More of Maine

Here are a few more pictures. In the first set, that huge house is across the street from our friends' house and is an example of how they keep adding sections on to the original which is probably 150 years old. Here is the Queen Mary 2, first as viewed from the top of Mt. Cadillac in Acadia and then at night (actually only 6 PM) from Bar Harbor. There were about 3000 people on board, and they had spent the day shopping, etc. in Bar Harbor. They took small boats to and from the Queen Mary.


 

To Maine and Back

Even though we've been back a couple of weeks, I thought I'd post a few pictures of our trip to Maine. We visited our friends, the Reynolds, in Boothbay, ME where we saw the lobster boats being unloaded and later ate some lobster--both in the shell and in sauce. The Reynolds took us on a tour of the islands and the harbor. We visited Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor where we saw the Queen Mary 2 leave. We saw beautiful colors in New Hampshire and Vermont. As you know, the last night found us near Buffalo, NY and their two feet of snow. We found October to be a wonderful month to travel--the first time we've been able to do so. We highly recommend it.


 

Stuck

I have taught/am teaching Elinore to say "mama" when she needs help instead of frantically whining. I was working on the computer yesterday while she was crawling around the dining room. I suddenly heard her saying, "Mama, mama, mama, mama,..." I looked over and saw this. She had been scavenging for food under the high chair and gotten stuck. 

Family Times

What is it about weddings, anniversary celebrations, and, yes, funerals that bring so many emotions to the surface? I sometimes wish we could live more often with that heightened sense of bonding, appreciation, respect, and love that we feel at times like Saturday. We were all so grateful for Grandpa's life, legacy, and faith. We expressed our feelings, and what one person said reminded all the others of yet another aspect for which to be grateful. We felt bathed in God's blessing, undeserving but so thankful.

Dad and I want to thank all of you for the many ways you contributed to the days of celebrating Grandpa's life--from the food to the written and spoken words. They mean more than I can say. As someone who hadn't known Grandpa well said after the funeral, "I really feel as though I know who he was and how he lived." The blessing has been passed on to all of us--even to Sophie, with his last kiss.

I know we always write about our kids...

...but I just have to do it again. Just a couple snipits:
1) Yesterday, both of my amazing kids ate multiple brussel sprouts without coersion.
2) Sam has a bit of a cold. This morning I said, "Sam! The cinnamon rolls are almost done! Do you smeel them?" "No," he answered. "I have a nose problem."

Apple-picking

This may very well be one of my favorite things of the year. I caught a couple good ones of you B-wolt people on Sunday. Oh, sweet crisp goodness dripping down your chin
 

Short Days

I've been feeling guilty about not posting more often, so I decided this was the night to appease my conscience. This has been one of the busiest times our family has ever had in Thailand. To give you an idea of what life is like these days, here's today's schedule for us.
6:20-Eric gets up, I sleepwalk, but go back to bed as I was up very, very late preparing for preschool today. I had no time to plan previously with the village trip (see our blog).
6:30-Gabe gets up and eats breakfast with Eric
7:30-Eric leaves for school and I get up and get ready to go
8:00-Stanley comes over so that I can drive him to preschool. My mom calls and I have only 10 minutes to talk (while I'm eating) before we have to leave. As I'm getting in the car, I hand the phone to Gabe so that he can talk to Grandpa about nail-guns and cars all the way to preschool.
8:20-Arrive at preschool
8:30-11:30-Teaching: This is one of the most exhausting and humbling parts of my life. I think I'm a better teacher this year, but it's still a huge challenge to keep up with the fast pace of preschool children. It's also continually humbling to see your child acting selfishly, unkindly & vengefully to other children. Actually, Gabe is a great kid and he is mostly sweet, helpful and fun, but sin will come to the surface and it's not fun to have other moms around to see it. The comfort is that all of our kids do it and that it's a great opportunity to teach about relating to others. All of us moms agree that what we see in our kids in a group is not what we normally see. In spite of the drain that teaching is, it's very rewarding. Last year, I had to focus mostly on Gabe's social behavior. This year, he's really ready to learn and since preschool started this year, he's just taken off in almost all areas.
12:30-I arrive home and feel like laying on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, especially since it's particularly hot today, but it's time to go to work. I can't skip Mondays as there is great demand for money on Mondays. On our way out we stop at Stanley's house and Bronwen & I talk more about preschool (it seems we talk about it 75% of the time).
1:30-Arrive at work. Talk to a bunch of people who have been waiting for me while Gabe talks to a bunch of people who have been waiting for him.
2:30-I have a meeting while Gabe watches a Peanuts video.
3:30-Do e-mails and other computer work while Gabe reenacts what he saw in the Peanuts video. It's very cute to watch him do this.
4:00-Eric gets home.
4:15-5:00-Eric plays in a frisbee golf intermural game
5:00-Gabe decides he's tired of playing at my office and wants to go home. I try to wrap things up with his help (he makes copies for me, gets me office supplies, fetches papers from the printer, etc.) but am hindered by lots of last-minute requests including one to stop by someone's house to decide if they are seriously ill or just kind of sick.
5:30-Eric leaves for a chapel team meeting over dinner.
6:00-Gabe & I finally leave the office and visit the sick person who is already recovering.
6:15-I take Gabe out to dinner for banana pancakes. We have a great time talking about the silly pictures on the walls.
6:45-Gabe & I go grocery shopping. He tells me what to buy and helps me get it weighed. For the last 10 minutes, he's singing "God is bigger than the bogeyman" and people laugh as they pass him.
7:30-Gabe & I arrive home and get ready for bed(for him)
8:00-Eric arrives home from chapel meeting
8:00-10:30-I read, but mostly don't answer e-mail and do some blogging. Eric studies comparative gov't.

So there you have it. I personally am feeling very stretched and often wonder if I can keep it up, but there are good parts. I'm very glad for the chance to be involved in Gabe's education and to have other moms to help me get through it. I'm so glad Gabe's such a sweet kid and that we get to do so much together, even if it isn't his idea of fun. In spite of Eric's crazy schedule he seems energized and is enjoying his responsibilities at school.