April 28, 2013

 April 15, 2013

April 28, 2013

Every spring I feel like I miss the trees budding and leafing out - it seems like I go to bed one night and the next morning everything's lush, and I'm left wondering how and when that happened!  Last spring I made a note on this year's calendar to take pictures of the process so I wouldn't miss it.

I didn't start till April 10, when buds had already appeared...maybe next year I'll start before that happens.  Nevertheless, it's been awesome to watch the buds on this one particular branch grow and start to open, especially the last few days, as things have really taken off with sunshine and warmer temperatures.

If you have nothing better to do than watch a tree grow leaves, you can follow the progress here.

April 27, 2013

Last summer was a blur of packing, moving, unpacking, and getting organized before our school year started.  With the advent of school came colds that turned into bronchitis that lasted for nearly three months.  Just in time to decorate for Christmas.  When I took the winter decorations down the end of March, I realized I hadn't done much to the house to make it look like we live here, so I got busy adding some art to the walls.  The top piece is from etsy, and the swirls are fibers sewn onto the painted canvas.  The bottom two pieces are my favorite handmade cards.  I'm not loving the beads at the top, but I haven't decided what to replace them with, so I'm just enjoying while I ruminate.

April 26, 2013

The moon was so yellow this evening as it rose over the lake...

it was absolutely stunning.

April 24, 2013

We played around with tangrams today, and Jed had a good time making up his own designs.

This one is supposed to be the hand symbol for I love you,

although he had to show it to me for me to see it.  :)

April 18, 2013

 Another great science class!  

This week we studied ants, and Mrs. Smith had the boys draw an ant's anatomy and label it correctly. 

I'm so impressed with how well all of them are doing, even the little guys.

April 17, 2013

We saw our first flower blooms today!

April 12, 2013

It snowed today!  In April!

I love Maine.  :)

Thankfully we don't have any flowers yet, so nothing seems the worse for wear.

April 11, 2013

I'm pleased to introduce you to the newest member of the Smith household.  

She was only a few hours old when these pics were taken.

Now Mattie, at nearly two weeks old, seems quite mature by comparison.  :)

April 8, 2013

There's an awkward bay area off the livingroom in the house we're renting which has baffled me since we moved in.  I was so glad when we got our Christmas tree, because it filled the space up beautifully and I didn't have to think about it for a few months (yes, we left our Christmas tree up for months - didn't you?). 

Then last month we bought our first set of livingroom furniture since we were married, which is also only the second set I've ever bought, and only the 4th set of furniture I've lived with my ENTIRE life.  So it was kind of a big deal.  :)  We bought it used, so we got a good deal on it, which was a good thing since it can't be returned.  I learned something interesting through this experience...you really don't know how furniture is going to look in your space till you get it in your space.

What I learned about this set of furniture when I got it in my space was, it is huge.  This particular house is large enough to handle huge, but the rest of our furniture isn't...this set made our chairs and tables look like kiddie furniture.  :)  So we moved the couch into the rec room where the tv is, and moved the chair into that awkward bay area...which has transformed it into one of my favorite spaces in the house.

April 4, 2013

Today was quite a day!  

We spent the morning at Bates College in Lewiston, 

for a special children's concert by the woodwinds section of the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

It was so nice to hear each instrument played individually before being played together.

This woman really stole the show!  The music being played was from Carnival of the Animals, written by composer Camille Saint-Saëns, and she was acting out the parts of the animals with such gusto!  :)

The afternoon was spent in Leeds at science class.  We bought some crickets in Lewiston to use in a couple of experiments to test insects' ability to withstand a flood (but not, alas, forever) and their ability to adapt to cold temperatures.  Good times!

April 3, 2013

Jed and I spent the day at Spinnakees' Fiber Farm while their small herd of sheep were being sheared!  It was so much fun, and we were so glad to get to help a little. 

March 31, 2013

Easter morning, before the attack of the Jedites  :)

We added Mary Magdalene to the reenactment crew this year.

This is one of my favorite traditions.

This was a new addition this year as well...Jed hooked up an alarm to the tomb, theoretically to catch me in the act of removing the body of Jesus, as he has suspected me of doing so for the last couple of years.  He was foiled in his attempt, however, as the alarm did indeed go off (whether I was in the room at the time or not, I refuse to comment) but he slept soundly through it.  :)

The ice is starting to melt from the lake!

March 28, 2013

We celebrated Passover for the first time today, more as a learning experience than a spiritual one.  On the menu:  roasted lamb, roasted red potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  Yum!

March 27, 2013

We had Jim and Lois over for lunch today to celebrate Jim's birthday.  One the menu:  crab cakes, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and maple syrup, homemade sweet potato fries, and for dessert, strawberry pretzel dessert filling in for birthday cake.  Yum!  The company was good too.  :)