The Move

I can't believe its over.  Sure we still have a few things at the old place, and some cleaning to do but even that is almost done.  It will be nice to have it all completed and then we can totally focus on unpacking and getting settled in here at the new home.

Maddy is turning 15 today... hard to believe my baby is 15 and almost ready for drivers ed.  She is going to be a sophomore in high school come the fall... where did the time go?  Happy birthday my little firecracker baby!!!

Jasper is settling into the new house quite nicely.  Loves his run in the back yard and sitting on the window seat in Madelynne's room.
 

I am going to miss the wonderful gardens our old house had... I guess I will just have to put some in here.

 

I really think we are going to like it here in Waterville!!


~Reg

Jericho's sweater

The sweater is coming along rather well.  I have the main body done and am now working on the sleeves.  I am still enjoying the process, even if I end up frogging it in the end it was fun.    

 

And I couldn't help myself... had to throw in a picture of my buddy Jasper.  Isn't he sweet?

 

*hugs*
Reg

Wow... Its not Monday and yet a post from Regi.

Ok ok... i have been missing in action for a while. So many things happening on the home front... all good and all very time intensive. Things are finally slowing down and we can breathe and yes this is a good thing.

I am way behind on loser mondays... so I think perhaps we will start from the beginning... ahem... not because we gained a bit of weight or stalled on the exercise front but just because ... If you buy that i have a lovely bridge to tell you about =P

Madelynne's spring musical is almost over... its been a lot of fun and a long road to arriving but here it is... I went up to orono on Friday morning and picked up the eldest so she could be there for opening night. It was rather important to Miss Maddy and she was pleased as punch that her sister could make it. Then I turned around and at 9:30 pm started the long trek to taking the eldest back to school. I finally poured myself into bed at 2 am. Monday and Tuesday are finals for her and then she is done with her freshman year so the timing wasnt great... but she so wanted to be there to support Maddy. Im pretty proud of both my girls... The musical went very well... as I type this we are gearing up for the last showing. Then we will take Miss Maddy out to dinner to celebrate. Tomorrow Maddy has her cast party as well as the wrap up of the play... taking down the sets etc.

Eileen will be home for the summer on tuesday following the last of her finals. She is very excited to get it all over with... she has done extremely well in school this year. However with the end of the school year along comes the departure of her fiance to bootcamp. She is kinda nervous about this but we will keep her busy this summer with all kinds of fun and no so fun stuff. She has her classes for next semester all picked out... knows where she is living so all is good.

Our landlords will be arriving back in Maine after a winter away in sunny florida. So we are gonna get the yard nice and spiffy for them. Just have to work on mr jasper and his tendency to bark at the wind... *sigh* the little brat. We have been having an awful time with ticks and spiders as well. Country living at its best I guess. Frontline check... a doc visit to get a new prescription for his heartguard... and lots of research on gentle ways to repel spiders. The things are so huge they could carry the dang dog away... we now have these lovely little electronic devices that emit a high frequency that supposedly spiders dont like... we have lots of lemon pledge to dust window sills and door frames with. Lemon scented floor stuff... we are getting rid of all the cardboard we can find in this place... keeping things off the floor... keeping outside lights off unless absolutely necessary... adn so on. I just wanna nuke the dang thigns but thats not acceptable. *sigh*

I have a quilting project or two I seriously need to get finished... several that i need to finish up by the end of the year... and quite a few I need to start. I am so far behind its scary lol. I think I am going to put a few things I signed up to do on the back burner so I can get some projects that are intended to be birthday and holiday gifts finished up first.

We are busy looking into summer camps stuff for Miss Maddy... get the little blue car either up and running or in a junk yard where it belongs... and plan what we are going to do when and in what order. Things are just crazy I tell ya.

Hope all is good in your neck of the woods...

till i talk to you again...

Peace..
Regi

Strange dog...

I am sitting at my computer, reading quilting blogs, dreaming of actually doing some quilting and all of a sudden the dog starts going ballistic. Barking ... growling and he is doing this while facing the wall. I look over to where the intruder just has to be climbing through the wall and all i can see is the laundry room garbage bin.... no different then usual. Well actually there is one thing different... i put a liner in it. So i walk over ... put the bin on the ground (I keep it on the counter otherwise the smart arsed dog chews on dryer lint) and he gets even crazier. He is crouching... growling... barking... backing away just getting totally carried away. I bend down and touch the bin "come here Jasper... its just the laundry bin" and he starts to creep forward... and then starts barking again and the pitch is getting really high for him. So i reach down... take the liner out of the bin and hide it behind my back... he creeps/crawls over and sniffs it... nudges it with his nose and then goes to lie down.

Everything is once again... right in his world.



I love this dog, even if he is slightly crazier then me.

Went to dinner at Hubby's mom and dads house tonight where the Chef du jour was Miss Madelynne. She prepared a 3 course meal for us including a lovely potato and leek soup starter, a chicken and pasta course featuring greek olives, a tossed green salad and rolls and it was all finished up with a yummy brownie pudding cake that her great great grammie used to make for her Mimi Linda when she was a little girl. Maddy was quite tickled with herself and Mimi Linda was a bit proud as well.

We had a birthday today... Mr Jasper is officially 1 year old now. Woot... Happy Bday Meestah J. Its hard to believe he has been with us for 9 almost 10 months.

We got some more work done on Maddys room today, that purple is being awfully stubborn and we are going through primer very quickly. I cant wait to get that room done so we can move on to the next project *smiles*

Maddy, Grammie and Teengirl are going to the Shrine Circus tomorrow... after that the tired Mimi is dropping the girls off here at the house and then probably going home for a long nap... lol I think Maddy has worn her grandparents out.

Guess thats all from this front...

Peace,
Regi

Spring has sprung...

The weather has been just beautiful the last couple of days, so we have been spending lots of time in the great outdoors.

In the front yard we took a bunch of old concrete pavers (that we had sitting in piles in the back yard) and used them to seperate the tree garden from the lawn. Everything inside the pavers is garden... everything outside is lawn, sounds simple I know but at times it was hard to tell. So everything outside the garden has been raked and is soon to be fertilized and then over seeded... and everything inside the pavers has been weeded and hopefully will have a fresh bed of mulch on top of landscape fabric. (I wont be putting the fabric on until the hostas start coming up... and we know for sure we are getting mulch.)

The yard is starting to look rather nice in the front... but we still have so much to do. Its a bit odd... making the yard look so nice so early in the season... and to know that someone else will be enjoying the gardens and the lawn this summer. I don't think its really hit any of us yet that we are moving. On one hand the idea of moving and having a fresh start is exciting... but at the same time... leaving behind my huge maple tree ... the gorgeous lilac bushes... the gardens... the girls' swimming pool... the neighborhood... our beloved neighbors Linda and Maryanne...it just feels a bit uncomfortable. This is one situation where you have to just trust... trust that the universe has a plan... cause I sure as heck know I don't *smile*

Maddy is going to be spending a couple of days with her Mimi Linda... she is so excited. She wants to cook and knit with grammie... and she is making lots of plans. I sure hope Mimi and Papa are prepared for the whirlwind that is heading their way. I am in hopes of getting Miss Maddys room emptied out... and painted while she is gone. A nice neutral color... currently is it light purple with an almost eggplanty purple trim. Not sure what in the heck we were thinking *smiles* but its gotta go.

I am going to make The best chocolate cake from The Pioneerwoman Cooks . I have made this before and the family just lapped it up... you really have to try it.

The dog has been really enjoying his outside time lately... we stuck his tie up right in the front yard and when we are out there.. he is out there. Sure has cut down on the amount of barking he does at people and trucks passing by.

Hope your week ended on a high note... and I wish you peace!

Regi

Our Week so far

Its been a pretty good week so far. We have made good progress in regards to our studies of Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo. She is just finishing up her second Columbus book as well as working on a book on Marco Polo. Today we made a compass, and tomorrow we will make a quadrant to measure things around our neighborhood. Tomorrow night we will see if we can find the North Star and figure out what our Latitude is using the quadrant we make.

Math is going... that is all I can say about that really. She seems to have forgotten all the multiplication facts she learned last year. I am discovering that taking the summer off was a very bad idea. I would love to help her find that joy she had at the end of last year when she was solving math problems successfully and so proud of herself. The difference from when we took her out of public school in Mid March to end of May/June was pretty amazing for her. She stopped being afraid of math and started enjoying it. Just gotta find a way to get the fun back in it.

Karate is going well. She was the only student in her class yesterday so she got the sole attention of both her Sempai's. They worked her hard but there were a lot of giggles coming for the mat room and they seemed quite pleased with her forms. She will have stripe testing tomorrow afternoon and if all goes well she will graduate to a red belt on Friday night. Woohoo Maddy... you go girl!

Teengirl is sending out her college applications this weekend. I am so nervous... she is my firstborn.. my baby, and yet she is a grown woman. Where in the heck did the time go? She has decided she definitely wants to attend the University of Maine, Orono... and wants to take advantage of the early admission plan. She has grown up into such a wonderful young woman... I am very proud of her. *sniff*

Jasper graduated from puppy class last night. Usually just Hubby and I go to the classes, but last night the girls went as well and they had a lot of fun. Jazzy got his little certificate for graduating puppy class, and we were sent home with lots of praise for him as well as for us for all the hard work we have put in. In class Jasper learned to sit, sit stay, down, down stay, come (when he feels like it or we bribe with yummy treats, otherwise he stands just out of reach the little scalliwag), as well as having time to spend with other puppies, and question and answer periods every class for puppy mom and dads to share their concerns and get advice. I would highly recommend a puppy class to anyone getting a puppy. Petco has a awesome program.. but any puppy class would work well I think.

I finally got all the squares done on Maddy's quilt, and connected them together. Its going to be very pretty when its all done. Next I have to add the borders and then Teengirl will show me what the next step is. I think she is really enjoying teaching her mom something like this. I have always wanted to learn to quilt... have had visions of snuggling up under a homemade quilt with our family on cold cold days... but never understood all the directions in the quilting magazines and books i have drooled over in the past. Teengirl took a class in school last year and now she is teaching mommy.

Maddy's quilt has pinks and oranges in it. I let her pick all the fabrics out with minimal help from me. Its definitely her, thats for sure. Now we need to paint her room to go with her new quilt... what joy! We have plenty of time though, *smiles* it has taken me all summer to get to the point I am at... and that was the easy part I am afraid.

Can't think of another thing to say so I Guess thats all from this front!

Wishing you...Peace and Joy,
Regi

Summer's End

Well I am looking forward to the beginning of the new school season. We took a total break from anything school related. Oh we had these awesome plans of working in her Saxon math book over the course of the summer to complete it... did that happen? Nope!

I just completed ordering her school books for the "5th" grade. We chose to use Oak Meadows curricula for 5th graders... with the exception of using Saxon math instead of what OM was offering. She is familiar with Saxon math and frankly I like the way the lessons are set up... and I was learning stuff too *smiles* I didnt order any of the novels that went with the lesson plans... we can borrow those from the library or purchase them second hand if necessary. I did however order the craft box... I want to make sure that she has everything needed for the lessons and I would rather not have to make do or scrounge up stuff at the last minute. This way all the stuff needed is in a handy box and when its time to "quilt" or "embroider" or " use a feather quill and india ink" its all there. This entire year is based on US history so it should be a fun fun time for both of us.

We added a new member to our family since the last time I posted... several in fact. Jasper is a 14 week old Cairn Terrier. He came to live with us on July 1st... and his birthday is April 22, 07. We also have 2 gerbils named Carly and Candy... and a tank full of fish. Ms Bear is not too sure what to think of all of it. The gerbils she is curious about... the fish she ignores but the puppy... ahh there is a different story altogether. She is finally standing up for herself... swatting him on the nose and hissing if he gets too close... I think they will end up if not friends then comfortably ignoring each other. Jasper loves Bear... so we will see.

So anyways... I am looking forward to this year... and am in hopes it goes smoothly for us.