Fall Fun

The smell of dried leaves brings me back to my own childhood.  It makes me want to bury myself in them and laugh like these little guys.

  We have had such a gorgeous fall-- gorgeous colors and even some snow on the ground!

Spending time with old friends:

Pulling on the snowpants:

We also had some late fall help/visitors while John was at a conference in Portland, OR:

and the snow didn't last.  It was bright and sunny again for Hazey's Fall Fun day at Poker Hill School:

Watching MMU Girls Soccer in the state tournament:

Time flies when you are having fun!  Cal and Hazey continue to add so much fun to our lives.  They have their moments, but mostly, I feel so lucky to see who they are becoming.

Maine!

There is nothing like getting away and going to an island.  We are fortunate to have dear friends who own a home on Chebeague Island off the coast near Portland, ME.  Three years ago we went out to celebrate Alex's 50th birthday and this year we were invited back to celebrate his 53rd birthday.

The adventure started with a boat ride out to the island..... in the rain. 

We got there late, but when we woke up in the morning, this is the view we had to enjoy for three days!

And here are amazing hosts-- Alex and MJ Johnston

For the first time in weeks, we were able to just hang out.  We played games, went for runs, explored the coast, and read.  It was exactly what we needed.

There is something about islands-- just getting to them can be a motivation, but once you are there, it's the best!

Can't Never Did Anything!

The other day, Cally proclaimed,  "Mom, I don't think I'm ever going to learn how to whistle".

I was shocked.  She's six.  She has so many years ahead of her to learn to whistle and she hasn't even really had proper instructions.

I'm not a big yeller, but I sternly told her that I NEVER want to hear her say something like that.  I explained how important it is to keep trying and give something your all.  I told her that admitting defeat this early in life would be a grave mistake...... I then asked her how much time she'd actually put into learning how to whistle.  To which she retorted, "a few minutes".

The next day, we happened to be at the Richmond playground.  She stood at one end of the rings and said, "I can't do the rings".  Meanwhile, I'd just seen her go from the first ring to the second ring before falling.  I then turned into my mom and said what my mom always said to me when I said I couldn't do anything- "Can't never did anything".  I've been staying this to her for years, so it wasn't news. But she get it, she knows what I'm getting at.  If you say you can't do something, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, an excuse to never put in the time and energy to figure out how to do it.

All the Mom's blogs and articles are abuzz with how important the magical ingredient "grit" is for our kids.  It's not something they are necessarily born with, but a trait that generally leads to success later in life.

Cally has grit when it comes to some things, but is ready to throw in the towel more often than not.  She doesn't like not being good at something.  So I challenged her, I told her she'd just done two rings and there was no reason she couldn't do a third.  After she got three rings down, she said, "I bet I could do the whole thing".  And she did!

She still doesn't know how to whistle, but she's monkeying her way across the rings!

We made it to another UVM soccer game.  The homecoming game was full of surprises, like dip an apple the size of your head in sticky licky carmel and put lots more sugar on it!

It's always fun to see this guy!  Jackson, captain of the team and sweet guy to the kids.

Hazey had a field trip to Chapin Orchard with his class.  I was lucky enough to have a free period while they were there and was able to join them for some of the fun and lunch.

Hazey is loving school.  It's great to see him so eager to participate and learn so much.  He's like a little sponge!

The weather has been gorgeous!  6pm soccer on Wednesday nights is kind of tough, but Cal is having fun and definitely improving!