Merry Christmas to Friends and Family!

Christmas Eve Morning: We are all home relaxing before the big day, so decided to start a new Christmas tradition: Santa head pancakes! Yum! Kirk also made Popie's brown sugar bacon...more please!


Christmas Eve was spent with the Cauchons at Tom and Roxanne's house in Waltham. We got some great shots of all the Cauchon cousins together...and a nice family shot of Tom, Roxanne and the boys! We ate a great Italian style buffet, participated in a neat 'setting of intentions' ritual led by Roxanne, opened gifts and visited until almost 10pm. Then it was a hairy ride home through fog and rain as the temperatures around here soared, melting most of the blizzard snow from last weekend.

Christmas morning started at 6:45....ah, the days when we had to wake Katy up with loud Xmas music! We started with stockings and took the traditional 'Katy with her stocking' picture. One day...I'll put them side by side in an album! Thanks to all family who sent stocking stuffers...they were great!

Katy's annual 'grandparent gift' was a special one this year...a My Twin doll made especially to look like her. The annual gifts are one way I keep the memory of my parents alive for Katy.

Katy and Kirk just opened a family gift...the game of BUNKO!

Boy, was Katy surprised to receive her first 'Benjamin' from Popie! She just couldn't believe it! Thanks to Popie from all of us! We are sure that her gift will help us have some special times in New York City in January!

We carried on the tradition that Kirk started all those years ago...of Santa's Last gift. Kirk send Katy and I on quite a scavenger hunt, filled with riddles that kept Katy and I going from one end of the house to the other for some time! At the end, Katy got her Troll bead bracelet and Swarovski crystal cat. I had to open the garage door and was surprised by my very own Kayak!!! Kirk went through some maneuverings to get the kayak here and ready to surprise me...and man, was I surprised! Bets are on that I won't use it much....but I'm setting an intention right now to plan a few trips once the weather gets warmer here
Well, it is about noontime here in 45 degree Attleboro and the presents are opened and many surprises were had! I've posted some of the best pics...enjoy and hope to talk to many of you as the day goes on! Enjoy the warmth and peace of the day!

Ode to our 'Everlasting' Christmas Tree

Oh

much maligned tree

of plastic magnificence!

We resisted your

seductive call for years,

not wanting to give in.

Yet how many hours we have saved,

how many pine trees we have conserved,

how many more moments enjoyed since you were purchased?

Watching sturdy aluminium poles fit together,

pre-lit branches glow as plugs engage,

our tree goes into full splendor in less than an hour, ready for decoration.

No more hiding the 'hole' on the back,

no more messy waterings, only to have needles fall copiously and early.

Branches bend to accommodate the ornaments of our choice!

Your fragrance, no longer from freshly sawed trunk and branch,

now permeates the air from our terracotta dove filled with essential oils of evergreen.

Oh, why did we wait?

We love your warm glow, cast out into the night, high above Metacomett Drive, lighting the wintry air!

One Week Until Christmas...

...and I've been thinking a lot about traditions. So I've taken my trusty camera and tried to give you a snapshot of some of those traditions that seem to stand the test of time. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our friend Dot getting together with us to build gingerbread houses. We've tried 'em all...from cut outs to molds (which is what i used this year) to prefab from Michaels...to the one Dot found this year that was even already glued together! No matter what disasters we've encountered...we've always ended the afternoon with completed houses (sometimes held up by cans from the inside) and good memories of sharing time with Dot.

Of course, there is the North Pole village that we erect every year. We started our collection 10 years ago after moving into our house, fulfilling a dream Kirk had of having a Christmas village. In my day, I've carved styrofoam, come up with wiring schematics that let an entire village turn on with the flick of just one button, and combed the craft stores for all sorts of decorative materials. This year, we tried something new. Each of us chose one spot of the house to set up our village made up of houses we personally loved. Katy chose houses from Elf Land (a sub-set of the NP...can you imagine...), Kirk chose his favorite houses (mostly colorful one) and I put up my all time favorite, Route One North Pole...home to Mr. And Mrs Clause. Can you tell that I needed a break? LOL!

Another 10 year old tradition is the making of gift bags. The year Katy was born, we started making bags that contained a home made cookie mix in a jar, chocolate covered and decorated pretzel rods, a handmade ornament by Katy, and a little handmade gift from me. I was hoping to teach Katy how much fun and meaningful it can be to make gifts. We've continued the tradition all these years...the ornaments went from tempra painted wood stars (when she was 10 months old) to more complicated beaded icicles. I've now got friends who count on those cookie mixes to help in their holiday baking!

For many years, we've marked the 24 days before Christmas with a Playmobile Advent Calendar. They are so cute and detailed (my favorite was one of Santa's bakery, where you put together the kitchen and angels baking sheets of cookies...) and every year, we take all the pieces and put them in a special basket that Katy can play with the following year. She has set up some elaborate scenes for Santa in years past. We were saddened last year when we couldn't find one that had a Christmas theme (they released a pirate one for boys and a doll house for girls...no Christmas at all) but gladdened when we found our current calendar at a local Learning Express...with a Christmas in the Woods theme. What is it about these little plastic items that make them so irresistible?

When we moved our family Xmas tree upstairs to showcase in the large window over our new garage, I missed having a tree downstairs as I spend so little time upstairs. Fortunately, I found this skinny little rustic tree that year which is perfect in the kitchen. I decorated it with all stars and moon ornaments that I have collected through the years and the white lights keep me in peaceful company those dark, 5:30am mornings and shine out brightly as it gets dark now before 5p.

So it is a week until the big day...and we are in good shape. With nothing on our calendar, we designated Sunday as 'baking day' which is probably a good thing given the weather we are suppose to be having over the next 72 hours here in New England. So I went out shopping for everything we need for a cozy weekend together, punctuated by a few visits from friends. It seems so important to spend some time together enjoying all the preparations and decorations and traditions and I think we will be able to do just that during the days before Christmas.

December musings...

Well, it has been a month...so my best intentions have not helped me stay current with this blog! November flew by! One highlight of the month for me was traveling to NYC on a bus trip organized lead by Trish from Katy's karate school. A group of us went on the trip expressly to visit Canal Street and go 'knock off' purse shopping. What a hoot! Gayle, Terry and I found ourselves in a van filled with bags on a side street within 5 mintues of getting off the bus! We had a great time, hit Little Italy for a late lunch, flew up to Tiffanys, then took a bike rickshaw ride through Time Square. For Gayle and Terry, who had never been to the city, it was eyeopening, and I enjoyed it on a whole other level, getting to feel more comfortable navigating Manhattan.

Before you know it, it was Thankgiving, which I hosted again this year. With a vow to stay 'centered' and unstressed, I managed to get food out ahead of time and actually relaxed and enjoyed visits with both brothers and their famlies. The next day was my birthday...and I invited local friends in for some home-made eggnog late in the afternoon and enjoyed their festive company before taking off with Kirk for a birthday dinner. My big gift was an iTouch...does basically everything that a iPhone does...but no phone...which is fine with me! It has been fun searching for applications and watching Three Stooges videos I bookmark from You Tube!

Pinnochio!

The opening night of Pinnochio was a success! With a few minor glitches, the hour long production was well done by all with some of the best costumes we've seen in a long time. Here, Katy plays the fruit seller. She had a couple of lines when Pinnochio is introduced to the crowd as a 'talking puppet.' She loved, loved, loved this costume..but was sweating the whole time b/c it was so hot!

Katy's next costume was that of a ballerina. She wasn't as thrilled about this one...but we all thought she looked just fine!

Here Katy is standing next to her friend Hannah on the right. Friend Zach is two down on her left. Zach has been doing TYT with Katy since first grade. Neither of them have missed a play in all those years. It works out great since they both go to the same school...Zach's mom Cyndi and I get to carpool! Zach is a grade ahead of Katy (6th). He got a pretty good part (finally) in this play as he was the evil coachman who tries to steal the kids to turn them into donkeys! It is a role Zach has been practicing for his entire life!
Katy asked (again) to draw the winning ticket for the traditional 50/50 raffle. TYT director Vivian Humphries is on her right.

Post production shot...of friend Hannah and Katy! And yup....we get to watch the entire show again, today at 2p! Zach's family is throwing a party for him after, which we are invited to, so it will be a full day for us. I'm glad Katy has a long weekend...not having school again until Wednesday!

Fall moments

I just dropped Katy off for her 5:30 call for tonight's performance of Pinnochio. She is a ballerina and a townsperson. One of her good friends, however, is playing the lead, which is exciting.

Halloween was fun...a very busy evening and weekend. I hosted a neighborhood party before they took off trick or treating. We did some crafts, had baked ziti, then off they went. Kirk had door to door duty this year. Katy went out as an 'angel/devil' (gee...what happened to the woodland fairy or the cheerleader)? She looked very cute!

The triplets also joined us to trick or treat in the neighborhood. Justen was a skunk, Jacques a chicken and Alec a monkey. They went out in their wagon and did several houses...very, very cute!

The weather has been very warm...but the leaves are falling off of the trees and it is looking more and more like November around here. We are looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving again this year, joined by brother's Richard and Tom's families. It will be quite a housefull now that the triplets are walking about. We have so much to be grateful for!

It has been a while....

...since I last posted. Funny how 'life gets in the way!' Last week, Kirk and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. Our DD surprised us with breakfast in bed the Sunday before...all her idea and we were thrilled to have her do such a nice thing for us! Our actual anniversary was one of those very busy days, but K and I managed to have breakfast out together...then he brought home Thai take out and a dozen red roses for me! Once again, we experienced 'gift karma' and were totally on the same wave length. I had ordered a Swaroveski crystal 'reef' statue' complete with coral branch and 5 crystal fish as his gift as it was our 'crystal' anniversary. He presented me with a Swarovski crystal bunny (we started this collection our first Xmas together) and the go ahead to shop at the Troll bead sale at a local store. The other part of his gift was a kayaking morning, which happend this past Monday, after we dropped Katy off at school. The day was much colder than my last experience, with a breeze between 15 - 20 mph. Our guide Dave knows just how to navigate around to avoid much of the wind...but it was much tougher going and much colder! Despite all this, Kirk loved his first experience kayaking...it was great to be sharing an experience just the two of us, and it was a very clear fall day. After our 3 hours on the water, we came home, regrouped, and headed to Newport for an overnight (see where Katy is below). It was fun to get away...and nice to discover that Newport is only about 50 minutes from here...mostly back roads...so we had a lovely ride down. Did some shopping and exploring before grabbing dinner at a local hot spot. On Tuesday, we took a tour of Chateau Sur la Mer, one of the first mansions built on the famous Ocean Drive. Took our time driving home...a nice way to end our anniversary celebration!

On a 'Katy note,' she is off at Nature's Classroom this entire week (thus, the reason we could do the Newport trip). The entire 5th grade heads down the Cape for this experience each year. She has been looking forward to it for a long time, especially after hearing about it from her friend Zach who is a grade ahead of her and went on the trip last year. One of the teachers has tried to blog...but she is so busy she has only made 2 entries this week. They really keep the kids hopping, with experiences in the field, beaches, night walks, etc. We got a note from Katy yesterday. Pretty matter of fact: we did this, we did that...and her closing line was, "I did Soccer Ball Digestion this afternoon and the only thing I learned is that a fart is made up of little pieces of poop." Yup...that's our daughter! It is strange not to have her energy in the house...but it has given me some time to relax while finishing preparations for my Croptoberfest coming up tomorrow night and Saturday. I am looking forward to picking Katy up tomorrow and hearing all the stories I'm sure she will bring home.

What I did with my morning...

I tried kayaking for the first time...inspired by my buddy Trish...who always has a great plan for fun things to do! I've been considering buying a canoe for several years now...but had been urged by folks like my brother Tom to choose a kayak. So this adventure was, in part, a test to see whether I even liked kayaking. A neighbor in Norton has begun a kayak tour business and Trish called to check it out. We took off this morning on a three hour tour with no prior experience of kayaking. I have to say that once I got over my initial fear of being so 'on top' of the water...and realizing I shouldn't make any fast moves...it was great! The day could not have been more spectacular...clear, blue sky, leaves just turning bright...water flat calm. The "Res" as our guide Dave calls it, is the Norton Reservoir, a body of water I pass several times a day taking Katy various places. It also happens to be directly across the street from the karate dojo. You can see the dojo behind us in the picture of me and Trish. The Res is currently is the home to at least 58 mute swans, cormorants, blue herons, osprey, canada geese, ducks....the list goes on. We saw so many swan families, an osprey dive to catch its lunch, herons taking off from the water into the sky. It was really great. Dave is a wealth of knowledge about the area and had lots of good info to share with us. So, maybe the kayak needs a little more investigation...Anyway, I felt grateful to have been out on a beautiful fall day, hanging with nature, gliding across the water for the morning.

Demo Team Performance

Katy is on the Tiger's Demo Team at her karate school. See her there in the back on the left??? The team performed at the black belt ceremony at her school this afternoon. They have been working on a new routine since late summer and this was the first time they had performed in public. Katy goes for an extra session on Monday's to be on the Demo Team, plus does an extended class after...so she is at the dojo from 5:30 - 7:30! She is in the back row towards the left in the following shots.

Katy Got Her Ears Pierced!!!

Katy earned getting her ears pierced because of her overall attitude and behavior improvements, BUT...she didn't know when it was going to happen. We were going shopping after school and I decided that today was as good a day as any...plus Claire's was deserted so no wait involved. You should have seen Katy's eyes when I asked her if she wanted to get ears done right there and then!!! She was nervous but did a great job! And...as I promised myself...I followed Katy and got a second hole in my left ear! We ended up with matching cz studs...so we will be the sparkle gals for the next 8 weeks!

The Fairy Tale

Katy Lum 5C
9-29-08 Final Draft


Why Leaves Turn Red in Fall

There was a time when the leaves were green all year. At the same time, there was a beautiful girl named Anita who lived in a forest. She was so beautiful that people only remembered her for her beauty. Her sister was so jealous of her being pretty that one day she tricked Anita into going into the cellar and locked here in there. Anita cried for about a year. As she cried, she begged, “Don’t keep me in here forever!” The wind blew so hard that the trap door opened and then Anita was free.
One day she met a prince and fell in love with him immediately. But she never forgot all the time she spent in the forest and that people only remembered her for being beautiful. So before she left, she said “I must do something so people can remember me by.” “ I know!” she said. “I will paint all the leaves red!” “That way people will remember me for that and not just because I am pretty.” But before she could paint the last leaf red, her sister poisoned her drink. But her sister was so busy making Anita drink the drink that SHE drank the drink! Anita’s sister fell down on the ground and everybody cheered! And that is why leas turn red in fall.

Its Tuesday....

and I'm getting a head start on my planning for my yearly Croptoberfest event coming up in October. It will be my 7th event and I'm excited to say that at this point, I am sold out! I have 10 guests per session and will run a Friday evening and Saturday session, October 24 and 25. Guests get a goodie bag with exclusive Creative Memories gifts released for this event along with idea sheets, prize opportunities and break out sessions. Oh...also a meal! So I'm writing my agenda and scouring the scrapbooking boards to find good ideas to keep my ladies entertained and productive!

Callie the cat was spade yesterday...she came through with flying colors and it will be interesting to see if her behaviors change any. She and Sarah are getting along very well. She and Grey...interesting. When Grey was in on the 1st floor Friday, Callie was let out and she came downstairs, only to be chased up again by Grey. But then...she comes back down looking for Grey. Guess we'll have to continue these supervised opportunities and see if they can settle down with each other.

Katy still has a head cold but was better today after a good night's sleep. Yesterday was LONG for her, with school, then Triboro Youth Theater right after, then Karate. If I can find the fairy tale she wrote for English...I'll try to cut and paste it for you to read!

On the 4th anniversary...

...of my Dad's death...we are remembering him with a family tradition of having take out Chinese food. How often did we have Chinese food in our family??? TONS! Back in the 60s, Dad would travel from Marshfield to Braintree and get take out from Braintree 5 Corners. His dad had Chinese food at our home for the first time and enjoyed it so much that in future years, we'd visit Grampe in Cranston and have Chinese take out with his sisters Laura and Gabe. As time went on, Chinese restaurants opened closer to Marshfield, with favorites being a place in Green Harbor (the name escapes me...) and Bejing House in Norwell. Many times, we'd visit my parents and would end up calling in a huge order for our family to enjoy. I will always treasure the memories of my Dad driving to Attleboro from the Cape (after Mom passed) to visit Katy and I during the day...and us going to the Golden Panda in N.Attleboro for their buffet. It was a tradition that even Katy remembers to this day. We had some great talks during those lunches and I feel so thankful that we had those times together. In closing...I'll share a few pics from 'the Little Book of Cauchons (I can't seem to straighten out the Cape picture...but it was taken at Dad's 75th birthday celebration):'

We're all kind of sick...

Katy has been home from school the past two days...guess there is lots of stuff going around...typical 'back to school' infections. She started earlier in the week not feeling great, got to Wednesday evening and complained of a sore throat. So I kept her home on Thursday, expecting that she would be in school Friday. Then, she spiked a fever Thursday night...so home she was yesterday. She's doing better today. I started to feel punky yesterday but started to take Emergen-C...a fizzy vitamin and mineral supplement that actually sometimes works (but of course, we can't get Katy to drink it)! It is great that we have virtually nothing on our schedule, except that Katy will go to her dojo this afternoon to see School of Rock and eat pizza. It is so nice that they run events for the kids so they can get in a little social time !
Meanwhile, Kirk and I will be washer/dryer shopping, sigh. Dryer has rusting problems around the drum which causes rust streaks on clothing...not good. Would cost over $450 to replace the drum; so that ain't gonna happen! Any recs for good purchases are welcome...we are currently looking at an LG, Consumer Reports, Best Buy, front loading model for a washer. Our concern is that the 'drawers' that make the machines more user friendly may make them too tall for the space they currently inhabit. So...we are going to check them out today.
This might cause you a giggle: About every other year, I throw my hat into the ring at Katy's school to be a 'room parent.' They randomly pick two parents for each classroom, and guess what??? My name came up this year! Ha, ha...the joke is on me! I was kind of leaving it up to the universe to either let it happen or not. Anyway, at Katy's school, it isn't the biggest deal (one of the guests at my CM workshop last night said that in her town, there is GREAT competition for this position...yikes people...get a life)! You mostly help pass on email info to the classroom parents, send out requests for classroom supplies, assemble the classroom Silent Auction basket, collect for the teacher gifts in December and June...at least this is what I've gleaned from observing past room parents over the years. What is funny is the other parent who was chosen, Lisa, remembers Katy and I from Katy's pre-school. Her son attended Ms. Sheila's with Katy and he just got into the Charter School this year. Of course, I don't remember either of them looking at their names...but maybe when I meet at the Room Parent meeting TBA. Hoping they don't ask me to be a Nature's Classroom chaperone...as the answer will be NO! (ps...Nature's Classroom is a week long program the 5th grade goes on at a camp down the Cape. It is coming up in abuoat 4 weeks...Katy is very excited...and I think it will be an awesome experience for her to have on her own. The program looks great...they keep the kids very busy and have lots of enrichment activities. But I have no plans to be a chaperone...especially with Kirk taking 2 days off that week so we can have some 'quality time' together.)

Katy and Karate

Just thought I'd post a bit about Katy and her love of karate. She tried it out at a club after school the spring of '07 and enjoyed it quite a bit. The instructor of that class, Sensei Bob Downey, owns and runs his own school just ten minutes away from here in Norton: Red Dragon Martial Arts. The following fall, Katy enrolled at the school and has been going ever since, sometimes taking up to four classes a week. We really like the family run atmosphere, and I've become quite good friends with 'Mrs. Sensei,' Trish. Katy recently passed her blue belt test (see picture) and is on the Junior Demo Team. She is very excited about marching in her first parade, the Norton Halloween parade, as part of the team. Anyway...thought of sharing this b/c we will be on our way to the dojo this afternoon!

Three New Things

Three new things...Katy's first day of FIFTH grade (can we all believe this???) taken in our front yard, back on September 2nd. So far, she is having a good year with her teachers Mr. Green and Mrs.Shere. At the open house, I was glad to meet Mrs. Shere as she is one of the only people in the entire school that has grey hair. Most of the teachers are in the 20s...she is obviously a bit more mature and I'm thinking experienced! Katy complains that "Mrs. Shere makes us put periods at the end of sentences and capitalize the first word...SO much work!" Not seeing many of those 30 year vetrans these days in the public schools...they are a breed that is sadly missing from our kid's educational experience.

Next new thing is Katy's haircut...which happened last Thursday. She wanted it shoulder length...I just let her go with the stylist (who I trust) and she came out grinning ear-to-ear (and looking 5 years older)! This pic was taken this morning before we left...I see that it is hard to detect the length b/c I took it in front of our cabinets...but you probably get the general idea!

And the last new thing...is our new cat Callie. We saved her from being sent to a shelter b/c her owner's son got very allergic. She is somewhere between 1 and 2 years old. It has been a huge adjustment for her...previous owners had a tiny house and Callie mostly lived in the teenage daughter's bedroom. We followed some suggestions about how to integrate her with the other cats...she and Sarah (our indoor cat) have really done well together...in fact last night, they both were sitting about 2 feet apart in our big room, sleeping. I think Sarah actually likes having a pal upstairs again. Grey Cat is another story. She is outdoors so much this time of year that we really haven't done much to integrate them...mostly let Callie run around the house so her scent is around. Grey has met up with her a couple of times by accident...and has chased Callie right back upstairs like she does with Sarah. Katy has done a really great job taking care of Callie...she is in charge of the litter box, food and water, and has probably only missed a day or so since Callie came to live with us.

I had my bookclub meeting last night. Our selection for this meeting was Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth. Several members had read it back in the late 80s when it came out. Oprah picked it as one of her club selections...a fairly uplifting selection for a change! We all really enjoyed reading it, but it IS fairly long so fair waring to those of you out there who don't do well with big books! I'm up for choosing our book in January...am open to suggstions from any of you who have a favorite you think we'd enjoy.

Wanna see the triplets?

Deba asked what software I was using to create these scrapbook pages. It is Creative Memories' Storybook Creator Plus. I'm really loving it.

Triplets are in Argentina with Tom and Roxanne. They had a pretty lousy time traveling on Wednesday last week...delayed and cancelled flights making them almost a full day late getting to Argentina. Tom and Roxanne are traveling to Patagonia and then taking a cruise around the tip of S.America while the triplets are cared for by Roxanne's family. If you want to see more pictures of the triplet saga, go to www.cotuitescape.com/family and enjoy the show.

Okay...so one more post today!

I've added some of you to the 'auto email' function that this blog allows, thinking you might enjoy it. If you want me to remove your email...just let me know and I won't be offended. I think you will get the text of my latest blog...then click on the link to get to the actual site. Let me know what you think!

Learning to upload

Here is a sample of the digital scrapbook pages I've been working on this month...trying to get caught up. Katy had so many performances last spring! I had a fun time learning how to 'cut out' a figure from a photo, which is what I did to get Katy 'floating' on the page. Takes a little time...but then you can save the file and use it again if you want to. Anyway...I"ll be curious to see how this looks on the actual blog site!

A new technology...

So I've been inspired by my friend Sam who is churning out a family blog, thinking that we have enough distant family members who might enjoy reading more about our day-to-day life. Not that it is exciting by any means...but as I watch Katy change from being a little girl into the mature looking 'tween she has become, I realize that life does move forward and maybe some of you out there would enjoy getting snippets of life here with us in Attleboro.