It's been a long time since I've written. I believe the last post was 2019. The world before the pandemic. So much has changed, including the kids. Larkin has graduated high school. She went on to college at Colby-Sawyer and has decided she'd like to work a while. Silas is 15 and a sophmore in high school and has grown to almost 6'! It's hard to believe time has passed in what seems like the blink of an eye. Here they are at Lark's 19th birthday:

  Over the summer, we added a four legged and fluffy friend.  He's a poodle and his name is Sprocket. 

Lazy Days of Summer

Ahh summer! We're currently enjoying mid-70's weather with a south westerly breeze. Silas is in the hammock reading a book, Larkin's sorting socks for money, and Jamie's weed whacking. Ahhh summer!

PEI and Hay Bailing Time!

We visited PEI and as always, the views amazed us! Here are a few hay bales out in the field behind Tom and Heidi's house in French River - our favorite town in PEI.

On our way to PEI, we stayed at the Clipper Shipp Motel in Pocologan , New Brunswick. Its a great place to rest your bones after a long drive (about 7 hours from home to Pocologan)! In Canadian money, we paid $114.00 for the night. That's less than $100.00 in American money - what a steal. The rooms are very nice with more than one bed, a couch, kitchenette, table and chairs, and a deck overlooking the ocean. If you go, be sure to bring food with you as the grocery store is a ways away. Pots, pans, dishes, and cutlery are provided. We highly recommend this home away from home!

 

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Pete the Sheep

 

Pete (left) and her lamb

Yes, we have a sheep named Pete (and she's a girl). These four-legged friends are a shared responsibility with my brother and fiancée. Pete (a.k.a. Petey) was named by them. Pete's turning out to be a REALLY BIG producer of wool. I bet we have ten pounds in this one fleece. The wool is being brought up to MacAuslad's Woolen Mill in PEI to be made into REALLY NICE blankets! There's nothing like slleping under a comfy wool blanket in the middle of a New England winter.

 

 

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Molar Mining

Silas had a molar removed over vacation. He went in like a brave knight and came out like a hero! He had a tooth removed due to an abscess. Here he is before his pearly white was mined from his mouth:

 

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Stack and Whack...

School starts Tuesday and we're trying to savor every minute of unscheduled time.  Today, we stacked wood and whacked our way down to Clark Pond.  We still have a way to go on the wood and on the trail blazing, but we're feeling like we've put a dent in both and we had some WONDERFUL family time.
Lark and Si are growing fast and become more and more independent as the days go on.  Silas, for instance, now has his own pair of loppers and can help with minor shrub trimming.  And Lark, has enough muscle to tear out small trees!  Very impressive.
It's a little strange teaching the same grade that your child's in.  Larkin is now a fourth grader (where did the time go?).  I now find myself asking her, "What did you do in school today," but secretly trying to pry good teaching ideas from her at the same time.  I've also been trying to dump information about New Hampshire into her mind so she'll be ready when her teacher asks her about the state insect, state flower, state fruit, etc.  She was surprised to learn that the pumpkin was nominated by children to be the state fruit.
Silas is a first grader now and LOVES his new teacher!  She's quite dynamic.  I have to tell you, though...I was a very bad parent and didn't do EXACTLY what the teacher wanted us to...
At meet the teacher, Silas's teacher gave him this cute poem and some sprinkles to put under his pillow.  The sprinkles were glitter and jimmies. I'm an OCD keep-my-bed-clean kind of girl.  So instead of sprinkling the ready confetti under his pillow, we kept it in the Ziploc and slipped it under his pillow.  It still worked and his bed remained clean and the confetti is now reusable!  I think I'm  going to need it come Tuesday!