Camp In

Ben's been asking to camp out a lot recently and we had hoped to do a lot of camping last summer and never did thanks to my pancreatic issues. We still had our tent, brand new in the bag in the garage when we moved and Ben spotted it last weekend and asked to take it out. Well, originally he asked if we could go camping, but at 5pm on a Saturday we said it wasn't the best timing. We compromised with a camping trip in the office instead. The boys and I spent the night in the tent and slept very well, in spite of the hard floor below us. I'm sure it felt worse to me than to the boys, I think they can sleep on rocks and not notice. Tim camped out in the bedroom all by himself, which is a rare adventure of its own. We are hoping to do some real camping outside of our home soon. This summer is already filling up so fast so we've got to book a site soon and just plan it. (Tim are you reading this?)

MIA

So, we (I) might be away from the blog for a little bit. Nate has pneumonia and is fairly miserable and I'm starting to feel pretty crappy myself. Ben maintains that he's fine and not sick at all, but his cough betrays him. So we're all hiding out here, camped out in front of the tv with sippy cups of juice and books, legos and tissues scattered on the floor. I'll post a regular entry when we recover and update you all when we're better!

These Boobs Were Made For Walking

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Originally uploaded by leilamus

And that's just what they did!

The Seacoast Area La Leche League Breastfeeding Walk was this Saturday. We had a beautiful day for it! Warm but not too warm and sunny with a nice breeze and the gorgeous beach to walk next to as we raised money for breastfeeding education. We raised a little over $400 which will help to cover the cost for our leaders and Leader Applicants to attend the LDS in Albany this July. The LDS is a Leader Development Seminar that provides education, support and networking opportunities to LLL Leaders. We're very thankful to all of our supporters for their generosity!!!

Thank you to all the mamas, dadas, kiddos and friends who came out to share the beautiful day with us!!! Special thanks to La Festa of Dover and StrollPatroll for their donation of gift certificates which were used as raffle prizes.

I have to say, I'm really happy with how this turned out as it was my first experience coordinating a fundraiser for Seacoast Area LLL. I definietely learned a lot and now have areas to improve upon, but all in all I'm satisfied. I hope that we can try to do this again next year, I'd like to expand it and get more people involved and more donations and more prizes and activities to get a bigger participation...I really feel motivated to do it again. I'm also so glad that I'm attending a session about fundraising at the LDS - I believe it will be money well-spent.

PS Click on the pic above to see more photos from the walk and our fun day at the beach.

How To Keep Your Cool

We're having oddly warm weather for this time of year in Maine. It's starting to feel cooler tonight and rumore has it (aka the forecast) that we'll get some rain tonight and things will start to cool off. Here's hoping! In the meantime we've been doing the following to keep cool:

- Visited Pierce Island. A cute little playground near the water with a shore area so the boys can run around near the water (Piscataqua River to be precise) and have fun without having to deal with the large crowds that are at the "real" beaches on hot days. There's also a dog friendly area nearby which helps to meet Nate's dog-viewing quota for the week. I swear if the boy could become a dog he would...he's even taken to licking things like a dog now, but that's another post.

- Go to the movies! We went to Smitty's which is a restaurant/movie theater last night and saw Kung Fu Panda. It was surprsingly funny and Ben really liked it. Nate had fun too, but I think he enjoyed the pizza and running around the dark theater more.

- Hide out at Nona's. Cause she has AC and it's nice! Plus she has a backyard so we set up a wadding pool and sprinkler which we all thoroughly enjoyed today.

- Get ice cream (or froyo) at Annabelle's. www.annabellesicecream.com Amazing local, fresh ice cream with 16% butterfat. no lie! I have the froyo because of my dairy allergy but even that tastes freaking delicious. My favorite, Coffee Toffee Thunder - Coffee FroYo (real strong coffee flavor too, not imitation syrup stuff) swirls of Toffee and white choloate chips. Yeah...I just had one three hours ago and I could go for more! The shop is air conditioned and right in downtown Portsmouth so you don't have to deal with waiting in a long line outside in the heat with the bugs swarming. And it's locally owned so we're happy to support them and brag about the ice cream in our area.

PS
All the pics above were taken at Pierce Island by yours truly. Nate looks so mad in the wrap on my back but it's because he wants the camera. He happily let me wrap him and throw him on my back and I'm very proud that I'm getting so much better at back carries!!! I'm actually considering selling my BabyHawk even.....

New Projects

I've taken up knitting...again. This is probably my sixth time trying to knit ever. I tried a few times as a kid/teen and gave up and my last real effort was while pregnant with Nate. I got about a quarter of the way through a baby blanket and had my fill. So, for some reason, still unknown to me, I got the urge to start knitting again and it seems to be sticking this time. I've finished my first project, a scarf, I know very advanced. ;) But I'm really glad that I finished it and as soon as it was done I was eager to start something else. I'm currently working on another scarf (for holiday presents) and a baby blanket for a new babe in our little community. I'm currently really in love with Lion Brand Homespun yarn - it's what the scarf pictured is made from and it has this incredibly soft texture and a variety of colors weaved throughout which makes each piece so individual. It also explains why the scarf looks tan and the pink and then cranberry at points. I've also recently discovered bamboo knitting needles and I'm really enjoying them.
Anyway, that's the crafting news over here for now. I've really got to get working on my jewelry since it's prime farmer's market season!!! Pics of new jewelry to come next!

The Peacfeul Place

I've been meaning to get these up since my friend Adrienne sent them to me and just haven't! These are some beautiful pictures that she took of the boys during our visit on Mother's Day weekend. Ben was skeptical about going to visit at first, all new people, new place and all, but when we got there as we were walking up to the house he said, "Oh, this is a very pretty house. This is a nice area. It's a very peacful place!" It truly is. Adrienne's house was the scene of many of my gretest childhood/teen memories and it was always a place that I could go to and feel welcomed and safe. I'm so thankful that Ben and Nate get to see this house that was so important to me as a child and get to know the people who call it home and whom I'm blessed to call my friends.

Ruminate On This

"When one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows an earth or nature religion, one that sees the divine manifest in all creation. The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple, its plants and creatures our partners and teachers. We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God, who together created all that is, was, or will be. We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation." ~ Edain McCoy