly warm. In fact, we brought all of the boys back the next day for a good swim. 

Liberty joined us in the canoe, and Tyler and Josiah took a few minutes to fish. Unfortunately, every time they casted Libby got all excited thinking that someone had thrown something into the water for her fetch. We had to keep telling her no, and although she never stopped getting excited about the casting, she didn't jump out and tip us. I had left my dry box for the camera at home, so if she had tipped us you can just imagine how mad I would have been. I probably would be posting a dog for sale instead of sharing our adventurous day. Liberty did mange, however, to get the lure to Josiah's pole stuck in her tail. I would have thought that would teach her to stay more still in the canoe, but it didn't. How anyone could call a dog smart is beyond me. More of clueless comedians if you ask me, it was definitely good for a laugh, although it was my favorite lure. Tyler got it out when we got home so my lure is saved!

You can just see the little green lure stuck on her tail. I could not get her to keep her tail still long enough for a better pic. Sorry.

Thus, the first canoe adventure of the year has come and gone as one to remember.

Sowing Season

Planting season is here! What exactly does that mean? Besides meaning that I am scrambling around making sure that the plants are all coming up and preparing for freezing strawberries and making jam, it also means that my time is limited to post. I must apologize for two things I suppose. 1. The lack of posting. For the summer months at least posting on the blog will be less than "normal"; 2. The lack of controversial topic. I know how much you all like it when I make you mad. 

Anyway, for this post I will keep it "light and fluffy" (kind of like eggs).  We have now planted all six of our fruit trees, along with 18 strawberry plants, 2 grape vines, and a bunch of veggies in the garden. I am praying that these plants flourish into many blessings for friends and family alike. 

Here you can see the strawberry plants in the foreground and the mac trees in the background. Do you not love my round hay bale that Ali's father gave to me? 

Here is the entrance area to the tree grove. The two trees on the side have some support for the grape vines that we want to train to grow into a sort of archway. I am delighted that this dream is coming to fruition (no pun intended), and am anxious to see what the Lord has next for us.

 

Spring Cleaning

I love yard work. If you ever want to give me a gift just offer to relieve me of my motherly duties long enough for me to get in some good hard yard work. With this great weather that we have been having; working in the yard has become an everyday event at the Smith house.  I don't know if you saw, but last autumn after our tree cutting experience in the back we had quite a mess to clean up. We still have a mess out back, but near the house most of the slash from harvesting wood has been removed or has been put into a pile to be burned. Needless to say, the yard is still quite sad looking, but to someone who has been looking at it everyday for the past 6 months with dread, it has never looked so good.

One of the things that we did these past couple of weeks was construct a permanent bridge over the wet section of land.  With this bridge in place we can drive the tractor to the back section of the land even during a very wet spring. Thanks to the logging that we had done last fall we had a lot of scrap timber to use to construct a nice little bridge.  I felt so strong lifting and moving large pieces of pine wood, and as you can see, Tyler is never more in his element than when he is wearing his chaps, work boots, and toting a high powered orange chainsaw. 

Don't get too disappointed that you missed all of this fun, there is still lots to be done around here. So come on over and we will gladly put you to work moving brush, holding babies, or hey maybe we will even let you drive the "tractor". 

Yearly Firsts

Every year in Maine the Winter seems to last so long. I don't know about you, but I find myself wondering in mid to late Winter when I will see the grass again.  I feel as though I have forgotten how to leave the house without taking 20 minutes to put on coats, or how easy it is to not wear shoes.  So when Spring does arrive I start to get all excited for the first of everything. You know what I mean... The first cookout, fire, tractor ride through the woods.  I relish in hearing the first sound of the bees looking for delicious pollen, and the sounds of the birds and peepers.  Unlike last year Spring came right on time this year and we were able to celebrate the new life given to us by Christ's sacrifice alongside the sounds of life coming from Spring in our backyard.

The first picnic lunch on the deck. I love this because the boys eat well, get some good air, and don't make a mess of the house during lunch. Do you not love my new camping dishes? I want to use them everyday, but I have restrained myself and am only using them for eating outside at home and camping.

Joshua and Josiah at our first fire of the year. Below is the wonderful fire that Tyler built and Joshua maintained. I love having Josh over for a fire because he does such a good job keeping the fire nice and big.  Even if it supposed to be a "cooking" fire.  Hey I could cook on that...

After Andrew ate his hot dog and chips he proceeded to lick the plate clean. There is no better way to celebrate Spring than to have a wonderful fire, eat hot dogs off the grill and get mustard all over your face from licking your plate. Ahh... this is the life!

A 5 yr old's Humor, Logic, Bowling

As I am sure that you know, Tyler and I had the privilege of taking three wonderful boys bowling in a celebratory manner. I wanted to share with you some of the silliness that we were presented with.  First, after each ball bowled we had to witness some very interesting "victory" moves, and when not all of the pins were knocked down we were sympathized over.  By the time that we were ending I was tempted to share with our sympathetic companion that, although knocking over all of the pins is the objective of the game, 9 out of 10 isn't that bad of a score.

Jokes Told:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side (why is this funny?)

Quirks Observed:

Ethan claps for himself.

Jed holds one position until the slow traveling ball finally reaches its destination.

Elijah continually ends up on the floor after releasing a ball.

Come to think of it they all routinely did all of these things. We received many high fives, clapped our hands, and were constantly wondering if they were hurt from throwing themselves on the floor yet one more time.

Yet, another Joke:

Why did the gum cross the road?

Because it was stuck to the chicken.

I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob.  With all silliness aside; as we were heading towards the door to leave and the boys raced each other to our destination all I could think of was how great it was to be a part of this with them.  I am so blessed to have such wonderful little people in my life; each day just keeps getting sillier and sillier: I love it!

One more Joke for the road:

What do you call a crazy chicken?

A cuckoo!

(sometimes I feel like a crazy chicken, but I ain't no cuckoo)

Ushering in Summer

Every year my husband buys me some daffodils to brighten up our home and help get us over that last hump of Winter and into the planting season. Of course, now that I have said that, he probably won't buy me any next year. Combine the lovely daffodils with our blooming lobster cactus and for about 7 days we have a bright, green, flowering home. 

Mud Season... Need I Say More

Josiah is an old pro at making rivers in my driveway.

Andrew's first mud season on his feet is a huge success. He doesn't like his hands dirty, but feet in the mud is a sensational experience.

Can you find Elijah's mud boot?

Sticky Snow, Sticky Mud, Just Plain Sticky

Ahh Spring! The onslaught of warmth and sun brings with it the never ending mud, dirt and grime.  I know a wonderful lady who apparently does not like Spring. I cannot imagine anyone not liking Spring, but I must confess that my love of Spring is shallow. I only love Spring because it is a sign of the earth warming up and Summer fast approaching. If you know me at all you know that Fall is actually my favorite season. Anyway, seasons aside, I want to share with you today something that happens in our yard most years in late February and March. This phenomena is called sticky snow which among other things leads to sticky mud.

When the warm sun starts penetrating the earth in late February all of that Winter snow that we have received starts melting. This is no grand melting pot session that you may imagine, but more of a slow gentile process that warms the edges of the snow just enough to make the snow suitable for... snowball fights, and other sticky snow ventures.

This warmth also makes the days comfortable for ventures out with snowshoes, and makes the first ever snowshoe experience pleasant. As you can see Josiah did awesome for his first big foot episode. 

Although the weather in March turns into the infamous mud season the bright sun that lingers in the sky invokes a pleasant feeling in us all and we receive pleasure in the form of watching snowmen melt, throwing snow at each other, and digging out our soon to be blooming bushes. In fact I own a t-shirt with the depiction of melting snowmen so that I can enjoy this "Spring is around the corner" feeling all year long.  And although Spring is not my favorite season, I think that all of us can find joy in the warm sun that is shone around us even if it does lead to mud. 

Who's that Manly Man?

Stepping through boyhood is a long process. Even in this great length of time you can see how quickly they grow. Just look at all of those muscles.