Santa Test

The Foreman twins informed Tell this year that Santa Claus is not real but Tell still has his doubts and has decided to clarify things one way or the other. He has made each family member promise not to eat the snack that we set out for Santa.


He has said,"If the snack is gone than Santa is real. If it's still there than that means he's just pretend." I think it's a great idea! Now to see how he will react seeing the goodies still there in the morning,


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Tradition Training

Every year, a day or two before Christmas, Dad gives me a bag of Mom's stocking stuffers to wrap. This has been happening since I was about 9 or 10 because even back then my wrapping ability was better than his.


This year, I enlisted Atira's help in hopes that after a couple years of training, I can delegate the job to her for a few years before she leaves home.


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Always A Romano

Nicki hand-delivered our Christmas card after my hair cut at her house last night......after looking at it for a second, I realized why it looked odd. Nicki had accidentally written the Romanos instead of Gilberts. Even after 18 years of marriage, my old friends still think of me as a Romano. I don't mind.....



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No Cash, No Card

While Christmas shopping in the Maine Mall this afternoon, I walked into the Apple Store to purchase a longer charge cord.


I walked up to the item, took out my iPhone and accessed the Apple Store app. It located the store I was in and brought up the Easy Pay barcode scanner. I scanned the product, the app accessed my iTunes account and withdrew the necessary funds. I then walked out the door with my purchase. It was extremely convenient and very disconcerting.

Full and Open Houses

Many years and friends that have moved away ago, Bud and Genia Anderson used to have a party to celebrate the completion of their elaborate Christmas village. Atira and Tell weren't even around then and the older boys were too young to remember these events or the huge display, so I was happy to receive the Anderson's Village Open House invitation. I wasn't sure if I had the time right when I arrived because only Bud was home and no one else was there yet. Arriving first is a disconcerting experience for me. We brought along Atira's friend Erin, who became the "mayor" of the village. With a finger touch to one of the giant trees, the village lit up. To show me he wasn't "just another pretty face", Bud showed me his homemade peppermint candy serving tray.....Impressive and easy.


Soon after, Genia and Jen arrived and then the flow of friends began, including Peg


and Steve McConnell as well as the Foremans.
Inevitably when talk of the village starts, we remember the year that Bud put tiny hay bales into the Triscuits dish to see who would try to eat one.


Is anyone surprised that it was Jim! Bud also recalled that toddler Jubal walked up and kicked him for no reason at one of the parties. That, I did not remember.


We left Tell to hang with Ben and Zac Foreman at the Open House and headed home to prepare for Atira's belated Birthday party. She and Erin decorated the cupcakes and then when Cara arrived, the girls arranged them in the form of a heart. It was a very pretty cake, party and birthday girl.

It's Up!

Getting the Christmas tree up was a twofold process this year. We didn't have the amount of time in one night to find, put up and decorate the tree so we split it up. The family picked the tree out and with Nolan's help, hauled it home on Wednesday,


saving the decorating for tonight. The ornaments went on one by one, interrupted once or twice by a wrestling match or a bulb breaking.








It occurred to me tonight that, as the kids have gotten older, there were several jobs that no longer required Jim or myself. Except for the very top, Atira took Jim's place helping me drape the lights around the branches and Jubal stepped into Jim's shoes to trim the top of the tree for the star.


Even Tell took my job of taking a photo. When the tree was finished, he asked for the camera, and captured the moment, stating "Now I can always remember my tree."


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Fruit of the Week - Pomegranate

Nolan tried this recipe today and it was excellent! It's definitely a keeper.

Pinky Sweet Smoothie
(1 serving)

1 very ripe banana (we used frozen)
1/2 cup frozen pomegranate seeds
1 cup frozen strawberries
*1 1/2 cups of whole milk
*Dash of vanilla

Blend together
(* the original recipe was vegan and called for vanilla soy milk ...
Blech! We used regular milk and added vanilla)



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Location:Ledgewood Dr,West Bath,United States

Insert Foot

After Coastal Christian's annual school Christmas program, Jubal and I scooted over to Moody's with Don, Nate and the Hodgdons. As expected, when spending time with this crowd, fun and foolishness reigned and turning your back for a moment means you will find either your utensil licked or a crumpled straw paper in your ice water.

 On this particular evening, however, I should have kept a closer watch on myself. While opening my mouth to savor some strawberry-rhubarb pie, I also managed to insert my stubby foot. In an attempt to convey my admiration for my dear friend Deb Fisher, the words, "It would be an honor to be called 'Mrs. Fisher'." escaped my lips.

BAD, BAD, BAD choice of words.....Needless to say I spent a few seconds hiding behind my menu.
Then, of course, the next few seconds found Don on his iPhone posting to Facebook.

Curse you, instant communication!

The Sounds and Snacks of Christmas

Atira and I, along with her friend Erin, enjoyed the perfect beginning to our Christmas season on Saturday. It was the Midcoast Dance Studio's annual Nutcracker production. There's nothing like the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies and half-eaten gingerbread men to get you into the Christmas spirit.


Making a Gingerbread House will put you in the same spirit and this was tonight's AWANA event for the kids. Jen H., Maddie, Jen K., Atira and I put the bare graham cracker houses together yesterday. This meant they were firmed up and ready for the inevitable smothering of candy from the kids.


Tell and Atira created their own masterpieces,


while Jubal and Nolan helped Rory and Wes Leeman, yet still managed to consume the candy equivalent of their own house in the process.





Young and old had fun and with the exception of Riley Foreman's, all "houses" safely made it to at least the family car, so I'd call the night a success.

Morning Quip

Most mornings, Jubal and I have about 45 minutes together before encountering another human being, during which, we have had many conversations. Depending on the topic and the mood of my teenager these talks have ranged from shallow to serious and frustrating to entertaining. This mornings was more of the latter. It was a friendly debate about whether French or Italian was the nicer language. Jubal ended his argument with this conclusion:
"Italians don't have a language, they have HANDS!"

Location:Ledgewood Dr,West Bath,United States

Small Town Boy

Descending into the lights, traffic and activity of Wilkes-Barre from the quiet darkness of the Appalachian Mountains, seven year old Tell piped up from the back seat. "Oh yeah, this is why we don't live in the city. There's just too much traffic and people everywhere." I must say that I whole heartedly agree!


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Just A Glimpse

Today, like every other weekday around 3:45, I got into my same silver van, to merge onto the same Bath Route 1, while listening to the same Howie Carr. I looked at the same BIW crane as I crossed the same bridge over the Kennebec into the same stretch of Woolwich, traveling with the same bit of traffic......or so I thought ....but unknown to me, a rarely seen friend was only a car's length away.
Just before The Taste of Maine restaurant, I noticed a familiar silhouette in the car ahead of me. It was the one and only Bill Batty of Spruce Head! I pulled along side his official Midcoast Internet Solutions stationwagon and we exchanged beeps, waves and smiles before merging into one lane.


Once again, we each journeyed alone along Route 1. Now, however, with just the glimpse of a dear friend, the "sameness" of my day had dissipated and a smile was on my face. Isn't God good to give us friends like that?

A Day at the Aquarium

Taking advantage of only a couple weekends left before Jim's parents head back to Australia, we (minus Jubal, who was on a Presque Isle/Fort Kent road trip with friends) decided to go to the New England Aquarium on Saturday. It had been quite a while since our last visit, considering, now 13 year old Nolan was still being carried around in a back pack then. I've never enjoyed cities as a rule but I don't mind Boston. It still seems to retain a small town feel. Finding our way to the aquarium was extremely easy as most of the trip utilized the same roads that get us to Logan Airport. and the kids thought it was cool to drive under Boston Harbor through the 1 and 1/2 mile Ted Williams Tunnel. Parking was a breeze since there is a garage right next to Aquarium's wharf. Some of you may want to sit while reading this next portion: We arrived EARLY in the morning, not long after the aquarium opened, therefore avoiding any lines outside and enjoying uncrowded exhibits for the first couple of hours.








Because the main center ocean tank is undergoing a major renovation, the aquarium provided a complimentary IMAX tickets or us. We chose to see Under the Sea in 3D and it really was spectacular. Several times I saw Tell reach out his hand, trying to touch what seemed to be in front of him. When the sea snakes arrived on the screen, it felt a bit too real as they appeared to swim around me. In a much more pleasant scenario near the end, the feeling of reality was so strong that I thought I might feel the tickle of sea lion whiskers on my nose as it swam face to face with the audience.

We followed the unique IMAX experience with some homemade egg salad sandwiches on the wharf under a perfect New England autumn sky, before heading back in to finish exploring the exhibits.















All in all, it was a pretty perfect day.

Pit Stop

Yesterday we were a pit stop for the Indiana Romanos on their quick weekend trip to Belgrade for the annual Hammond Lumber Pig Roast. Not surprisingly, my nephew Nicholas left behind an item at the house, a Beanie Baby bat.


At the time of this writing, it is still missing but I fully expect the vortex to deposit at some point. The question is how long it will take. When they visited this summer, Nicholas brought with him a boy's treasure, a plastic Starbuck's cup filled with pond water and two eggs that he had found. Unfortunately, they got placed behind another item in my jelly cupboard and weren't found until a couple weeks ago. The discovery made for a fun hour of science on that school day.

"The President's Own"

We had the opportunity to experience the United States Marine Band last evening at Bowdoin College's Farley Field House, thanks to our friend Hope Lavender.


Each piece was flawlessly performed, from Irish pub songs to a Russian overture and all things in between. This included one our favorites from the night, Asphalt Cocktail, which made use of a garage can for percussion. If you closed your eyes you could just imagine yourself hurdling through NYC in a crazy cab ride. Then there was the well known Italian tune "Napoli" which made Jim, Nolan, Atira and I chuckle. All we could think of during the performance was Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales singing, "a great big squash just sat upon my hat; a great big squash just squashed my hat real flat.." Some of you will understand. One of the final songs was a crisp, rousing rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever." Hearing this elite band play it so impeccably was by far my favorite moment of the night. What a treat!

Candles, Catan, and Chilly Feet

A full house was the order of the day. Tell enjoyed the company of several friends, Wes, Ben and Zac, along with the family, for his 7th birthday party.



Then in the evening the family enjoyed the company of Alex Bourgoin, who arrived in time to share in the misery of a Pat's game lost in the last few minutes. After the game, Jim slipped on some shoes and we drove to pick up Nolan from youth group.


Upon arriving home, we learned that Mom had gone home barefoot because she couldn't find her shoes. The assumption was that I had accidentally put them on. As it turns out, it was actually Jim! "I thought they felt a bit small." was his reply.
With Aunt Suci headed home


and Tell dreaming of icecream cake and new Thomas trains, it was time to get down to the business of winning a game of Catan.








It's always nice to see Dad lose occasionally. Congratulations, Alex!

Statements From the Shearing Stool

9 PM last night found me tackling Jubal's thick head of hair with the electric clippers to avoid a dress code infraction today at school. Why does he always wait until the last minute to tell me these things anyway? As the shearing began and the clumps of hair began to cover his back, he glanced behind him and quipped, "Oh look. I'm Uncle Anthony."

September Fruit

(Found this draft today that was never published....)

Though still recovering from jet lag, Jim's parents joined us and a group from our church, at County Fair Farm in Jefferson for some apple picking.Jim's mom brought a chair and took time to sit at the edge of the orchard and do some sketching. An overcast sky held off the rain for most of our time at the orchard. We took refuge under the thick Macintosh branches when a short shower finally did arrive.

The sun broke through in time for us to board the wagon that took us back up the road to the farm to weigh our bounty. Bags in hand, we boarded the bus, and returned to the church for some freshly pressed apple cider.
After working hard mashing the apples, Nolan's evaluation of the homemade cider was quite accurate.It's like drinking apples." It was a sweet day.

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