Callum reads "Arthur's Computer Disaster"

Callum absolutely LOVES Arthur books--do you know Arthur? He is that lovable aardvark in those books written by Mass. based Marc Brown. It is also a show on PBS. Luckily, our library has just about every Arthur book ever written (except the Christmas one....which is the one CS wants...). So, every week, we go and get as many Arthur books as we can check out at once. So far, we have read Arthur's Halloween, Arthur's vacation, Arthur goes to camp, Arthur's band, Arthur's tooth, and this one--which is his undisputed favorite. We took a longer (about 3 min.) video, but decided a minute and a half was good for the blog. The kid has this book virtually MEMORIZED, and he doesnt even let us read it to him anymore....he wants to read it himself. It is awesome to watch him. It is great to see him so excited about reading--I remember when I was younger and my mom and my dad would take Kris and I every Saturday to the Ames Free library in N. Easton....I would get like 5 books at a time and it was just great. Johnny Crockett and I were really into the "biographies" (Washington, Johnny Appleseed, Lincoln, Leu Carr, etc) and we'd eat those up. I love reading.

Pleasant Pond Mountain

One day, mommy and daddy went to hike a mountain....

(Callum, each time he 'reads' any of his books aloud, starts with 'one day......' and then whatever is going on in the story...it is really funny)

But we DID go hike Pleasant Pond Mountain last week. JUST Amanda and me. Thanks Lynne for watching the kids!!!

I hiked this mountain seven years ago while camping with the guys after the school year ended. It was great to get back there. A really nice climb....really steep for short amounts of time....a nice 1.5 mile hike up to a rocky summit....views of the Forks area and the western Maine mountains like Rangeley, Baxter State Park, etc.....and Pleasant Pond in which to swim after you are done hiking. We didnt though. The pond is always freezing. Although very refreshing after a hot hike. The mountain is in the village of Caratunk (and it IS a village....it is like something out of a movie!). Caratun is about ten minutes or so from the Forks, where all the whitewater stuff hyappens. I think the best part of the whole day was just being together and having a break from the kids; we stopped for Dunkin Donuts iced coffees and listened to our audio book--without interruption from Callum or Maira--for practically the whole time!

As you can see, this is a well groomed and maintained trail. It is actually part of the Appalachian Trail, which hikers hike on their way to the end--which is Katahdin.


Amanda, near the summit. This would be a beautiful snowshoe in the winter, since there are so many mini fir trees that would look so great caked with snow. Like an episode of the Smurfs. Or something. ALSO, the summit was loaded with low bush blueberries, so we filled about a half a water bottle with the delicious fruits. Callum really appreciated it.....
looking westward towards Rangeley, Saddleback, etc....
Amanda snapped this one of me making my way back down, shortly after the summit.....
Amanda has ALWAYS been the one to carry the camera, and I have always been the pack carrier. This is fine. What is funny his how she always takes pictures of cute little things she finds in nature---fungi, flowers, funny tree shapes, etc. I think this one takes the cake. A) I dont know how she found this B) I have never seen anything in nature look like this C) It is absolutely hilarious and looks like drug paraphernalia....or something else.....

Mini Golf

BaBa got Callum some golf clubs for his birthday. So, from time to time, Callum enjoys going outside to practice his swing. He likes his diggers to watch him....

Last Saturday we went mini golfing with Dave and Muriel at Gifford's in Waterville. This was Callum's third time mini golfing. He seems to get it a little more each time....he still has trouble with the whole "let everyone else go too" kind of deal. But he is making strides...haha. Below, Dave and Muriel (who is very good, by the way!!) check out the course....
Did you know that mini golf and rock-and-roll go hand in hand with each other? And did you know that putt putt golf clubs can also 'double' as guitars? Well they do. And did you ALSO know that if you put a fence in front of green portapottys that you can't see them at all??
I love Maira's expression in this picture.....she's like "Hey....it is hot....take your freakin' shot and then let's get ice cream!!" Or not.
Back at "the shop," Callum and Maira do some maintenance on the logging and firetrucks.....
In other news, today is my first Cross Country meet. The Laliberte memorial invitational in Disgusta at cony high school. Excited to see how it goes! Then, we are taking the kids to the final library gazebo concert of the summer downtown....and THEN, after the kids are in bed, Amanda and I are gonna get take out Chinese! M29 and M14 please and thank.

Check out my wife's cans....

Actually, they are my cans too. All of our cans. And, actually, they are jars. But the PROCESS is called canning. Why not jarring? And why do they say TAKE a shower when you're not rea.......

Anyway. Amanda and I have gotten really into canning and preserving fresh food. Add that to the list of reasons why we are uncool/84/british/stupid. But we love it. The process is not DIFFICULT (well, actually it is) but, rather, tedious. But it lends itself well to talking, listening to an audiobook, or checking out the cool programs on WERU as we can. This summer, as we did not have a garden, we are just doing beans, pickles, and hopefully tomatoes. Next summer, when we DO have our garden, we hope to can LOTS of stuff--for most things that you want to can au natural in just water (versus pickling, vinegar, acid, etc) you need a pressure cooker. A big one. And we just dont have the funds for they right now, even.


Above, Sally is preparing the green beans we bought from Henry's produce tent down the street. We are preparing to make DILLY BEANS, which are green beans preserved in a brine of vinegar, garlic cloves, dill, and cayenne pepper. These were canned to reggae music, if that makes any difference....

Below, Lupine gets in on the mix. She's a good cat. Still gets kind of annoyed with Maira sometimes. But wouldnt you if something was always pulling at your butt/tail and/or trying to put you in it's mouth? But no matter where the kids are, Lupine is RIGHT there. Most of the time. Unless she is out hunting or asleep in the breezeway--which she does for most of the day....
Opposites attract, dont they? When it comes to music, I have no clue how to read those little dots and squiggles and stuff....I am all about improv and free form and unconventional chord structure, etc. Amanda is a classically trained geek who has to have perfection EVERY time. With cooking, I am a 'little of this/little of that' kind of geek, whereas Amanda will scientifically measure out 1/34th of a teaspoon of salt if a recipe calls for it. So, naturally, the canning got funny. Below, she tries to remove air pockets from the jar. Ya know, with a wooden spoon. Cuz wooden spoons have magical vacuum qualities. And stuff.....
My wife's cans are so hot. I mean, look at them boil in the big granitewear pot!!!
After canning, we left them on the counter overnight, listening to the little "TING" that is a good indicator that a seal has been made and we wont die of botulism in January. Good stuff.

This last picture is mostly for Tim, John, and Giay. They know.

They know.
Okay everyone. Enjoy reading and not commenting as usual. Loves!

'astruction

Is how Callum says "construction." He is SO into it this summer--from his Bob the Builder shows he gets at the library (and used at Bull Moose) to the big diggers Poppy gets him at Village Toy Shop when we visit to the tractors and dumptruck, etc Grampy bought him to his hotwheels to his big wooden blocks he dumps on the living room floor to make roads and bridges and stages (ya know...for rock concerts...), the kid has the "truck bug" that little boys get. But he is WAY into it. For example, tonight before he went to bed, he HAD to go outside to mix some concrete in his sandbox table....he mixed his sand with water, lamented how he needs a 'concrete pourer truck,' transferred his concrete into a dumptruck, and drove said dumptruck over to the firepit and dumped it in (we settled on the firepit because I would not let him dump it on the lawn like he wanted to!). I will try to post some pics of him playing with his blocks--and perhaps some ones of him 'shooing' Maira away as she tries to get into his business. Constantly.

Last week, former student and good friend Meryl (who I cannot believe will be a SENIOR next year at college) came by for a summer visit to see the kids. We are always so flattered when my students think of us and make time in their busy schedules to come over and hang for a while! It was Meryl's first time meeting Maira, and as you can see from the picture, Maira was excited to play with Mer'

And then, almost immediately, Callum absconded with Meryl to the driveway in order that they might make roads and parking lots for his diggers....(side note: please continue to notice how this kid LIVES in his blue boots....). Callum wasted no time in giving the orders to Meryl, telling her exactly how he wanted the roads, etc....


Side project road building......
And pausing with their favorite diggers for a quick picture before we went inside to have a supper of this Mexican rice dish I made for the first time.....
On the Maira front: This little chica is a D.E.V.I.L. She is standing (leaning on things) now. Constantly. She lifts herself up by leaning on railings, chairs, and even the wall. Today she somehow crawled up two stairs, and then slid on her belly (slowly and controlled) down. She is always. on. the. move. More to come....

Brian and Melissa Kemish!

Congratulations to two wonderful individuals: Brian and Melissa tied the knot at Foxwoods-Lake of Isles resort this past weekend. An unbelievable event in terms of guests, food, music, mohawked photographers, and gin. Amanda and I loved every minute of it; it is also a significant event because it was the first time since we've had both kids that Amanda and I have left them overnight. Weird. The ride down to CT sucked--as most rides south of Portland do--since we sat in traffic in Worcester for an hour and twenty minutes....and moved three miles. No joke. Ask Amanda. We got to the Grand Pequot hotel--where Bri and his buds were hanging out inhaling Southern Comfort--right at two. From then on, it was pure fun.



Getting to see my old college roommate JR was truly awesome. We had to--quite regretfully--miss his wedding to his wonderful wife Theresa (it was the day before Callum was born, and Amanda was 'feelin it'). So, as an extra treat, I got to finally meet her! I figured out that the last time I saw Josh before this was about 8 years ago, when Amanda and I lived in Disgusta in the crappiest piece of crap apartment ever. Below, you can see JR and I marvelling at Melissa as she marches down the aisle. We were standing on a deck overlooking the Lake of Isles. A beautiful, beautiful setting!Brian, who loves to handle wood of all types (wah wah wah), built this beautiful arbor/trellis piece. They got married right below it. Brian was a forestry major at college, and he was on the woodsmen's team (in fact, after one of his meets was when Amanda and I went on our first date in college!). I loved the poetics the Justice of the Peace described when she acknowledged Birch as a strong, noble wood which is also very resilient and bends easily to adapt to stressful situations. What she failed to add--and I think this suits Brian very well--is that it is REALLY hot for a very short amount of time.... it burns up quick...and then leaves absolutely no coals or 'legacy.' HAHA Brian....
Dr. and Mr. Theresa Adams....
During cocktail hour, there was a duet of a guitarist and saxophone player--excellent job! And then the DJ rocked enough to get me, a goofy fatty with NO dance skills to speak of, out on the floor for 96.4 percent of the night. I think the bar helped too. The filet mignon was amazing. And then, at the end of the night, around 10ish, they put out sliders and pizza. Pefect snaking rechargement from all the dancing I was doing with Mrs. Petunia Kemish! Below, beautiful Melissa and beautiful Amanda Stuart pause for a quick photo opp....
In college, Josh and I would go out dancing all the time. Josh is a real humdinger with that. None of what occurred in the last two sentences is even remotely true. But it must have been something in the gin that night....
After the wedding, Amanda and I went to our shady hotel room in rotten Groton (it wasnt thaaaat bad). It was just so great to reconnect with two guys with whom I shared an amazingly formative part of my existence. I really hope the years wont be so far between until I can see these idiots again....whether down in Nashville for Josh, or down in Bristol, CT for Brian.

Congratulations Kemishes!

Seawall-August

We try to get up to MDI whenever we can. Amanda took off last week and we did a series of little day trips, paddles, rides, and Bobthebuilder viewing parties. We decided to go up to Seawall for just a night. Even being up there for 36 hours is enough to reenergize and focus us. When we are only going for a night, we stay at Seawall Motel, beacause it is our place; we love to camp, but with two kids, it isnt worth it for just one night. This time, Lynne and George came with us for the night, and we had a good time. Part of the fun of going to the island is the ride up--stopping for good coffee (which we didnt even do this time around...)...pranking each other on the cell phones....having Callum ride with his grandparents (which he didnt do this time around...)...listening to WERU Blue Hill community radio. The ride is beautiful. I wish I could persuade my parents to come up to Mount Desert Island. It is only 1.5 hours away from our house...come on! Haha...Oh, here is a picture of my beautiful mother in law.....

It will cost you upwards of eight thousand dollars, Lynne, if you want me to remove this picture (inside joke).

The challenge was all being in one hotel room with two queens (not Jon Willard and Mr Humphries silly....I meant BEDS!). So we put the kids to bed, and then had to be really quiet. Lynne and I read THE CANNING SEASON, which is a book Amanda, Lynne, and I are reading for a book club (Hank, let's do a book together and talk about it!). Amanda looked at a magazine or something. And George looked at the cheese he brought and then stared off into space, reminiscing about playing gigs at the AlJoe and getting hot chicks....
Did we mention the RAIN on the way up Sunday? Crazy rain. But we needed they. Rain on Mount Desert is beautiful...huge fog banks roll in (as you will see in a minute)...the rain and clouds and fog seem to encapsulate and 'close in' the whole island, making everything all cozy. For coffee. But on MONDAY morning, when I was out for my run at 7 in the morning, the fog was burning off to make way for the sun, and it was just glorious--it had harmonious undertones ( Kotsioupolous, 2011).

"Shift Work" was the name of this fishing boat that friends of Vicki and Dave (the owners of Seawall Motel) had 'parked' in their field. Callum was entranced by it, and he thought that maybe WE should get a big fishing boat (like Dana) that he could drive! Please notice the boots...I dont know why we bother even BUYING the kid other shoes. He. Only. Wants. The. Boots.
My two beautiful girls at the motel. Who does Maira look like? Lynne says she looks like Ortiz a bit. Friends say she looks JUST like me or JUST like Amanda. I think she looks like grandmom (great Mee Mee).
At the picnic area at Seawall, this picture doesnt do the view justice; as the sky cleared, huge banks of fog rolled off the tops of the ocean. Stunning breezes and waves and views.

Greatest Hits: Callum and Maira's books edition

This has been the summerofthebook for the Goldsmith family--we have all been doing a ton of reading....it has been awesome....Amanda and I virtually never turn the television even ON, and it is great....all of us are making more of a concerted effort to get involved with reading and SQUIRTing (super-quiet-uniterrupted-reading-time). Myeah. And although Callum has a level 4 addiction to Bob the Builder VHS tapes, we still spend a good part of each day looking at books. I thought I would post this quick "edition," since one of the purposes of our family blog is to look back at it in 10 years and see what we were doing. It would be nice to be reminded of the books my children loved. Callum is also at the point where, in order to assert his independence, he doesnt want YOU to read to him...but rather he wants to read himself. AND, although he cannot read yet, he has many of his books virtualy memorized. Very cool. Here are Callum's top four most favorite of the summer, and Maira's number one (because, let's face it...all she does is chew on the corners anyway...haha)




Callum has a penchant for holiday books, and we many times read Christmas and Halloween books all during the year. He is like his Auntie KK. But anyway, he picked this out at the library a month or so ago, and the floodgates opened! Now, he gets an Arthur book each week at the library. But he reallllly loved this Halloween one because it had a friendly witch in it....

Probably my favorite on the list, simply because it has some of the most beautiful illustrations I have seen in children's books. Ipcar, a Maine artist, chronicles the night life of the farmer's cat--on one page, you see what only 'we' can see (shadows, etc) and then on the next page, we see it all in full color...as the cat sees it. Callum loves to predict what all the shadowed shapes will be. He has this pretty much memorized. Also, it has a wood stove it in so I love they.


Probably Callum's favorite onthe list. Written by two strung out hippies that you can see on youtube. Great, catchy little story about a cat who steps in fruit and gets his sneakers all kinds of different colors. A catchy song that Callum loves to sing--if you are one of the 4 people who read this blog and you looked at our Rangeley camping pictures, you may have seen Callum and his friend Polly having this read to them by yours truly....

This one is Maira's favorite (and one of Amanda's too). Also by Ipcar. Beautiful and heartwarming illustrations of life on a farm as it relates to the alphabet. Also a thicker carboardy kind of book Maira likes to chew on.

This book is awesome. I picked it out for Callum at the library a few weeks ago...he has renewed it twice since then. The life of a tugboat who has to tow three huge ships into the harbor. Very rich in onomatopoeia, as it describes all the 'hard core' sounds of working the sea. It is amazing what this kid will pick up from our reading of it...randomly, throughout the day, he will just start quoting from it like I quote from the Jerky Boys (yo...Moby Dee....your ride is here OR think I cant pull it?? or tow ropes? TIGHT! or something...)

I love children's books....

Callum the golfer!

Amanda just got back from spending a couple of days with Maira down in Rochester NH, visiting with Andrea and Michael (she will probably blog about it). Before she left, she wanted to make sure to spend some "Callum time" with the little guy. They went mini golfing for the first time....Callum LOVED it!

Great form and concentration.....

I like this one cuz you can see our car (with the canoe) in the background. We have been LOVING the canoe this summer....
HOLE IN ONE!!!
hockey or putt putt?

GOlf with mommy is the best!
I love my mommy

Smart kids

My son is so smart. I know every parent says that, but I really think Callum is a very, very bright kid. The other day (and I know the pics arent very good) we put together a 60 piece puzzle his Nannie bought him at a Border's closeout sale when we were down in Mass. It is, like most things in his three year old life, comprised of "diggers." My mom and wife do not believe me, but this was honestly the first jigsaw puzzle I ever put together (and Callum did most of it). Sure, I have done like ten piece things when I was a kid...but this is the real deal. Sixty pieces, for crying out loud. No small feat for a 3 year old dude. Granted, this puzzle probably took a couple of hours spread out over the course of the day, but who cares. In between Bob the Builder, feeding Maira, riding bikes, and changing diapers we went back to the puzzle. That is why I wish I was good at puzzles like Amanda...it is good to have something to go back to. I guess books are like that. But puzzles, more so, because they are more "aggregate," if that makes sense. Plus, you can do them with a community of people. I like that.

The summer is winding down, as I am starting to notice, and I havent written about my "day to day" life of being home with my two kids (well, three days a week when Sally works). It is hard to go out and do anything "big" with the two kiddies, since Maira takes two good naps (one from 830-11 and one from 230 to sometimes 4). So we make due. My day usually consists of getting up, letting Callum watch some MPBN while I give Maira breakfast and get her ready for her nap...then Callum and I usually go outside and ride bikes or have a camp fire or "dig" something...then Maira wakes up and we have lunch...then we have like a two hour block where we can go out to the library, Hillmans, etc...then Maira naps and I usually put in a Bob the Builder so I can have 45 minutes to myself...then Amanda comes home and we spend four hours doing dinner and bed time...haha. But puzzles and books have been big in the Goldsmith household this summer. Both with the kids AND with just Amanda and I. We are actually downgrading our netflix subscription, simply because we hardly watch any TV anymore. We are reading and puzzling a ton. I hope this all pays off when Callum goes to get into the Naval Academy....