Summer loving

Homemade pickled peppers and onions

rainbows, ponies and buttercups :)

How is this for cute

Explain this?

How do you explain this to an almost 4 year old? Does anyone want to try?

University of Maine Sweatshirt

I <3 Chuckie Cheese

Took Eric to Chuckie Cheese yesterday ! Daniel & Carly went too ! Not sure who had more fun ! It's nice to have a 3 1/2 year old for an excuse to play !! ( Timothy WANTED to go too, but ended up being enticed by his buddies new video game ! They played the game ALL day ! He came home at 8:00pm still in his pjs from the morning!

This pic from CEC 10 years ago !!!

I know !....cute!

Happy 40 Sue!

love the poncho :)

New title..

Earlier this month I interviewed for a different Special Ed. position in the same school I worked in last year. The principal asked, "Why do you want this job?" I answered and she said, "You're hired."

But then she added, "We'd like to hire you for an additional four hours a week to be the IT person also"

ha!

I tried to decline. This is an all Mac school and every 5th-8th grader has their own laptop. I'd been peripherally involved in the Maine Learning Technology Initiative from its beginnings when I worked in Pembroke, but really, all I know about Macs is what I learned from students.

I said yes anyway, and today was introduced to the closet that runs the entire school.

Do I need to point out the parallel?

Do you think Sheldon might come out and play. . .

or comment...
or even just look/read?

Shaina's first day in 4th grade

This is a picture we took on the computer to send to Ellen so she had an idea what we looked like. Not my favorite picture of me... but its fun overall. I at least wanted to try to post something more than just my babbling.

Shaina has

survived her 1st 2 days of school..very happy that Brady - a "problem" boy is not in her class - and that one of her best friends Sophia is. Her teacher Mrs. Sullivan was rumored to be the MEAN 4th grade teacher, and Shaina was in tears when she found out that she had her...but so far Shaina loves her and thinks school is great. This year she is walking to school without me. She walks with a family who lives around the corner - they have 2 boys (4th and 2nd grade) and a girl (1st grade). Shaina is in charge of making sure Delany is not "forgotten" by the boys : )

Monday, her 1st day, was full of excitement... she lost a tooth at school during lunch. She has been wanting to lose a tooth at school since kindergarten. Here is my toothless girl : )

I had spoken to the nurses office last week about something else... and mentioned that they'd probably rarely see her there unless she is bringing a friend down. And where does she end up the 1st day - mouth full of blood and tooth in hand.

the roof... the roof

For the past three days, Peter and Hannah have been re-roofing that roof right there...and installed the long awaited skylights that have been stored in the basement for years. Yes, years!

I was on the ground in charge of clean-up (more to do today, as seen above) and Madeline and Isaac were conveniently away during all the 'work.'

The skylights are in Peter's and my bedroom which has been windowless for most of the 20 years we've lived here. It feels like a whole new world in there now, complete with more dusty corners than I suspected.

I wanna wander

A few days ago my friend Mim, a scientist for the CDC, invited me to accompany her next time she goes to the UK for business....and then added that, I'd be doing her a mitzvah if I accepted her FF miles to go without her if our schedules clash, because as she says she has "more FF miles than God."

I have a few connections in London, but mostly have been craving like crazy to go somewhere...SOMEWHERE.

No definite times yet..but I am very excited.

Photography tips

I know that Ellynn and I both got a new cameras not too long ago and I love to take pictures. So I thought i'd post a site that helped me learn alittle bit about how to take a great picture. Now if only it will teach my children how to smile when I ask them to that would be great.

http://asp.photo.free.fr/Composition/photoProgramCompClass01.shtml

Ellen's arrival

I know you all have been on the edge of your seats wanting to know all about Ellen's arrival to Maryland... we went to the airport... we thought we were running a bit late and of course ended up parking as far away from her terminal as humanly possible. But there we are waiting for her, Shaina holding a sign, me with the camera. I put the camera down and look away for 1 minute and there she is... guess filming the "arrival" was not in the cards. She is a bit tired, but seems to be doing well. She says that trying to think in Swedish and English is very fatiguing at times and is afraid she may answer in the wrong language.

Shaina is in full show-off mode... but Ellen - as the oldest of 8 - appears to be handling it pretty well. We ended up buying a new camera today (part of why we were running late) because our old one died when we tipped over in a canoe. So as soon as I figure out how to get pictures onto the computer, I'll post some of us. Ar

Not in Bar Harbor anymore

I made some good friends, went sailing a lot, and it was pretty awesome. Minus the mold. The rest of the crew were cool people and we got into quite bit of mischief, hubcap frisbee on the beach, plastic flamingos tied to other people's boats, general silliness. I'll put some pictures up once i find the cable to my camera.

in the meantime...

i got a tattoo this summer.

Went up to UMM the other day and finally got signed up for classes (mostly). I'll be taking: Intro to Psychology, Ghosts in World Literature, Advanced Web page Design, voice lessons, and hopefully a sailing class (talk about an easy A!). I'll try to remember to keep everyone updated on my more, relation appropriate, adventures in Machias this fall.

Arlynn's Tattoo :)

I'm still trying to figure this out

Hi all,

This is all very confusing to me (and Mom too....Since I don't know what I'm doing, I'm also driving her nuts since I can't explain it to her). I think I've got it now. Since Fern gave us all the same user name and password, when we log into the blog it thinks we are FERN. So I changed the name on the profile to DAD (and then to MOM) Then it looked like I created all the posts......Sorry. So I went back and changed the profile back to Fern. If this works, it should now look like Fern posted it but with my LABEL......Is that right......If not let me know what to do. Maybe we shouldn't all be using the same username and password......Love, DAD

Avalon NJ

"CHEESE"

Dribble Castle :)

You all know how I like to coordinate ....this wasn't planed :)

my family has no faces :)

Art museum , Milwalkee

Lake Michagan, Chicago

Wisconson State Fair

Wrigley Field, (Cubs batting practice)
Miller Park (Brewers)

Spoon

I guess he really is a Polsky Eric 3 1/2

YUCK PEAS

Spike

It's just gravity and intertia messing with his

hang-down lips and floppy ears.

He's big...REALLY big, but goofy pup....who happens to shed. ALOT!

trying to figure this out ...

I think I figured it out ... Hi Everone ...I want to play !!!!
....just back from vacation ...this pic from Chicago :)

what I've been filling my time with

As fern said about herself... keeping in touch not always my best feature. So... here is some of the stuff in my life these days.
- As I mentioned before we are getting ready to host a 2nd exchange student. Her name is Ellen, she is from Northern Sweden... the oldest of 8 and is coming from a town of 500. Should be a big change for her, hopefully exciting.
- We are also "sponsoring" 2 midshipmen. College students from the Naval academy. We are a home away from home while they are at school. Often a good meal, a quiet place to sleep, a TV that they don't have to fight over or a decent laundry machine. Jeff is our "mid" from last year, he comes by every few weeks or so - often bringing friends along. Shaina likes to hang out with the boys.
-I have been knitting a bit, but nothing too difficult.. never mastered the sock pattern that Fern gave me. Right now I am knitting a grocery bag out of grocery bags. I have cut up and tied together tons of plastic bags I had sitting around my house and am knitting them into a bag to take with me to the store. Now my issue is that I often remember to bring my other bags, so I often do not have plastic bags when I need them I'm also not sure if I'll have enough to finish the project - may have to raid my friend's homes.
- I am participating in an online thingy called Postcrossings ( www.postcrossing.com ) You mail out postcards to people around the world and then you get some back. It has been a lot of fun. I have sent as far as Taiwan,Brazil, Japan and New Zealand... have gotten cards from Finland, Germany, Hungary, Canada and places in the US. Shaina and I often make our cards to send and we've been marking them on a map.
- I am working 4 days a week for the local school system. This was my 1st summer off ever !!! Shaina and I had fun. I decided to do as much with her as she/I could tolerate because I'm not sure how much longer she will WANT to do things with me. I started back to work this Monday and Shaina and Ellen will start school next week.
- I've been trying to read - the book that my book club picks is usually my priority then I go to the stack that I have gotten from Mom, Mary and yard sales. As of late I have not read anything that I would say "you have to read". But there is a short book out that I read a while ago - I keep telling Mom to read it ...and I'd recommend it highly. It is called Sky Burial the author is Chinese, her name begins with an X, but I can't remember it off hand.
- This year I finally found a place in my yard that I have been successful in growing tomatoes. I am actually having to give some away. I made a bunch of tomato sauce and the next step is freezing. My peppers, cucumbers and lettuce grew but not as well as the tomatoes. I think they might have blocked some of the sun and water.

Anyway...that is a bit of the junk going on here. Mostly day to day boring stuff... but what else is there : ) AR

Vacationland

Madeline spent her summer in Bar Harbor working her ass off; three sails a day, 6 days a week on the Margaret Todd.

Hannah, Isaac and I went to pick her up last weekend and did a bit of touristing around while we were there.
Including an evening sail on Madeline's schooner

and a trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Happy Birthday Sue!!!!

we love you!

exchange student

Well, here we go again.... We took a 2 year break and we are jumping in with both feet once more.  We pick up our new exchange student Ellen (we keep having to clarify in our house... I spoke with Ellynn my sister or Ellen from Sweden) on Sunday.  Shaina keeps bouncing back and forth between very excited and preparation for jealousy.  She complains constantly about being an only child, but doesn't really like it when she has to share us.  

She still regularly asks for a sibling. "Why can't you adopt ?!!!!"  But she gets exchange students and midshipmen ... I'm sure she will appreciate the 18 year old boys in Navy uniforms more in a few years.  The young men we currently sponsor are a bit "curious" about the young Swedish girl coming.  Should be an interesting year.  Ar

Hannah brought home a kitten

Spike likes her and we do too.
She doesn't have a name yet.
Any ideas?