Stuff I forgot about to write about Christmas....

Above, Callum "starts" to get more familiar with his Coupe by pumping gas.....


Below, please check out our Advent Calendar. It is a tradition that each night we let Callum take a piece out of the "day" and place it on the Advent Calendar. As you can see, we let him place things anywhere he wants.....
Callum and his babysitter Sara, enjoying some time while mommy and daddy prepare to go have fun.....

I have a nice vacation ahead of me still, and I have actually had a very nice time thus far; today and yesterday I got to spend with Callum just having some "daddy time." We went to Mathieu's cycle to see the guys and give them some cookies Amanda had baked for her "bike boys." Yesterday, I took Callum to the State house to have lunch with his mommy (and some of mommy's old co-workers Lisa and Soumia). Callum loves going to the state house because there is a really great taxidermy display in the tunnel connecting the two parts of the state house....and there are moose and deer and bear. Although, Callum has started becoming scared of things--dead stuffed moose, the dark, glow in the dark stars, and his Cozy Coupe. Oh well. Callum and I have been CONSUMED with train stuff--playing Thomas the Train, watching Thomas the train, playing with train whistles, looking at my HO model trains, and watching videos of steam engines (particularly German ones, since those are the best).

I can't believe I forgot to mention Amanda's performance at the Christmas Eve service at church--it was a "lessons and carols" service, and Amanda sang with four others in a stunning a capella version of "Lo how a rose 'er blooming" In addition to this, she and a Messalonskee junior named Beatrice played a oboe duet to "Angels we have heard on high." I love seeing Amanda use her amazing gifts and talents which extend from music to fiber arts to baking to puzzle-doing. Great job Amanda.

Amanda and I have also been taking advantage of babysitters lately, as we have been enjoying some "Callum-free" holiday festivities. We went to a party at her boss's house last week, and tonight we are meeting some friends at Mainely Brews for some beer and more unhealthy food.

What did you all have to eat on Christmas? My culinary contributions thus far (I like cooking all throughout the holiday season) have been seafood chowder (using shrimp caught and peeled the day before Christmas eve, and crabmeat picked a week before Christmas), Toutiere Pie (a new tradition), creamed spinach, and many snacks. I havent made any beer, but we've been enjoying lots of growlers from Oak Pond Brewery.

What else are you guys up to?

Christmas 2009: Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a great day! Following friend Mike Thurston's current post, I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking. Above is Callum's "Cozy Coupe," which he LOVES playing in at daycare, but, for some reason, is petrified of at his own house.....but here, he warms up to it a bit, trying to put his Thomas the Tank Engine into the gas tank....

Callum and I playing trains and taking a break to close the stove damper....Amanda caught me wearing my new "English countryman" hat. Jay, start your demote engines....



Usually Amanda makes cookies way before Christmas, and then she gives them out as gifts...but this year things snuck up on us so fast that she had to wait until today (Dec 26) to do them. No matter. They were just as good as always....and this year Callum was able to help "stuuh" (Callumish for STIR).
Callum and Mee Mee enjoying a "Mrs. Prindibles" candy apple. These QVC all-star sellers are the biggest apples I have ever seen. I dont like them, but everyone else does!
A scene from Christmas morning, before anyone was up. Everything to the left of the coffee table was for Callum....you can see his Cozy Coupe AND his Thomas the Train Lego set....
I love this picture! This is Callum walking down the stairs, bewildered at the sight that lay before him. I wonder what was going through his head in this picture.....
Making his way over to his "pile." I dont think he knew where to start. Naturally, the first thing he did was go play with Thomas the train....although that was tough because the train was right near the "Coupe," and he was petrified of that car!
He got the hang of unwrapping gifts right away....he is now a pro....
A scene of all the mayhem of Christmas morning! We didnt even start opening our gifts until about 11, since we waited for Callum to go down for a nap....
So now what do we do?

'Tis the Season

Hi everyone. Amanda here. I thought it's been too long since I've written a blog.

On Friday night we had our 6th annual Goldsmith Christmas party. We tried an 'adults only' party -- no kids. I think it was good although you can definitely tell we all have children since most people left by 9:30... But we had a great time with everyone. We all need to get together more often I think. That night was also a huge night for Callum, and for Mee Mee and Grampy. It was Callum's FIRST SLEEPOVER!!! He did great. And so did Mee Mee and Grampy :) Hopefully that's the first of many sleepovers. I have to say that I missed Callum TERRIBLY, but it was really wonderful to sleep in past 6 am!



Saturday night Jared and I went to see the Nutcracker while Callum had even more Mee Mee and Grampy time. (Thanks guys!) The Bangor Symphony Orchestra and the Robinson Ballet do a TERRIFFIC job with The Nutcracker Ballet. We would recommend it to anyone. It's one of our favorite things to do during this season. And we can't wait until Callum is old enough to come with us! For dinner we ate at Dysart's Truck Stop in Bangor. Don't knock it until you've been there -- it is AWESOME! Great food, really cool atmosphere, plus you can get a haircut, take a shower, and play arcade games too. But seriously, the food really was great. And we bought some really nice mugs.

On Sunday we took Callum to see Santa Claus in Kringleville.


Okay. Is this the most classic 'picture with Santa' that you've ever seen or what? It makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Why do we do these things to our kids? Eh, it's good for him. He'll look back on this picture and think it is hilarious. I hope. I love how Jared is smiling way over on the left...

After that ordeal Callum was pretty much comatose for the rest of the day. Here are a few pictures I snapped while we all hung out in the living room watching 'aball' (Callumish for football).


Reading a book with Daddy on the couch. He still hasn't quite lost those huge puffy cheeks...


Talking on the phone to either Mee Mee, Papa, Nannie, Grampy, Dada, Mama, Elmo, Ernie, or his pretend grandfather in Portland...


Enjoy the week, everyone!

A Generation of addiction, selfishness, and theft

(More from my VERY convoluted mind....)

Do we need to look towards the video games that plague local Wal Mart shelves? Is it the fact that every other adolescent is labeled as having Asperger's or Autism? Have we been permanently tainted by the previous eight years of totalitarian dictatorship under the Bush administration? Is it because we havent had a real WAR fought on US soil since 1812, and thus we are spoiled? What exactly is wrong with my generation (and the current one, for that matter?) Why are we all addicts? Why do we have no empathy or compassion for other people? The answer, I have figured out, lies not in any of the aforementioned precepts.....but, rather, in the spokescreatures for our most dear snacks, cereals, and comfort foods. Forget Copenhagen and all this pretend global warming stuff (isnt there a blizzard there right now in Copenhagen?). We need a task force to arrest these awful role models. Send them to the isle of misfit toys, mascots, or wherever you send things like this; they have corrupted our youth and taught them that it is okay to steal and be an addict! Arrest that leopard!

(but seriously....look at the trends here with 80s, 90s, and current advertising mascots...especially with cereal!)

COOKIE CRISP CEREAL: The mascot is a hardcore criminal, wearing black and white striped prison garb, complete with a burglar's mask. He is obviously addicted to the cereal, and will quit at no lenghts to get the cookies.

CHEETOS: Chester "the molester" Cheetah is a liar, a cheat, and a manipulator of our youth. Sure he pretends to be your friend, but he's just interested in getting his hands on your salty snacks. At the end, he steals the cheetos, usually after a festering, dare-devlish attempt to abscond with them....this is always followed by "the cheese that goes......crunch." I blam rape on Chester Cheetah

TRIX: Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids. COME ON! Give the bunny some love...he's been reproducing like its going out of style, and he needs to replenish the goods. This poor rabbit devises all kinds of dishonest schemes to get what he wants....dressing up like a little girl, hiding, and the list goes on. What is this teaching our kids? Kids will think its okay to dress in drag in order to score some blow.....

SCOOBY DOO: Obviously a drug addict who will do anything for a "snack." PLUS, the only reason he WILL do anything is because he knows he'll get something in return--some kind of free reward. He has no work ethic. No sense of pride for just doing a job for the job's sake... Welcome to liberal-run America, Scooby.

FRUITY PEBBLES: Barney and Fred and biffles....yet Fred STILL gotta be 'buggin on the fruity snacks. Is it okay to be selfish and withhold things from your friends? According to Fred Flintsone it is. And what a glutton! He wants to eat everything! Have you seen the side of brontosaurus he orders at the drive-in during the opening credits? No wonder he didnt live to see the Paleolithic age....his gluttony killed him! Share with your friends boys and girls....no matter what Fred Flintstone does. Plus, Betty Rubble was way hotter than Wilma, so you should naturally align yourself with Barney. Girls wearing bones in their hair turn me off.

THE HAMBURGLER: Probably invented by the weirdos over at PETA, as some kind of consolation prize for the fact that McDonalds rules the fast food world. Again, we see a hardened criminal, willing to do anything possible to get what he wants. And he usually does get caught. For stealing hamburgers. And he's white. So what kind of racial stereotyping is that? I demand satisfaction! We glorify people like this..."he is so cute," they say, "he is in the joint for stealin' burgers....but its all good!"


COOKIE MONSTER: Callum's favorite, and a damn funny character. But, in addition to overindulging in cookies, he is just plain rude and crazy to everyone with whom he comes in contact. I've noticed this as I watch clips on sesamestreet.org. He has very little patience, focus, or compassion for anything UNLESS, somewhere on his itinerary, is the option to eat cookies. In one skit, he even assumes, because he is hungry, that the cute little girl with the egg sandwich will feed him. Sending kids the wrong message!

Let's have a summit or an accord or a focus group or whatever else these idiots in Washington do when they want to ruin America.....

The house is all decorated.....

And it has been for a while, actually. I have mentioned before how Amanda does a fantastic job of making our humble little abode very homey, cozy, and festive. Every year she seems to add a new piece to her already pre-existing layout. More pictures will follow, but here is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas decorations: The nutcrackers. The Nutcracker (the one by Tchaikovsky) is one of my favorite things in all the world (Christmas or otherwise, for that matter), and I love any decorations pertaining to this wonderful ballet. Amanda has some priceless ones. Callum loves the nutcrackers too, and he always asks to be picked up so he can see them. He calls them "ka-koooors." It is really cute. As a sidenote, I should mention that we are going to see the performance of The Nutcracker this Saturday night in Bangor. It is one of my favorite parts of the season....



This picture doesnt do this justice....our tree is one of the best ones we've had in the last five years. It is the perfect size for our living room. The star is still not on top....that is Callum's one and only job, and he keeps putting it off so he can look at trains on the internet....The tree looks so nice against the backdrop of half-stripped walls.....we'll be painting soon!
This past Saturday night was "Advent Family Night" at church. It was an event for all the kids of the church (and their parents) to go and sing carols, do crafts, and eat dessert. There was EVEN a visit from Santa Claus, and I hope to get a picture of that monstrosity up soon....Amanda didnt take any pictures, because she videotaped the whole thing. In case anyone wants to see it......

Callum has several girlfriends at church--one of them being a three year old named Mia. Callum just loves the attention, as you can tell. Callum loves being at church, actually. When he is there, he is always full of energy, and he always wants to run around, play, and laugh. Basically, all the things you should save for when you are NOT in church....haha
Some of the parents singing carols with their kids. Our church council president's name is Fernando Goueva, and he is a very distinguished math professor at Colby. I guess he is a pretty big deal. He is at the top left of the picture. His wife, Mari, is essentially a professional pastry chef....she made all the desserts for the affair, and they were awesome. Fernando and Mari are from South America (I cant remember the country!), and they are wonderfully cultured, intelligent, and kind folks. It was a great night all around.

eleven

We had our first big storm of 2009 on Wednesday; I had no school, and Wednesday is one of Amanda's days at home. We had a great time, bringing in the tree from the garage, putting it up, putting lights on it, watching Christmas movies, and bringing Callum over to the window to see the snow....he LOVES looking at the snow. Actually....as Papa pointed out tonight on the phone....there isnt much that Callum doesnt really like; he is pretty excited about most things. This, in turn, gets me excited about life. This one year old teaches me how to live better every day.

For dinner, I made my first toutiere pie of the season (okay...I'm Irish and Lithuanian....but 'when in Rome....'). Toutiere, you may remember from last year's writing about it, is a French Canadian pork pie. Delicious. It is HUGE up here in central Maine during the holidays. The French (and Lebanese) pretty much run the show up here. And that is fine. They are great people.

The Shores, who live next door, have a red/green/yellow lighted reindeer that sits on their lawn and blinks incessantly. Callum loves this, and thinks it is a horse. It has become routine, after dinner, for him to put him on the bench by the window so he can admire said "horse." Here, Amanda went outside to take a photo of him during the storm....



"All done......ayne-tooo! (thank you)"
Here he is looking out the dining room window, gazing at the reindeer, and lamenting on how there was no 'oon (moon) out in the 'wy' (sky). He didnt understand that it was cloudy.
Photos to come of our beautiful tree, AND the festive decorations Amanda put up...our home just personifies the Christmas spirit....nice job smalls!!

oh, and I am playing Santa tomorrow night at church.......more to come

Feeling Scroogeish.....

Only about two things though....

Each year, these two things bother me immensely when we enter the holiday season.

The first one is simple

Can we NOT have any more commercials (television, radio, or otherwise) when the trite advertising spokesperson says "It might be cold outside, but inside at (insert lame business name here) the deals are really heating up." So, can we just not have any more of those things?

Second, can people who used to be famous (or people who are just hanging on by a string) please stop making Christmas albums? Making a Christmas album has literally become the kiss of death--the swan song--of any music professional who thought they had any chance left in the world. When Norm McDonald hosted weekend update for Saturday Night Live, one of his funniest lines of all time came when Kenny G (the soprano sax guy with the jerry curls, in case you forgot) came out with a Christmas album. His line, and I quote: "In other news, Kenny G has just released his first Christmas album......happy birthday Jesus, hope ya like crap!" I cant do the brilliant timing he had, but you get the picture....

And if you ARE going to make a Christmas album, for crying out loud dont try and write a new Christmas song! We have enough already. Period. There's a reason they're called CLASSICS people. There's nothing you can do that will sound remotely original, endearing, or even slightly sentimental, and if you want proof of that, go look up (dont buy it!) Neil Diamond's current Christmas song, mysteriously called "Cherry Christmas." One line I heard in the song is "I hear beauty in the sound of children laughing...." Come on. Neil Diamond might be a nice guy and all, but that is just lame. I bet Neil Diamond hates kids. I bet he despises them, even. And to further drive my point home, do you think any of these rich, spoiled, talentless morons even know a thing about the true beauty of Christmas about which they sing? I dont need Mariah Carey telling me how important family is at the holidays, and I dont need Neil Diamond to finally put in perspective how beautiful it is to hear kids laugh. Go cash your checks and leave the radio alone.

Except for Sting. He has a Christmas album out, and I bet it kicks ass.

My hands are still sticky

From carrying in the annual Goldsmith Christmas tree a few hours ago.

Today was the perfect day to go get our tree: Cold day, snow on the ground, smell of fire in the air, and the Patriots (pretending to) play one of their biggest rivals. We headed up to Norrigewock, just like we did last year, to get our tree. It is a "find it yo'self and cut it yo'self" kind of place, and it is just great to be outside.


Here, Callum and I begin the treacherous hike through the land of the candy cane forest......note the snowsuit!!

Callum loves pointing out snow, telling others about snow, and asking us if he can go out to look at snow....but he DOES NOT enjoy being in the snow. I dont think he knows what to do with himself yet....I dont think he realizes he can walk in it...

Here he is, pointing out all the snow and trees he sees.....
Norrigewock is beautiful country; with the very limited time I have spent on a snowmobile, most of that time has been through the woods of this lovely town. It is loaded with small streams, gravel pits, meadows, clearings, and hilly outcroppings. It is only 18 minutes away from Fairfield, but when you are there you can see all the western mountains. Go figure. Here's Amanda and Callum searching for the perfect tree.....
We found it! And we decided to get our picture taken in front of it. Except you can't see the tree. But Callum seems to have a pretty reluctant looking smile on his face, doesnt he? I wonder what he is thinking about (actually, in his case, it is either Ernie, whales, or the moon).
And here are "the guys" about to cut down the tree....
The tree is now in the garage, having snow melt off of it. Traditionally, we cut about a foot off the trunk of the tree before putting it in the tree stand; Amanda then uses all the boughs from where we cut for her flower boxes. She fills the boxes with evergreen boughs, pinecones, and holly berries. She is the best Christmas decorator I know....she is about 3/4 done with our house, actually, and I can't wait to showcase all she has done.

I hope we start to get PUMMELED with snow....I LOVE snow.

The Goldsmiths are Gleeks!

Yes, I know. Let the demotes, fun, and reverie begin.....I. Love. The. Show. Glee.

Kristin and Anthony introduced us to the show last week down in CT. It should be noted, also, that the Favrys have a tremendous record when it comes to introducing us to shows. They are , for the most part, batting .1000 when it comes to recommendations.....NCIS, The Unit, House, are just some of the shows we've grown to love.

The exception is the movie White Chicks, and the show Dancing with the tards.....

But Glee is great....it is about a high school Glee club....as a teacher, I find it so humorous how all the "social cliques" are represented (and exploited.......and stereotyped). But when you get past that, the show carries a much deeper, much more important and potent message about individuality, love, and friendship.

It is hilarious. And it is a very talentedly (is that a word) cast program. I definitely have a crush on Lea Michelle, and I dont care if the whole world knows.

I promise I am not an 8 year old girl.

Other stars who stop by involve Eve, Kristen Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, and others who are big time on the Broadway (and rock) music circuit.

It is so funny that I love this show, because I have always held a strong disdain for "showtunes" and musicals....and I spent most of my high school career making fun of "PANACHE"--the Oliver Ames Show Choir ensemble.....

You should watch the show...it is on Wednesdays at 9 on Fox. Next week is the season finale....but there is more to come

Also, check out their songs on youtube.

Love to all.......

I couldnt decide if the title of this post should be:

1. What the hell is happening to the world

or

2. More stupid liberal crap

or

3. A true shame

or

4. Why NOT to go to North Andover

You can decide on your own title...but what follows is a snippet from the Boston Globe today. Seriously, this stuff is so ridiculous, and each year we hear the same mumbo jumbo from all these idiots who somehow get offended by people saying "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" or something. I know a couple of folks (I wont divulge their name of their work...in order to protect them) who arent allowed to have ANY Christmas, Hanukkah, or even Halloween stuff up at work. Instead, it is called "Fall Greetings" and "Winter Festival," and at the end of this "Winter Festival" party, Frosty the Snowman (not Santa) comes to give all the workers a cute little gift. Pathetic. I'm only 31, so I will ask those who are older than me: Has this kind of PC crap been going on for a long time?? Anyway, I hope those who complained dont find themselves the victims of an unfortunate fire........

*****

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—An annual "Merry Christmas" sign on a North Andover fire station has been ordered removed.

Town officials told firefighters last week to take down the homemade sign after they said people complained.

Fire Chief William Martineau said Monday that the sign was made by firefighters about 50 years ago and never had been an issue before.

The order comes a week after selectmen voted to allow a menorah display on the town common for only one day instead of all eight days of Hanukkah. They said a new town common policy only allows displays to stay up for one day, no matter what they are.

Town Manager Mark Rees said the town's public buildings should not be displaying things specific to a particular religion.