Heaven Scent

The moment I first caught a whiff of the heavenly scent, I stopped dead in my tracks, trying to figure out from where it might be coming. I was beside myself when I saw the blooms on the little bush growing right beneath our bedroom window.

This just happens to be the window beside our bed, the one that stays open all the time, the one that has a fan in it to draw in the cool night air (not that we've really been needing that yet, but I love cool night air any time of the year).

The night air our fan has been drawing in recently was scented with the exquisite fragrance of lilac.

I can't help thinking the person who planted that little bush right beneath our window was a genius.

Baby Dyce

My son's sense of humor. :)

My son's mad iphone app skills.

My son's favorite cuisine. (and is it just me, or does it look like Dyce has been eating more than his fair share of burgers?!)

My son's happy baby.

Dragonfly Visitor

Jed found this little fellow resting on our window screen the other day.










Now you see him....

Now you don't. :)

Look What I Made!

I've been wanting to try making an edible arrangement for a long time, and today was the day.

So it doesn't look exactly like a flower arrangement, but considering I had no idea what I was doing, I'm pretty happy with the results. :)

Take Two

I've had a digital SLR camera for two years now, and I finally managed to figure out how to do something by reading the manual that came with the camera!

{If I ever claimed to be smart, I repent of that right now}







What I learned won't help me take better pictures...*sigh*...but it will save me immeasurable frustration when I upload them to the computer.

These cute pics were uploaded frustration-free! :)

Nature Study Group Wildlife

Nature Study Group Flowers

Nature Study Group Community Garden

Remember the communal garden we helped plant a few weeks ago?












Our beans and lettuce are starting to pop up!

Owl's Head State Park, Part 3

Miscellaneous pics of Jed at the park. The bottom left also features the letterbox we found that day.

Owl's Head State Park, Part 2

Owl's Head State Park, Part 1

We went letterboxing again over the weekend,
this time at Owl's Head State Park.

Maine must be the most beautiful spot on the face of this Earth.

I hope ya'll don't get tired of me saying stuff like that, because if I haven't gotten over it after living here
4 years, I don't think I'm going to anytime soon. :)

Buoys, Take Two

Remember this photo from earlier this year?

Boy, what a difference a few months can make! :)

Spring Update 6

Tennis, anyone?

More free lessons at the Mid-Coast Recreation Center.

Life is good.

Spring Update 5

We have a family of five subletting a prime spot in our backyard.









I spent the better part of an hour {on my knees} [on the hardwood floor] by my bedroom window watching them and trying to get a good shot through the window screen.

It was time well spent.

Spring Update 4

Jed is now an official member of the Letterboxing Society.

As official as that sounds, it mostly just means he has a trail name and a personal stamp and is ready to letterbox in his own right.

It's been a long time since I carved, and I'm afraid it shows...but Game Boy is happy with the results, especially since he has two sizes to choose from.

If you run across his stamp in your letterboxing adventures, let us know!

{It could happen - we found a hitchhiker in Missouri that my sister-in-law and her family had logged in North Carolina!}

Spring Update 3

Last Friday we had the singular honor of accompanying the Smith boys and their lovely mother to the theatre.

{I wish I was as highbrow as that sounds.}

The Theatre at Monmouth presented a children's play entitled The Reluctant Dragon and it was absolutely fantastic. The actors did an incredible job getting the audience to participate, which made the fun that much more grand. I'm pretty sure I loved it even more than Jed. :)







After the play we went back to the Smith house for a dip in the ice cold waters of Annabessacook Lake (is that right, Lori?). It was one of the rare warm, sunny days we've had this spring and it was awe-some.

Spring Update 2

We actually helped plant a real, live garden this spring!

We just recently started meeting with a homeschool nature study group, and last week the agenda was getting a communal garden going.

Aren't these bush beans gorgeous? Who ever heard of purple seeds??



Jed planted lettuce and marked it with his own popsicle stick. The writing would be better but it was hard for him to concentrate and swat the black flies away at the same time.

Watering his lettuce. Definitely more fun than planting.

Jed's favorite activity came after the planting and watering were done. With the rainy, foggy, chilly, gloomy weather we've had this spring, there are too many puddles just begging to be stomped in...definitely too many for a 7 year old boy to resist.

Spring Update 1

It looks like I've gotten a bit behind again, doesn't it? I wish I could say it's because I've been on some fabulous vacation, but mostly it's because we've been working overtime to finish up our homeschool year.

That hasn't been as challenging as it might seem, seeing as how we've had mostly rainy, foggy, chilly, gloomy weather this spring. Not that I'm complaining, no sir! I know I'll be wishing for some cloudy, chilly weather soon enough when it's in the 90s and us without air conditioning.


About a month ago Jed participated in his first sanctioned racing event - FastCar 2011, hosted by First Baptist Church in Waldoboro. The speed trials involved up to 6 of your own Hot Wheels/Matchbox-type cars, with the fastest one entering the race.

There were several heats and Jed actually placed in a couple of them. Here he is pictured waiting for his final race, the one that would propel him into the finals.

Only it didn't. It was a short-lived career.