August is Bitter Sweet

Hollywood often remakes reality and makes in not so much reality anymore. I always grit my teeth when I watch a movie where an actor/actress plays the role of a teacher. Every single time the teacher enters the classroom for the first time on the first day of school the class is completely set up. The desks are all arranged, the walls are decorated, the students have books...etc. I don't know what type of custodial staff they think we have, but it just doesn't work that way.

The girls are spending the next two nights with their dad. So I decided (after getting in a 7 mile solo run in) to go into work to start getting ready for the school year. My room was such a disaster. This is my 9th year in this building and it will be my 4th classroom. I walked in to find everything: student desks, teachers desks (there were two of those), chairs (there were 50- how many kids do they think are going in there?), bookshelf and tables all in the middle of the floor stacked on top of one another. I spent three hours moving furniture. It is finally to the point where all the furniture is in place, but I will need to go back in tomorrow to work on unpacking supplies and putting things up on the walls. Today and tomorrow are the best time to do it while the girls are off. They like to go to my room, but often end up taking out all kinds of things and it makes twice the work.

I think the Hollywood version of teaching drives me nuts because it short changes all those hours we put in before the kids even enter the building. My arms are going to be sore in the morning!

A Day With Grammie

I had to go to work today. I spent the day with my teammates organizing curriculum and spelling groups. I do not have daycare for the girls over the summer. I am the daycare. So in order to attend the meeting I arranged for Grammie Sharon to come spend the day with the girls. It is always interesting to come home after being gone all day and see what the girls have been up to. It was even more interesting to see that they had use the camera to take pictures while I was gone. So what follows is the photo evidence of a day with Grammie Sharon.

Now Grammie is known for her picture taking. She uses actual film in her camera. She gets some wonderful shots. It is thanks to her that I have actual pictures of myself with my girls! However apparently Alexa felt that we needed some pictures of Grammie too...

And then you dance...

I titled my blog And The You Laugh because it seemed the answer to the question people always ask me. How do you do it? I guess I started writing it to chronicle how I do. I am not anything special and I take it one day (sometimes moment at a time), but it always seems to end in the same place no matter what the event... I laugh.

Today was a day like that. A hectic mix of errands and cleaning. Trying to get settled after returning from being away. The girls made more Fairy Houses in the backyard. Chloe's is pretty elaborate. She made them sea shell beds with leaf blankets, a rock table with little rock chairs including a piece of sea glass as a centerpiece.

Chloe's:

Alexa's:

and I spotted this in my yard.

A bit of an omen since I have to go to work tomorrow for a meeting.

The day ended with Grammie Sharon arriving. She kindly drove all the way here to babysit for me tomorrow so I could attend a meeting. Grammie bought the girls some ballerina dresses. They spent the evening putting on a dance show! As you can see they had blast and can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

So we never know how things will end, but I can almost guarantee if you let yourself they will end with a laugh. You just try putting on a ballerina dress and dancing around your living room and see what happens!

Invisibility Cloak

My first car was a silver Chevy Spectrum. Well, actually that isn't true... my first car was a Ford Pinto wagon that belonged to my parents. I think I was so traumatized by the four speed standard transmission (with a clutch so hard to push my left leg was oddly stronger than the right), bald tires [because my dad always wanted to get all the wear possible out of them (I actually got a flat in that car by the hole being worn through the tire)], and let's not forget the yellow paint that made it resemble a banana. I have tried to block that one out. So my first car, that I spent my money on, was a 1985 Chevy Spectrum. It was a five speed standard transmission with a gentle clutch and a mellow silver color. Possibly a little too mellow as other drivers had a tendency to hit that car claiming they didn't see it. No kidding it happened at least three times. It was like the car was invisible, or maybe it is me that is invisible. I did attend an entire semester of my freshman year of college without a large majority of people knowing I was there. Seriously. It was a little weird how many people would approach me in January and ask where I transferred from. So it is altogether possible I have some type of invisibility cloak that I am unaware of.

It seems it was in effect today because even though I drive a RED Subaru Outback no less than four people almost ran into me today while driving through Ellsworth. Maine on my way back to Vermont. After the second time you begin to develop a bit of a complex. I know the tourist season can be a bit wild but this seemed a bit much. I did maneuver my way safely back home and for the first time this summer my check engine light did not come on during a road trip! Yippee!

We had the added perk this morning of my Uncle Lewis offering us a ride off the island on his boat. This was great because I was planning to take the ferry, but personalized service is so much nicer. It was a beautiful sunny morning for a ride.

The Cellar Door

I have memories of my sisters and I running up and down the bulkhead door at my grandparent's house. I have also seen pictures of my various cousins doing the same thing. It seems to be a kind of a right of passage in this family. So I found it extremely endearing this evening when my own children were playing on it.

The girls were putting on a show. The show included various dance moves called such things as: the cottage cheese, the watermelon, throw the cat (I will point out this involved a stuffed toy cat and not a real cat), and the cat canon- which I caught part of here on the camera...




It also involved singing...




And a wagon ride for the stuffed cats which they called cat daycare.



The girls were having a blast entertaining everyone and wore themselves out. I was even able to get out after putting them to bed with Grammie to babysit and go to an art show on the island. An old friend of the family was turning 80 and celebrated her birthday with a retrospective of her paintings. It is especially meaningful as she is in the later stages of leukemia. It was a wonderful turn out of close to 100 people a very fitting tribute.

Beach Day

The Atlantic Ocean, well to be specific the Northern Atlantic Ocean, is cold. Numbingly cold. I, myself, have not actually swam in it in probably over a decade. I use to, but I can not tolerate it any longer. I'll wade in it, but that is about all I can muster. In fact wading in it can only happen for about 45 seconds and then the cold makes my joints ache. I have not brought a bathing suit to the Island with me in years. I know I wont need it. It is really a bit of a public service to the residents of the island that they don't need to view me in a swim suit. My kids, however, always have theirs.

It isn't so much that they are going to swim either. They are more of the beach combers- finding treasures, and sand diggers. The beach on the island is very rocky, but there are sections of sand that pop up from time to time. We like to wader around to an area that is more pebbly than others. The kids can dig in it and I can sit and watch to boats go by.


Today we were lucky enough to find some small sections of sand mixed in that had been exposed by a recent storm. It may well be closed over the next time we visit. We left with another huge collection of shells to add to out already large pile at home.



Aunt Andrea joined us and actually swam in the water. I took the photo just so she had evidence that she did it. She is the crazy woman waving her arms in celebration out in the water- either that or she was asking for help. It was bit breezy and hard to hear well.



I will explain that she had to sit in the sun after and warm her legs up as after a short period her knees had become difficult to bend! She is braver than I however because I went in only as far as my ankles.

Ladies Aid Fair

One of my favorite childhood memories of Cranberry Island is the Ladies Aid Fair. The fair involves the selling of a lot of crafts, food, and quilts. It is a fundraiser for the Ladies Aid which has been a part of this island for over 100 years. My memories are of the kids games. I remember them being awesome and my sister's and I winning all kinds of prizes. As an adult I can see that that isn't really the case. I still love to allow my children to experience the fair. They look forward to it each summer. It is one of their top favorite things to do on the island: a ride on Uncle Louis's boat, the beach, blueberry picking, and the fair. Yesterday was the boat ride,


and today was the fair. My sister Cherie brought my niece Annabel and all three girls headed to the fair.

They hit the fish pond first. This game I remember from my own childhood. The child pays one dollar and writes their name and age on a slip of paper. The paper is clipped to a mesh bag on the end of a wooden "fishing pole". The bag is then thrown over a curtain (I think they are still using the same curtain they did when I was a kid). A person behind the curtain fills it with toys. It is an obvious big hit with all the kids. Chloe went through twice. Stocking up on such things as rubber ducks, colored pencils, jump ropes, and play dough.

They also have craft projects. This year the girls made wind spinners. They both worked so hard coloring theirs and were so proud!


Another big hit is the fire truck rides. The island is really small and thus operates on a volunteer fireman system. They have one truck and each year they bring it out and give the kids rides up and down the island on it. Keeping in mind this is a very small island and the truck is moving very slowly. This year Chloe opted not to ride the fire truck to pick blueberries with Aunt Cherie instead. She wanted to make sure Grammie could make muffins for breakfast. Alexa, however, was very excited about riding the fire truck! She waved to people and giggled. She looked like she was riding in a parade.