Blueberry Cheesecake Birthday

We had Jim's 42nd birthday party this evening. Atira hand decorated the balloons and with Tell's help putting in the "greedients", I made a homemade blueberry cheesecake for the occasion. It was particularly scrumpcious and garnished much praise from the family. Jim also gave me his own original brand of complement:
"Wow. Rachelle, this is REALLY good. It's been a long time since you've made anything this delicious."
I've just learned to shake my head and take the platitude....Thank you, Jim.
Jim's parents said that he digs himself into a hole so often that when it's time to travel back to Australia, all they'll have to do is find the hole and jump in!

Wolfe's Neck State Park

On Monday we hit a great sale at the Reebok/Rockport outlet in Freeport. I was able to get new sneakers for both Nolan and Tell, as well as Atira's sandals for next year. I was especially grateful to purchase new ones for Nolan, who not only had worn a hole in the side of his old shoes, but could potentially have bottled the odor and sold it as a weapon.

With a few hours available before Atira's soccer practice we traveled just a few minutes to Wolfe's Neck State Park. It's just down the road from one of Jim's jobs and I had never been there. It has some nice hiking trails, some which follow the rocky ocean shore. The low tide provided opportunities for flip-flop clad feet to sink a bit into the periwinkle covered mud flats. That brought to mind the memory of trudging into the cove mud flats up to my calves with my best friend Beth at their cottage on Orr's Island in my high school years. How very fortuitous that this, in turn, reminded me that it was her birthday, and I was therefore NOT late wishing her a Happy Birthday. Timeliness is an unusual happenstance in my life.

I knew, as soon as we got home I would need to bring Atira to soccer, so we were discussing where her shin guards were, while driving out of the park. This conversation followed:

Me: Atira, do you know where your shin guards are? Because as soon as we get home I'm going to have to bring you to your soccer practice.

Atira: I'm not sure. I think they're in my room.

Buddy (my father-in-law): I think the last time I saw them they were hanging up on the floor.

(MUCH LAUGHTER)

Me: Yes, that's the storage space that we utilize the most at our house.

Feels Weird

We're here at Camp Good News for the very first Family Camp ever. Can I just say that it is a very odd thing to be camperless and sleeping in a boy's cabin?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Words from Atira

As we pulled into the parking lot of Jubal's soccer field, Atira wanted to make sure that her brother was properly equipped for his first game. Knowing that a mouthguard was required, she inquired, "Mom, does Jubal have his cigar?" Clearly I need to make sure I enunciate my speech a bit better.

This morning we were discussing the Anasazi and their choice of home-building materials. "So they made their houses out of dirt and dust?" I answered that this was basically true. "They must have had a lot of allergies!"

I ascended the stairs last evening after the last minute purchase of Jubal's cigar (I mean mouth guard). Reaching the top, I was greeted by Atira who informed me that I smelled like old flowers. I'm not sure what odor that is exactly but I suspect it's not pleasant.

AAAAAHHHHHH!

Stinkin' honkin' I hate math!!!!
After this first school day for Atira and Nolan, I thought perhaps I might be able to relax this evening. I didn't count on helping Jubal, after his first day of classes, figure out his Algebra homework until 12:15 in the morning. The whole affair is the blind leading the blind, as I only made it to Pre-Algebra in High School!
Stinkin' honkin' I hate math!!!!
I think I'll give the 5:30 gym date a pass in the morning.
Did I mention that I REALLY hate math?

No More Late Nights?

That was the plan.....but here I am blogging, while waiting for my bread to finish baking, at 10:43PM. The bread machine will beep in about 5 minutes and then, after making Jubal's lunch for his first day of high school tomorrow, I can finally hit the hay. Five o'clock comes early and I'm not used to living on that side of the time spectrum. It could be a long week while my body works out this early schedule......

Cruising Along

A couple of nice things this weekend........ we booked our flights to and from Miami for our cruise with Jeremy and Nicky and also Jim and his dad made big progress on our new bedroom construction! Both events will find their culmination in November. It's all very exciting.

A Visitor

Jim's mom switched on the light in our bathroom and was surprised by this baby snake, which she at first thought was a worm until noticing the head. I could not figure out how a snake could get into an upstairs bathroom, then I realized it must have been in the duffle bag of clothes from camping last weekend, which was still laying on the floor. There is a moral in this story, pertaining to how quickly one should do laundry after an event, but I'm just going to ignore it. Needless to say, Lyn was a bit taken aback and Jim's dad quickly came to the rescue. He captured the wriggler and we put it in an empty fishbowl and then proceeded to identify it. It is a Northern Ring-Neck and after some prompting from the kids I decided I would release it into the wild instead of killing it. I made them take it about a mile and a half up the road however. I don't want it in my yard!

The Last Hurrah

I met Heather and Annah at Sebago Lake yesterday during our early September heatwave. It's nice to have the beautiful weather follow us, even a short way, into the autumn. The summer crowds were gone, which made for a pleasant day but I couldn't help feeling a bit melancholy as we drove out, along the shaded road, knowing that this was our last Beach Day with the Buxton Crowd until next year. Oh, the shortness of summer.......