Catching up!

Well I have lots of blogging to do- and yes I realize I have not even shared ANY pictures from our NC vacation. That is on my "to do" list tomorrow.

Here are the pics of Justin getting off the bus the first day. As you can see he had a great day. So far all of his reports about Kindergarten have been very positive. Everything is Grrrrrreat!

To add to the excitement Justin had his first soccer practice that night as well. He was very excited! He really enjoys soccer but doesn't really have a clue yet- hopefully his enthusiasm will carry him through.


Nice to know that my child isn't the only one that puts his shirt in his mouth.

Miss A was being a little shy- the others are cute though.

Jessica's soccer practice is at the same time, but hers is for 2 hours and apparently the coach is a slavedriver. She made them run a WHOLE lap. The team is 3-5 grades so she is one of the youngest on the team. Hoping this won't diminish her enthusiasm for playing.

First Day of School!

Well I do have lots to blog from vacation but I know you are anxious to know about the first days of school. Jessica began 3rd grade on Monday. She was very excited to get back to school and see everyone again.


Not much news to report from Jessica but it seems she likes her class and everything so far. Next up is Justin. On Tuesday we went to meet his teachers and see his class room. Justin has 2 teachers that are job sharing. One teacher works on M/T and every other W and the other works Th/F and every other W- not sure how I feel about this, trying to keep an open mind. Justin was very excited to go and got in the car and buckled up 30 minutes early. Here he is in front of the school- sorry about the out of focus thing- he only gives me a quick second to get the picture.

Here is Jessica 3 years ago at the same spot.

We went into class and he met the teachers. Every child was asked to draw a flower so they could put it on their bulletin board. They had a tracer for the kids to use to create their flower- but Justin wanted to do it his own way. So he drew his own flower and cut it out. They had tracers to use to draw and cut the stem, but he made his own. I think this is such a good example of Justin- he is going to do things his way even if an easier way is available. He doesn't care if his looks nothing like anyone else's - fitting in has never been his priority.
Justin had a bit of an issue while we were there. He became EXTREMELY clingy to me. He refused to go with the other kids to the cafeteria until I agree to go with him. This is why I rarely volunteered in preschool. He was always stuck to me and very whiny when I would show up- in the end I was not very helpful. So here he is checking to make sure I am following him into the cafeteria.

Here he is at his locker.

This morning was his official first day of school. I had a bit of a camera fogging issue so by the time I was ready to take his picture he was done posing :( Here he is saying- "First day of School!" He was very excited to go today. When I woke up this morning Justin was already dressed with his backpack on.


Waiting with the big kids at the bus stop.
Heading off to the bus. As we walked down the street he was singing his first day of school song. He and Jessica are going to be sitting RIGHT NEXT to each other- his request and she agreed.
And here I am! Kid Free and Carefree! Woo Hoo!
Truth be told I am definitely nervous about his experience. When I sent Jessica off I was worried she wouldn't make friends or someone would hurt her feelings. With Justin my list is longer and more involved. But for now I am going with, "please please please let them see some of his cute and friendly behavior before he yells at his teachers, calls them idiots and runs away". Fingers crossed!

Goodbye Ted.

We are back from vacation and I have lots of pictures to share. First though I really wanted to put up this post. While on vacation we received the sad news that our former neighbor Ted Trudeau passed away. I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about him and pay him a tribute. When we moved into the house in 1998 Ted and his wife Claire were in their early 80s. Claire passed away a few years ago, and Ted called me himself on that day to tell me, I was touched that he called. Claire was mostly housebound for the entire time we lived here but Ted was quite active up until the last few years. During our first winter here we noticed that after a snowstorm someone would go out and blow the end of our driveway before we got out there. We realized pretty quickly that it was Ted who was beating us out there. After a while I would harass Marc to get out there before Ted could get to it first.

Ted had a wonderful garden for many years, it took up one third of his backyard, and he was always generously sharing the harvest with us. For awhile after Marc mowed he would come inside and find a message from Claire telling us that Ted had left a bag full of garden offerings on the fence. We used to joke that they were rewarding us for mowing the lawn- but really I think it was just that they knew someone was home.

After Jessica was born, I received a $10 bill and a nice note from Claire- it said, "Lucky you! I had four boys! Buy her something cute." Once the kids were old enough Ted was always a big draw. As soon as he walked into his backyards the kids would yell, "TED!" and go running to the fence. His hearing was never very good but he always gave it a good try to talk to the kids. In the picture below you can see a little of his garden on the right.


Many a conversation was had by this fence over the years- what do they say? Good fences make good neighbors?
Then there was the time that Claire called me and asked me to come over with my camera. She said she wanted a picture of Ted and they don't have a camera anymore but figured with little children I would. So Jessica and I walked over and this is what we saw...

It seems Ted had fallen off a ladder and gotten a black eye. The thing is that Claire couldn't stop laughing- she thought it was the funniest thing.

Ted had this big tree in his front yard and every year it changed color and lost its leaves before any other tree on the street. That meant that we were able to play in his leaves before it got wet and cold. We loved Ted's leaves. Most of my favorite fall pictures were taken under his tree.


Many times when they saw us outside they would come out and sit on the porch to watch the kids. That is Claire on the left and her best friend Prima.

Here Claire and Prima had just pulled into the driveway while we were playing in their leaf pile.
One of my favorite memories is the time that Ted came out to play with us under the tree.


In addition to his huge garden Ted has some wonderful blueberry bushes. He would always invited the kids over the fence to pick the berries. They loved picking the berries- not so much eating them.


Ted lived in his house independently until early June. At which point his family moved him to an assisted living facility nearer to one of his sons. Justin and I went over to say goodbye the day he left. It was clear that he was not the same person he had been for all those years. Justin kept asking when Ted was going to come back and finally one of Ted's sons confirmed for Justin that he was never coming back. I looked down at Justin and I saw that realization hit him and his whole face changed and his eyes got all teared up. He looked at us and wiped his eyes and said, "I don't want him to go. I will miss him." We barely got back to our house before Justin started sobbing.

I don't think I was as good of a neighbor to Ted through the years as I would have liked. I wish I had made more of an effort, especially in the last few years, to look after him. I do know that I enjoyed having him as a neighbor. When our house didn't sell last year, one of the things that made me okay with it was knowing that we weren't leaving before Ted. I hated the idea of leaving him behind, with new people that wouldn't know about the active and friendly person he used to be.

His final neighborly gift is allowing us to live in his home right now, although I am pretty sure he didn't know we moved in to his home. Here is the link to his obituary. They are not doing services until October. I am afraid the delay is because we are occupying his home right now and they want to hold the services at a time when his sons can all come to the house and finish cleaning it out- since they live all over the country. I am feeling bad about that but not much we can do now.

Goodbye Ted, you were a wonderful neighbor and you will be missed very much.

Vote for Michelle!

My friend Michelle has a photo that is a finalist in a photo contest on Boston.com. Click here to vote for the picture of her daughter drinking from the water fountain. You will have to scroll down a little to find the picture. Drag it up to the first place spot and pick two others for fun- good luck Michelle!

Wanna see my new house??

Well for those of you that don't know, we bought a new house. In our town in the price range we are looking houses in the right neighborhoods have been flying off the shelves- in less than a week. So when this house came on the market, priced well under market value we knew we had to jump on it. If you are looking for the listing, click here. We saw the house on Friday with 4 other families. We bid on the house on Saturday- with a few others as well. My agent called me Sunday morning around 8:30- first person to say yes to their price and closing date, October 1, got the house. Well we got it and the agent that called at 9am was mad they missed out. So, hmmm, why is this house priced $70K under assessed value? They are selling it in "as is" condition due to teenagers and dogs. The family has 5 boys and a girl as well as at least one dog. I won't lie- the house smells. We had the inspection this morning there are a few concerns but for the most part the overall condition of the house if fine it just needs some TLC, cosmetic changes and some upgrading. So here it is!

Let me help you out. The kids came and saw the house this morning and chose their rooms.

Here is the view from the front door looking out at the street. The street is a cul de sac, and we are at the end.
Standing in the front door- this is the entryway.

Looking at the front door from the top of the stairs.

Looking to your left from the front door you will see what is supposed to be the dining room (and will be when we move in) but is now a sitting room.


Looking to your right you will see what will be my office. I would open the doors for you but they are not attached to the door frame.

It is currently the daughter's room, but she is in college- so no bed for her.

going forward in the entry way you enter the Kitchen. My back is to the garage at this point- the hallway entrance is on your right. You can see the family room in the background.

With my back to the family room.

The family room.


Now we head upstairs. This is the door to the hall bathroom. MANY of the door and walls and trim look like this. The carpets need to either receive a fabulous cleaning or to be ripped up entirely- we are going to start with cleaning and hope for the best.
Ok, my back is to the Master Bedroom.
Here is the pink master bedroom- but not for long...

That is the closet on the left and the bathroom on the right. Door to the hallway is on the left as well.
Master Bath.
Moving on to Justin's room. his room overlooks the backyard.


The view from Justin's room.
Here we are at Jessica's room. She says she wants light blue for her room- but this color is not quite right.

This is the Bonus room- what I am calling the Guest Room/ Play Room. It is over the garage.




View of the back of the house.
Let me help you out...


so that is it. the basement is not finished and it really smelled so I didn't want to be down there long at all. everyone agrees that we have a lot of projects ahead of us, but in the end it is a good house, with a good layout, in a good neighborhood at a good price. When you come visit us after October- bring a paintbrush.