Happy 30th Sally Piles!

Happy Birthday Amanda!


Sunday night's birthday dinner. Jon and Mel came over for some grub. Amanda is talking to New Jersey as I am taking this....
A nice family shot of us in Camden harbor. The "Mercantile" is pictured in the back left....the shorter of the two taller masts. I sailed on the Mercantile two summers in a row. A beautiful trip.

Callum LOVES citrus fruit. At "The Waterfront," Michael was feeding Callum pieces of lemon and orange. The kid loves sucking on lemons, which I find absolutely hilarious...but I hear babies like lemons and that is normal. Oh well. Here, he's trying to get the wedge back from Michael...

And here's Callum's impression of a Duckbilled Platypus....haha


Well, it was actually last Sunday....but with computer problems and all, I am just getting around to posting some photos from her big day. Amanda's birthday "weekend" started by me surprising her with planning a visit from Andrea and Michael Clauss from good ole' NH. They came up Friday and surprised Amanda at my softball game. She was freaked! They stayed on Friday night, and then on Saturday we went to Camden for a little day trip to the coast. We had lunch at "The Waterfront," which used to be good but now sucks, and then we did a quick walk around before heading back, as Andrea and Michael needed to be back in NH by Sunday afternoon/early evening.

For Amanda's "birthday dinner," she requested sausage, pepper, and onion subs (a la Fenway) and some oven fries to go along with them. I was happy to oblige, and grilled up some sweet Italians, as well as some green pepper and onion jobbies from Josephs. I am definitely NOT a baker, so Amanda's cake came from Hannaford. Some may ask: Why didnt you get it at Hillman's? Fair question. Although they are an OTHERWORLDLY bakery, they get a C- for cakes for some reason. I think its because they only do white cakes--no "yellow" ones, which contain egg yolks. White cakes, although low in cholesterol, are pretty dry and flavorless. So now you know.

I turn the big 31 on Sunday...in fact it is my "Golden Birthday," as I turn 31 on the "31st." I have the last possible golden birthday, and, as I have mentioned several times, I am celebrating by competing in my first ever triathlon, to be taking place in Bath, Maine. Very nervous, but very excited. I am most excited that CS and Sally will be there to cheer me on. That means the world to me.

Stuff and stuff...

Here is Callum with his "Great" Auntie Patty....my mom's sister. Aunt Patty and her husband Bob headed up to spend a week in Jackman (God's country) last week, and they stopped by to see us in Fairfield. Jackman is one of those "ya cant get theah from heah" kind of towns, and they had to pass through our little neck of the woods in order to get there. We were so happy to see them and their visit even coincided with Papa and Grammy Goldsmith's visit. They stopped at "The Chocolate Moose" on the way up (it is a famous general store) and they brought Callum a cool "kissing" moose. He loves it!

As if I wasnt already busy enough training for triathlons and bike races across the great state of Maine, splitting four cord of wood, putting in a front patio, and trying to be a good daddy, I've also taken on the role of "summer softball league player." My friends Glenn and Seth (they are brothers) from church are cousins with the woman sponsoring our team: SP4D (it stands for STAGE PRESENCE FOR DANCERS). 93.4% of all the female students at WHS dance for this studio. Basically, our team is amazing and I am having a great time! I have been playing 3rd base and right field. Here I am making some offensive contributions. I am number 9, and that is the number assigned to me. I would in NO WAY profess to wear the number of the great "kid."


Wow...look at those calves!!!


I am blessed to have a wife and a little boy who love baseball (and softball) and love to watch their daddy and husband play! Usually we take two cars to the games, which start at about 6:30, and then Callum and Amanda go home so the little man can go to bed. Its a good system.The games are twice a week and they go until mid August.

Callum brought his hammer so he could fix our defensive troubles. But it didnt work.


I love this picture of Amanda and Callum!

Well here we are, near the end of May, and things are as busy as they always are this time of year....school is winding down, projects are starting, summer plans are in the works, etc. I can't believe my seniors graduate in exactly one week! I am blessed to have been asked to write and perform a song again...this will be the fifth year in a row I have done so. So I guess I need to get writing! More to come on that--and Amanda's 30th birthday--tomorrow

WE'RE BACK!

Thanks to Grampy George and his madd IT skillz we are back on the Internet at home (although I am at school right now). This means we can regularly do blogs again. Thanks for your patience and we look forward to writing more soon.....

Trying to get back on track.....

Our computer sucks hard and we're trying to figure out what is going on. We've figured out a way to upload pictures to our work laptops, so we're trying to do that. We really miss blogging and posting pictures, and I really really miss writing. So we're trying to get back on track. I dont have time to write a lot right now, since I have to go plan a "Plan B" for Amanda's 30th birthday party that I just found out--at 10 tonight--got cancelled for tomorrow. So I have a lot to do. But here are some pictures from Callum's baptism last Sunday.

Here are Lynne and George with Callum.... Amanda baked a perfect little cake with some delicious butter cream frosting....

The Goldsmith's and Pastor Nielsen. We've really gotten to be a lot closer with our pastor, and we feel very blessed to have done so. He is a wonderful man.

3 generations of Chinese Food addicts and whiners.....

Basically, I wanted to get some pictures on the blog, since I know people have been wanting to see them. I hope to write more....maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is my beautiful wife's 30th birthday!!! Welcome to the club Amanda! Today was wonderful, as I surprised Amanda by having Andrea and Michael up on Friday night, and today we went to Camden for the day.

So, stay tuned, and I'm going to try to write more regularly! I hope people even check this anymore, as we've been gone so long!!

THIS BLOG IS NOT OVER

"I am working at the Goldsmith's computer....whenever Koffi Annon gets off my ass!"

Commute another way week....

I swear!!!

George did tons of work on our computer, getting back up and working, etc. But now we cant get on line! Maybe its because FairPoint is the worst corporation in the continental U.S. And that isnt even my opinion....its factual, even.

We have so much to show you and tell you all about--from Callum's baptism yesterday to my summer softball team exploits to TREK and triathlon training to a new patio I am putting in....and much more. Hopefully we'll get this thing up and running soon. I am writing this from my school computer which isnt compatible with the photo memory stick our home computer has. But maybe I'll figure out something

Hope you are all well, and dont give up on us and this blog! I am sure I will be back to pissing you off and boring you soon!

Due to technical difficulties.....

Actually, not all that funny. Our computer completely crashed (for whatever reason we are still unsure). "IT" George is on the case as we speak.....I could give two craps about the computer and most of the stuff on it....what really depresses me is that all our photos are on there. So say a prayer for George that he'll be able to recover some stuff! Soooo....naturally we havent had any internet or computer at home (which has actually been very nice!). Thus, no new blogs, emails, pictures, etc. Sorry. I guess if you want to see Callum you have to drive yourself to Maine.

In the meantime, please enjoy some photos from one of my new favorite web sites--"awkwardfamilyphotos.com." Priceless, priceless, priceless.....

"Lord of the Ring-Dings"

So much comedy involved in this picture......

Its like they were trying for that "artistic-faux-contemporary Christian-pop album" look.....and failed.

Incredibly disrespectful to America....yet ultra hilarious at the same time

two hours later, both of these girls were raped, pillaged, and buried alive....

Wednesdays With Callum #4

Hi everyone. Amanda here.

Callum started his day by picking out some music from our CD collection. One great thing about Callum (one of the MANY great things...) is that he can entertain himself. This makes working from home very easy.

Anyway, we have noticed that Callum absolutely loves books and music. After he picked out a CD (or five or ten) he proceeded to go to the bookshelf and pull out some of our books.

Okay, is this Callum or Uncle Jonathan? I just can't tell...

Ta da! You can just about see his little top left hand tooth here. I am trying desperately to get a picture of that top tooth but it's proving hard to come by.

Time to eat lunch! Callum is a good eater. So far we haven't found anything that he doesn't like. He even eats brussel sprouts, which is what he had this afternoon, mixed with some chicken.


"Just try to get that spoon in my mouth, Mama!"

After his afternoon nap it was time to do some work on his tool bench. This thing does everything - lights up, counts, sings songs, plays funny noises, says 'Hello there!' -- you name it. The funny thing is, it plays this one song that neither Jared nor I can figure out how to make it play. So far only Callum has been able to make it play. Jared and I have tried everything and it's just not happening. I guess Callum is just smart like that. He knows his toys.

When Daddy got home from school, and I finished my work day, we decided to bring Callum out for a little while. Our rhododendrons are blooming right now and they are beautiful... I also love the little stone walkway that Jared put in two years ago. It makes me feel like I'm in an English country garden. But really I'm in a tiny yard in-town Fairfield, Maine. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, though.

Callum's first trip to the Lawrence Library! He loved crawling around the kids' section and looking at the big mural they have there of different storybook characters. Curious George is even represented which really made Callum happy. We tried to get Callum his library card but apparently you have to be in kindergarten. Obviously these people don't know how much Callum loves books!

We ended the day by dancing in the kitchen while waiting for our broccoli and cheese stromboli to be done in the oven. Daddy played DJ and we took turns dancing with Callum. I love seeing this kid smile, and nothing makes him smile more than listening to music and dancing. Oh, and his books.

A plea for your support.....

I'm not very good at this at all, but here it goes....

This is me formally asking for your support when I ride the Trek Across Maine towards the end of June. I hate asking people for monetary donations, but I guess I will make an exception for this....

The ride promises to be AMAZING: Three days of riding 180 miles....supporting a great cause for the American Lung Association....meeting and riding with amazing people (students, friends, etc)...and overcoming what promises to be, for me, a truly arduous challenge.

I know I've mentioned this all before, so I apologize if you are reading it again....but as a cancer survivor (Hodgkins Lymphoma) I feel blessed to be able to partake in this event!

I am all registered for the ride, and I just got my "packet" from the "Trek" organizers today: I am "Trekker #2483." So, if nothing else, I'll have another race number to tack to the breezeway wall...ha ha.

In order to ride, the "Trek" officials require each rider to raise a minimum of $500.00, so I come before you, humbly, and ask for your support....ANY amount will be greatly appreciated, as it will ALL add up!! You can support me "on line" by going to "lungme.org" and following the "Trek Across Maine" links to where it says "support/pledge a trekker." Or, if you'd like to, contact me by email at jngoldsmith@hotmail.com and I will give you our mailing address and you can send your pledges to me.

Thank you so much for your support, and I promise to have some new Callum pictures soon! (sorry). It has been such a busy week that we haven't taken many photos....but tomorrow is "Wednesdays with Callum" and Amanda usually goes berserk with pictures. He is doing very well though...Amanda had her breast feeding support group tonight, and the nurse always weighs Callum. He is ringing in at a cool 20 pounds even....he's actually pretty small, huh?

He's just a little guy.....little CS Goldsmith....

Thanks again
Jared

Weekend Highlights

The best singer. In. The. World.
Old School.......

These weekends always go by so fast, dont they?

Here are some highlights from what we did (it was busy)

1. We went out with the Daigneault's and Loftuses on Friday night; we hit up "You Know Whose" Pub for some good burgers, the Bruins game, and some lively conversation. We were all "kidless" which was nice for a change...but very weird!

2. We walked to Butcher's Choice for breakfast on Saturday, which was lovely. Callum enjoyed some scrambled eggs and pandacakes (what he calls pancakes)

3. I rode my bike out to Mt Vernon again, and Amanda and Callum drove. We went to visit Lynne, who is recovering nicely from her hyatal (spelling??) hernia surgery from last week. We killed two birds with one stone: We all got a good visit in with Lynne and George, and I got in another training ride for my triathlon and the "Trek." Of course now my bike is being all weird, but I hope to get that fixed SOON!!

4. We got home and Jon and Mel stopped by (they bought a futon at Winslow Mattress--where we got ours) and they came by to see CS after. "Yoojay" tried to get me all excited for the Trek Across Maine (this will be his third year) but all he did was make me nervous for the 180 mile ride...haha

5. Church this morning: We havent written about church a lot lately, but there is a lot going on there as well! We have our last "inquirer's class" this Thursday, and we are totally bummed because we LOVE this class. Also, this coming Sunday, we will "officially" become new members of the congregation, which is a big deal for us. And then, of course, there is Callum's baptism on May 17. Lots going on there!

6. We got a TON of work done this afternoon, most of it involving landscaping; for such a small yard, our little corner of the world demands a lot of attention! Cindy and Dana were great in helping us--Dana walked around our yard and theirs with Callum while I trimmed and mowed, and Cindy and Amanda cultivated and weeded out perennial beds. Amanda did some transplanting, I did some edging and clearing, and then I began to work on our latest project: A little front patio. I am putting in a little place to sit, relax, and read right in front of the breezeway. There was tons of spearmint and ferns growing there, but I've been working on clearing and killing it all (which is kind of like herding cats, but anyway....). Today, I removed a bunch of mulch and soil, did some digging, and even "tested out" some patio blocks to see where we were at. I think it will look nice.

7. Blah, blah, blah, tomorrow is Monday....