Last Day

Mom and Dad came over on Monday and we went to the Seadog for lunch then came back home and Pie and Sammie had fun "splooshing" Grandma and Grandpa with the water from their pool. It took Pie a little convincing to get both feet in but she finally did it. It was pretty cold water! But once she got in, of course, she didn't want to get out!

We had so much fun while my mom and dad were here. We certainly aren't used to going, going, going like we did and it will be nice to settle back into reality again but I will miss them so much. I love living in Maine but I hate how far away it is from my family. If only we could swap Maine and Wyoming!

Murphy's law kinda morning with a happy evening!

Neither the girls or I slept very good Saturday night and woke up pretty grumpy. Our computer had gotten a virus and Chris has been in the process of trying to burn all of my pictures to disk so he can reformat our computer. Since the girls were born, I've become a picture freak and have taken a LOT of pics. So Sunday morning I was trying to go through them and get them organized to make it easier on him. The girls were cranky and it just wasn't a great morning. About noon we headed outside to let the sunshine on our mood.

Our 12 year old pitbull, Hula had torn her ACL about 6 weeks ago and has been hopping around since. There isn't much that can be done for her, the vet said to just let it heal on it's own. Since the weather has been nice, she's wanted to sleep outside so as soon as we went out I looked for her. She's kind of made a nest for herself in our garage but wasn't there. I checked all of her normal sunbathing spots and could not find here anywhere. I called her name and still could not find here. Chris came out and we started searching the woods around our house. I was afraid that she had stumbled somewhere and was stuck. I also told Pie and Sam that they had better NEVER, EVER make me search the woods looking for them! We didn't find her behind our house so I looked down the hill behind our garden again and spotted her laying in trees. I wasn't sure if she was sleeping or worse but Chris headed down there to get her. When he got close enough to him she raised up her head and looked at him like nothing was wrong. He carried her up and put her inside the house. I fed her 3 hot dogs and gave her lots of hugs and kisses. I was so glad that we found her. I know she wont be with us too much longer, her health has gone down hill so fast but I just wasn't ready for her to be gone.

Chris asked where the buckle thingy was for Pie's car seat so he could put them back in his truck and for the life of me I could not find it a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e. So he and Pie headed off to Bangor to find another one. Our truck has the hooks in the middle but not on the sides so that's where Pie rode. Sam and i stayed home, hoping to take a nap. (No such luck) He came home about 2 hours later with 2 latch thingys, a swimming pool and a nice bench swing for me! I need to send him off shopping more often! ;)

Mom and dad came over for supper. Chris bbq'd pork ribs and I fried potatoes and cooked cauliflower and baked bread sticks and lemon bars for dessert.

The girls were worn out and went to bed pretty easy after reading a few books before bed. After almost 3 weeks, Chris and I got to spend a little bit of time just the two of us. I'm so glad he's home!

Saturday

On Saturday we headed over to walk the path on the waterfront in Bucksport. It's such a nice path and has pretty views of the bay, the bridge and Fort Knox. Pie wanted to walk but there are just too many places where she could fall so she has to suffer riding along in the wagon. We walked back through town and stopped at the playground where she made friends with an 8 year old girls who lead her around the playground. We stopped at the House of Pizza and then went back over to the campground until Chris woke up. Once he got up we went to Ming's for Chinese food and then back to the campground for the Saturday night hay ride and bonfire.

Hole Watch

Once again, Chris got called into work at the last minute. I think this has been about 20 days in a row that he has worked. He had to go to the paper mill in Jay last night for "hole watch". He was less than thrilled about that but headed down the road to Jay anyway. Hole watch is kind of a flunky job, basically if you can't do anything else, you stand outside the boiler and watch for any danger and help assist in getting the workers out of the boiler if there was a fire or other emergency. It is important and you really do want someone on hole watch that you can count on but 9 times out of ten, the person just stands around all night bored out of their mind.

Last night something had broke in the boiler and it would only take a couple of guys to fix it so Chris had to watch the hole while they cut out the broken tubes and then he got to help with the welding when they did the actual repairs.

City Forest

Today we went to the city forest in Bangor. I had heard that it was a cool place to see but we'd never made it out there until today. It has more than 600 acres of forest land that is home to many native wild creatures, unfortunately we didn't see any of them! But we did have a very nice (and quite long) walk and saw lots of beautiful old trees and we burned off some of the calories from all the ice cream we've been eating! We figured we walked about 3 miles and we took the short loop around the forest.

Pie did awesome walking and running most of the way. She did get a piggyback ride from Grandma at one point and had fun racing Grandpa down the trail.

Sam spent most of the time on my back in the Ergo but did get some time to get her wiggles out too. There were quite a few people walking and riding their bikes. We even saw several puppy dogs and that got Pie and Sam's attention right away.

Wednesday

Chris came home after working 17 days in a row. I knew he would want to get caught up on sleep so the girls, my mom and dad and I headed to Belfast so the house would be quiet for Chris to sleep. We went to Renny's and Ocean State Job Lot so I could look for some shorts. We ended up with shorts and a swimsuit for me and new swimsuits for the girls too! Then we stopped at Subway to take to the park with us for a picnic lunch. While we were waiting for mom to get the subs, Chris's boss called and asked that he go in to work again Wednesday and Thursday nights. I knew he was exhausted but I also knew that we could not and would not turn down any work they offered. So I told her she could count on him and she said she already knew that! ;) We stopped by the big slide park for awhile, then got ice cream (of course!) and headed back home to get Chris up for work.

Everyone was tired so mom and dad headed back home early. Sam was asleep by about 6:00 and Pie was out by 7:30. I watched Lee De Wise win American Idol (I was hoping Crystal would win) and texted Chris while he was waiting to go into the wood yard.

Exciting night.

We have sprouts!

The girls and I went out first thing this morning to set the sprinkler in the garden since it's been so hot this week and we have sprouts!

We have sunflowers, corn, beans, peas, onions, squash and pumpkins all popping their heads up put of the soil. We are just waiting on the carrots and beets.

And of course, the cutest sprout of all...

The Lupines are in full bloom right now too. They are such beautiful flowers. Our hillside is a sea of purple!

Pics

I had been wanting to get Pie and Sam's pictures taken ever since we bought them some spring outfits way back in Feb when we went shopping in Augusta for my birthday. I made an appointment for today at 11 am. I was afraid that Sam would fall asleep on the way and then would wake up cranky so we left with plenty of time for her to wake up. Well she didn't fall asleep and the photographer was running behind so it was about 11:30 before we even got started on the photo shoot. Pie did awesome. She was a little shy but actually I think that helped keep her from getting too wild. Sam on the other hand wanted no part of getting her picture taken unless she was in my arms and even then she'd barely crack a smile. The photographer did a great job and even convinced grandma and grandpa to get in a couple of the pictures. It took a lot longer than we had expected both to take the pictures and then for them to be ready to be viewed but it was worth having some really nice pictures of my girls and their grandparents.

H.O.T.

It was really hot today so we hung out at the campground again and played in the lake. Neither of the girls would venture out too far in the water, which actually was a relief to me, maybe I will be able to handle them both at the pool this summer after all!

We came back home in time for Chris to get up for work and once he left I mowed and mowed and mowed until all the grass was cut. We even moved the swing set so I could mow under it too!

I think we all will get a good night sleep tonight.

"You're going to Millinocket? WHY?"

On Sunday we headed north to Millinocket. Most locals will laugh and ask why would you go way up there? There really isn't very much up there once you get north of Bangor but we headed out to see for ourselves anyway. I spotted a nice park and sandy beach right when we pulled into town so we stopped to let the girls run around a little.

The Discovery Channel has a show called American Loggers that features the Pelletier brothers who make their living logging in northern Maine. They recently have opened the Pelletier Loggers restaurant in Millinocket. The restaurant was beautiful with lots of logs and creative stone work and was full as could be with locals and about 50 bikers. The food was excellent too!

We took Highway 11 back home and spotted 2 moose along the side of the road. We stopped in Bangor at a park so the girls could get some wiggles out after such a long ride in Grandpa's truck.

Another fun weekend!

Friday brought our usual trip grocery shopping, then home to have a picnic in the yard. The weather had been so beautiful lately! It's nice to get out and enjoy it.

Saturday we hit a couple yard sales on the way over to mom and dad's campground where we played on the playground and waded in the lake.

Big Water

After a stop at the gas station and Dunkin Donuts for so Pie could potty and we could get some coffee we headed out to Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is a very touristy little town with lots of shops right on the ocean. There was a cruise ship docked so there were lots of sales going on to lure in more shoppers. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for being outside. We all found T-shirts and I got Chris some stickers for his tool box. We had a nice lunch and of course we had ice cream.

Next we headed to Winter Harbor to see Frenchman's bay. It was amazing! There are a lot of places in Maine where you see the ocean but being in a bay it doesn't always seem like the ocean, more like a river in the Penobscott bay and more of a big lake in the Belfast Bay. But in Winter Harbor there was ocean as far at the eye could see. The waves came crashing up on the huge rocky cliffs and splashed way up in the air. Pie thought it was so cool to see the "BIG WATER". It was sort of hard to tell how close we could get to the water and soon we found out!!

Frenchman's bay was really awesome to see and defiantly worth the drive to get there.

Discovery Museum

It was cold and rainy today. A perfect day for the Discovery Museum in Bangor. We stopped at Paddy Murphy's for lunch and had fried pickles and awesome sandwiches. Both girls were very good sitting at the table. The we walked up the street to the museum. Pie always has a really fun time and Sammie is getting old enough to enjoy it now too. Mom surprised me with a family membership so now we can go whenever we want! I am excited for Pie to be able to attend some of the classes that they offer.

BigG's

We headed out to Winslow, Maine to go to the world famous Big G's deli! The have the best sandwiches ever and they are so HUGE! Everything is homemade and so delicious. It's more than worth the hour + drive to get there. Mom had a shrimp salad sandwich, dad had eggs and sausage with homemade toast and I had their thanksgiving sandwich complete with turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce. Holy YUM!!!

Afterwards we went into Waterville and walked around downtown - not too impressive but I'm not sure what else to do in Waterville, Maine. Mom found some good deals on sweatshirts for herself and the girls then we found a shop that sold gellato. We ordered vanilla, mixed fruit and donatella which was mocha flavored. They all were good but the mixed fruit was amazing!

Pie made a new friend while Grandma was shopping.

On they was back home we went past the log cabin that Chris and I have looked at to buy. Apparently the owner has moved out and now it's empty. It certainly had a different aura without the upkeep that it had last fall when we first saw it. I left feeling sad this time, not quite the same feeling I had had before. I really hope that whoever does buy this cabin gets it back in shape, and loves it like it deserves.

We got home and it was about time for Chris to get up for work. He ate his sandwich that we'd brought him and headed out. He's so tired. I hate seeing him that way. Although I'm worried that he may not get a lot of work in the next few weeks, I do hope that he can get some rest.

Garden!

Today we planted our garden! Mom and dad came over (with donuts!) and we got to planting. We started with a row of Sunflowers, then 2 types of sweet corn. After the corn we planted green beens and peas, regular carrots and "kalidoscope" carrots that are while, purple and deep red! We also planted tomatoes, beets, yellow and butternut squash, onions and of couse pumpkins! I can't wait to see some prouts comming up in the next week or so!

Sammie still wasn't quite feeling up to par so she ended up in my arms most of the day while mom and dad did most of the work. Pie had fun helping Grandma pick the rocks out of the garden and plant the seeds, it will be interesting to see how well she spaced them out!! The black flies were out with a vengance, mom had some Backwoods Off that seemed to help but I still ended up with several bites on my face and woke up on Tuesday morning with my right eye swollen shut. I swore I wouldn't complain much on this blog but there just is nothing good to say about black flies!!

Fun weekend

We just had errands to run on Saturday . I needed to get groceries and mom and dad had a few things to pick up too. Mom had gotten her camera wet at Niagra Falls and wanted to get a new one. We headed to Bangor and hit Radio Shack in the mall then went to Target where the girls got some new jammies and cute sun dresses. Then we headed to Wal-Mart for food and to compare prices on cameras. We found that Target had the best selection and was the only store that actually had someone there to answer our questions.

While we were out shopping our first ever garden was getting rototilled!

Chris's work schedule is always changing. After working nights for about 6 months, he finally got put back on the day shift. Now starting Monday he's working nights again. But working nights is better than not working at all. He is very lucky to have been schuduled for boiler tube training, only a select few were chosen and he was one of them. With all the unknowns of his job, it's hard to tell if the training will happen on time or get pushed back due to some sort of emergency in a boiler. I just can't express how proud I am of him for working so hard and making such a good name for himself.

While Chris was napping, the rest of us headed to the beach. Once we got there we decided it was way too windy, so we headed to Belfast to go to the awesome big slide park. Pie had a blast on the big slide and Sammie even got Grandma to go down it with her! The wind wasn't nearly as bad at the park and it turned out to be a really nice day. After the park Grandpa took us all to Dairy Queen for some yummy ice cream!

Once Chris woke up from his nap we went back to my mom and dad's campground and had bbq's steaks and fiddleheads! YUM!

Sammie hadn't been feeling to great today. She selpt off and on all day and ended up with her first ever fever. She also has about 6 teeth comming in all at once so hopefully that was all it was.

They are here!!

My mom and dad showed up this afternoon! They made better time than they thought they might and got here a day early! It was so nice to see them and even though I hadn't seen them in almost a year and a half it felt like we'd never been apart. It only took Pie a few minutes to warm up to them and was soon chasing "Ca-pah" around the yard and was swinging with "Gah-ma". It was nice to see them all having fun. Sam was still a bit unsure of who these new people were but was interested in watching everyone play.

Grandpa bought a surprise for the girls too. He made them thier very own picnic table and benches. The girls loved it right away and even ate supper at the new table that night.

 

Unsocial

The weather today was BEAUTIFUL. About 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and just enough breeze to keep the black flies away, a perfect spring day, it was nice to be able to get out and enjoy it!

Chris has been working in a mill this week welding tubes in a boiler. Even though it's an extremely long drive and it's insanely dirty work he loves it. He's busy most of the day and feels like he's accomplished something at the end of the day. I'm glad that he is enjoying his job but it makes for really long days for us, especially when he's at the mill several days in a row. (If everything turns out for the best, he will be at a mill all summer long.)

Today is day 4 since I have left our house. I wonder how many people could spend so much time without much social interaction? It actually doesn't bother me much. I have a few really awesome friends that I talk to online and can always call my mom when I want to hear someone's voice. I guess living on the side of a mountain suits me just fine. 

Traditions

Someone once told me that the younger generation just doesn't follow in traditions like older people do. I guess that just depends on how you look at it.

Chris and I have started to create some of our own traditions. Since we don't live as close to family anymore, we've had a bit more freedom do celebrate our holidays however we want since it's just the four of us.

Once tradition that we've started is eating manicotti for Christmas dinner. Not something that's been in the family forever but it's something that we've done several years in a row. I don't think I would ever insist on manicotti if someone wanted to eat something different or would be upset if my girls grew up and wanted to have fried chicken for Christmas dinner. Traditions should be fun and not feel like an obligation. Creating our own traditions has brought me more joy than most of the passed down traditions that I've been involved in.

Another tradition that I've started is taking a picture of me and my girls on Mother's day. My first Mother's day, Chris took picture of Audrey and I to celebrate our success with nursing. I had worked so hard and struggled through so many issues that I wanted to remember the beautiful side of breastfeeding my first born daughter.

I fell in love with this picture, it really represented how special our relationship had become. So on my second Mother's day Chris took this picture of Samantha and me.

So for my third Mother's Day, I felt that I should keep up the tradition of taking a nice picture of me and my girls.

So while my traditions may not have been passed down from generation to generation or involve rituals and ceremonies, they are traditions that I hope to keep going for years to come. If my girls want to carry them on, that's great, but I hope that they start some new traditions of their own too.

The Calling

Have you ever had something call to you so strongly that you couldn't ignore it?

Chris and I have been browsing other living options, our current house need more work than what is worth putting into it, besides the fact that we just don't like it. One night last fall while searching online, Chris came across this house.

We looked at the pictures and thought it looked like a cute little cabin. During Thanksgiving weekend, we were out for a drive and found ourselves heading out to find this house. It's address said it was on a major roadway but actually it's about 3/4 of a mile back in the woods. We drove back and found the house.

We both liked it and wondered what it looked like inside. We headed back home and filed the house in the back of our minds. Every once in awhile one or the other of us would stumble upon this house online and would comment that it was still for sale.

One day last winter, on our way home from shopping in the big city I told Chris to drive out past the cabin again, I just wanted another look. When living in Maine, it's pretty important to get a feel for what you will be in store for in the winter, what may be ideal in the summer might be a nightmare in the winter months. Luckily the road to this cabin is fairly flat and is most of the 3/4 of the mile are plowed.

We got to the house and Chris went to knock on the door to ask the owner a few questions. He went inside and had a look around. (The girls were asleep so I stayed in the truck with them.) He came back out with some info and the phone number of the real estate agent. He said it was nice but wasn't sure if I would like it or not. "It's not huge, be any means," he said.

We headed back home and once again filed it away, getting on with the rest of the weekend. That Monday I emailed the agent and made an appointment for the next weekend to see the inside of the house.

There was still a lot of snow on the ground and we realized that owning our own plow would be essential, but this driveway would be a million times easier to plow than the hill we live on now.  the next Sunday, we waited for the agent to arrive and then went in to see the house. It was very cozy with hardwood floors and a stone fireplace with a mantle that cried out for Christmas stockings to be hung from it. It had two bedrooms, a loft and a nice sized semi finished basement. It wasn't big but it was perfect, probably the closest thing to our dream house that we ever could find.

We talked to the agent and the owner discussing a possible land trade since the owner would be looking for a new place to live. As we got more information, we realized that trading land wasn't going to help pay off the owners mortgage, which was the only reason he was trying to sell the cabin. So once again we filed the house away in the back f our minds.

Yesterday, the cabin crept back into my thoughts. I looked it up online, it's still on the market and the price was reduced by 15k. I texted Chris just to relay the info, not really thinking much about it. Apparently he's as enchanted by this house as I am.

He came home and applied for a loan online. I'm not sure what will come of the loan, financing seems to be what is holding us back from owning our dream cabin but for some reason it just keeps calling to us. It might not be big, or fancy or new, in an affluent neighborhood but I can't fight the feeling that it's where we belong.