Quadrifecta

Tabitha turns 6

2012-01-01T20:45:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year...to Tabitha! Our New Year's Eve baby just turned 6. Our head-strong little peanut chose a Hello Kitty party with our friends Anna & Maia Loeb in attendance. Aunt Linna was in town visiting for the holidays so she got to celebrate with us too! Tabitha usually scowls at having her picture taken yet when she opened her birthday presents yesterday, she wanted to pose with every single present. It was very interesting to observe, though I will spare you the string of photos. I've included a few so that you can catch a glimpse of Noah's amazing carving abilities (once again) of Hello Kitty's head in 3-D. Coconut cake was Tabitha's pick and it worked perfectly in this application. We played pin the parts on Hello Kitty face and made some sculptures as well. Fun times were had by all. Happy Birthday to our darling Tabitha!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-08T13:23:00.004-05:00

I love autumn. I love the cool, crisp weather. I love the colors of the leaves on the trees as they change. I love the pumpkins and apples. I also love Halloween costumes. This year I told the kids I would not spend the whole month of October sewing, and I also told them that I would not spend any money. So, we found two witch hats at a yard sale for less than 25 cents each. I combed the thrift store for black things to turn into witch dresses. Along with some donations from my friend Penny's dress-up stash, I turned out some cute things for the girls to wear. Abel originally decided on dracula, so I made him a red vest from a jacket found at the thrift store. A cape was made from fabric in my stash. He decided a week before Halloween to be a Ranger instead (from the books he has been reading, The Ranger's Apprentice) so Noah helped him make a bow and the red vest did not get used until second trick-or-treat night (we trick-or-treat in town on the Friday before Halloween at the businesses downtown and then go to a few houses we know on Halloween night). I did not take pictures of Abel as dracula, only as a Ranger (confusing, I know, but he was dracula the second time). Jonah wanted to be Batman. I used a pattern that Linna picked up for me at JoAnn's during a pattern sale and used fabric from my stash to craft his outfit. I got to do some sewing but it did not take me all month.

Dean's, Athearn's, Matis'

Abel, Ranger

Phebe, Witch

Tabitha, Witch

Jonah, Batman

Phebe had a birthday

2011-08-22T11:26:00.003-04:00

Among other things that happened while we were on vacation this summer, our Phebe turned 7 years old! We got to celebrate her birthday while vacationing with the Dean's at Edisto Island, SC. In honor of this oceanside event, Phebe chose a sea turtle cake. As always, Noah did a fabulous job carving the cake. Before you know it, we will be in the cake carving business.

It finally happened...

2011-06-18T21:03:00.005-04:00

Jonah has grown taller than Tabitha. We knew it would happen eventually, but honestly I thought it would be after they were both in school. Jonah has had a growth spurt the last few months, and Tabitha has not, so he is now taller than his big sister. It is possible that she will grow again this year and reclaim her position, but then again, she may always be the little peanut from now on. Only time will tell.

The Early Bedtime

2011-04-28T18:41:00.002-04:00

Our kids normally go to bed at 7:00 p.m. Once upon a time, bedtime was 8:00 p.m., then 7:30 p.m., and now it is 7:00 p.m. They have to get up at 6:15 a.m. to get ready to go to the bus (we walk out the door at 6:45 a.m.). They mostly seem to get enough sleep. 7:00 p.m. is about the earliest that we can get them to bed. We have dinner at 5:30 p.m. on most nights, which just barely allows enough time for dinner and the rounds in and out of the bathroom for the four kids to get ready for bed. Phebe lately has been asking if we can put them to bed earlier because she is tired when the alarm clock goes off. I told her that it is nearly impossible for them to get to bed earlier. Well, tonight was supposed to be a "late" dinner night (6:00 p.m.) to allow Noah to clean up after Physics lab, which ends at 5:00 p.m. Dinners in our house have always been family meals, scheduled for when Dad can get home from work, and still allow the kids to get in bed on time. So today when it was 3:45 p.m. and the kids were asking when dinner would be done (and in my head I am thinking, "not for 2 hours!"), the thought occurred that I could feed them early without Dad, and then they could have their desire to go to bed early. So I responded to their dinner inquiry "Well, I could feed you early tonight and then you could go to bed early." Their response was unbelievable: "YES! We get to go to bed early!!!" Truly, unbelievable, I know. So they ate dinner tonight before Noah got home (fortunately it was chicken pot pie tonight and it was already put together to go in the oven when their tummies were asking at 3:45 p.m.). They were ready for bed by 6:00 p.m., and reading quietly until Noah could read stories at 6:30 p.m. They got their wish for early bedtime, Noah and I had quiet dinner together. It's a little too tempting to try again, though I do place great value on dinner together as a family. What would you do?

April Fools Day

2011-04-08T21:17:00.007-04:00

This has been the longest winter. Ever. Not only did we survive the coldest, snowiest winter in centuries (maybe exaggerating, maybe not), but we did it with only one car. A Civic for this family of six. And Noah is on a five credit overload. Noah works, and eats, and works some more. Sometimes he gets to sleep. No work is being done on the house, but we know that summer is coming. Thinking warm, happy, futuristic thoughts is getting us through. Well, the most recent blessed ray of sunshine came in the form of a vehicle purchase. We waited until our tax return came through to replace the family vehicle. We shopped online for a used southern minivan that would not already be rusted out from years of salt exposure on Maine winter roads. We found one in Atlanta where Noah's dad was able to inspect and approve our purchase. And to get it home? Well, Mindy got to go on a solo road trip to retrieve the vehicle during Noah's spring break. The idea was that Dad could work from home while Mom was driving home & visiting family. Well, Dad quickly realized that it would be hard to manage the fort AND work, so he enjoyed his time being Dad. And the kids enjoyed it too. Meanwhile, Mindy got to visit the in-laws, siblings, Nana, MomMom, and Aunt Linna & Aunt Marjee along the drive home. And she returned just in time to be reminded, again, that even though it was spring break, we are not clear of winter until June. She returned home March 31, and here was our April Fools Day present from Mother Nature.

The Sedona from Georgia experiencing its first Maine snow....thinking to itself what went wrong!

The kids enjoying their first family ride in the minivan

Bill and Jodi

Kevin

Mindy, Kristen, Mom, Robyn

Mindy & MomMom

Abel turned 8 years old....

2011-03-01T20:33:00.006-05:00

Abel had his "golden" birthday this year. He turned 8 years old on the 8th of February. In our house, the kids can have "friends invited" parties starting at age 6, and only on the even years. This keeps things manageable for Mom, and keeps those "friends over" parties very special. This year Abel chose a small party at home with two guests. He wanted the party to happen on his actual birthday, even though it was a school day, so that affected the planning. Everything was set to transpire on the big day when Abel woke up with a fever. Oh No! He had come down with the flu. And in a family of 6, it is no small task to reschedule a party when you have to plan for everyone else to get sick. He missed 4 days of school, but was finally able to have his party on the 13th. Abel is a huge fan of Greek mythology so he chose a mythologically themed party. His birthday cake was from the story of the Golden Fleece (Jason & the Argonauts) where Jason is sowing the field with dragon's teeth that spawn warriors. We had a reading of the story before devouring the cake. The kids also assembled lego kits of herculean swords (which Abel and Noah had put together ahead of time). And we invented a labyrinth game to try to kill the minotaur. The play pieces were hand-painted by the kids at the beginning of the party. We all had a great time and it was fun to plan and celebrate Abel on his special day. Abel is a happy kid who loves to laugh, read, and is looking forward to warm weather to be able to ride his bike again. Happy Birthday Abel!

Cake depicting Jason (from the Golden Fleece) sowing dragon's teeth in the field with warriors emerging:

Lego kits of Herculean swords:

Labyrinth game:

Jonah is a 4-year old!

2011-01-17T11:22:00.003-05:00

Jonah is our perpetual motion child. He does not slow down for anything. His usual mode of transportation is jumping or running from one point to the other. He is a busy boy. His favorite past times are playing the computer and the Wii, so I have to limit those to after-school hours with the timer. Otherwise he would have his turns on the computer & Wii during the day and then watch Abel have his turns after school and never do anything else. He plays with Tabitha a lot during the school day and does play well with Phebe and Abel too, but when the boys don't know what to do with themselves, they tend to start wrestling. I don't understand it. I think it is on the y-chromosome somewhere. The other thing that Jonah does really well is count. He could count to 100 all by himself before he was 4. He is amazing. One morning at breakfast he announced that he could count to 100. I said, "really?". His reply "uh-huh" and he started counting. I did not stop him. I let him continue and amaze us. But this is the same kid that could count to 20 before he was 2, so I should not be surprised. He loves numbers and patterns. He loves to build things out of legos, magformers, and trio blocks. He also loves trains. Jonah is a joy and a mischievous devil and we love him. Happy Birthday to our sweet Jonah!

Noah carving the table saw cake

Jonah opening presents : did I mention his favorite color is black?!

Tabitha is now 5 years old!

2011-01-16T19:13:00.005-05:00

Tabitha. Tabitha is our peanut. She is short (or maybe just average) for her age group and the rest of the kids are all tall for their age group. The result...a brother who is 12 months younger than her that is about to pass her in height. She has maybe 1/4" on him still. Everyone who sees them in public thinks that they are twins since they are so close in size. But it has been that way for a few years (people thinking they are twins!). Tabitha has a sense of humor that no one else in the family can rival. She asks morbid questions unlike any other child I know. But to me it seems a natural part of growing and learning....asking questions like "do we eat people?". After all, if we eat fish, cows, chickens, a curious child would like to know what else we eat. Right? None of the other children ask questions like this, but Tabitha does. And the fun does not end there. Tabitha has a stubbornness about her that has been there for as long as I can remember. She has not outgrown it, and that is okay. I thought she might outgrow it as she approached 5 years old, but no, it is still there. She will become a determined teenager and adult. And as long as her determination takes her in the right direction, we will be okay! Tabitha loves to play with Jonah while the older kids are at school, so I am glad that she has him for a playmate. Tabitha loves to play with stuffed animals. She loves it when our neighbor's dog, Sammy, comes over to play. So it should be no surprise that Tabitha's choice of birthday cake was an animal. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, in fact. Probably the time of year and the fact that we made Rudolph cupcakes from Family Fun magazine multiple times this winter contributed to her choice. But alas, that was her choice. So Noah carved up the cutest reindeer cake I've ever seen. I bake the cakes and frost them, but Noah really brings them to life with his wonderful shaping. Happy Birthday to our 5-year old darling, Tabitha!

sculpting the cake

Rudolph cake

water bottle from Aunt Linna

tea set from Grammy & Papa

barbie from Papa & Coco

new sweater from Grammy & Papa

Jonah

Abel

Tabitha

Tabitha and Phebe

Bronze Day Follow-Up

2010-12-31T19:43:00.004-05:00

A few days after our Bronze Day field trip while in Boston for Thanksgiving, Marjee allowed the kids to carve a sculpture in wax for her to cast in bronze for them. The kids had such a fun time crafting their own creation. This was such a special experience that Aunt Marjee shared with them. Abel crafted a catapult arm with some rocks, Phebe created a kitty head and ball for the kitty to play with, Tabitha made a unicorn pegasus (with much assistance from Mom) while Jonah wanted to make a stack of Pancakes (with Dad's help). The results were fantastic. Aunt Marjee cast their creations in bronze and did all of the clean up work required for them to be ready for presentation to the kids on their Christmas visit to our house. Here are the results!

Tabitha with unicorn pegasus

Phebe with kitty & ball

Jonah with pancakes

Abel with catapult

A Bronze Day in Boston

2010-12-06T14:14:00.019-05:00

I am not really sure how this post will turn out in the end. I have asked my sister-in-law, Linna, to upload pictures from her camera to include on this post and the formatting seems weird and it is leaving me uncertain, but here goes!

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to Boston to be with Linna and Marjee for the week. This allowed us some time to get away, help a little with their bathroom remodel, and allow Mindy the use of a kitchen sink for the Thanksgiving meal. Except for the acrobatics required to fit us all in our Civic, the drive was uneventful. Linna had preplanned a few activities for us since we would have a few days together before the holiday feast. Our first outing was roller skating, which sadly we do not have any pictures of. Fortunately there was one adult for each child. Since our kids had never done this before, lots of hand-holding and encouragement was required. I ended up with the physically least taxing job (Jonah) and I think Marjee had the hardest (Phebe really wanted to be doing it but did not quite get it, so Marjee was holding her up the whole time!). Mostly we had fun, but I am not sure that I would jump to do it again, unless the kids could get some more practice time in. We don't have a roller skating rink here, and there are not any sidewalks close by, so they will probably not acquire this skill in life. Oh well. They can snowshoe!

Our second activity that Linna planned for us was the coolest field trip ever. We took the train (which is always a hit with our kids) downtown to visit some cast bronze statues in two different parts of town. The first stop was to see the Tortoise and the Hare statues. The second was to see "Make Way for Ducklings" statues. Marjee's foundry casts these, so our follow-up excursion was a behind the scenes tour of their foundry. Is that not the coolest thing ever?! I think it would have made a great episode for Reading Rainbow. First we read "Make Way for Ducklings" on the train, then we got to go see the statues on display, followed by a tour and lesson on casting. Cool, huh?! We all learned a lot about the art and science involved in making a statue. Marjee brought home some leftover wax for the kids to be able to sculpt their own creation to be cast at a later date. It was awesome!

And to top it all off, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast, I stocked up on flannel fabric at JoAnn's on black Friday, AND I got to purchase Barilla pasta on sale. Okay, maybe that does not signal any flags for you, but we have ONE grocery store in town, and pasta NEVER goes on sale...and we eat A LOT of pasta, so getting to buy good pasta at a good price was fabulous, even if I could not get any of it into the car when I was done. But that is another story!

A visit from Sprice, Ginger Ann, & Linna

2010-11-06T20:05:00.006-04:00

In October, Noah's sister Sprice flew with her daughter, Ginger, to visit from California. They flew into Boston, where their sister Linna resides and picked up the west coast visitors and drove up for a nice long visit. This was Sprice & Ginger's first visit to downeast Maine, so we made sure to include all of the wonderful things our beautiful area has to offer. It was so fun to meet our sweet niece/cousin Ginger Ann. The kids had fun playing together and interacting with a youngin'. We have moved past the infant/toddler stage of life, so it was fun to be around her and be reminded of all the fun things babies do.

West Quoddy

hike at West Quoddy

kids on boardwalk at West Quoddy

Ginger

pitcher plant at peat bog at West Quoddy

West Quoddy lighthouse

Noah & Ginger

Linna, Tabitha, Jonah

Sprice & Ginger

Jonah at Roque Bluffs

Tabitha at Roque Bluffs

Ginger & Sprice at Roque Bluffs

Jonah at Roque Bluffs

Ginger introducing us to the fabulous taste of Rose Hips!!

Ginger ate rose hips, one after the other, so we all finally tried them, and they were delicious!!

Linna at Cutler

Mindy at Cutler

our lobster purchase from the docks at Cutler

Halloween

2010-11-04T19:05:00.003-04:00

We really love Halloween. I don't know whether it is the mark of the season change, the creativity involved, the eeriness, or all of these combined. Also, I love making costumes. This year sewing was not an option so we had to be a little more creative, but I felt like we pulled things off rather successfully with a hot glue gun, thrift store finds, and recycling old costumes or dress-up. We had fun, even though it snowed on us. Yes folks, you read that right. It snowed all day on Halloween. We were pretty cold when it was time for trick-or-treating, but we layered up the best we could. Thankfully the ground was too warm for accumulation. We can do without for another few weeks!

Phebe "princess"

Tabitha "kitty"

Abel "Poseidon"

Jonah "Spiderman"

The Dean family front: Abel "Poseidon", Tabitha "kitty", Jonah "Spiderman", Phebe "princess"; back: Noah "wizard", Mindy "Pipi Longstocking"

Mom, will you die before me?

2010-10-08T20:11:00.008-04:00

After purchasing our land, we discovered that we owned 8-10 apple trees on our property. We suspect they were once part of the neighboring farmland and were an orchard. They are now overgrown and resemble nothing of an orchard, but we are still excited to have these wonderful fruit bearing trees. We have been harvesting some of these apples for winter storage, and one of the ways we use them is applesauce. I was making applesauce with the kids this week with my Victorio strainer. This is when Phebe asked the question, "Mom, will you die before me?". My reply was that probably I would die before her because that is usually the way life goes. I then asked her "Why do you ask, Phebe?". Thinking I was getting into some philosophical discussion, I was surprised when she answered "I want that applesauce maker when you die." I chuckled and told her that she would want her own before I died so we might have to get her one of her one before I die. I guess we know what we can get her for a graduation or wedding present!

I am a little behind on blogging, so here are pictures of our kids on the first day of school. Phebe & Abel started 1st & 2nd grade at Wesley Elementary. They are loving their new school, 8 students in all! We could not be happier with the way things have worked out. Tabitha & Jonah proudly tell anyone who asks that they go to homeschool, not regular school. Tabitha is looking forward to going to kindergarten next year and eats up the little lessons we do in the afternoon. Jonah enjoys it too and is equally capable, but Tabitha asks everyday to do homeschool: all day, every day, until it happens. I am enjoying the ability to do it this year. We have slowed down our work pace on the house since we now have a mortgage instead of a construction loan with a deadline. The biggest difference is that we are spending more time as parents and less as workers, but we are still slowly getting things done as we can.

Phebe, Abel, Jonah, Tabitha

Phebe & Abel

Tabitha & Jonah

And, we went camping this past weekend as a family. We had not done this since Jonah was an infant. Noah had taken Abel and Phebe on individual camp-outs, but we had not had the opportunity to go as a family until now. We had a nice hike-in outing to a gorgeous pond not too far from home (about a 30 minute drive -- Donnell Pond Public Reserve Land). The hike was less than a mile, which was good considering we made all of the kids carry a backpack with their own sleeping bag & clothes. Noah & I simply did not have room in our packs for the tents, sleeping pads, food, water, AND sleeping bags for 6 persons. So we delegated the load and they all did remarkably well. Unfortunately the wind was biting and the youngest were a little miserable in the morning, but overall we had a nice time and would go there again.

Abel

Phebe

Jonah

Tabitha

family

Phebe is a 6-year old!

2010-08-16T10:01:00.009-04:00

On August 1, we celebrated Phebe turning 6 years old! Phebe is such the peace maker in our family. She lovingly does whatever is asked of her. She looks out for her younger siblings and plays so nicely with them. It is a rare day that Phebe has to be punished. For her party, she chose a swim in the river, water balloons, and a pinata. She had a few friends over; Anna Loeb, Angie and Becca Scribner. Fun was had by all. She chose a barbie cake with a Sleeping Beauty barbie. She had been thinking of using the barbie she already had, but the week before her birthday I found an inexpensive Sleeping Beauty barbie at Target that already had a painted-on bodice, which made the cake decorating easier (and no frizzy hair from years of play!). It turned out fabulously, and we had such a lovely day celebrating our Phebe girl.

cake still under construction (strawberry and chocolate layers -- Phebe's choices)

finished cake

blowing out candles

birthday party lunch

eating cake

eating cake

Phebe hitting pinata

Angie hitting pinata

Tabitha hitting pinata

Anna hitting pinata

Becca hitting pinata

Jonah hitting pinata

Abel hitting pinata

working on the birthday puzzle

Phebe playing with her loot

Abel

Tabitha

Phebe

Jonah

Creatures of the Night...and more!

2010-07-10T21:00:00.005-04:00

Noah's sister, Linna, has been in town for a week to vacation and help us out with the house. We have had a fun week of playing with her dog, Cyan, swimming in leech infested waters, visiting our gorgeous coast, and also working hard on the house. Check out the house blog for a more detailed note on our actual work. But here I get to show off some of our fun pictures! While we were unloading the uhaul truck of the remainder of our wood flooring, we had the front door open for more than three hours. In that amount of time, we acquired an impressive collection of moths. Some are gorgeous and most of these we had never seen before. Some we were unable to get a good picture of, but we did have some success.

MOTHS

We visited the reversing falls in Pembroke, ME, where the tide comes in and out so dramatically that you can watch the change. The change creates a reverse fall effect where you see the water moving in and out. While we were exploring around the park, we stumbled upon a patch of ripe blueberry plants and the kids were in heaven. Jonah sat right down and feasted. We emptied a water bottle and collected enough for blueberry pancakes the next morning. Delicious!

Jonah munching on PBJ

Tabitha

Jonah feasting on blueberries

Jonah feasting on blueberries

the reverse falls...still low tide so not much action yet (the best show is in between tides)

Father's Day at Cobscook Bay

2010-06-23T23:10:00.003-04:00

The wild flowers at Cobscook Bay were beautiful

For Father's Day, we took the day to spend with Noah on a hike at Cobscook Bay State Park. We had a nice hike in the woods and along the beautiful coast of downeast Maine. We picnicked and then did some beach combing. We were pleasantly surprised with our find: starfish galore! Neither Noah nor I had ever seen a starfish in the wild, so this was very exciting. The kids loved it too. We put them all back in the ocean after we looked at them up close and personal. Such a gorgeous day for a break from the house building and to celebrate all that Noah lovingly does for his family.

Noah hiding the starfish until everyone could see

Noah showing off his find

The first starfish Noah found eating a snail

Abel with a starfish

Phebe with starfish

Tabitha with starfish

Jonah with starfish

Mindy, Tabitha, Jonah

End of school year

2010-06-11T20:50:00.002-04:00

Today was the last day of school for Abel and Phebe. They are now 2nd & 1st graders! They are excited for summer break yet sad to say good-bye to teachers they have loved all year.

As part of their end of year ritual, the school has end of year awards in which each student is awarded some sort of award for excellence in something that they come up with. Abel received an avid reader award for always going to his seat to delve into a book. He does love to read and is reading at a 5th grade level now. Wow! We are so proud of him.

Phebe has grown by leaps and bounds in her reading as well. Entering kindergarten she did not know how to read and is now reading at a 2nd grade level. It has been very exciting to watch. Though her award was not in reading. She received the citizenship award. One person from each class receives the citizenship award and they got to go to a special breakfast at a restaurant with the principal this morning. She received this award for possessing compassion, great friendship, eagerness to be considerate, and constant positivity. We are so proud of her for receiving this special award. She really is a sweet, loving soul and are blessed to have her in our family.

Where the Wild Things Are

2010-06-03T21:33:00.003-04:00

Phebe's Kindergarten class prepared a play based on the book "Where the Wild Things Are". They did such an amazing job. And their costumes all turned out so cute. Phebe was one of three Max's (they each had a turn being the character Max -- the boy who goes off to the wild place). So here are a few pictures of Phebe's class in their costumes

PHEBE, ANNA, MILEENA (the three Max's)

Crazy Hair Day

2010-05-06T13:37:00.005-04:00

TABITHA

PHEBE

JONAH

CREW

ABEL

When it was crazy hair day at the kids' school, I made glitter hair gel out of gelatin and glitter (recipe from Family Fun magazine). The kids had fun with their sparkly dos. The only downside: Tabitha and Phebe still have flecks of glitter stuck to their scalps weeks later! Not too noticeable since they have long hair, but still....not what I expected.

In other new and noteworthy things, we have decided to send the kids to a different school next year. Living in Marshfield where there is no elementary school, we have school of choice (e.g. we choose a school and the town pays for the schooling out of our taxes). Most people choose Rose M. Gaffney since it is the closest school, Marshfield pays for a bus, and it is a good school. However, we have chosen a "one-room" school house in Wesley, which is 15 miles north of our house. They currently have 6 students. The teacher is excellent and we look forward to the individualized attention they will receive at their new school. The school house is in excellent shape, they have a nice playground, lots of resources, great teacher, what more needs be said? It will be like having a private tutor. Or homeschooling. Only I don't have to do it. The kids and we are very excited.

Spring Haircuts

2010-04-07T09:03:00.003-04:00

Tabitha told me that she wanted her hair off of her neck. I offered a ponytail and she countered with "I want a haircut". So when she persisted with this desire for a few days, I obliged. The results were so cute that Phebe wanted to look like her little sister. So now they have new matching hairdos for the warmer weather.

Tabitha BEFORE

Tabitha AFTER

Phebe BEFORE

Phebe AFTER

Girls together

Abel turned 7!

2010-02-13T18:02:00.001-05:00

Abel is growing into a big boy! He is smart as a whip, clever, and loves to make jokes. He asks lots of questions to figure out how things work. He is a joy to have in our family and a great older brother. The true ring leader. Abel's energy level dictates the overall mood of the bunch. Sometimes good, sometimes bad! He asked for tents for his birthday cake. This boy is looking forward to camping this summer! He wanted everyone to have their own tent, so this is what Noah carved for us. I baked and decorated. Noah had the hard job. Unfortunately, I broke my ankle the morning of Abel's birthday and had not yet frosted the cake. I was not sure how the cake would get finished until my friend, Sarah Gabrielson called to see if we could play and I asked for her help. She and her two young boys came over and mixed frostings with Tabitha and Jonah while I rested on the couch. Sarah started the frosting and I finished when she needed to leave for her youngest to take a nap. It has been an adventurous week with this broken ankle and I have been so grateful for all of the help I have received, starting with the frosting of this cake!!! Happy Birthday Abel.

Fish Tacos

2010-01-22T16:54:00.002-05:00

I first made these fish tacos sometime after moving to Maine even though the recipe sat in one of our cookbooks for years, waiting to be tried. Upon moving to Maine, we started trying to eat fish once or twice a week as part of our heart-healthy diet, and having a real salary helped us accomplish that. This quickly became one of my favorite foods and I sometimes made it every week last year as our weekly fish meal. Building the house has made us restrict our spending again, so we can't eat fish often right now, but I broke down and bought some fish at the grocery store last night since it had been a few months since I've made these. So, this is what is for dinner tonight, and it really is loved by all I've made it for. Ok, maybe not the kids, but they can just eat refried beans as long as they always have a bite of the fish first!
This is my adaptation of Rick Bayless' Yucatecan Grilled Fish Tacos in "Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen".

Serves 4-6

4 cloves garlic, minced
scant 1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
3/4 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. oregano, dried
dash ground achiote (annato) (I consider this optional since I first made them without this ingredient and it is delicious anyway)
3 Tbsp. fresh or bottled lime juice
1 to 1 1/2 pounds skinless white fish fillets (haddock, pollock, etc)
olive oil

Combine the garlic with the spices, vinegar, and lime juice. Stir together in a shallow dish large enough to marinade the fish. Add the fish fillets and turn to coat in the marinade. Marinade in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours. Saute over high heat in a little olive oil until the fish flakes apart and is no longer translucent, 2-7 minutes dependent on the size of your pan and how much fish you are cooking. Be careful not to overcook or your fish could turn rubbery. Serve immediately with fresh or purchased tortillas. Top with usual taco toppings. Yum! Also good on Navajo tacos (Indian Fry Bread).

I usually get the fish ready to marinade, then get the toppings ready, set the table, and then it is time to cook the fish and eat.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-27T20:22:00.003-05:00

I did not take very many pictures while presents were opened this year. I started off well, but I guess I got too distracted throwing away packaging and opening toys that I sure forgot. So I apologize to our loving parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who sent gifts to the kids. The odds of your beloved gift being pictured here is low, but please do not think they don't cherish your thoughtful gift. It is all mom's fault! They love each precious thing and they are well-loved and kept in their gift bags next to their beds. Since we don't have all of their toys out right now, this year's gifts were even more special since they are not getting boxed up! I am including the pictures that I do have for the benefit of those that sent their gifts, since we do not get to see any extended family living in the North Pole here :)

THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG ON NAILS ON CHRISTMAS EVE...NEXT YEAR WE WILL FIGURE OUT THE "REAL" STOCKING LOCATION (IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT NOAH HUNG THE STOCKINGS THIS YEAR...NORMALLY I HANG THE STOCKINGS AND I HANG NOAH'S FIRST IN LINE...WELL HE HUNG THEM IN AGE ORDER...REMINDING ME THAT I AM OLDER...I NORMALLY DON'T GIVE IT TOO MUCH THOUGHT BUT I DID THIS YEAR!!!)

THE KIDS IN FRONT OF TREE ON CHRISTMAS EVE

SANTA CAME! SLEDS AND STOCKINGS FILLED (BTW -- SLEDS MAKE GREAT GIFT COLLECTORS ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!)

PHEBE WITH HER SEA GLASS COLLECTION FROM AUNT LINNA -- VERY SPECIAL! THIS IS SOMETHING PHEBE HAS WANTED FOR A LONG TIME

TABITHA WITH DRAWING PAD MADE BY COCO & PAPA HAYNIE

TABITHA WITH CABBAGE PATCH DOLL FROM NANA

PHEBE WITH BARBIE FROM NANA

JONAH LOVES TO LINE UP HIS HOT WHEELS -- THESE CAME FROM NANA

JONAH MODELING HIS NEW JAMMIES FROM GRAMMY AND PAPA

TABITHA BUSY WITH HER STICKER BOOK FROM AUNT LINNA

PHEBE MODELING HER NEW JAMMIES FROM GRAMMY AND PAPA

JONAH AND HIS "LUNCH BOX" OF MARKERS FROM AUNT LINNA -- THIS BOY LOVES TO COLOR

Our new home's first snowman

2009-12-14T12:41:00.002-05:00

Well, we moved in a little over a week ago. Two days later, we got our first snow storm. Then two days after that, we got another snowstorm. I am SO glad that we got moved in when we did. Now we can hunker down for winter, finish up the interior, and enjoy our new home. I am so glad to have the stress of the move over and done with. And hopefully for the last time ever!!
Here is our first snow man. While I was out shoveling some snow, Jonah and Tabitha kept asking me to help them build a snowman. At first my response was "I have too much work to do. I have to shovel snow and then I have to go inside and unpack boxes." But after a few more pleadings, I gave in and had a fun time being their mom.

JONAH AND THE SNOWMAN (TABITHA WAS MAD THAT WE DID NOT HAVE ANY CARROTS FOR A NOSE AND REFUSED TO BE IN THE PICTURE)

To see pictures of the house, be sure to check out the house blog. I just updated there!

What's black and white and...

2009-11-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

Last week I found an animal asleep in the house we are building. It was curled up behind the shower/tub. This is how we found it:

When we showed the kids, we did not tell them what it was, rather Noah asked them what kind of animal could it be since it is black and white. Abel's first guess was a rabbit. No, it's not a rabbit. What other animals are black and white? Tabitha yelled out "a panda bear!". Ok, that got us laughing. But no, it's not a panda bear. What else? Finally, Abel came up with the correct response, "A SKUNK!". We let them look and then we made them leave the house because we did not want anyone making the skunk mad enough to spray inside the house. Fortunately, it left that night and did not come back. But the guys quickly got the doors hung to prevent any more visitors. Now if we could just get rid of the bat that has taken up residence too....

Knights & Fairies

2009-11-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

Ordinarily, I would love to spend the month before Halloween sewing costumes for the kids. It is something that I really enjoy. This year however, the house building project was a little more important than costumes, so we let the kids buy three accessories at the dollar store to equip themselves with a costume. We had two knights and two fairies. Simple, cheap, fast. Here are our cutie pies.

Haircuts

2009-10-15T13:13:00.000-04:00

School picture day is today, so being the observant and busy mom that I am, I announced we would do haircuts before dinner yesterday. Phebe was in need of her bangs trimmed up, and Abel had not had his hairs cut in months. In order to assure non-shaggy kids for school pictures, haircuts were inevitable. Phebe informed me that she wanted her hair cut shorter, not just her bangs trimmed. I had not planned on this, but she insisted she indeed wanted it cut, and proceeded to tell me "I want it to here" while motioning her hand on her neck. So, of course Tabitha wanted to be just like Phebe and asked for her hair cut also. I was so pleased with the results! They both look so cute. I just had to share. The boys of course look so handsome with their groomed hairs, but I did not think to take their pictures this morning. but here is a picture of the girls sporting their new hairdos!

PHEbE

TAbITHA

Ok. I think it is time for a new keyboard. For some reason, I cannot type a capital "b" right now. That is so weird. I can type little "b" but when I push "shift" with "b", I get nothing. WEIRD!!! (hence the little "b"s in the girl's names and paragraph above!)

First Week of School

2009-09-05T17:21:00.003-04:00

We have officially completed our first week of school for this term. School began on Tuesday for Noah, and Wednesday for the kids. We started prepping the kids for being on time on Monday by setting their alarm clock so they could practice getting up, dressed, fed, and ready to go at take-off time. They adjusted well! And they both LOVE school. They have excellent teachers and are having such a fun time. Since we are moving into our house in a few months and our house will be in a different school zone than where we are renting right now, we asked to start the kids at their new school at the beginning of the term rather than in the middle. Permission was granted, so the kids are attending Rose M. Gaffney Elementary in Machias. And since we are out of the "area", we are out of the bus route as well. But transporting them has not been too much of an inconvenience. Noah is able to drop them off on his way to work in the mornings, and then I pick them up in the afternoons. Tabitha and Jonah enjoy the chance to go play on the playground after school, so it has worked out well so far this week.

PHEBE READY TO GO (FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!!)

ABEL READY TO GO (FIRST DAY AS A FIRST GRADER)

Tabitha and Jonah did not really know what to do with themselves the first morning of school. At first they both hung around my legs while I washed dishes after breakfast. But when they bored of that, they decided to go play together. Without the other two around, they are getting along better than I had anticipated. Jonah tends to rub Tabitha the wrong way at times, but they have been good playmates this week, for which I am grateful. Here is how I found them after a short while:

TABITHA & JONAH PLAYING IN THE LAUNDRY HAMPER

And here is Tabitha wearing a leotard that her cousin Adelle sent to her. Tabitha wears it as soon as it is clean on her shelf. If it does not get dirty, she will wear it again the next day (but this has only happened once or twice). I had to go to the bank while she had this on, and I took Jonah and Tabitha in with me. All of the women were making such a fuss over how cute she looked in her dancing outfit. The tutu used to be cousin Kourtney's, and it matches the leotard perfectly!

TABITHA'S LEOTARD FROM ADELLE

Blueberry Festival Parade & River shots

2009-08-22T12:15:00.007-04:00

Life has been crazy busy in the Dean house lately with all of the work going on for our home construction. Noah has been working around the clock with Andrew and Juan, taking advantage of the beautiful weather we have had, and the last few days before he starts teaching again. The house is coming along beautifully, which you can read about on the house blog.

One of our favorite activities when we go visit the house site is to go down to the river. We love our little river. I look forward to putting in our walking paths and having a bench for me to sit and meditate while watching the beauty.

THE KIDS AT THE RIVER

JONAH

ABEL

PHEBE

TABITHA

One of the big high-lights of life in DownEast Maine is all of the wild blueberries. They are also known as low-bush blueberries. They are small berries and grow close to the ground. They thrive in this area, loving the rocky, sandy soil of the coast here. SO, every August during harvest season our area has a Blueberry Festival, complete with carnival rides, craft booths, parade, etc. Here are some pictures of the kids participating in the children's parade. Nothing major, just a bunch of blue balloons, the kids dressed up or not, walking a few blocks. Good times! I made tie-dyed neck-kerchiefs for our kids and for Madeleine Opp and our friend Nicholas Athearn.

READY FOR THE PARADE

ABEL, NICK, AND MADELEINE

JONAH, TABITHA, PHEBE

We also got to attend a free puppet show after the parade! The theme was Sleepy Hollow, so I was a little uncertain if we would stay (we did not know the title ahead of time), but the story was done really well and not scary but rather comical. The puppeteers invited the children to come touch the puppets after the show, which was very exciting for our crew.

PHEBE WITH HEADLESS HORSEMAN

JONAH AND TABITHA LOOKING ON

ABEL AND PHEBE WITH ICHABOD CRANE

Phebe is 5

2009-08-01T18:41:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Phebe! It is hard to believe that my little Phebe will be starting kindergarten in a month! And whenever somebody asks her if she is going to kindergarten, she says "Rose Gaffney" which is the name of her school! Phebe is such a sweet, nurturing girl. She loves to help others and is such the peacemaker. When Tabitha cried at dinner last night about wanting the other spoon, Phebe was trying to slide her spoon across the table to get her to stop crying but Daddy was teaching Tabitha that she needed to accept what she was given. Phebe is so accommodating! And yesterday Phebe was picking raspberries for Madeleine to eat. Such a big helper.

We had an awesome day filled with pizza, pigs-in-blankets, splashing in the play pool, and chilling with the family. We even got to celebrate Madeleine's birthday too! She is two today! The Opp family is staying with us while Andrew builds our house. They are amazing. And the day was so fun with the two birthday girls. Kara made these super-cute birthday hats for the big day.

BIRTHDAY HAT MADE BY KARA

THE FLOWER BIRTHDAY CAKE (ok, so the strawberry frosting was too watery, but it was the flavor she wanted...oh well!)

BLOWING OUT THE CANDLES

MADELEINE'S ABBY-CADABBY CUPCAKES

LAST YEAR'S BIRTHDAY -- THEY GROW SO FAST!!!

A WEEK AGO AT THE BEACH

5 Things

2009-07-18T20:55:00.002-04:00

5 Things
I was tagged by my friend Trish, so here goes!

5 things I was doing five years ago:

1. Getting ready to give birth to Phebe
2. avoiding eating any fat to avoid emergency gall bladder surgery
3. sweating in the heat of summer while pregnant
4. wishing Phebe would be born early instead of late
5. can't think of anything else other than waiting to have a baby while playing with my other baby, Abel, who would have been almost 18 months old.

5 things on my to do list:

1. make Christmas presents
2. go to the beach tomorrow
3. write in the kids' journals
4. make quilts for the bigger kids next year
5. build a house :)

5 things I would do with a million dollars:

1. retire
2. pay off mortgage
3. buy a new car
4. invest diversely
5. payoff parents' mortgages

5 places I have lived:

1. Mesa, AZ
2. Burlington, NC
3. Chapel Hill, NC
4. Lafayette, IN
5. Machiasport, ME

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years:

1. sewing more
2. quilting more
3. volunteering at the kids' school
4. keeping the house cleaner
5. keeping bees

I tag: Laura, Elizabeth, Kathleen, Gigi, Tara

Stacking Firewood

2009-07-17T15:35:00.000-04:00

This is what we have been doing this week. Noah has been cutting up the trees he felled for the homesite. The kids and I helped by stacking the rounds while Noah was cutting. This documents our work! Noah also has two more stacks on the other side of the driveway from more trees that were cut for the construction. We were hoping to be digging today, but there is rain coming tomorrow. We are now keeping our fingers crossed for Monday, aiming for a concrete pour for the footers on Tuesday. We will see how it plays out.

Home Site Clearing

2009-07-09T20:48:00.001-04:00

Noah told me to delete this blog entry and put it on the house blog site instead. So, I am finally putting my first post on the house blog site (I still feel like it is Noah's blog and not "mine"). Anyhow, in case you have not seen it:
building a little house

Lightning Strike

2009-07-07T20:14:00.000-04:00

Last week we had a severe thunderstorm come through in the middle of the night. I am a relatively light sleeper, so the storm had woken me and I was lightly sleeping when Noah and I both were jolted from our slumber by a LOUD thunder clap. We both got out of bed to look out the window. Now, you have to understand that Noah is a very deep sleeper. I have to yell something like "Noah, there is a wild animal in here" in order to wake him in the middle of the night (it has happened twice before -- he will wake up immediately...maybe it is the tone of my voice when that happens...the panic-stricken wife...anyway....). I thought for sure a tree must have been struck in the woods nearby. We are surrounded by trees, so I figured the odds of us seeing the tree were pretty slim. I was very satisfied to see the tree that was struck the next day as I was leaving to the grocery store. It was on our road, about 1/8 mile from the house. Here are a few pictures!

Abel's last day of Kindergarten

2009-06-12T20:46:00.003-04:00

Abel had his last day of Kindergarten today! There was an awards assembly at the school in the morning, so I took the younger kids with me to attend. Everyone in the school was recognized by their teacher in some way (most improved in this or that) but Abel did have some extra recognition, so I want to brag for a minute. The first awards were given for Art. The Art teacher gave out 5 awards for outstanding performance. In order to receive one the student exhibited great strides at effort, extending themselves beyond their ability, and also paid attention and followed instructions. Abel was 1 of 5 students to get one! I was so proud of him. His school is very small (maybe 60 or so students) but I was still very pleased. And then when his teacher gave her students recognition, she had some very positive things to say about him. Not only is he doing 2nd grade math and reading at the end of 1st grade level, he is the most dedicated student she has ever had. Even with all the noise going on the in the room, he would stay focused and on track with his assignments in class. It probably helps that he is the oldest of 4 kids! :) Way to go Abel!

House Blog

2009-06-05T14:53:00.003-04:00

Noah is starting a blog dedicated to the building of our house. It will give much more detail (and possibly technical info too) of the house construction going on this summer. For those interested, please check it out. house blog

He said I can contribute to it also, but I have a feeling he will do a much better job than me! The name of our house is going to be "Little House in the Big Woods" in reference to the book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We will be living on Ingalls Road and we are trying to build a "Not So Big House" (books by an architect we have enjoyed reading, about trying to make your house more functional instead of larger). And we have a LOT of woods on our property, so we thought the name would be appropriate. Unfortuanately, that blog name was already taken, so Noah decided on "Building A Little House".

Zip-off pants

2009-05-29T16:23:00.000-04:00

Abel has been growing like a weed. His lack of summer clothing that fits has me hitting the sewing machine to craft some shorts. For our climate, I thought zip-off pants would be most appropriate. So, I just finished sewing a pair of zip-off pants for Abel. This was my first-ever attempt, and I thought it was quite successful. So, voila! Share in my success. P.S. Many thanks to Sarah Gabrielson for the use of her sewing machine since mine is in the repair shop!

Power Lines In

2009-05-27T16:35:00.002-04:00

This is just a quick post for those following the progress of our house that we are building this summer. Sorry that there is no picture to post with it. We have electric and phone lines in the trench. Three cheers for Jerry (excavator), Dave (electrician), and Andrew (contractor). Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray, HIP HIP HOORAY! Now Jerry (excavator) will spend the next two to three weeks building the road on top of that trench (we are having the lines buried instead of on poles). We are totally excited to see something happening after the long wait for the loan to close. YEAH!

Ferns for dinner

2009-05-11T21:26:00.000-04:00

Noah had read about young fiddlehead ferns being edible and a delicacy to enjoy. While out in the woods today with the kids, I noticed the fiddleheads on the ground and spontaneously picked some to cook for dinner. I came inside and looked up more information on the internet to ensure I would not be poisoning my family, and decided to head out to forage for more. The girls had such a great time "I spying" the curls and picking them (they said it was their job to pick them, my job to hold the bowl). I cooked them into a pasta sauce with some haddock and we enjoyed our first taste of this New England Spring delicacy. It was quite fun to gather our food from the forest. I felt as though we had stepped into the book "My Side of the Mountain". The girls are ready to do it again tomorrow. Maybe we will!

"Guys fell out of boats, 'member?"

2009-04-28T12:04:00.002-04:00

This weekend we watched the East Machias River Challenge. About 3 miles from the house is the East Machias River where there are some rapids. At these rapids, there is a park that used to be a Grist Mill. There is an annual canoe/kayak river race that ends at these rapids. We had the pleasure of watching the participants finish the race, or crash their boats trying. Ever since, Jonah can't stop saying "guys fell out of boats, 'member?!" ('member = remember) We were stationed perfectly to catch many of the boats tumping over in the water. Noah caught a few on camera, so here is a sampling of what we enjoyed. I think Uncle Levi should bring his kayak next year!!

Lookin' good so far:

Uh-oh -- Guys fell out of boat!

Turn Around, turn around!!

Enjoying Spring

2009-04-21T13:53:00.000-04:00

With the arrival of Spring, we have been able to do more outdoor exploring. Here are two pictures we took while on a small hike in beautiful Acadia National Park. The kids thought this tree was pretty cool (it was!!).

And below are two pictures taken this weekend while on a nature walk with the kids. We used a path that follows the river that used to be a railroad track. Rails-to-trails. We even spotted an osprey along the way! I never thought that I would be a bird watcher, but living here has turned me into one. It is so exciting to see the bald eagles, pheasants, hawks, geese, ducks, woodpeckers, and all the various birds that live in this beautiful location. A lot of them left or hid out for the winter, but we are seeing them again and it is so awesome! Snapping pictures of the birds is harder than snapping pictures of the kids, but maybe one of these days we'll get a gem.

Easter 2009

2009-04-20T20:28:00.007-04:00

To prepare for Easter, we started by making cookie cutouts in various Easter/Spring shapes with my collection of cookie cutters.

Instead of dealing with a frosting mess, I decided to have the kids "paint" the cookies with food-safe paint (i.e. food coloring in water). The kids enjoyed this and it was not at all sticky. It was not as mom-free as I had envisioned, but mostly because I was handing out cookies to be painted, and also supervising Jonah's mixing of colors (or trying to prevent it!!). This was a fun alternative to frosting, not so messy, and a lot less sugar to be consumed later. Try it!

And of course, Easter is not complete without a visit from the Easter bunny. Coloring books, umbrellas, ponies, hot wheels, and just a morsel or two in the baskets. And some cleverly hid eggs for a hunt! For more pictures, visit my web album

Cute Bunnies

2009-04-09T16:10:00.003-04:00

Well, I was trying to wait to post this until I could take a picture of Abel's creature that we made, but he took it to school a few weeks ago for show and tell and it has not emerged from his desk yet. So, to humor my dear friend Elizabeth who would like to see "Damn" go away from my top entry, here is a new post.
For Christmas, Tabitha gave me a book called "Cute Dolls" and it is full of patterns for making cute creatures. The kids and I made some cute bunnies for a craft activity one afternoon while Abel was in school. These pictures are the results. They each picked out their fabric and eye buttons as well as helped with the stuffing. They did awesome! Abel was very saddened to come home from school and see that he did not have something new and exciting so the next day he picked out a creature from my "Stupid Sock Creatures" book, also a Christmas gift. (He could not decide on a "cute" creature) I will post a picture of Abel's creature once it decides to come home. I really wanted to include it here, but it will just have to receive star attention and have its own post. It was really cool. By the way, I highly recommend these fun books for any of you crafty gals out there. The pictures and commentary are excellent. And for those uncreative types (myself), it helps to have some ideas to look at!

Damn Good

2009-03-17T17:03:00.004-04:00

On Friday, Noah had a meeting in Augusta which put him getting home after the kids were in bed. Knowing this, the kids and I went to the library in the afternoon to check out some books and videos. We had an early supper so that we would have time for a movie before they went to bed. The kids had picked out the movie "Antz", which we had never seen before. We were watching it and the general ("ant" general) in the movie says "Damn...Damn Good". Well, Jonah is sitting on my lap and repeats word for word "Damn...Damn Good". I firmly, yet lovingly told him that we don't say that. That did not end it.
Me: "Jonah, we don't say that."
Jonah: "Damn Good."
Me: (trying not giggle) "Jonah, that is not nice. We don't say that."
Jonah: "One more time."
Me: "No, not one more time."
Jonah: "Damn Good."
Me: (exasperated) "Jonah! We don't say that."
Jonah: "One more time."
Me: "No, Jonah, not one more time."
Jonah: "Damn Good."
At that point I figured I was doing more harm than good, so I stopped pushing the issue, and of course, he stopped saying it. Kids are so impressionable!!
And here is my cute, adorable, Jonah. Can't you just picture him sitting on my lap and holding up his finger and saying "One more time".

Broccoli Pasta

2009-03-13T10:50:00.000-04:00

I offered to give a dear friend some of my "30 minute meal" recipes, so here is the first of (hopefully) many that I will post so that I can give her some new recipe ideas. Most of my 30-minute meals involve a vegetable and a box of pasta. Do not be afraid of the anchovies here. Buy them to have in the pantry as needed; they add a good deal of flavor and break down to an unrecognizable mass. My kids all love this dish.

BROCCOLI PASTA

1-lb. bag frozen chopped broccoli
2-4 anchovy fillets
2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
hot chili pepper
salt
1 to 1 1/2 lb. pasta
Bread crumbs or parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water liberally and parboil the broccoli cuts for about 5 minutes. While the broccoli is boiling, add olive oil and anchovies to a skillet over low heat. Mash the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon to dissolve. Add one hot chili pepper or some red pepper flakes (whichever you have). Skim the broccoli out of the pot of water (do not drain it -- you will use this water to boil the pasta). Add the broccoli to the pan and turn the heat to high. Mash the broccoli with a wooden spoon while cooking it to flavor it and mash it into a sauce. Salt to taste. Boil the pasta according to package directions while cooking the broccoli. Drain pasta and toss with the broccoli sauce. Serve with bread crumbs or freshly grated parmesan cheese at the table if desired.

Snowshoeing, Land, House Plans

2009-03-07T13:57:00.007-05:00

Today we had our first family snowshoeing event. We just ordered snowshoes for the entire family and they came in the mail this week. Today was a beautiful day to go to the land and let everyone see our homesite. We purchased a plot of land a couple of months ago and are busy making plans to build a house this summer. We thought we were buying 10+/- acres, but once we got the deed after the closing and measured out the boundary lines, we calculated more like 22 acres!! Awesome! A couple of those acres are marsh, but the rest is wooded and has a nice brook-sized portion of the Middle River as one boundary. We love it.

Above are pictures of everyone walking on top of the marsh. The marsh grass makes a great clear spot for snowshoes. And it is the one time of year that we can walk on it with ease!

Above are pictures of the homesite and the Middle River. The top two pictures are Noah and the kids standing where our house will be built this summer. We will be less than 200 feet from the river. We think that this is an old homesite from many, many years ago. Our septic design engineer pointed out an old cellar depression in the land. That is where the septic field will be. And the bottom two pictures of the collage are the brook-sized portion of Middle River. We look forward to fishing, hiking, and enjoying our land for years to come.

And here are our floor plans for the house. It will be a 1.5 story, cape style house with a basement. It will be passive solar (lots of windows on the south side, minimal on the north). We plan to use ICF (insulated concrete forms) for the walls (R-40 insulation). We hope to be able to heat our house with a hair dryer! ( we read an article about energy tight homes that could be heated "with a hair dryer" so that is what I am referencing -- do not worry; we will have heat installed just in case! And a wood stove.) Above is the first floor, below is the second floor. Laundry will be in the basement (complete with a laundry chute -- I am SO excited about the laundry chute!).

Third times the charm

2009-02-25T16:09:00.000-05:00

The snow we got on Sunday night was so wet that it stuck to the trees (I had to cut down a few that were bending over so that the plow could come through!).
Here is Abel's shovel in front of the snow bank.
And here is Abel in front of the snowbank. The snow is so tall that the kids are using it for a slide!
So here is the kicker. We got over a foot of snow on Sunday night/Monday morning. I am not sure how much since we don't get any TV reception, but it was a crazy amount of snow on top of the 6-8 inches we had a few days before. I called the plow truck on Tuesday (because the phone lines were down all day Monday). The plow comes Tuesday around 9 a.m. and says his trucks can't make it up the hill. He recommends calling in a front loader. I call in the front loader (which charges $80/hour). The guy calls me at 1:00 to confirm he is in the right spot. At 3:30 I still can't see him coming over the hill. I call him and ask him what is up (and if he was still working I was going to tell him to go away -- I was not about to pay $500 to get a plow!). He informs me that he could not get up the hill either and that the boss man will try something else. Well, that got me worried since two other people had already tried. I feared the eventual cost of this "something else". At about 4:00 I see a pick-up truck barrelling down the hill. This guy was fearless! He was pushing the snow -- bam, bam! Reverse -- accelerate -- BAM! I don't know if he used snow chains or just put the pedal to the medal, but he got the job done fast! All the while his dog was hanging out the window watching the fun. When all else fails, call in the expert excavator in town and he'll get it done. The bad news: he informed me that if we get another big storm our road will be impassable. The road is so narrowed from the snowbanks that they won't be able to get a plow in again. Bummer. I sure am glad we just ordered snowshoes for the entire family! That will make the quarter-mile walk to the road much easier.

Chop, Chop, Take 2

2009-02-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

A couple days after I cut my hair off for Locks of Love, Phebe decided that she wanted to have her hair cut also. I made her think about it over night, and the next day she was firm in her wishes. She also said she wanted to cut off enough to send in a pony tail for girls who don't have hair (Locks of Love). So here is Phebe with her own donation. My little Phebe is growing up!

Chop, Chop for Locks of Love

2009-02-11T17:04:00.000-05:00

I just chopped off my braids to donate to Locks of Love. I've been thinking about doing this for almost a year now, but knew that I needed at least 10 inches to donate to the cause (you can donate smaller lengths of hair but they get sold to offset the cost of the wigs). I cut off 12 inches! It feels so great to have that weight off of my head, and to know that I am helping a worthy cause.

Abel, the 6-year old!

2009-02-09T09:06:00.000-05:00

"Speed Racer" birthday cake. Blueberry-vanilla. Delicious! (If you have not seen the movie "Speed Racer", I highly recommend watching it with a little boy. It makes the movie that much more enjoyable to see them enjoy it. Abel love the movie when we rented it.)

This was the best picture taken of Abel while opening his presents. For more pictures of him with his toys (grandparents!), you'll have to check out the picasa web albums.

Abel had been asking to go bowling for a couple of months, so we decided to do his birthday party at the bowling alley. It was great! They covered the pool table with a sheet of plywood and table cloth to hold our food, and they even had a little table and chairs for the youngins. The kids got to throw balls for two hours. AND it was DUCKPIN bowling, a new experience for all of us. It was awesome! We will definitely do it again. It was a great place for a winter party. I should have taken some pictures of the kids throwing balls, or of all us in our sporty bowling shoes, but I was too busy on kid patrol to think about the camera. Maybe next time.

Snow Chunks

2009-01-29T14:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we had several inches of snow followed by sleet and rain. We woke to find a hard crusty top layer of snow that broke in huge chunks (like icerbergs!). Heavy to shovel, but much easier to walk on than the ice that has been plaguing my walkway the past week or two.

The Car Window Fiasco

2009-01-29T13:54:00.003-05:00

There are a few things that I have learned the past few days. One of them is do NOT attempt to open your automatic window when it is below zero. I did this on Tuesday; the window stopped and the motor kept going. The window came off its track! Thinking I could push into place (don't do this either, by the way), I pushed the window down, and then the window was stuck down instead of half-way up. Well, we just spent $500 having the brakes repaired on the Trooper, so I was not too eager to call the repairman. I took Noah's advice and looked on the internet. Come to find out, if you need to fix a window that is off track, you have to take the door panel off. Well, I tried to figure out how to do this online; I could only find instructions to remove screws. So I removed the 3 screws on the door panel. That did nothing! Next I called my Dad who told me I needed a putty knife to wedge in between to pop out the plastic connectors. After breaking (literally) open the bucket containing our painting putty knives (who needs that bucket anyway?), I took the putty knife and a hammer outside, in the freezing cold, mind you. Where are the kids while I am doing this? Let's just say that they love watching Hi-5. Here is another thing I learned, a putty knife and hammer will surely pop the door panel open! And there is a plastic film held on by some black tar-like goop to keep everything water tight!! I tore the film away, got my hands in there and pushed the glass up enough to grab it from the top. However, I could not get it fixed. There is a little u-shaped white plastic piece on the bottom of the glass that connects to the mechanical arm (I don't really know what it is called). Anyhow, that small piece of insignificant plastic broke during my attempt to lower the window in the below zero weather. That tiny piece of plastic cannot be purchased by itself. We have to buy an entire new window to get that piece of plastic -- because it comes attached to the glass! So, now that I know how to pop a door panel open, I still have to take the car to the fix-it shop. And here is the kicker, I killed the battery in the meantime (while trying to fix the window). So Noah bought me a new battery yesterday and carried it home from the road (our 1/4 mile driveway that he cannot drive on right now in the Civic). That sucker (battery) is HEAVY! I also learned how to change a battery today. Just as Dad told me, disconnect black first, then red, reconnect red, then black. The car starts beautifully now (and you really don't want to know how much we paid for the battery -- I about choked when Noah told me -- it better last a lifetime). All you need to change the battery is a 10mm socket wrench. Changing it was a snap, but only after searching for over an hour for the socket-wrench driver. After talking to Noah on the phone twice he remembered where it was. On the windowsill in the boys' bedroom. Changing the battery took maybe 15 minutes. I now know why my Dad was always upset when he could not find the tools he was looking for.

Do I have to eat the eyeballs?

2009-01-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

Fresh, whole shrimp was only $1.00 per pound at the farmers market last week. Naturally, I bought 5 pounds. I wanted to cook a few for dinner so I decided to cook them whole, in shell, with heads still on according to a recipe in one of my cookbooks. After all, why should I do all of the work myself before we eat, when we can all clean our own shrimp on our plate while we eat and converse over a lovely dinner? Anyhow, Phebe looked at the platter of shrimp and looked at Noah, resignation in her eyes, and asked "Do I have to eat the eyeballs?" Poor girl. She was ready to do what ever we told her she had to do. We told her no, of course not! We showed them all how to rip the heads off and strip out the meat. Tabitha loved pulling off the heads. She actually ate a plateful of shrimp (good girl!!). Our kids are becoming real "Mainers"!

Jonah turned 2!

2009-01-17T15:40:00.000-05:00

Jonah is now a 2 year old! (well, actually he has been for over a week, but that is how life goes). He asked for a train track birthday cake with candles. So I made a "mountain" with a tunnel for the train to head into (Noah's idea -- I am not that creative). It was fun and Jonah loved it. He also loved his new clothes (pictured here!) and his legos that he got for his birthday! Today Jonah totally surprised Noah and I by counting to 12 all by himself!!! We were lying in bed and Jonah was standing next to the bed and starting counting (I was thinking he would get to 5 and stop) but when he got to 7 I was surprised, then he kept going to 12 and I was totally shocked! Crazy kid.

My kids are not freezing

2009-01-06T20:41:00.002-05:00

So my dad called tonight to wish Jonah a happy birthday (he is 2 today! Woohoo! Though Noah is out of town so we will celebrate on Friday). While on the phone with him, my Dad started asking me if we were warm enough and seemed concerned that we could be violating some standard of warmth for the kids. So just to clarify, my kids' bedrooms stay at 60 degrees. It is chilly, but it is not freezing. They wear long underwear and warm pajamas and have warm blankets, and I have no concerns about their warmth at night. During the day, the main floor of the house is also at 60 degrees, so again, the house is chilly, but not freezing. The only room that we do not heat is the master bedroom that is on the upper floor of the house in a loft-type area. No need to call child-protective services. My kids are okay! I think you would chill your house too if you had to pay nearly $700 a month in propane to power and heat your house. Think about how much money you could save if you turned down your thermostat a few degrees. We did and we are still paying out the nose for this solar house! By the way, we will not rent this house again next year. And if any of you are considering building a house and going off the grid with just solar panels and a propane generator for cloudy and winter days, please talk to us before you do it and we will give you our two cents worth of experience from renting this house.

42 degree bedroom

2009-01-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

The other night Noah and I conducted an experiment in our bedroom. To preface, the house that we are renting has an upper 1/2 story, sort of cape-style, and that is where our bedroom is. We have the heat turned off to the room so that we just heat it with residual heat from the main floor of the house. Typically, it is somewhere between 52 and 60 degrees. Cold, but not unbearable. Well, we decided to close the door to see how much heat we are losing through our bedroom. The wind was blowing fiercely outside and the temperature out there was 6 degrees. The cold wind was blowing straight through the house. When we went to bed a few hours later, it was 42 degrees in our room! I froze that night. I had to sleep right next to Noah in order to stop shivering. The next night I added two more blankets to the bed. The other problem here is that we keep the computer in our bedroom. So I added this adorable picture of Phebe here to show that if we keep our door closed for the rest of winter, I am going to have to start wearing a hat and gloves to type on the computer. It is COLD!

Tabitha Lee is THREE!

2008-12-31T14:34:00.000-05:00

Tabitha Lee Dean just turned three years old today! She asked for a pink butterfly birthday cake. And hooray that I was not sick again this year so I was able to come through on her cake better than last year. Since Noah and Abel are both home from school this week, we were able to celebrate after lunch today. Tabitha is such a fun, sweet, loving girl (when she wants to be!). When she gives hugs, she says "you are my best friend". I love it! She even says it to Jonah. That says A LOT from a girl who has spent most of the last two years avoiding being tackled by her younger brother. She has learned to tolerate some of his affection as love from him. When she is getting frustrated with his pouncing, I try to tell her that he loves her and he just wants to give hugs and then she will say "Oh, that's so sweet. He loves me." She is short for her age and Jonah is not short for his, so they are practically the same size! The joys of being 12 months apart :)

Banana Pudding

2008-12-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

If you do not have a good recipe for Banana Pudding, you need one! We have one that we really like and I thought I would share it with y'all (since we just made it yesterday). Also, it was a great way for the kids to get involved in the kitchen. Phebe cut all of the bananas by herself, and Jonah and Tabitha enjoyed putting the cookies in the pan. Delicious!

BANANA PUDDING

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. butter (I now omit)
4 egg yolks
Box vanilla wafers
4-5 ripe bananas

Meringue:
4 egg whites
5 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

375 F, 12-15 minutes in 9x9 or pie pan

Combine sugar, flour, salt in a bowl and set aside. Cut your bananas into 3/8" slices. Set aside.
In a heavy saucepan, beat egg yolks well (be sure to save the whites for the meringue topping!). Over medium heat, add the flour mixture to the egg yolks alternately with the milk and vanilla, stirring constantly.
Bring gently to a boil, continuing to stir until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat.
In your pan, assemble your pudding: single layer of the wafers, then bananas, half of the pudding, repeat. Top with the meringue.
To make meringue, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time and then the cream of tartar. Beat to stiff peaks. Fold in vanilla. Top the pudding and bake 12-15 minutes at 375F.

O Tannenbaum

2008-12-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

The trees (Yes, TREES) are up. We let the kids each cut a small tree to have for their own. We put them in mason jars and covered the jar with christmas fabric. Our tree is so much bigger than the fake one we used to have that it seems hardly decorated! We are busy making paper ornaments and anything else we can to help dress it up. The trees have actually been up since the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have to squeeze in all the days we can before Christmas so that we can break it all down in time for Tabitha's birthday. She is almost 3!

In the Beginning

2008-12-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

So this is my official beginning to a blog. I am not sure how the evolution will take place, but I have to start somewhere and today is the day. I think this will be a good way for my family and friends to see what is going on in the life of the Dean household, especially since we are a gazillion miles from our family (with the exception of Linna in Boston). For my first post I want to share a picture of the quilt that I just finished before Thanksgiving. Most of the scraps came from my Dad's old jeans, so the inspiration (and most of the material) for the quilt came from my Dad! I put extra-thick loft batting so that it would be extra-warm for the cold Maine winters. With all of that denim, it feels like a lead blanket. Oh, it is SO warm. The girls had fun helping Mommy pull the thread and needle as I was quilting. And they got to help pick out the thread colors. My favorite part of the quilt is the pockets in the center of each block (especially the ones that have holes from wear and tear). Lots of character here.