Down to Mass....

As I wrote before, we had to miss my mom's big ClubhouseStyleAffair party before Christmas while we were held at bay by the big ice storm. So, with all our might we hoped that this past weekend wouldnt be bad weather-wise so we could head to my mom and dad's to do Christmas with them....the weekend worked out (even though we came a day early so we could leave a day early because...lo and behold...we had another huge storm Sunday). 

On Friday night, we stayed with the Ponticellis in Blaquestone, and this was the first time that Jenn got to meet Maira! All four of the kids got along super well and had tons of fun playing, eating pizza, watching a movie, and then crashing for the night. It is funny especially how JJ and Callum seem to have a lot in common, and Maira and Ava seem to have a lot in common. At least to me. 

Zin and I hit up the hot tub at around 1030, in hopes that our hotttttttttttttt respective wives would join in the fun but, alas, Amanda and Janive were hypnotized by some Ashton Kutcher movie...

On Saturday, after my Honey Dew coffee #obviously we made our way to Papa and Grammy Goldsmythe's house. Had a very nice visit there, opened gifts, caught up with Kody and Smoky (Jesse was hiding), and played a bit...

Maira got lots of great princess stuff, baby nursery stuff, and some wonderfully cute Fisher cats (yes, you read that right) for her Calico Village dollhouse.....

CS cleaned up royally with more Lego paraphernalia, a cool helicopter, and, of course, his gift-of-gifts, the annual Hess Truck. Callum now has six Hess Vehicles (they come out with one each Christmas, and Uncle Anthony has them in their original boxes for the last thirty-something years!)

We then all (Nannie and Upbob....but Upbob was sick so he unfortunately couldnt join us) met at Cheng Du in Mansfield for lunch, did some damage there, and then went back to Nannie and Upbob's house for RoundTwo of gifts. Maira's favorites from Nannie were all the 'girly accessories' like hair clips, etc and, of course, the underpants that she has absolutely no interest in wearing (will this girl PLEASE potty train!!). Callum's favorites from Nannie and Upbob were, again, more Legos and his life-size checker board. We stayed and visited with Nannie and Upbob for a bit, Maira finnagled a tub of Trader Joe's CatCookies from Upbob, and we were on the road to beat out the storm!

Below: eating pizza with Zin, AJ, JJ, CS, and ME

Ava and Maira were coloring buddies, pretzel buddies, and princess buddies....

Early morning at the Ponticelli's house....Jay is sitting in the place where he does most of his #screens

Gingerbread houses

Trying to catch up on some 'pre' Christmas stuff we did....one of the things we did was gingerbread houses. Or house. Cuz there was just one. The kids love arts and crafts and, lucky for them, they got a ton of related stuff for Christmas. Here are some pictures of the kids working on their house. Amanda, as you can see, was IN THE ZONE during this. Callum, always careful with everything, performed the decorating of the house with surgical (and obsessive compulsive) precision. And Maira, true to form, just did whatever the heck she felt like doing at any point in time....

About forty percent of the candy relegated to the gingerbread house was eaten by Maira in the process of...well...making the gingerbread house....

The finished product. With 69 years of combined Christmas experience, this was our first gingerbread house...neither one of us had ever done this before!

I like the chimney the best...

Now, it will most likely sit on top of the fridge, protected, until I, in one of my Oak Pond Brewery marinations, will attempt to eat it and then wonder why the heck I ever thought it would be a good idea to try to eat the gingerbread house....

In other nuise, had a great weekend down in Mass this past weekend doing holiday things with my side of the family. Will post about that tomorrow. We did come back last night (Saturday) so as to beat the storm that is currently HAMMERING us. I spent most of the day (with the exception of church and taking Callum sledding at Colby College) getting ready for this storm--trying to make sense of the ice sheet known as our driveway, raking the roof in preparation for more snow and ice to rake, and, perhaps most shocking to me, bringing in firewood (firewood that was buried in snow and ice)  from the outside into the garage--we are on track to have a Tom Brady type of wood-heating winter, meaning we are breaking records and using more wood than ever before. And heck no did I say "peyton manning" type of winter--can you imagine the records Brady would break if he had 1/35th of the talent Manning has around him? Go Pats.

It is Christmas.

Not too many pictures to share....on Christmas we like to take more video than anything else....

Christmas Eve was a lovely day we spent recovering and chipping away from the ice storm...we all delivered 'quick breads' and cookies to our neighbors, which is a tradition of ours. We ended up stopping a delightfully amount longer at the Carlton's house, since the Hallens were there too. I knew I hit the big time when I went to hug my friend Lisa and she spilled her red wine all over Andy and Beth's couch. I hadnt even had a drink yet!! This couch story reminds me of my friend Jawn and this one time when...well....never mind....

Lin and Gorge made it over eventually (haha) followed by Jon and Kelsey. I made a fish chowder and (I think) George put out snaques #jokesonjokes. Also, I SHOULD have gone to the hospital, since I sliced my finger open whilst cutting salt pork for the chowder. I probably needed a couple of stitches. But oh well. It actually hurts to type.

Church was 'lessons and carols' and I was both a reader of one of the Gospels AND an usher with my good friend #cartoonBrad. Siena even made us matching red bowties. Good thing we are married....cuz we were looking exceptionally...well....something...

Forgot to mention that Callum was too sique to go to church, so he stayed home with the #oldWillards. We got home from church to find him asleep on the couch. So no "Knight Bee Four Christ Mass" or nuthin. Just as well. I hate that book.

Callum didnt feel much better the next day (I am laughing at the fact that, by now, the 3 people who read this have given up and moved onto Facebook.....) and he slept most of the day. It was a lovingly relaxing kind of day--very quiet and very peaceful. I think Amanda baked some cookies. And, in between, George and I made a turkey dinner and he (I think) put out some 'snacks.'

The kids' favorite presents (we still have Nannie and Papa's this weekend) thus far:

Callum: stuffed MINION, Lone Ranger Stagecoach Lego set, Nerf dart gun, Operation game (my favorite!) Leap pad 'ultra' (looks like an iPad), snowshoes

Maira: Brownie (this stuffed puppy), snowshoes, awwwesome doll house with TONS of furniture, Cinderella Castle Lego set, slinky

They both got a few 'together gifts' like games and books...the one book they LOVE is "Whose Tracks are These?" and it is about a duog who goze walking in the snew and you see all the cute aminal traques and learn stuff and stuff.....

....was actually thinking....this is the THIRD year in a row Callum was sick on Christmas....the kid is NEVER sick....what goes with that?? Poor kid did this a majority of the day.....at least he had Minion...

Classique Chrimbus Dinner--turkey, stuffing, Brussel Sprouts, pan gravy, mashed potatoes, etc...Amanda also makes an awesome cranberry dessert thing...I have written about they before.

I think when I said "say cheese" before we ate, Lin thought I said "say grace" because she looks like she is praying.....

#SCREENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ice Storm Pics

No text really to go with this....these are just some pictures I took this morning after our three-day ice storm. Saturday was supposed to be the worst day, but Sunday was farrrrr worse....and yesterday--Monday--was nasty as well. I just went outside to sprinkle some magical 'reindeer food' (more to come on that later) and, in the stillness of the night, you can hear trees off in the forest cracking under duress from the ice....

Notwithstanding all the damage, it is actually quite beautiful....

#waitingforice

Ice Storm!

No, I didnt go run in the ice storm. That would have been silly. And I am only 'stupid,' not silly. There is a big difference. I HAVE, however, been running in the snow and the cold, dressing as well as I can, and wearing my ice grippy things. Below is a picture taken yesterday morning before things started getting bad--this was at the end of a run, and this is how I typically look; I grow out a long beard since I am outside so much in the winter, and I get these 'beard crystals' (which, as my friend Pete has pointed out, sounds like a 'prison term'). Also, as an aside, I am wearing my high school track jacket....#goTigers

I honestly have no idea how we didnt lose power. But I am not going to ask any questions, and *technically* the storm wont be over til tomorrow. But whatever. We first got a couple of inches of snow, and then a thick, thick layer of ice over all of that, making the snow ROCK solid. Walking on top of it, you couldnt even stamp your boot through the crust (not that you would want to anyway, since then you would slip and fall). The cars had to idle for about 15 minutes just to start allowing some of the windshield ice to be loosened up by the heat....

Blowing up this pic doesnt really do it justice--but it was almost impossible to walk on this. Even with grips on shoes. And, on a whim, I decided to try to take the snowmobile for a little jaunt--bad idea. The icy crust was almost too much for even the picked-track and carbide steel skis!

But when you are young, all the world is your playground, as it was for Callum and Maira today....our whole driveway/yard/snowbank collection was a frozen playground for them: Everything was a 'slide.'

You can see one of our rosebushes out front and get an idea of ice deposits. Folks using snowblowers around the neighborhood found that their work was, for the most part, in vain.

All things considered, today was one of the most delightful days I have shared with the family in a while! Granted, we missed church for the second week in a row due to storms, which stinks, but we just hunkered down and had a blast. Amanda slept in and I read the kids some new books sent by Jawn Croquett. We played legos. We played 'nutcracker,' where we 'acted out' the fight scenes from the ballet (to the music, of course). Then we all watched ELF together--Callum was HYSTERICAL with laughter, and Maira got some of the humor too. We finished our gingerbread house. We played outside. And then we went over to the Carlton's for lasagna soup and the second to last Pats game (they won against the Ravens!). Only three days til Christmas!!!

And, finally, here is some more ice buildup on bushes....

Once again.....

....we are 'grounded' by a storm and unable to go down to Mass to see my family for my mom's annual Christmas party. This seems to be a tradition just like every other Christmas tradition we have...haha. This year, there is an impending ice storm we are supposed to get tomorrow and Sunday; it has been the talk of the state, so to speak, and it made the front page of the paper, the evening news on my mom's TV, and the go-to conversation for all my colleagues today at school #kingofparallelstructure. They are comparing it to the ice storm of 1998 which, as Amanda will tell you, was LEGIT. I know that Winslow didnt have school for 15 days after this storm (seriously) and Amanda, who lived in Mt Vernon at the time, lost power for two weeks. It feels good, going into this storm (which probably wont be anything by the way) to have a woodstove. And a snowmobile. Maybe I will use it to go to the store. #funneststoretripever

So, I am pretty down tonight. We all are. Yes, I will see my family next weekend (weather permitting) when we plan on going down...but I was looking forward to all the festive (and tacky...haha) things my mom does. PLUS, all my extended family was going to be there. Oh well. I'll just drink. Alone. Tomorrow. 

Just kidding........kind of. haha...

So what will we do this weekend now? Bake? Get wood? Sled? Who knows....

All I know is that I love our beautiful kids, and I am blessed to share Christmas with a loving and beautiful wife. I love my son EVEN THOUGH there is a warrant out for his arrest for breaking haircut-needing laws in the state of Maine....

They are just simple little people who love each other and play cars and drive me up the wall. And we have a warm and people-loving cat who annoys the crap out of us, lying down on everything we need to use/play with/cook with/eat on......haha....

And who could be sad or down when you get to see a face like this each day, right?

Nutcraquer stuph and such as

I mentioned in the last post how we went to see the Nutcracker this past weekend at the Waterville Opera House. The opera house is a SPLENDID location to see a show--ballet, concert, play, or whatever you want. In the past, we have seen the Nutcracker here twice, and we have also seen rock concerts, The Fantastiks (a musical), and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare). They have recently done a year's worth of renovations, and it is a delightful gem of the community. I noticed that, in February, HAMLET is playing there. I will be there. "The play's the thing..."

Here are Amanda and Maira. I dont know if you can tell from the picture, but Maira is wearing a beautiful dress MeeMee and Grampy gave her for her birthday. Maira was spellbound during the ballet. We loved watching her as much as we loved watching the actual show....

And here are Callum and I. I should mention that I gave Callum 6 Oxycodone before the show, as if you cant tell from the picture....

We sat up in the balcony--a great place to sit, with a bird's eye view of the place. Beautiful artwork and gilded design adorns the opera house. I just love it here.

Sally and Maira, below....

This past Saturday night was a treat because we went to bed, late, after watching a movie, and it had started snowing....and, then, we got to wake up Sunday to resplendent snow (about 14 inches after it was all said and done). There are few things as beautiful as going to bed in a house warmed by a wood stove knowing full well that you will wake up to snow. A great feeling. We didnt go to church, but we did shovel for about an hour--the snow was beautiful, white, fluffy.

The Carlton's--Beth, Andy, Hannah, and Emily--came over to watch that football team who plays in New England sometimes.....and I made a ham....and we drank away our sorrows since Tom Brady has left this earth....just joking...kind of....

Always great to see the Carltons. It is great to have good friends who live basically a hundred yards away. Below, the kids enjoy the last of their desserts and put on a show for the camera.

So we got that big storm on Sunday, and, ever since about last Thursday, it has been OPPRESSIVELY cold. I told my dad on the phone yesterday that, in the 8 years or so we have been heating our house exclusively with wood, I have never gone through so much so fast. Ridiculous amount of wood needed to combat these temps which, at their warmest (which was today) got up to about 12 degrees. Mostly we have been in the negatives, with yesterday morning 'topping off,' if you will, at -14. And, at the risk of sounding cocky, I have been out each day running. It has been--if this makes sense--'miserably rewarding.' I have ice grippies for my sneakers, and bright clothing for visibility. But the wind and the cold literally just sucks the life out of you. I find myself passing out on the couch by 9. Very very cold.

We got another bust storm yesternight....the weatheridiots said we would get 7-10 inches, and we got about 4. So I am going to go shovel right now. Bye.

Couldnt think of a title for this post....

Just a recap of things I guess....

Working our way through the Christmas season....what a blast Christmas time is!! Today we took the kids to see THE NUTCRACKER which everyone knows is about one of my favorite things in all the world--holiday related or now! I just love everything about it....the story, the set, the music. Tchaikovski is my second favorite composer, closely beat out by Aaron Copeland. We saw the show at the newly remodeled Waterville Opera House. This was Callum's fourth year in a row seeing the ballet, and this was Maira's first time seeing the show! As we expected, she was about as engaged as her brother--completely engrossed. This makes us happy. After the show we took the kids for supper at Maineley Brews, a very special place to us. I reccommend the DropDeadRed Ale, by the way!!

VERRRRRRRY cold up here this week. Running has been tough but I have been toughing through it; the cold really has a way of just sucking the life out of you...and it is difficult, often, to breathe. Luckily I have my beard to keep my face warm, since Lupine somehow peed on my Carhartt fleece facemask. Long Story. Dont Ask. As I write this, is is 3 degrees outside. Daytimes usually hang out around 13-19. I had some growlers of Oak Pond stuff in the garage and, sadly, they froze and one of the growlers broke. This is the saddest news ever. We are *supposed to* get a doozie of a snowstorm tomorrow. I hope so!! If nothing else but for the kid's sake, this would be awesome--add a little Christmas 'tone' to their already holidayish weekend!! These kids LOVE being in the snow--they are definitely MY kids (winter lovers, summer haters). Sunday school has already been canceled for tomorrow, so the plan is to sleep in (yeh right), get up, make coffee, and watch Christmas movies (we bought the kids an early present: Home Alone).

And, perhaps, we can try out our new machine: We bought a snowmobile!

We decided to sell the ATV. We hope that the "sled," brings years of enjoyment for the family, as winter is definitely the Goldsmith's "season." Driving through a snowy wood....on crisply groomed trails....rounding serpentine old logging roads.....it is a gorgeous experience. And, lucky for Callum, (his words) he can still use the snowmobile for ice fishing.....hilarious.

It is a nice sled. PERFECT condition. Heated handlebars. Studded track. Goes fast....although we wont be. As with many things, I am about 30 % excited for it 'for myself' and 70% excited to give my kids the material/experience.

Come on up and join us!

Right now, WHITE CHRISTMAS is on 'full blast' while the kids are in bed. I am doing my yearly 'penance' by watching the most un-Christmas-like movie in existence.....haha

YEAY SNOW!!!!!

Huesers Wine Cellar....

One of the goals Amanda and I have is to start making wine (not beer...because Amanda hates beer...and at least we can both drink the wine). Our good friends Tom and Katie are big into making wine...so much so that they  have a whole 'wine room' at their house; they have been teaching us the ins and outs of making wine. We went over a few weeks ago to begin the process, and, just this past Sunday, they had us over again to 'rack' some of it. We are making a Malbec....

Here are Tom and Amanda about to either perform a spinal tap OR siphon some wine into one of the glass carboys. 

Part of their wine room-- as we take the Malbec and try to separate what will become the wine from the 'lees' which is like all the sediment that collects on the bottom of the bucket. Tom, a "sciencey-minded" guy, gets really into the whole chemistry and physics of the whole process, getting a kick out of things like 'specific gravity' and 'siphoning' and things like that. I mostly hang with Katie and we eat snacks and watch...haha

Good friends Amanda and Katie sample some  (what is not technically yet) wine after separating it. I should have taken a picture of the Heusers wine closet where there have a seemingly innumerable amount of homemade wines!

And what do the kids do during all this? Well they have even a bigger blast than us (if that is possible!) Meghan and Maira have so much fun together. Maira LOVES Meghan, and they play school in Meghan's "classroom" and they lots of stuff with legos (particularly princess castle stuff!) The Huesers kids are big lego kids!!

And, after me (of course....haha) I dont think Callum emulates/idolizes any male more than his buddy Jake! Callum has never had a bad moment with Jake, and he talks about him non-stop. Jake has the coolest legos (you can see some in the background) AND he is a brilliant karate practitioner; this, to Callum, is the best! Notice the karate belt Jake gave Callum--Callum was elated to get his VERY OWN karate belt (now if we could just get Callum to TAKE karate for real...I think it would be so awesome for him)

Tom, Katie, and the kids are a special blessing, and they are fantastic friends. We look forward to having them over soon for 'canning' and great food...and we look forward to getting over there to do more wine, cuddle with Teddy (their pup), and share some great moments!

A big conversation awaits...

Tonight marked a very interesting conversation with Callum...and, since he is only five, I know there will be much more to come. I was reading him CURIOUS GEORGE'S CHRISTMAS and, in the story, George brings a huge tree to a children's hospital and brings the kids lots of joy and glee. Callum interrupted me to comment on how sad it would be to have to spend Christmas in a hospital. I took the opportunity to bring up my cancer for the first time, although I didnt mention the actual word 'cancer' because I know he would have no clue what it meant. So, I just told him about how when I was a boy...about the age of the students I teach...I went to the hospital right after Christmas (January 2 to be exact) and spent a lot of time there. "Why did you do that??" Callum asked. I then went on, telling him how I was really sick and I had to spend lots of time going to the hospital....and once I had to stay there for over two weeks....and Nannie and Papa took good care of me....and my friends came to visit me....and I didnt feel good....ALL types of 'stuff' was born out of this teachable moment. Then, I stopped, and there was silence, as Callum looked at me curiously--I could tell he wanted to ask me something. "What do you want to say, pal," I asked. "Well.....um...did you have to get a shot??" That is all the kid extrapolated from this conversation, because, right now, nothing in the world is scarier than a shot. Ahh, the innocence of youth. Now you understand why this post is called what it is--it is interesting to me to think that both of my children (two of the people I am closest to in all the world) know virtually nothing about the most life altering experience I have ever had in my existence. Weird huh. Anyway....

One of the projects Callum recently worked on at school was making his Christmas list. I tried to rotate the pic, but could not. But you can turn your head ya lazy bones! His list is pretty comical.....

Maira took a pretty big fall the other day and bumped her head...it was scary. She just wanted to be held and held and held. Amanda was out at the stohr, and I was alone with the kids. There came a point where I HAD to put her down to go to the bathroom, stoke the fire, etc. She wouldnt hear of it! Then, all of the sudden, Callum pipes up "Dad! I can hold my sister." And so he did. For a good twenty minutes or so they sat together by the fire as you see below. Beautiful. Then they both lay on the couch and Callum let her choose a DVD to watch..he was so good at taking care of her! He is a great big brother and these two are best friends!

Psalms and such....

At church we do a LOT of hymns--I think this is something simply indicative of the Lutheran church. And the music is absolutely gorgeous, old, sacred stuff played on the organ. We have an outstanding organist named Rick (the guy is brilliant) and Amanda and I have been trying to be more active in the music at church. I sort of got a 'gig' as the church 'cantor,' meaning that I lead the Psalms during the part of the service known as the 'gradual.' From up in the choir loft, I sing, solo, the first part of the Psalm, and then the congregation sings every other verse. Sitting up in the choir loft definitely helps me to feel more connected to the entire service, actually. Seated right beside the powerfully loud and resonating organ is a meditative experience in itself.

A couple of weeks ago, during "Reformation Sunday" (to celebrate when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Catholic church, etc) Amanda and I both had solos performing different parts of the Psalms and hymns. I was looking for some youtube links to send so you could see the beautiful types of music we do at church, but, alas (no big surprise) there arent any!! 

Below, Amanda practices one of the hymns on the keyboard while Sharon, the musical director at our church, goes through some of the verses. What you CANNOT see, and what would make the photo at least 83% more hilarious, is that Callum and Maira are both over to the right, on the floor, putting on a Thomas the Train track building CLINIC!!

And here is a nice picture my dad sent me from Thanksgiving--my dad, me, and the grandkids. The lighting isnt great, as it was sunny outside and this was taken with an iPhone. And yes, Kristin, I am probably on my 8th cup of coffee (like Kristin reads this blog...). And somebody please look at Jackson in this picture and tell me that it isnt actually a small Anthony you are looking at! IDENTICAL!! Anthony makes that face all the time. Also, I dont know what type of drugs Callum just took....

Thanksgiving week part deux

So, like I said yesterday, we were blessed to see so much family during the holiday week--from both my side and Amanda's. "The Zoo," as the Jerseyans are called (or maybe ALL of us are called that when we are together) came up the Sat. before Thanksgiving. I didnt see them since I had my annual tailgate party for State Championship Saturday. But Amanda and the kids were with them each day! 

On Monday, I drove over to BaBa's house in Readfield right after school for a few hours before I had to leave to get back to school to present our curriculum for the School Board. They unanimously endorsed our department's curriculum, by the way, to reflect the mandates set forth by the Common Core (the new Federal guidelines and standards for education).......

I always have fun seeing SteveeCee. Just as I have seen my own dad drink alcohol only once in my life, I have only once in my life seen SteveeCee WITHOUT an Amstel Light. But I guess if you root for the Eagles, you HAVE to drink, right? Below, we share a funny myoment...

Callum, Maira, Sammi, and Brandon were ALL BUSINESS as they worked on their coloring books and artwork--I guess they did this like every single day. Like I said yesterday, our kids LOVE seeing their cousins, and between Emma, Sammi, Brandon, and Jackson, I dont think Callum and Maira had one un-fun moment over the whole holiday....(and also, as the stupid teacher-book geek-hipsterwannabe-hippy guy I am, I loved how the kids watched like no TV...)

Crayons and pre-cut apples: Who could want anything more?

Callum, Jackson, and Maira built a STELLAR fort in Jackson's room on Thanksgiving day--before NANNIE destroyed it (actually she didnt...but Maira blamed it on her, saying "Nannie, you dont let us do ANYTHING). Also, the kids and I took a walk down the road to see Jackson's neighbor's horses. And, as always, racing their cars and trucks at full speed from the living room to the kitchen is a popular activity.

I think the most fun CS and Brandon had together, other than the coloring, was when we did a 'concert' downstairs at our house during the PJ night thing--I played keyboard, and the boys sang renditions of Jingle Bells (subbing BATMAN LAID AN EGG kids of imagery into the lyrics) and HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS. The danced and sang and all was wonderful.

Here are Callum and Maira enjoying the VERY FIRST snowfall of the year (not the storm we got a couple of days ago...the one below was from the first snow, which was on the Monday night before Thanksgiving....)

Thanksgiving Week 1

Thanksgiving, for the Goldsmiths, is not merely one day....it is an entire week of family and food. This year, it started on the Saturday BEFORE Thanksgiving, as the crowd from NJ came up to Maine, as they usually do. We spent a lot of time with them (as photos will later show) before heading down to CT to do Thanksgiving with my family at my sister's in Mystic. We headed down there Wednesday morning, driving in what I would call one of the most ferocious rain storms in which I have ever driven. AWFUL rain and wind. But we made it there just as my sister and Anthony got power back so we (or mostly Amanda) could help Anthony put on a CLINIC of amazing dessert baquing. 

While Amanda and Anthony baked pies and cookies and stuff, I got to bond and 'babysit' our new niece, Annabella. She 'Christened' me by throwing up all over me, so the two of us are 'cool' now. I think the best part of the whole Thanksgiving week, for me anyway, was seeing Callum and Maira enjoy time with their cousins--Jackson. Annabella. Brandon. Sammi.. They have a blast seeing them and playing with them. 

When we travel down to CT it is great to see my dad and mom both in one place. And the kids enjoy this too.....and Maira kept both of us (below) in stitches doing her impression of Papa (Hi Jackson Honey!!). Even Zin _ got to hear it over the phone. 

And we were honored to be there for Annabella's first Thanksgiving. Anthony fried up a scrumptious turkey. But, as usual, the hilight was, for me, the stuphed muschrumms.

Anthony and my dad were taking tons of photos (and I hope we see them), so Amanda and I took a ton of video with our digital camcorder instead. I wish there was a way to upload those videos onto the blog...but maybe if anyone ever wants to come over they can watch some fun stuff!

We came back late Friday night. And then, for the rest of the weekend, we kind of decompressed from traveling, and then did stuff to try to get in the Christmas spirit. Amanda and Callum went to a craft fair with meemee to do some Christmas shopping, and Maira and I headed into downtown Waterville for 'small bizniss Saturday' to check out some dealios and get Callum the teddy bear Maira wanted to get him for Christmas.

Then, on Sunday, we had church and then a birthday party for the kids' little friend Lucy--she was six. It was a "Patriots Party" where we all watched the Pats somehow escape with a victory over the doormat of the NFL--the Texans. Needless to say, Maira was ABSOLUTELY exhausted after a week of holiday fun.....we didnt even have to take her coat off once we got home....

Last night, because absolutely no snow was forecast, we got our first significant snowfall of the season. It was so bizarre waking up at 3:38 AM to hear the plows going up and down our street; Amanda and I asked "why the heck are there plows out" even though we knew the answer. We definitely didnt plan on snow. But we will take snow however we can get it! But this was VERRRRY wet and heavy snow. Tough to move. But the kids were in heaven!!!

As I wrote--we will be more forthcoming with other pictures from the week--but I just wanted to post this nice group shot Uncle Bob took when we had everyone over last Tuesday night for our annual 'PJ night." Although, as you can see, no one really wears PJs anymore....haha