Hopes and Dreams

At the elementary school each student started the school year writing down "hopes and dreams" for the school year.  Last night was curriculum night for Caroline's 1st grade class.  The teacher pointed to the kids' hopes and dreams on display above a chalkboard.  As I scanned the dreams written on cute white clouds, I read, "I hope I can read better," "I hope I can read good books,""I want to learn to read," "I hope I can read to my brother," "I want to learn math," "I hope I can read hard books," etc.  ALL of the hopes and dreams were about math and mostly reading.  EXCEPT Caroline's....

"I hope I can buy lunch."

I give her an "A" for honesty....I'm glad she didn't just go along with what everyone else wrote down, but really?  Dreaming of buying lunch?  Maybe it's because of the instructions I gave the kids when they pack their lunches....

1 main dish- sandwich, soup, tuna/crackers

1 or 2 fruit and/or veggie

1 piece of crap- pretzels, chips, crackers (anything pre-packaged)

water bottle

Monday's candids

Wesley's happy to welcome Nina home from school.

FHE... we're fans.  Tonight the theme was Time Management.
We did an "all hands in" cheer for chores.  Ha!  The kids loved that!

...a keeper.

OUR version of Catching Air

As mom of this crew, I've tried to make sure we get a family photo each year.  I think about the location, style, clothes, etc.  Whether it's sponaneous or not, a photo gets taken, and sometimes, just sometimes, the stars align and a decent photo comes from the effort.  Over the years with more and more eyeballs needing to look in the same direction, chins to point down, hair to fine tune, moods to hope are chirpy....well, it's just become clear that we're not the cookie cutter posing kind of a family.  The family photos that work for us tend to be more casual.  SO, I thought for sure a fun "catching air" family picture would be a piece of cake.  NOT so!  Nevertheless, these pictures make me cry laughing for so many reasons.  Enjoy....

Well, we tried.  And so did my friend, Allison.

So, now it was time to say forget all y'all,

let us MOMS show you how it's done.

And the tears keep coming....

Clam Bake 2010

LOBSTER  volleyball  homemade ice-cream

beautiful blue sky with enough wind for kite flying 


beach fun  catching up with old friends...

What a great clambake!   We are so grateful that the Arlington Ward opens up this classic New England tradition to "ward alumni" so we can continue to build on the great clambake memories we've had over the past 13 years.  2010's was hands down one of the very best AW clambakes.  This year we caravanned to Crane Beach with our friends and fellow AW alumni, the Balmforths.  Between Allison, EP, and I, we've got some great fun documented....

Grace & Allison

Wayne and AWESOME Ellen.  She's my hero.

Wayne joined a group who biked from Arlington to Ipswich (and he biked to Arlington to make is ride 80 miles), and was pleasantly surprised to ride with an old friend from his childhood years in So Cal- Patrick... 

Watch our family photo come together.

We'll start with the cuddle bugs....

Add an obligated teen, a goofball, and a dad who's going to make this happen...

And VOILA, the perfectly imperfect miracle  happens....

(PS...Notice the difference the lighting makes at the beach.  The photos at the beginning of this post were taken early on, around noon, and this family photo was taken around 5:30pm....much softer natural light)

Part 2 of the clambake this year was a stop at Russell's Orchard just outside of Crane Beach.  The fresh donuts were melt in our mouth delish. It really was sensory overload from the minute we got out of the car...the smell of the donuts, cider, the potted flowers for sale at the entrance, candy, caramel, apples, pumpkins, corn maze, the cute mini felt pendants strung from the ceiling, etc.  It was a New England version of Willy Wonka's place.  We had so much fun at the beach we didn't get to Russell's until just before closing.  We'll have to get there earlier next year so we can really explore Russell's Orchard.

As if that wasn't enough, we stopped by this landmark on the drive home.  The first 3 meeting houses of the area once stood on this common space in Topsfield.  Joseph Smith I was baptized at one of these Congregational churches.  The Smith family were prominent members of the  Topsfield community.

We got home after 8pm exhausted after

one of the best days we've had in New England!

Happy Feet

Brimfield

On Friday, I woke up and decided to go to the Brimfield Antique Show. I picked up first-timer, Allison, and we hustled west while the kids were in school. Brimfield is great fun... one of my all-time favorite things about MA. My friend, Lee calls it her Disneyland, and it really is a blast. Every time I go I think of my mom and how she used to scour the Rose Bowl Flea Market for deals like the hutch with a zinc surface that's now in my dining room. I think how fun it would be to bring my sisters & Ama to Brimfield. I've loved going with my friends who dig this kind of thing too....discovering old treasures, blasts from the past, typography, the quirky stuff, vintage clothing, toys, etc.   Take a peek...

Would you like a doll head with your mixing bowl?
These bowls are awesome!  I may pick one up next time.

This eagle was SEVENTEEN HUNDRED dollars.
Can you see the hippo head on the side of the truck?
The quirky things add to the fun of Brimfield.

These children's size folding chairs were immaculate.

This baby came home with me.  SCORE!

I {heart} Brimfield.