Blogging and Tapping Trees

I'm back!  As you know, I took a 2+ month hiatus from the blog.  There were many reasons for this little break.  One reason is that my camera hasn't been working properly, and taking photos is such a big passion of mine and a reason why I keep this blog in the first place.  Another reason was questioning whether or not I want to have a blog in the first place for all the world to see.  I mean, I love having an outlet for my writing and photography, but it is a little creepy to have my family displayed for all to see on the internet.  Yet another reason for my lack of blogging was that as the anniversary of my Dad's passing approached I just felt so overwhelmed with how to address it, what to write, how open and honest to be, thoughts of whether people are tired of reading about my sadness and his death etc... And so I remained silent and let the thoughts pile up and swirl around in my head and I know at some point this year I'll finally let it all spill out on these pages.

I also felt like I wanted to clarify why I blog in the first place.
I am not blogging with the hopes of gaining a following or becoming a "famous" blogger.  I have friends who have gone that direction and it's been really fun watching their readership grow and seeing their success, but I don't really want to have lots of strangers reading about my life.  My main reason for blogging is to keep a journal of our lives.  Scott and I will often sit on the couch at night and click back through old blog posts and it's amazing how many wonderful memories we have because of this blog.  I spent hours and hours creating a photobook of my blog with text and pictures and I only made it through the first nine months of the blog or so...definitely a continuing project for the next few years!  Despite the major amount of effort, I'm so thrilled to have this story of our lives for us to always remember. 

I've realized that for too long I was worrying about what my small readership of friends and family would think of me and my writing, but now I've just decided to approach this blog primarily as a family journal and personal outlet for me and if people want to read it that's fine with me, but if not...I'm not offended!  :)  So, despite the fact that certain things I write here might sound like bragging, that is not my intention at all.  I'm hoping to write a post soon about the fact that Camden is reading.  And I'm not writing this because I want all six people who read my blog to gush over my son; I'm writing it because I want to remember the details on when and how my oldest child learned to read and how proud we are of him.  Writing about the little things that make us laugh, the way Micah says, "be-cept" instead of "except", the new things Sadie is saying and doing, the ways I'm missing my Dad, the excitement of life...these are the things I want to remember and this is why I'm resurrecting this blog.  I'm not going to promise a certain number of posts a week or pressure myself to meet a certain standard, I'm just going to plug away when I have time so that we have a journal of memories!  Here's to yet another new beginning! 

We are currently enduring the longest and coldest winter I can remember.  Temperatures have been so cold that we've been cooped up inside since November - ugh.  Usually over spring break we help collect sap on campus, but since the sugaring season is a few weeks behind this year we had the opportunity to help tap the trees today!  It was such a fun experience for the kids and Dave was an amazing teacher - helping the kids search the trunk of each tree to find old tap holes from years past, teaching them how to identify a sugar maple, letting them help drill, giving them a chance to use the hammer on their own and hang the buckets.  It was a beautiful day that actually reached about 42 degrees and it was nice to be outside and feel the sunshine on our faces.  Many of our fellow faculty-family friends are vacationing in Florida right now, so it was a small crew of helpers but we had a blast!  One of the (few) perks of not traveling over spring break!

 These two are going to be in Kindergarten together next year! 

 Buddies...

 Look at that concentration...

 Love the pom-poms...

 It's easy to climb trees when the snow is 5 feet high!

 Camden and Dave on the move...

 My handsome husband!

 Daddy's work gloves!

 Team work!

Most of the trees didn't have any sap running when we tapped them, but the squeals of joy were pretty amazing when we saw one tree start dripping right away.  Everyone, even the adults, got a taste of that fresh sap.  I guess spring is coming after all...

Summer Adventures

I'm not very good at blogging in the summer.  I'm just having too much fun gallivanting around with my family.  A major benefit of working as a teacher is the fact that Scott has the summer off!  A downside of working as a teacher is that Scott works another job in the summer to make more income for our family.  Have I mentioned how thankful I am that I married such a hard-working man?  Seriously.  He's amazing.  Scott leaves the house around 6:45am in the summers and get's home a little after noon.  He builds stonewalls all morning with two of his teacher-friends from school.  It's an awesome gig and we're really grateful for the extra work.  It's also pretty flexible, so we still have lots of time together as a family.  Here are just a few of the fun things we did the second half of June...I'm playing catch up here.  Bear with me!
Lots of concerts on the various local bandstands!

 Scott has been working many afternoons on finishing this never ending painting project!  We (He) are ALMOST done!  No more ugly green!

 I've been playing soccer twice a week and loving it!

 Goofy boys...

 Little hands...

 Micah's a little hesitant when it comes to tree climbing!

 Lots of playground time...

 We love these two buddies!

 We have been swimming almost every afternoon! 

 Eating some yummy treats at the local Farmer's Market

 We had fun visiting the old railroad station/historical society...

Sailing with Pop is always a blast!

 Camden's learning how to steer the boat!

 Brothers...

 Clara came to visit for ten days and we had such a blast with her.  Lots of cousin time!  (More pics of our time together in my next post!

 We've just loved watching this little girl grow big and strong.  She's such a sweetie!

 Kisses!

Let the adventures continue!

Easter Weekend

Well, one benefit of going a week (+) over your due date is that you have extra time to enjoy life as a family of four.  I thought for sure I'd have a baby by Easter, but since she's taking her sweet time, I was able to enjoy all of our little holiday traditions with the boys.  We had a great time going to a local egg hunt, spending time with our extended family, going to church and just enjoying being together.  Here are a few pictures of our weekend...
Dying eggs together...

 Scott's Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kerry and cousin Jill came out for a great visit from Ohio.  It was fun showing them the area and the boys had a BLAST playing with them all weekend!
Here's Jill in one of her many "Super Cousin" moments...

 

And Camden and Uncle Jeff...

On Saturday, I brought the boys to the annual Easter Egg Hunt in New London.  They had such a blast even though it's still so snowy!

 Camden and his best buddy, Hannah...

 My Mom was able to join us for the fun...

Part of the Proctor crew of kids at the egg hunt! 

 Brian (Scott's brother), Sarah and Mylah came for the weekend from Portland, ME.  They were hoping to have a new little niece by the time they went home, but it wasn't meant to be.  The cousins had a great time together though!

These two are going to be such great big brothers to their little sister...

 We love Pop!

 Mylah is wondering where her cousin is!

 

Love this one of Sarah helping Mylah fall asleep.  Can't wait until I have my own little nugget to snuggle!

 Our last picture as a family of four!  Happy Easter, everyone!