A photo every couple of days?

My friend Emily has a great, no-fail blogging method...post every day, a pic or two with a one-line description. I think it's perfect and I'm going to try to adopt her style.

So here's a few from the phone:

The first: Gord and I went to Boston for our anniversary. We occupied the room at the top point...very lovely view from there.

Then a pic of G on the subway.

Sweet tile on the walls at Smith and Wollensky :

Breakfast with my Gord. Thankful for that man.

See you tomorrow? :)

Preschool Graduation

The Graduates come marching one by one, ha-rah, ha-rah!

I was showing him these pics separately and he says "you were spying on me the whole time?" Here he is up at the front in the graduate area. 

He is our fourth kid to graduate from this amazing program. We have been very privileged to have this opportunity for them. I've never taken it for granted- always amazed that we could be involved in this. 

He was really silly, unfocused, awkward, unsettled, extremely cute, tense, giddy, batty and nonsensical while we were there. But we laughed, because it's the end of a long year of not wanting to leave the house *ever*. 

Here Daddy is trying to get him to focus a little and use his self control. 

And ........still trying. But he continues to respond to everything in the voice and accent of King Julian from the movie "Madagasgar".  

With the Divine Mrs. M. 

Snack time! Always a favorite!

Mrs. M shows Landon pictures of Adam when he was in the program. Sniff, sniff. Then we looked at pictures of David and then of Maura's year in the class. 

So that was the end of our children being preschoolers. Mrs. M. lamented that there would be no more little R*** children coming through the program. I did not lament THAT, but I do feel sad that my baby grew up so fast. 

Memorial Day picnic continued.......

Gordon sets the home fires burning. He loves these torches very much and is shown here filling the canisters with stuff that burns. You will also note his nasty injury that he sustained during "uncontrolled contact with terrain".

Landon found this picture of Maura and set it out on the table for "decoration". 

Dad R's airplane flew a few times. 

Volleyball net goes up:

Loose cannon chasing loose ball:

Tony B thinks he has big muscles. Whatever. 

My kids love when the "big kids" come because those big kids are FUN! 

She was all about the bandana that day.

Beth looking very ethereal. Nobody does ethereal like Beth. 

Adam and Eric:

Saff patiently endures as she says to herself "This too shall pass." Keep the faith Saff, keep the faith.   

Maura was keeping score during the volleyball game. When she couldn't remember who got the last point, she just gave the point to whoever she liked the most. 

Adam with a Ranger load of girls. 

See how much fun those big kids are? Click on the pic to see it bigger, because the little kid's faces are so worth it. 

A really normal picture of the girls :) I know, we've got some good looking people around these parts. 

Chris and Sarah are counting down the days til their wedding. 

Playing til it's too dark to see the ball. Life is good!

Dave hanging by the fire. 

Life is good. 

Memorial Day Picnic food

We had lots of fun people at our house for Memorial Day. The parade in town was cancelled due to the construction at the Town Hall and the Town Intersection where the Town Traffic Light is. I was slightly bummed but the absence of a parade (and having to march in it with my Girl Scouts) sure made having a picnic much easier. 

When we were discussing our menu, David said he would make an Ambrosia Salad. His favorite recipe is one he found on Cooks.com but he omits the coconut. If it were me, I would be throwing whole Mounds bars in there. 

Here he mixes the Cool Whip and sour cream. We talked about "folding" the Cool Whip rather than "jabbing" the Cool Whip. 

Marshmallows are meted meticulously. 

....and tasted gratuitously. 

Yummy little charms. 

He carefully opened many cans of fruit. Mandarin oranges; pineapple slices that then had to be chunked; maraschino cherries and that was it. He mixed until it all looked awesome and put it in a festive purple bowl (Purple Heart) in the refrigerator. 

I made a large bean salad. See how much I made? That is approximately how much was still left at the end of the day. David's Ambrosia Salad was g.o.n.e.  

Moral of the story: people would rather eat food that is engineered (marshmallows and Coolwhip) rather than whole foods (beans, peppers and onions) like I made. What is this world coming to? 

Pitchers of ice water await. 

Gord made his wonderful Guacamole Stuff and it too was gone at the end of the day. 

Tomorrow I may be adding pics of the people that came and games that we played. And airplanes that we flew. 

And there is still some bean salad left if you want some of that. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day. 

We start off so scared. 

I can remember the fear that overwhelmed me when we brought Adam home from the hospital.   I couldn't believe the nurses were just letting us go home with this baby. I loved when the visitors came during the day because it meant I wasn't the only adult at home. I dreaded night time; and during the day I called Gordie on the phone at work begging him to come home at four pm because I was afraid being alone with my poor baby. 

But we are hopelessly smitten. 

The smell of the baby, the precious weight on your shoulder when they fall asleep. How I have loved my babies. Falling asleep holding a sleeping baby on your chest  is one of the most relaxing feelings known to mother. 

I'm still smitten, 13 years later. I watch him standing in the kitchen talking to me about going to Toronto. I drink in the sight because he's leaving me for the weekend. I want to remember him standing right there, by the end of the island. Because I know how much I am going to miss him. And I miss the way he used to call me "Mumby". 

After 10 years, I am still smitten with a quiet baby who has grown into a quiet yet precocious young man. At 10 weeks I wrote in his baby book "Wake up Davy, so we can get to know you." He just ate and slept, and got very fat. Now he's lanky and smart and hates to sleep. 

And after 8 years, I'm still smitten with a dark haired beauty who took my breath away when they finally got around to telling me the baby is a girl. Who-hoooo! Sometimes when she is talking to me I feel my breath catch and I realize how blessed I am to have this daughter. A very sweet and precious daughter. 

And after 4 and half years, I'm still smitten with a little blonde boy that we all went crazy for the moment he was born. His impact on the family reverberates each day as he arises and each night as he lays down. 

In hindsight,  I see how quickly those initial fears dissipated, reborn as fear of dirt bikes, bullies, immoral societal standards and Internet. 

But most of all I fear that I will misrepresent to them the One who gave them to me in the first place. I know that if I don't teach them about Christ, they will learn that He isn't important and I fear that. I fear them not following Him. Not depending on Him. I fear them falling into a trap of having it all look good on the outside but not taking care to make sure that their hearts are His. I fear bringing them up in a "christian home" rather than a "Christ-centered home". It humbles me to be a mother. God is gracious, so gracious. 

*********************

I really miss my MOM!! 

Yes, I just blog-shouted that. 

We had Mom, Dad and Maria over for Mother's Day. We were joined by TimBob, Betty and Gene. As usual, good times. 

Gordie made the dinner which consisted of Veal Roast; Salt Lick Potatoes, broccoli, salad, Eggplant medallions with Caprese Salad and I made Elsie's famous German Apple Cake for dessert.

As a way to pay Mother's Day homage to my late grandmother, I used my china which she had bought me as a wedding present. That's right- 10 place settings were bought by her. It is called  "Albany" by Royal Doulton and I am as in love with it as I was 19 years ago when I chose it. 

I used my two pitchers from my Mom, the little round one that makes people nervous when they attempt to set it down again, and the green Jadeite pitcher. 

Roses from my hubby and kids: 

We came home from meeting to see the oven door wide open. Which would be alarming, yet fine, on any other Sunday. But today, a veal roast was supposed to be roasting inside that oven. In fact, the roast had cooked partially so we aren't sure what might have happened. Dad R. found this yellow cinch that saved Gord from holding the door shut for another hour. 

The Eggplant. Gord was up at 6 am making this stuff. So delicious. Eggplant sliced thin, breaded and sauted, a slice of fresh mozzarella, balsamic glaze, fresh tomato, kosher salt! Can we rewind back to 2pm and start eating all over again??

Loved my day, love my peeps and YOU, for even reading this far :)

Today we watched...

....as history was made. 

Regardless of political values, this was a historic event that we were excited to witness. 

Christmas and New Years Round-up

On Christmas pm, Tony B came with his entourage and this cute little Chihuahua named Riley. I was really interested in seeing how Sapphire reacted to the strange dog in the house. Turns out she loved her and was if anything, a little intimidated.


Tony B. and the lovely Kara:

Sapphire & Riley:

Yes, that is a diaper and really chic hoodie. 

Adorable, senor!

New Years Eve:

We had a large group of people over to ring in the New Year. While apps were served, the younger folks played some great sounding games as others watched the Gaither video "Amazing Grace". Following that, we ate the main course (cold cuts sandwiches and pulled pork, etc. ) and an impromptu hymnsing began in the great room and more games in the dining room. It was a great evening and a wonderful way to end 2008. 

here are some pics:

This shrimp platter was amazing. 

A raucous game of Liar's Dice. I hoped Adam learned only good gaming habits. I think Uriah is flashing me a sign that I am too old to understand.

Maura seems to be on a different cousin's lap in each pic.

My tweenager:

I don't think I even want to know what was being discussed here, I will remain as oblivious as Uriah. 

Ash patiently instructing Miss Maura in the game concept.

Food again...Tony B's pulled pork was amazing.

Balderdash was again, a raucous affair. I missed Heidi's face at this table. 

Co-defendants.

David played the "what-if" questions game and was a great addition.

We watched the ball drop in Times Square- it was great except for the Bill and Hillary presence. 

The end of a great evening!