Click on this picture below and blow it up...look behind the chair...see those little toys back there? This is Maira's new (I guess you would call) 'hiding place.' She, herself, recluses herself back there when she doesnt want anyone to see her; furthermore, she puts all the little cars, Paw Patrol pups, and whatever else she doesnt want 'Buddy' to find...it is hilarious on so many levels, the biggest level being that she actually thinks NO ONE is onto her little deception....

Since we didnt get to do any of the traveling we wanted to do over vacation (ya know, because of global warming and all....) like Seawall, etc, we decided to take a quick trip between snowstorms and head up to Bangor to Bugaboo Steak House and Books A Million (like a Borders or B&N but I think it is better!). This is what Maira decides to wear because it was 'so warm' today (it was 18 degrees). She is the most mysterious female I have ever known...

We unbunked the kids, and they seem to love it. Callum is a little afraid of having his bed right up against the door of the kneewall (who knows what kind of monsters lurk by the roof?) so he has built up a 'fortresss of animals' to protect him. The kids love reading in their beds and, this morning, I would count as probably the best part of my vacation: For about an hour, we sat, as you see us, (I sat in the rocker in the reading nook!) and just read. I drank coffee. The chimney running up through their room radiated heat from the stove. It was just marvelous. A wonderfully simplistic moment of time.

On Friday, Amanda drove down to Portland to meet her friend Andrea for lunch, and I took the kids sledding--they had been asking to go. It was FREEZING out (8) and the wind was whipping, but cabin fever had really set in, so I just took them. We are actually on the campus of Winslow High here, sledding on 'Dinosaur Hill.' It is aptly named because the hill, when looked at in a panoramic way, resembles the long, arching back of a Brontosaurus or one of those things. It is actually quite steep on the other side, and we often use it in cross country practice to do hill sprints. To give you some perspective, just beyond the fence is the track....and if you look beyond the orange 'shack' you can see the back of the high school. We stayed out there in the cold for about an hour or so and, I am kind of embarrassed to say, it was ME who said it was time to go, because IIIIIIIIIIIII was freezing!! Haha. The kids did not complain a bit (they were too numb to feel cold...haha). But we took some good runs and I was really pleasantly surprised at the bravery and aggressiveness of BOTH of these little freaks. They definitely dont get that from me; I am afraid of my own shadow.