What We've Been Doing

It's been a busy month.

A Parade went past our house during Phillips Old Home Days. Click here for more photos. We took the opportunity to have a yard sale to make some money to build Stomper a swing set like my Mom has in our backyard.

We were all in my Sister-In-Law's wedding. Stomper did great. He managed to "walk" down the aisle with some assistance, but didn't let anyone take any photos of him. He slept before and after the ceremony, but wasn't available to take any photos! He didn't like the brides dress and when she went to hold him he cried! 

We went blackberry picking with some family friends, and due to time constraints did not pick as many as we would have liked.

We went to Maine Farm Days in Clinton, Maine and saw some livestock and played on tractors. Unfortunately due to the rain we missed the farm tours and many of the vendors had already left. We will be going next year and we plan on going on the first day instead of the last. Click here for more photos.

10 Months

Stomper now weighs 23lbs and 14oz and is 29inches long. He has a total of 12 teeth with a couple of more coming. I think he's been teething since he was 6 months old, his mouth isn't giving him a break! He already has his first year molars and as I am writing this is cutting his "canine" teeth. Click for more photos.

The store has new products. Check it out!

Polly

This is Polly. 

She will be for sale in about two weeks (I need to knit her some pj's).

She is wearing a Pumpkin Cardigan with three buttons

She has a pleated yellow skirt

And a Pumpkin Beanie.

In other Knitting News I have a new bag!

I love this bag. It has a lot of pockets for stashing things. I got this brilliant idea on further organization and stuffed my measuring tape in a old, used pill bottle.

Then I stuffed some darning needles, a stitch holder, some stitch markers, and some needle ends in another pill bottle.

Works like a charm!

Blueberry Festival

We went to the annual Blueberry Festival in Wilton this week-end. This was Stomper's first parade. Sadly there is a no siren policy during the parade and we missed the marching bands so he did not get to experience the "true" sounds of a parade. 

We walked around downtown to visit the vendors and meet some local artists. We did end up buying me a new knitting bag (a post to follow about that later) which I am in love with. We sampled some maple butter, bought some maple taffy, and got our customary cup of Blueberry Coffee (despite the extreme heat of the day). 

You are probably wondering why there are no pictures of blueberries. Despite it being a blueberry festival I have never participated in any of the blueberry activities, mostly pies and pancakes because they happen either too late or too early in the day. After our walk around town we walked back to my Mom's for some lunch and a nap before the fireworks.

 

Early in the afternoon Jason drove the truck down to where the fireworks are with the chairs loaded up into the truck bed. That way when we walked down in the early evening we could lug just our supper the half mile to the lake instead of everything we would need like we have done in past years.

We packed our supper in a crock-pot keeper and it stayed piping hot! The peas were out of our garden and looked a little dried out from sitting in the fridge uncovered. Jason thought I should toss them, but I believed they could be saved. I boiled them for four minutes, shut the water off, let them sit while the chicken and potatoes finished cooking on the grill, then packed them in a glass container to keep warm, when we got to the lake they were perfect!

Both Stomper and Jason agree that the peas were delicious!

While we were finishing up our supper I spied a family from our church. I called out to them and they joined us on the patch of grass we had carved out for ourselves. Before long our small group of three swelled to eighteen friends and family. It was great to have an impromptu get-together. The summer business had kept us from sitting and chatting and it was nice to catch up with them.

 I love fireworks. They are my favorite part of the festival. In past years we have sat so close to them that ashes fall down on us. I have in a keepsake box several chunks of cardboard that either fell on me or near me. A few years ago a part firework went sideways into the crowd (no one was seriously injured) and so the platform was moved onto a barge in the lake.

I was not disappointed in the fireworks display (I never have been). They last 20-30mins with no lulls, stops, or moments of "is this it?". However, after the finale, they did have a few "leftover" that they set off while people were heading back to their cars. This was the first year on the barge and I wonder if some got a little "lost" in the unfamiliar setting.

As usual I am looking forward to next year. Maybe next year you'll come too!

Working

A year ago I quit my job working in my mothers daycare to pursue being a Foster Mom. I was tired juggling  being a wife, mother, and worker. Even before I was a mom it wasn't easy for me to juggle working and being a "good wife" (my standards not his) and I constantly felt that I fell short of accomplishing either task well. I often felt that to be a good wife I failed at being a good employee and vice-versa. Home often suffered from neglect and it was more than just a messy house. I was often irritated and frustrated with my husband, which caused me to be harsh towards him. I knew something had to change. I told my Mom that when summer ended and all the kids went to school that I'd be done working. 

 This past year I have often said to my husband when the purse is empty and the bills still numerous, "I could always get a job." To which he always replies, "But you don't enjoy working. We'll make it work, we always do."  We kept deciding that I would stay home, despite the financial benefits of me rejoining the work force.

This summer I "rejoined" the work force twice. Once when I did respite for a family member and a couple of weeks ago when I worked for my Mother at the daycare while she went on vacation. I was reminded how glad I am that I don't work outside the home. I felt spread thin between the people I was being paid to care for and the people that needed me to care for them. I probably, given enough time, could balance out the two, but someone would suffer. I think that someone would be Stomper. He wouldn't get the care he deserved and that would make me feel like a bad mother.

Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom may not be financially beneficial, but this summer has proven to me that it is beneficial to my family for me to be home. It is reassuring to know that we continue to make the right choice for our family and keep me home.