So Easily Pleased

Yesterday my new cell phone arrived. I say 'mine', because I'm the one that carries and uses it the most so I view it as mine. Although, Colin has informed me that it's not just mine. It's a little bigger than my previous one and black which as we all know is my favorite color. It's just a basic, non-expensive phone, no bells and whistles except this one has a camera. I know what your thinking, 'pretty much all phones come with a camera'. Ah, but my old phone didn't have one. When Andrew told me we were getting a new phone, I didn't think I cared too much. He asked me which one I wanted and I said 'whichever, it doesn't matter'. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy my new toy. I can carry pics of my kids wherever I go. I loved picking out a new ring tone. And I like how new it looks. Isn't that strange? How easily I can be pleased? I feel like such a kid at Christmas.

Another School Year, Another Dollar (or five)

Aah, the beginning of another school year. My time is spent prior to the first day with endless mind-numbing activities. Filling out the same bazillion forms for different children, hunting down imaginary school supplies from mile long lists, fighting other parents for the last sturdy backpack that isn't covered with Bratz or Barney, and, of course, writing checks for lunches, PTO dues, school spirit T-shirts, yearbooks, etc.

Do I sound a bit bitter? Probably so. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about school time. My girls love school, and after a long summer, we all look forward to school starting. I just don't enjoy all the mess that comes with it. For example, there is always at least one item on each kid's list that doesn't exist. This year, it was the 70 page, single subject notebook for Eva. I could find 80 page ones and larger, but no 80 page ones. I know, I probably went to the one store that didn't carry them, but who wants to schlep all over town for a notebook. So, ten extra pages it is for Eva.

It sounds silly, but those pages represent all the silliness that is the beginning of school. We happen to live in a school district full of parents that I can only suppose are able to write checks without batting an eye. It's a great district with lots of advantages for my kids, but the downside is we must be one of the 'poorer' families. Otherwise, more parents would balk at all the money that's asked of us at the beginning of the year. This year we are homeschooling Colin so we didn't receive a supply list for him, but I understand that a flash drive was on the list. Come on, a sixth grader needs a flash drive?!

So what's a mother of four to do? Protest. I only pay for the necessities like lunch. If they ask why I haven't sent in my $25 per kid for class parties, then I'll volunteer to bring cupcakes. I doubt it will make any difference except in my pocketbook. Maybe with the extra money, I can buy the real Cheez-Its for kids snacks instead of the store brand.

"We're Bobbing Along in Our Barrel"

Yes, by the time we reached home after the long car trip, some of us felt liked we'd 'tipped right over the edge'. We did manage a stop by Niagara Falls. As promised, I have the pics to prove it. We wanted to see if the Maid of the Mist statue truly existed(as seen on a TV show), but didn't have enough time.

American Falls


My Beautiful Kids


Horseshoe Falls


Bridal Falls

"And hie him home, at evening's close,
To sweet repast and calm repose."
~Thomas Gray

We rolled into St. Louis yesterday to find the house standing, the lawn mowed and the cat anxiously waiting our arrival. Midnight greeted us at the door complaining about being left so long and continued to follow us around for the rest of the night. He was so annoying this morning with all the meowing that Liam got up, shooed him out of the room and shut the door. Midnight was interrupting "Blues Clues" after all.
We all woke up at 6am since our bodies are still living on Eastern time. Maybe this will carry through to Monday when school starts, but I'm sure with our night owl tendencies we'll correct that in a flash.
*I have some pics of our time at Niagara Falls that I will post later.

Final Images of Middlebury

We leave tomorrow for home. Vermont has been great and here are some final pics.

Otter Creek Falls, Our Favorite Place in Town


The Chateau on Campus


It's been so rainy, that everywhere you walk you find Mushrooms in the Grass


Otter Creek, again


Isley Library where we spent a lot of time


Two of My Monkeys


Main Street Middlebury

Birthday in Vermont

Yesterday was my 36th birthday. The weather was beautiful, clear and cool. Andrew took me to a restaurant here called Fire and Ice for lunch. We are tired of limited kitchen facilities and the dining hall here. Later, for dinner, we took the kids to Neil and Otto's for pizza. Although they are small, they make great pizza. We wish we could take them home with us. The place has about ten tables and is in the basement of a Baptist church. Colin asked if it smelled like pizza during church. He is usually pretty hungry during church and doesn't think he could handle having pizza in such close proximity. I have to agree with him.

Life on the Roads of Vermont

Aside from all the crazy wildlife we've seen attached literally to the roads of Vermont, we have some other favorite sightings. We hoped to take our own photos, but all the heavy rains have washed out roads here. Many of the wonderful, beautiful, scenic places are now under water or impassable. Thanks to www.freefoto.com we can still bring you our favorites. Those of you who don't live in a city may see some of these all the time, but to my city kids it was something new.

These are everywhere once you get off the main roads especially in the Green Mountain forest.


I love these and an added bonus is the horse dropping right beside to authenticate the signs.


Not sure if I'd want my kids snowmobiling across roads.


These annoying signs are everywhere on these twisty Vermont roads.


Further Sightings

Last Saturday as we drove back from Sharon, we crossed one of the mountains and saw a Neighborhood Watch sign. All those not asleep burst out laughing. We were in the middle of nowhere, hadn't seen a house or driveway for miles, not sure if we were on the right road and here was this Neighborhood Watch sign. Who is there to watch and who's doing the watching?

I wish we could have gotten a pic of the HUGE bug that crossed the road. It was big enough for us to see, smaller than a mouse, had lots of leg, was black/dark brown and scuttled in such a way that shouted bug. Andrew and I looked at each other and said, "What was that?" We've recently re-watched The X-Files episode War of the Coprophages so maybe that's the explanation.

I've already posted about the wildflowers along the road. Vermont also has lots of motorcycles. They roar through all the time singly and in groups. My favorite was the all African-American one. Usually you just see these old, geezery white men or couples out together. This was a group of ten to fifteen bikers with matching jackets, beautiful bikes, everyone wearing helmets with mikes. They definitely traveled in style.

I also love the tall trees creating a canopy across the roads; the rocky, swift moving rivers that the roads follow; mist surrounding the top of the mountains; and such clear, blue skies you know your kids are not ingesting a lot of pollution.

Vermont's Answer to Snow Cones

In Oklahoma, every respectable town has at least one snow cone stand. Vermont, a state that takes its dairy seriously, has the Creemee stand. Creemees are big, soft serve ice cream cones. Every few days Colin asks if we can go to the library for books and movies then to the local creemee stand.

Rainy Days and Pickles

Today is a another rainy day in Vermont. For the past three weeks we've had one or two clear days out of a whole week. I'm told that July is usually more dry.
At church, we hustled the kids in one at a time under the umbrellas. Eva was the last to wait in the car. As we were walking in she said with a sly bent to her voice, "I felt like the lone pickle left in the jar". Yes, that is our precocious Eva.

Visiting Sharon, VT

We spent today traveling to Joseph Smith's birthplace. It's this small visitor's center in the middle of nowhere with a monument and grounds. The church also owns surrounding land and built Camp Joseph complete with cabins. They hold Girls Camp and Scout camps there. The peacefulness rivals that of Palmyra.



Liam was antsy after the 1 1/2 hour car ride and loved chasing butterflies.


And sitting on the original step of the Smith family home.


Thankfully, we had a wonderful tour guide, Elder Slade from Star, Idaho. He didn't mind Liam running all over the place and took us around the grounds in a golf cart.


Along with taking us to see the foundations of Smith family homes on the property, we saw a stone bridge used by wagons. It was part of a turnpike that ran through the area carrying travelers during the late 1700s and early 1800s.


On the way back to Middlebury, we missed one of the turn offs and took the long way home. In the process, we saw excellent views of valleys and mountains. All and all a good day.

The Ben & Jerry's Factory

We made it to the Ben & Jerry's factory yesterday. It was a great tour, nice and short. It even worked well for Liam who was fascinated by all the machines.





Purple Passion fruit was my favorite. I loved getting smoothies made from it and was highly disappointed when they discontinued the flavor.