Life's a Rush

a new home for the blog

2012-01-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hi All, I am trying out a new space for our blog - thebuildershouse.com hope you will follow us there!

www.thebuildershouse.com

2011 in summary

2011-12-31T19:15:00.003-05:00

phew, what a year it has been. 2011 brought many additions to our life, the most amazing and significant being our Maeve last January. Here she is tonight, celebrating NYE2011. Last year at this time, I was very pregnant and ready for her to arrive. What a difference a year makes!

Other significant events include John passing his PE exam and NABCEP PV certifications. The PE exam in particular was an amazing accomplishment - so proud of him! We added several properties to our rental business and John added a bobcat and large excavator to his collection of toys (oops, I mean equipment). Our nephew Martin joined the family in April and we remember Wilson.

Looking forward to all that 2012 has to offer! Can't wait to see what this next year brings.....

now to plan a first birthday party

2011-12-30T19:52:00.001-05:00

we had a houseguest last night!

2011-12-30T19:46:00.003-05:00

Lizzie had her first sleep over at our house last night. Such fun! When we were snuggling in bed, reading books, she looked at me and said 'I think I will sleep here!'. I fully expected to be driving her home at bed time or in the night, but truthfully, I think she wanted to be here for breakfast quite badly. We had a great time together and look forward to doing this for years to come.

our christmas photo 2011

2011-12-30T19:36:00.001-05:00

This years holiday photo

11 months!

2011-12-30T19:31:00.002-05:00

Maeve was 11 months on December 17th. These days it is harder and harder to get her to sit with Grif for a photo. For one, Grif really doesn't want to be there. Grifs typical reaction to Maeve being in his space is to get up and leave. Lately she has been following him around the house, a favorite pass time is to chase him around the island. So, Grif has been asking to spend more time in the basement where he can get a little peace and quiet.

At 11 months, Maeve has 6 teeth. She is sleeping better, usually up once a night. She is eating

better and more all the time. She signs for milk, more, drink, light, book.... My mother says that my Grammy Dickens would say 'no moss grows on her'. Maeve does not stop, she loves to climb on anything. If I am doing dishes, she climbs in. She systematically destroys any sense of order we have in our house in about 5 seconds. She takes the pantry apart one potato at a time. Maeve LOVES the beamers at the farm - grampy carries her around so she can touch them all. She can moo like a cow, and ba-ba like a sheep. She loves her kitty kitty and her dolls. I love her.

dickens party

2011-12-30T19:21:00.001-05:00

The dickens side of our family gathers each year for food and a yankee swap. This year we had hors devours and my uncle Tom made my grandfathers southern comfort punch.

The girls, Maeve, Lizzie & Maddie

Michael

Maddies pretty hair tie

Uncle Chris & Aunt Laurie

Maeve shows Grampy where his nose is (she can also show him where his ear is, in case he needs to know)

christmas up north

2011-12-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

Santa comes a day late because John's family is so far north:) The Rush family had a great boxing day gathering. Here is Maeve in her party dress. She loves these red shoes but this is her first foray in hard soles, so though she loves the look of them, I would say she is less than sure about walking in them. She lifts her legs up high as though something is stuck to her feet. Very cute. She wore them long enough for me to get a photo at least.

Veronica and Allison cooking brunch

Rose and Char cooking brunch too. We always have more then enough food. This year we had quiche, ham, french toast with homemade bread, donuts, egg burritos, baked beans, cinnamon rolls and more.

Maeve and Uncle buster playing

Uncle Mike helps Maeve unpack her stocking

Grammy R and Maeve, she loves Grammys necklace!

John sporting a reflective hat (was sent along in a package as an unexpected bonus from the shipper/seller - but proved quite funny:)).

It was a cold day but we bundled Maeve up and uncle buster took her for a quick spin in her new snow sled. She loved it! Will be fun to take her out again when we have more snow.

christmas day

2011-12-30T19:03:00.002-05:00

I did not keep my camera as handy on christmas day as I would have like (in retrospect)but we had a great day and I enjoyed watching everything away from the lens.

The snowman at the farm on christmas morning...

Santa leaves presents on the roof. This tradition came from my grammy and grampy dickens who used to tell us that santa dropped presents on the roof via a helicopter. It left quite an impression on us as kids.

Lizzie spots the presents

Ryan gets them down

Martin snuggles with Dan

Martin and John

The only photo I took of christmas morning at our house, caught it just after santa came. Maeve got books and toys. An outfit from Mom & a race car toy from Dad. Santa brought John is PE and NACEP certs professionally framed and santa brought me new boots and garnet earrings and necklace (Maeves birthstone).

The things that stand out for me this christmas include; getting thrown up on christmas day (thanks Maeve:)); John having truck and car troubles on christmas eve (hauling the excavator home with the dump truck from Belfast, some hoses froze and he lost his brakes. Dan and Dad went to his rescue and he got home with out incident) and then again on christmas day (dead battery in the van); Maeve liking opening presents more than I expected (Nana Judy bought her a doll which she was BEYOND excited about); and my folks totally surprising us by getting us IPAD2s!!! Mom has had one for work and saw how much we all, including the kids, really enjoyed using it. It was a complete surprise that was given out after all the presents were opened - we opened a clue, written as a diddy, that lead to where they were hidden. A wonderful christmas day, all around. lucky & happy.

Oh, one last memory - cinnamon rolls! I made a double batch that did not rise, so christmas eve day put together another batch which did take. Lizzie and Emily helped put them together. John and Ryan were particularly helpful in the eating cinnamon roll department. Also made cakeballs for Mike on christmas day - per his special request.

christmas eve

2011-12-29T19:59:00.005-05:00

Grif is SO happy to see Dan. Love the beamers in the background

Tree at the farm, filled with moms bird ornaments and other things.

John and Maeve talking something over.

Maeve in her party dress.

Emily opens her made gift from me, mom also got a birdie sling bag.

Daddy's girl

Mom & Dad

Emily

Dan

Maeve is a big fan of climbing on things and presents are no exception.

Lizzie loving the train her father made her.

Martin trying to get to those presents.

Maeve loving christmas!

Martin loving christmas!

Maeve and Martin got their stockings christmas eve, added to the pile of them here that I have knit over the years.

Lizzie trying on the socks grammy made her

This years made gifts included sweaters for lizzie and martin, socks for dad and John, modified baby food jars for seed storing for Ryan, a bag for em and mom, and throw pillows for Dan. John gave out very popular coupons for oil changes and trips to the ice cream shop for the kids. We also received some lovely handmade gifts which included our annual calendar from dan, a coat rack from dad, mom finished a quilt for me by making and sewing on the binding, coffee and jam from emily, wooden cooking utensils from Ryan, lizzie painted a rock for us, Ryan made Maeve a beautiful stool with her initials on it and emily gave her a jewelry box filled with my old costume jewelry - such fabulous gifts!!!!

an addition to our tree

2011-12-29T19:59:00.003-05:00

Maeve first christmas ornament. Sweetness.

A new house in Belfast

2011-12-22T12:10:00.001-05:00

Here is an in-progress shot of a house we are working on in Belfast. Though it may not look like much here, it is on track to be one of the nicest homes Evolo has ever built.

Holiday Preparation

2011-12-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

A peak at some of the holiday touches around our home this year.

This pitcher was a wedding gift from my Aunt Laurie, the silver pine cones were ornaments I bought for decorating at our wedding (but never used) and the drift wood was a find during our fall vacation on the ocean in Northport this year.

The tree is up! (better late than never!). I kept it very simple this year, lights, white bows and silver ornaments. Nellie's dog collar is at the top and our little 'pickle' ornament is tucked in there too. We got the pickle ornament last year in anticipation having Maeve, who we called 'Pickle' in-utero.

Amaryllis in full bloom, I staggered the potting this year so I have another one that will bloom just in time for christmas.

Last year I tied ribbons on the chandelier, this year I hung a wreath under it and hung ornaments from that....

Oh and there are gifts too.... Here Maeve is checking out a recently wrapped gift. So far she has been relatively uninterested in the tree and presents (at least at our house).

Big Yellow? Mac & Cheese? Big Mac?

2011-12-22T10:48:00.002-05:00

John's excavator has arrived! Currently we are discussing names for his new baby, Big Yellow, Mac & Cheese and Big Mac are all contenders. No question, this is a BIG piece of equipment. John has wanted a larger excavator for a long time now so it is a very exciting addition.

10 months

2011-12-22T10:43:00.002-05:00

Better late than never!

ho-ho-ho

2011-12-15T12:36:00.002-05:00

Our little jolly Elf

Maeve (9mos).

Maeves favorite book

2011-12-15T12:33:00.001-05:00

Maeve has her very own photo album (a book of her very own people), which she loves. The photos and lots of pages with crinkly plastic add up to something special. Her top 3 favorite books right now are this photo album, 'peek-a-who', and a non-descript book of baby faces. The second tier of favorites include; 'have you ever tickled a tiger', 'llama llama red pajama', and 'Mr. Brown can Moo'. She knows the sign for 'book' and hauls her books all around, picks out books & lugs them to me to read aloud. Such fun!

around the house

2011-12-15T12:27:00.003-05:00

Since I am working fast and furious on my homemade christmas gifts, and some of my most loyal readers (ie mom, dad, emily), are recipients of said gifts, I am going to hold off posting about them just yet. However, on the craft and decorating front, this fall I did a couple very small, and easy, things in the kitchen that added some flair.

Here is my knife block, painted with spray paint (thank you pinterest for the idea).

Any my homemade kitchen cafe style curtains (amy butler fabric, I believe)

2011 family photos

2011-12-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

Since the holiday cards have all be posted (I think) I can safely share some of my favorites from our family photo shoot (thank you caitlyn!).

Burgess - Parker - Rush Families 2011

Maeve & John

Ryan, Lizzie (31/2) Em, Dan, Martin (7 months), Kate, Maeve (10 months) & John

Mom & Dad (38 1/2 years of Marriage)

Dapper Dan....

Parkers 4

Em & her girl

Martin (FINALLY) bears his grin:)

Maeve climbing all over Martin

Happy Holidays!

thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-08T14:29:00.001-05:00

A long overdue thanksgiving post - can it really be 2 weeks since thanksgiving?!?! This year we continued our traditional thanksgiving trek north, to Aroostook County where John's folks live. John is one of 5 kids which makes the thanksgiving table a full one!

Maeve plays with her very playful Uncle Buster.

Donning her thanksgiving dress

Johns sister Charlotte

Rocking with Maeve and reading her a story

Mike & Alison

Mikes feet make a great seat for Maeve - she was SO relaxed!

John's younger sister, V

This years thanksgiving had all the traditional elements - turkey, potato, stuffing, squash etc. Also a staple at the Rush thanksgiving (or rather dessert table) are whoopie pies - Rose makes great ones and I agree with her liking of extra frosting. I have also brought a dickens thanksgiving dish to the rush thanksgiving, 'onion celeste', which is now tradition here too.

Maeve had a great time playing with her grandparents and all her aunts and uncles, but did NOT sleep that night. She would fall asleep but then wake up, realize she was someplace new, get curious etc... at about 2 a.m. John took her for a 4 hour car ride so the rest of us could get some sleep. Here's to hoping she is a better sleeper next year!

GRIFFIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-06T10:32:00.001-05:00

hmmmm..... What is wrong with this picture?

I could not resist sharing - I almost didn't post it but each time I see it, I go from rolling my eyes at the freakin dog (Griffin we are trying to get some nice family holiday photos here), too laughing out loud at this photo about how it so accurately captures the essence of my life (at least on some days). Luckily, the crop tool is an amazing tool (in photography and life for that matter!).

cousins

2011-12-06T10:26:00.001-05:00

Martin and Maeve posing for some holiday pictures

Excellent Sharing......

Huh, this probably could have gone better for Martin. Maeve crawls all over him, she loves his hair, wants to poke is eyes - you name it. Martin is 2 1/2 months younger than Meave, for this very short window, Maeve has the upper hand in mobility and strength.

Maeve, I fear Martin will have the upper hand soon:).

sweater

2011-11-29T11:38:00.001-05:00

Here is Maeve sporting a new sweater, knit by grammy. cute!

2011-11-18T14:36:00.001-05:00

Just look at her eye brows - is that John's expression or what??? Seems a little devious, doesn't it?

Beautiful & so much more.......

excavator widow

2011-11-18T14:33:00.001-05:00

I am an excavator widow.

in the bath tub

2011-11-18T14:25:00.001-05:00

Bathtub time is Daddy's job around our house most nights and they sure do have fun. Maeves favorite bath games include peek a boo through the clear shower curtain (she thinks this is hilarious), pulling the lever that turns the shower head on, and reading her Sandra Boynton bath book. Here she is enjoying her tubby time:

Through the door

2011-11-18T14:21:00.001-05:00

Maeve likes playing in our room. Here is is through the bedroom door.

Walking video

2011-11-18T13:47:00.001-05:00

Maeve has this walking thing pretty much down pat. Yes, I know there is a plunger in the background, story of my life!

10 months

2011-11-17T15:05:00.001-05:00

Little Maeve is 10 months today. I plan to take her 10 month photo this weekend, but in the mean time here is what she is up too these days:

1. walking like crazy!
2. getting into things she isn't supposed to. If I turn my back she is off to climb the stairs or play in Griff's dog food bowl
3. She has 4 teeth
4. She had her first cold
5. She says Dada, mama, roar, uh-oh, nana
6. I hope I am not jinxing myself here, but she is sleeping better! yay us! All I can say is that it has been a long 10 months in the sleep department
7. She loves her train toy (one she sits on and it has wheels so we can push her around the house - it also makes GREAT train sounds).
8. She loves books. Her current favorites are 'have you ever tickled a tiger?' and 'llama llama red pajama'.
9. I put some photos in a photo album for her a couple weeks back, she loves looking through the photos of 'her people'!
10. I would not describe Maeve as a particularly enthusiastic eater, but, she does like yogurt, tortellini and Cheerios.

big brother griffin

2011-11-17T14:58:00.001-05:00

Griffin seems to adjusted to his role as big brother. He gets less attention, less exercise, and is left behind at home more often - but on the upside, Maeve leaves him lots of table scraps (mostly on the floor). One of the first things Maeve does each morning is crawl, well now walk, over to see Grif in his bed.

Here Griffin watching M and I outside. He sits very close to the car so as not to be left behind.

bringing the outside in

2011-11-11T15:45:00.001-05:00

Our weather this November (so far) has been nothing short of amazing. 60 and 70 degree days that are full of sun. Earlier this week Maeve, my mom and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to bring some of the outside in. We gathered red berries, hydrangeas, pine cones, pine boughs, balsam boughs and spruce boughs too. We filled baskets, vases and window boxes for the winter months ahead.

Peek a boo!

2011-11-10T15:57:00.001-05:00

popcorn balls - a family tradition

2011-11-03T11:17:00.003-04:00

My earliest memories of popcorn balls are actually Halloween related. A neighbor, Isabel, used to give them out on Halloween (followed by the neighbor that gave ice cream sandwiches - we were lucky kids!). Over the years popcorn balls have become a staple at the farm during the holidays. Some years it is Thanksgiving week, some years Christmas week, this year it was Halloween weekend (hey we had a snowstorm, what else were we to do?). Lizzie was very excited about the prospect of making popcorn balls and we had been talking it up for weeks. This year she even got to help us shape them. I can't believe I didn't get a photo of the finished product, I must have been too busy eating them!

Recipe for Popcorn Balls:

Make a big bowl of popcorn (for us it was 2 batches from the popcorn popper)

Then we doubled this old family recipe:

1 Cup molasses

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 teas salt

1 Tab butter

Bring to hard ball stage (about an hour)... stir constantly.

A few notes: this is an old recipe and it doesn't take anywhere near an hour to get to the hardball stage, I wonder if the quality of heat from modern stoves makes a difference. To test, we drop a few drops in cold water, if it stays in a ball and hardens up as it drops to the bottom of the glass, it is ready.

Pour over the bowl of popcorn and stir/mix a bit with a couple wooden spoons. The candy is VERY hot!

To form balls, wet hands with cold water and dive in! I rinse with cold water between forming each ball, this helps keep the candy from sticking and helps keep me from getting burned by the hot candy.

Thats pretty much all she wrote!

Solar PV

2011-11-02T14:08:00.003-04:00

John has been doing quite a bit of Solar PV work lately. Here are a couple photos of recent off-grid projects. I find the off grid stuff pretty interesting, mostly because people who live off the grid are usually my kind of folk. Also they live in the most remote places - places practically in my own back yard that I never knew existed. Even though I don't do any of the 'work' per say, I find it fun and often a bit of an adventure to drive down a road that really doesn't look like a road, as I make my way to these project sites for a photo op.

our little lady bug

2011-11-01T13:58:00.001-04:00

Maeves first halloween! She was pretty sad about the whole thing at first, mostly because her naps earlier in the day were less than stellar. We persevered and made it through the evening relatively happily. We stopped to see Grammy/Grampy and went to Nana's. Then went to the firehouse where John was serving ice cream with the other firefighters - a local and very popular tradition. It was great fun to see all the neat costumes and connect with some friends that we see less than we would like now that we are all busy with young families.

hand me downs

2011-11-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness for hand-me downs - am I right? A couple weeks ago friends, Paul & Jane, brought us a couple bags of beautiful clothes that they dragged back after visiting their granddaughter - all the way in Ohio! One of the great things about hand me downs, is the variety of clothing. Check out this adorable dress - so cute!

I think she likes it!

Grammy helps

Head of the charles

2011-10-31T20:15:00.000-04:00

Emily and I ventured to Cambridge to visit Dan recently (sans kids - you can't imagine how exciting that was, or maybe you can). Our visit coincided with the head of the charles regatta which I had heard so much about but never been too. Anyway, we watched some of the senior trials Sunday morning, pretty amazing stuff. I can see why people love Crew, the 'whoosh' of the rowing, the rhythm of it all is pretty enchanting.

I have no idea who the people are, just loved watching them all!

Em & Dan look on

Busy river

Sisters

Sibs

Crowd watching the races

Sunday mornings in Cambridge MA are pretty great, they close down a major street for a few blocks so local folks can use the roads, great time for families - kids learning to use their bikes etc. This particular weekend was beautiful. We had great food all weekend, we SLEPT (there are no words for how amazing that was!), hung out together and oh yeah, shopped until we just about dropped. Quite literally.

nor'easter

2011-10-30T21:04:00.001-04:00

well, a noreaster hit new england today - second year in a row we have had snow in time for trick or treating! I missed out on appreciating the first snow, something about having it fall during the night and not really getting to watch it come down. Anyway, I look forward to the next snow (well, not that I want to hurry it) when I can have a warm cup of coffee in my hands, holiday music in the back ground - you get the idea. back to today's storm, it left us without power for most of the morning, John and I had campfire coffee. We were toasty warm with the woodstove going and I had thought ahead enough to have water supplies on hand. Once power was restored, I threw together a couple lasagnas and batch of oatmeal, raisin and chocolate chip cookies. I didn't manage to take any photos of any of this, not one. Not one photo of the trees laden with snow, not one snowflake. Luckily, Mom, Emily and her kiddo's came by later in the day and we did manage to get the camera's out.

ps - M has her 4th tooth and is taking 3, 4 and 5 steps at a time now! Also, I think we can officially say her first word is Dada (actually she calls him Dadada)

family dinner at the farm

2011-10-27T12:04:00.001-04:00

We had a random night recently with all my family in town - such a treat! We got together at the farm for a low key evening and dinner (homemade pizza - white pizza with cranberry and artichokes is one of our favorites).

Uncle Dan & Martin

Dan and Rachel (or as lizzie says, way-chel)

Em, Martin and Ryan (martin teething!)

Maeve and John absorbed in a book.

Mom & Dad

Lizzie's cupcakes (she had cooked with her mimi earlier in the day) - yum!

Dan visiting and enjoying some wine from the cellardoor winery

Some Dahlia's from the camden dahlia garden (I think I will be planting some dahlia's next year!)

Looks like Lizzie must be giving gramp a talking too....

Maeve & Aunt Em

vacation

2011-10-26T10:55:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh vacation...... Well, let me tell you, vacationing with a 9 month old (at least our 9 month old) is not exactly restful. While it may not have been full of R&R, but it was full of family, friends and exploring.

Maeve on the deck at the cottage on the ocean, Northport Maine.

John and Maeve take a break from playing in the yard.

We met with the burgess/dickens clan in lincolnville - here we are having dinner at the Whales Tooth (a family favorite). Lizzie gets lobster (her favorite!).

Gramp, Grammy, Uncle Tom and Aunt Char have Maeve laughing

Dan & Rachel

Martin eats: its no lobster, but he is pretty thrilled about it!

On top of Mount Battie

This photo was taken at the cellar door winery in Lincolnville Maine. We really enjoyed our time there and got some great wine - I definitely recommend checking out this gorgeous place!

Maeve and Liam checking each other out.....

Friends Will, Kristen & Liam came with us for a few nights.

Reading to M

And she's off!!!!

Watching sunrise at the pier near the house we stayed at.

So cute - I love her bed head! :)

No one will look at the camera! :)

John watching sunrise from the pier

daddy kisses

2011-10-25T09:38:00.000-04:00

PS - she took her first steps last night!

a party with multiple things to celebrate!

2011-10-24T08:16:00.000-04:00

We recently spent the day with Johns family in celebration of two birthdays, a house warming and seeing some family from away. Maeve had a great day!

Shawns chair is perfect for pulling up on.

I'd say she is delighted about something!

Here is Tony working on V and Shawns b-day project - putting together their new garage.

John and Butch

Buster & Gil

Cathy & Maeve

Charlotte, Beth & Rose

Maeve really wants to help out - she is such a busy & curious girl

no hat please

2011-10-20T16:20:00.000-04:00

despite my best efforts to get this cutie to wear some of the adorable hats I have stashed away for her...

she wants nothing to do with it. I guess I should have discussed it with her first.

very happy to get that stinkin hat off her head!

with her pumpkin

A sunflower that grew under our bird feeder, or sunflower starter as it may be

This hat didn't seem to bother her so much, or she just gave in and stopped fighting me:)

More with her pumpkin, so close to getting up and walking away!

9 Months

2011-10-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

Maeve at 9 months, where shall we begin?

teeth: 3

stairs: all of them

favorite sounds/words: roar

We are having a ball. M is very mobile these days, standing on her own (not walking yet but close) and crawling like crazy all over the place. We have to protect Griffy, because Maeve chases him all around the house. She climbed a flight of stairs yesterday ( I was right behind her) and she got her 3rd tooth.

I heart her

2011-10-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

while we enjoy our vacation, I thought I would share

my current favorite photo of all time.

in 5 minutes

2011-10-06T10:18:00.000-04:00

a few minutes with M:

Starts off at her play table, a favorite these days.

Over to visit me on the couch with the camera.

Next stop, coffee table and her milk bottle is within reach.

Quite interested in the bottle

but not exactly getting it right, that is if she wants to drink out of it. If the goal was teething, way to go girl!

Looking exasperated and annoyed with her camera-in-the-face mom, and a bottle that she can't get the milk out of.

Yes, dear, yelling at it WILL help.

regrouping & determined

been there, done that.

Looking for advice?

Is this a Medela commercial in the making, or what?

Now checking her dad's math and design skills.

reviewing it very carefully (does that serious design work look like snowmen to anyone else? is my PE of a husband designing snowmen? :))

To the table for another look.

And back to the coffee table - I had to get in the middle of this one and prevent the tissue eating fest that was about to take place.

Now what?

sorry mr fed ex delivery man

2011-10-05T12:09:00.000-04:00

Until last week, there was no curtain on this door. That was before I seemingly got caught in the buff by the fed ex delivery man. One morning as I was getting in the shower I heard M screaming, she had fallen and though John was doing a great job comforting her, sometimes a baby wants her mom. So, I went to lend a hand. On my way back to the shower, the delivery man was leaving a package at the door, which gives a clear view through much of our home. I did not personally see the delivery man, but John was right behind me and John saw him, so all signs point to the poor delivery guy getting more than he bargained for. And adding insult to injury, the next day deliveries were left at the base of our ramp/steps, instead of up at the door. Guess he wasn't going to take any chances that it would happen again.

Well mr Fedex man, no worries, this curtain is in honor of you.

squash harvest

2011-10-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

This years squash crop goes down as a bumper crop for sure. With lots of squash to pick and a looming frost Maeve and I pitched in to help Grampy yesterday. Maeve had a ball, she hung out in the trailer where we loaded squash for almost 2 hours. She loved it when the tractor moved, pulling the wagon - with her in it along. When she tired of crawling on the squash, drinking from my water jug, eating dirt and other randomness, playing with toys, yelling/singing and overall trying out her voice, we headed up the the farm and were startled by this pheasant.

The pheasant must have been raised by someone near by as this one is very tame. It actually jumped up on the hood of my car and pecked at my window when I tried to drive away.

do I have something on my face?

2011-10-04T10:17:00.000-04:00

Our first experience with yogurt. She is hellbent on feeding herself, and this is the outcome. Luckily, bath time follows dinner!

Recent house project

2011-09-30T09:04:00.000-04:00

A quick look at a home we recently completed. This is based on the Cambridge design. I love what the customer chose for the kitchen cabinets - this butter yellow with light floors and counter tops really makes a light and warm space.

8mo and counting

2011-09-28T11:29:00.000-04:00

Presenting, Maeve's 8 month photo attempt. This mobile little bugger, combined with a restless dog made for some squirmy photo subjects. Here is a brief look at our attempt:

Daddy plops M in place

she immediately wants out of there

Right for the marker and marker board

Dad tries to put in back in position, but griffy gets ants in his pants

Squirmy

Must. Get. Marker.

She prevails. End 8 month photoshoot.

a musical treat

2011-09-27T13:24:00.002-04:00

Lobster feed

2011-09-20T15:25:00.000-04:00

After a beautiful day at the gardens, we gathered at Shawn and V's for lobster and other cook out fare (including some out of this world hot salsa courtesy of Shawn!).

V serves up the lobster

I love this photo. My mother in law, sister in law and aunt in law (is there such a title?) are in the back. Check out Maeve. She is turned right around in her little chair wondering what all that laughter and happiness is all about - I love this kid.

Most of the gang. John offers M corn on the cob - she wasn't that interested, too much else going on.

a Maine feast

boothbay family outing

2011-09-20T14:00:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Grammy Rush's birthday (and mine too) at the coastal botanical gardens in Boothbay Maine. If you haven't been there, you should go. Amazing place.

Rose and Tony

In the meditation garden

Our little family

Incredible stone work and carvings

Maeve with Daddy in the children's garden - I am not sure who liked it more!

Griffy and Maeve

2011-09-20T13:33:00.000-04:00

Maeve loves Grif. Each morning, she visits giffy in his bed. So far, Griffy seems ok with it. He is very still and gentle with her.

Pat, Pat, Pat Griffy

play

2011-09-20T13:14:00.001-04:00

Our little Maeve is exploring more and more each day. Yesterday she used a cardboard box as a walker and walked herself around the living room! We do have proper walkers/toys for this, but somehow the cardboard box was just right. Anyway, she also loves this play table. She presses all the buttons (buttons are a favorite thing of hers), makes all the various dials and ho-hickey's go. All in all, a grand time.

studying so hard....

feet!

Diaper heiney

Look Mom!

pumpkin picking

2011-09-20T13:07:00.000-04:00

Labor day weekend, we pumpkin and apple picked with family. Here A. Char and Mike begin the hunt for the BIGGEST pumpkin in the patch.

Riding (slowly) in the fields, John gets tired of pushing the stroller and Maeve gets a pulled around.....

Maddie, is there anythings sweeter than little girl braids and fancy necklaces? I think not.

Happy and heading to the apple trees

Cousins

Cider apples!

parades

2011-09-20T13:01:00.000-04:00

I am from a parade loving family. My folks are part of an award winning parade group called ' the lawn chair precession drill team', my sister performed in the marching band in college and having marched in what feels like 100 (ok not anywhere near that number, but if feels like it) parades myself in highschool - I really to appreciate and enjoy parades. This summer we worked on passing that love along to the next generation. So far so good.

Lizzie waiting patiently....

Mars is ready.....

John and Maeve are ready too.

The local fire department breaks out the antique truck for this one.

This parade was nearly washed out as a heavy rain came through just when the parade was supposed to start. Not any folks stuck around the half hour or so until the rain passed, but we did. Lizzie reaped the benefits of being one of the few kids along the parade route. Read as CANDY! See her bulging pockets? Here she negotiates with her Mom re: CANDY!

hello!

2011-09-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

Oh so many new and fun things going on around these parts; birthday celebrations, duck races and dowtown bangor fun, coastal botanical gardens, bbq's, a 'new' woodstove, griffy got skunked and our house has mice, oh and Maeve is now waving hi and bye, she also is signing for milk! Hopefully some time to down load and post pics will present itself soon.

Irene

2011-08-31T13:28:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene came our way this past weekend. We had a nice rainy day before the winds kicked in and hosted brunch for my folks & sisters family (ie John found a tray of PW's cinnamon rolls in the freezer - yum!).

Maeve tries on the new hat I made her, I think it will work!

Martin tried the jump-a-roo for the first time, Maeve looked on a bit concerned.

This 'little' guy cracks me up (I say little because he tops the size charts for his age). He hung out in the jump-a-roo, not exactly taking advantage of the jumping feature. At least not yet.

Thanks to the rainy day, and some help and prodding from Emily, I rearranged a bunch of M's stuff. We are using the pack and play more like a play pen these days, rather than a changing table and I brought her actual changing table and bureau downstairs. The end goal is to make putting away laundry a bit more likely (I mean who doesn't just use the guest bed as the 'dresser' for weeks on end!).

Got all the whole family this time around

Gramp & Mars

Maeve is doing so well eating these days. All of a sudden she has gone from sampling, to polishing off a half a cup of food!

And eventually, we lost power - though only for a few hours. Luckily we had enough candlelight power!

standing!

2011-08-30T15:04:00.000-04:00

Maeve is now standing up in her crib! Oh, and she signed for milk!!!

Maeve and Mom

2011-08-26T16:04:00.002-04:00

Emily snapped a few pics of M and I as we headed to check out the gardens. Thanks Em!

3 parkers

2011-08-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

Martin was taking a nap when Em, Liz & I went to visit Ryan in the garden.

I love, love. love this photo!

Quite the carrot!

I instructed Liz to touch heads with mom (meaning to put her head together with Emily). She took my literately and brought her hand to hear own head (touching heads!)

Grapes!

Beautiful garlic

around the house

2011-08-26T15:53:00.000-04:00

A project I have been wanting to do for awhile - succulents (my fav) in an old pie plate with a candle in the middle. I am hoping the succulents fill in and that it will be a pretty centerpiece.

A type of honeysuckle on a trellis off our back deck.

Affectionately called the 'stump garden' because it was a hole with stumps in it in our front yard. Over the last few weeks, John has filled it in, seeded and watered it and brought me some large rocks for landscaping. We had saved a tree in the upper right, which came down earlier this week (randomly) so now we have a festivius pole of sorts:). Looking forward to placing the rocks about and putting in some flowers!

Peppers

This plant lived the winter in our basement and is blooming for the second time this summer.

Maeve sleeps.....

future race car driver?

2011-08-26T15:44:00.000-04:00

Maeve's first driving lesson - I would say she loves it!

Having SO much fun!

skowhegan state fair

2011-08-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

We snuck away for an afternoon to take Maeve to the skowhegan state fair. We had a nice afternoon checking out the animals, equipment and food!

This picture is for Gramp.

Checking our the baby goats

It was a hot day! pink cheeks!

on the go

2011-08-17T10:35:00.001-04:00

Please excuse my baby talk, I have come to realize that it simply can not be helped.....

7 months!

2011-08-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here is the offical 7 month photo

and a favorite one of M and Grif loving each other (this was about 2 seconds before griffin got up and walked away, but still its cute).

Still a super smiley girl

Maeve is back at Nana's, after Nana's 3 week vacation. Thanks to Erin G, Maeve's Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Buster and Grammie Rose for all their help! Maeve is really enjoying books, especially the ones with texture and peek-a-bo pages. She is chewing Cheerios and other like foods. She gets around on her walker like there is no tomorrow, from one end of the house to the other in a flash. She looks for me in the downstairs bathroom when I get ready in the morning. Maeve is very curious and really takes time to look things over and figure them out (perhaps some of her Dad's personality coming through?). At her dr appt a couple weeks ago, she was 16.6lbs and 88% for height! The last 2 nights she has slept from ~7pm to 4am and then gone back to bed for a bit more after filling her belly - yipee!!!! Now I just have to go to bed before 11 and we will all be a bit more rested.

Grif

2011-08-17T10:19:00.000-04:00

Griffin, our newfoundland, has taken a second seat, pretty far back there, since Maeve has taken center stage. As evidenced by his recent running away episode, perhaps he has been feeling a little left behind? (PS thanks to my sibs, and the neighbors for helping us find grif, who seemed totally unphased and rather happy by his adventure all the way to durham bridge rd). Anyway, he is always present in our lives, not wanting to be far from any of us, least of all M.

(and Grif has a new haircut for the summer, turns out he is WAY smaller underneath all that fur!:)).

sweetness

2011-08-17T10:12:00.001-04:00

I love this series of photos. These two cousins seem to be figuring each other out, for now. Lizzie is so patient with and loving toward Maeve and Maeve idolizes the ground Lizzie walks on.

spragues

2011-08-09T13:21:00.001-04:00

Mom, Maeve and I hit pay dirt recently a spragues. We got a great discount and I got several things I had wanted for our new house. The landscaping has taken us awhile get our arms around, but we are getting there. Anyway, I have some new things to poke in, in new places and got 4 planters for the front of the house. I don't think we could have fit another single thing in the car though!

Plants even packed in around M!

Big Changes

2011-08-09T13:16:00.001-04:00

The last couple weeks have meant big changes for M (& the rest of us as a result). Maeve is now crawling, she has 2 teeth, had her 6 month appointment, and has mastered the 'walker'. Griffy also got a drastic haircut. John and I have just been trying to keep up! :)

Hanging out with Dad as he works on the computer.

I had to post this one because Griffy is between M and I and she looks over him to see what is going on. He wants to be right in the center of everything, just like my childhood dog polkie.

Hanging out with Mum.

Relaxing at bath time in the kitchen sink

The walker has given her a whole new freedom. She loves the dishwasher, checking out her reflection in the stove and the washing machine. She can easily go from the living room all the way down the hall to the bathroom (she visits me there while I get ready in the morning).

In our chair

With Grampie Rush on his brithday. So stinkin cute.

bucksport family camp

2011-08-01T09:06:00.001-04:00

Maeve got to meet her Illinois cousins a couple weeks ago. They came to Maine for their annual summer visit and stayed in a lake house in Bucksport. It was a HOT week, so being at the lake was perfect.

Mom, Laurie, Debby & Char

Maeve gets som quality time with Allie

Mook comes in off the lake

Sarah and Allie feed M.

Mom & Martin

Aunt Laurie

Mook and Maeve

The dickens cousins, minus TC, Dan and a couple spouses

Allie, Beth & Martin

At the beach

2011-08-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

We spent a few delicious days with friends in Ogunquit. The beach there is fantastic for kids (and adults) and we will definitely go back. This was M's first trip to the beach and she got good and sandy like any kid should.

teeth!

2011-08-01T08:44:00.000-04:00

Maeve has two bottom teeth. I noticed the first one on Sunday the 24th while visiting friends Will & Kristen - she gave me a bit smile and there it was! The second one came in about 5 days later. So cute, though virtually IMPOSSIBLE to photograph!!! She is keeping those teeth to herself:).

vintage

2011-07-21T12:57:00.000-04:00

why is it that when photos of M are given the vintage treatment, I think she looks more like me? Does that make me vintage? Is (almost 34) vintage?

Not vintage, but working SOOOO hard and wanting to crawl SOOOO badly!

the spaulding house

2011-07-21T12:53:00.000-04:00

John calls it the yellow house or 'OBR', which are the initials for the road it is located on (but to me it sounds like a name for a beer); but this is known as the Spaulding House. Built in 1845 as a stage coach stop, it's walls have seen a tavern, boarding hall, dance hall and single family home. Now it has made is way to us.

My love affair with front doors continues...

Great climbing tree in the front yard

Now this is what I call a pantry!

Upstairs hall way. So many doors, thats part of the boarding house feel that still remains. I love lizzie in her pigtails at the bottom of the stairs:)

3rd floor stairwell

This home has spring board floors on the third floor - built for dancing! Neat ceiling too.

I have driven by this house gazillions of time and have always loved it, but right now it is too overwhelming to consider it for our own home. So, until we let the dust settle and decide whether it will ever be our home, it is in the hands of good tenants who will live in and look out for the old girl.

quiet time

2011-07-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

Most mornings we have a little family quiet time in our bedroom. Maeve is up before we are quite ready to be up, so she comes to hang out with us while we wake up.

snuggling with daddy

not really liking those whiskers!

It was a chilly morning so she got to wear this sweater for the first time (thanks Alice!)

I like this picture because I caught her sucking on her bottom lip - a pretty regular (but surprisingly hard to capture with a camera) occurrence these days as she gets closer and closer to cutting that first tooth!

bath fun

2011-07-21T11:01:00.000-04:00

Maeve, like most little ones, loves the water! Baths in the sink, swimming in lake or kiddie pool - all great fun! Here John gives her a bath in the sink. She is figuring out the whole splashing, cause and effect thing.

sleeping beauty

2011-07-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

6 months and 401st post!

2011-07-21T10:47:00.000-04:00

M is 6 months old! Here is a series of pics from our monthly photo 'session' (and I use that word very loosely).

Here is what I imagine is going through Maeves head "oh no, not again?!?!"

"you have GOT to be kidding me"

"But he slobbers & stinks!"

"thats it, I am outta here"

"ciao babe"

Griffy seems offended.

Burgess Family Reunion #25!

2011-07-14T15:04:00.000-04:00

Hosting the Burgess Family Reunion rotates amongst the 7 Burgess children (my dad is the middle one). This year Maeve and I went to Sudbury MA (with my Mom & Dad) to Aunt Mary and Uncle Yusef's house. This years theme (past themes have included funky short competitions and burgess family olympics) was all about photos and bubble captions. Each family member brought a photo and a witty caption to post with it. We all voted on the submissions with a variety of categories from funniest to 'I don't get it'. In the end, everyone was a winner and it was a great way to share photos. Anyway, here are some out-takes from the day:

Maeve and cousin (second cousin? - I get that confused) Sam

Maeve and Cousin (same dilemma as above) Bekah - both such beautiful girls!

My Dad, John, the middle child.

Uncle George, younger than my dad

Uncle Sherwood and Maeve

Aunt Irene, the baby sibling in my dad's family holds Baby M. So sweet.

My cousin Allison

uncle Paul, another sibling younger than my dad. Maybe I should have titled this post 'people younger than my dad'.

Aunt Barbara & Sam

Dan and Dad look over one of the family scrap books from my dad's high school days. Pretty interesting!

These is the scene of the photo and caption competition. Also pictured are my Uncle Arthur, Uncle Yusef, Aunt Gail, Cousin Chris, and Uncle Mark.

Aunt Mary is a mean host (meaning a fabulous host, not a unwelcoming one). Make your own shortcakes for dessert! Strawberries, peaches, blueberries and blackberries - yum!

My cousin Amanda and Aunt Irene (all the way from Kentucky) were the judges of the photo and caption competition.

Uncle Yusef was behind one of the best tricks of the day (see below). He crafted these ketchup and mustrard bottles, that when squeezed an appropriate color string flies out! He got me good.

Maeve reaches for cousin (second cousin?) Avery

And finally, she gets a rest.....

phew - another great reunion! Some other time, remind me to tell you about the family chalice and nightlight. It is a long, but entertaining saga.

talking things over

2011-07-14T14:21:00.000-04:00

Summer has arrived and that means hay season. Here my Dad and Brother-in-law Ryan talk things over. The baler and a couple hay wagons are shown here too. Actually the hay wagon to the left is new this year - replacing the one Emily fell through last year! I, for one, and glad not to be pregnant and haying this year. How many years till M can help? :)

4th of July Festivities

2011-07-13T15:47:00.001-04:00

Ahhhhhh...... It was a long weekend we SO needed. The weather was perfect, we had family around and a camp to cool off at - what could be better than that!?!?!?

John ad Maeve chilling on the hammock

Griffin guards the end of the dock - Mark watching kids in the water

Sammy - what a good doggie

Sparkerles in watermelon!

Dan

This is a newish garden at camp along the path to the lake. Ryan made beer bottle candles to light the way. The hydrangea in the back ground is full of blossoms - should be really beautiful this year!

Dan diving in

Ryan and lizzie watching the boat/tubing/skiing. Lizzie is looking quite serious don't you think?

A quick but pretty intense storm passed through, so we moved inside for a bit. The girls played dress up.

Lizzie and Aunt Char talking things over

Grif guards the dock some more......

Dan comes in from skiing (one ski - go dan!)

wow

2011-07-12T15:42:00.001-04:00

I can't believe how far behind I am! Since the last post, we have had a great 4th of July weekend, made a trip to Aunt Mary & Uncle Yusef's for the 25th Burgess family reunion, bought a house, set and house, done some haying, and enjoyed camp whenever possible and who knows what else. Maeve will be 6 months old in less than a week, yup. I know. EVERYONE told me how fast it would go, so I was warned, but not prepared. She has been swimming in the lake and in the kiddie pools She is sitting up on her own now with her boppy. She gets herself down on her belly and pushes herself back several feet (the first stage of crawling!). She has been teething on and off and trying out different foods though her favorites seem to be sweet potato and applesauce. Her least favorites are peas and rice cereal - can you blame her? John has been working his butt off - night and day it seems like. Summer is here though, and I have the sunburn to prove it (thank you bush-hog and old bangor rd house). Pictures of all these adventures to come soon.

5 months

2011-06-27T06:17:00.000-04:00

Maeve is now 5 months old. she found her feet this week and is quite taken with them. she still loves her jumparoo. she like snuggling with mom and dad but doesn't like taking naps (or at least the going to sleep part). She is ticklish and laughs and laughs. She is in size 3 diapers. Maeve has had a taste of rice cereal, apple sauce, banana and peas and but doesn't really like eating yet. She rolls and rolls all over the place, I have a feeling crawling is not to far in our future. Teeth may be showing up any time as well!

there is a professional in the house

2011-06-27T06:07:00.000-04:00

Congrats John on passing the PE exam - so incredibly proud of you!

a birthday and fathers day celebration

2011-06-19T20:16:00.000-04:00

Dan was home for fathers day, so we all got together today at the farm to celebrate. It was also John's first fathers day, so Maeve had a nice card and a little something for him when he got up this morning. But, back to the birthday celebration:

Happy 61st birthday Dad! I hope this year is the best one yet.

Help blowing out the candles

And dan and Martin taking a nap. This photo is pay back for all the years of Dan taking photos of us sleeping. ha!

summer solstice bonfire

2011-06-19T19:44:00.000-04:00

we throw a solstice party (2x per year, one at each solstice) at the farm. This usually consists of a large bon-fire, lots of friends, and plenty to eat and drink.

Sister Emily

Ryan and hungry and growing baby boy M

I put Maeve in the Boba carrier for the evening. she eventually feel asleep in the carrier, but before that she we did some swinging and visited with lots of friends at the party. M is all smiles.

Dad, who needs a new pic for his facebook page - maybe this is a possibility?

My niece and her uncle (my brother) Dan.

At long last, the bonfire!! This bon fire included a chair and couch from Tom & Alice; last Christmas's trees from my house, my folks and my sister; lots of construction scraps mostly from renno jobs on our apartment houses. If you look closely, you might actually see a dried up,old xmas wreath!

go fly a kite

2011-06-19T19:30:00.000-04:00

today was a good kite day. It was also a good hay drying day, but that is for another post.

pretty fun stuff for a 3 year old (and a 33 year old, ie me))

My brother, Dan at the helm.

drool with the best of 'em

2011-06-17T13:13:00.000-04:00

Here is M sporting a onsie that reads 'I drool with the best of 'em' and then there is a picture of a newfie (which is the same breed of dog as our griffy). These days, grif still beats M at the drooling contest by a large margin, but M is stepping up her game.

This is her first time on Daddy's shoulders, she looks a bit concerned, no?

warming up to it...

okay, I would say she is a fan of riding on daddy's shoulders. the first of what I bet will be several years of shoulder rides!

rice cereal

2011-06-17T13:06:00.001-04:00

almost five months old and I thought she might be interested in a little more than milk. So, we gave rice cereal a try this week. what a riot. she seemed pretty psyched about it, grabbed the spoon, opened wide and got a good first mouth full. Then she was less than impressed. Hilarious. I think these pics pretty much say it all. We have done it each night since then and she progressively takes fewer and fewer bites before getting pissed off. So I guess we either need to add some apple sauce or wait a bit longer to try again. Either way, this chick cracks me up.

and my favorite:

poor little darling, bless her heart (as my grammy D would have said).

photo shoot day

2011-06-13T20:28:00.000-04:00

Mom, Emily, Maeve, Martin, Lizzie & I decided to do a photo shoot this afternoon. We had props, photo changes, 3 cameras, laughs, smiles, tolerance and only a melt down or two. I have hundreds of pics to sort though, but here are a few of my early favorites of M.

a few things I don't want to forget

2011-06-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

Since I plan to use this blog (when I print it from blog2print.com) as a baby book of sorts, here are a few things I don't want to forget:

Maeve gets up early, like 4 or 4:30 am. The routine as of late (or early) includes eating, laying her back down in her crib where she entertains herself for a half hour or so while Mom gets a little more sleep. Then she hangs out with Mom and Dad in bed for a little while. She is at her best and most smiley this time of day so we pry our eye lids open and enjoy it. When she has had enough of that, I put her in the jump a roo where Maeve will jump and jump for a half hour- forty five minutes. She loves it so much that she will practically jump herself to sleep. When she starts to fuss, I take her out of the jumper and she is borderline already asleep. Too funny, she doesn't want to stop jumping until she is just too tired to keep her eyes open any more. She usually goes back to sleep for almost 2 hours, during which time I can get ready for the day and even get a little time on the treadmill. When she gets up, we head out the door to Nana Judy's.

Her favorite toy right now is fabric book that crinkles and has some chewable things on it. She is starting to hang out in the high chair a little longer and loves to be read too.

At Maeve's 4 month dr. appointment, she weighed 14 lbs and was 25.5 inches (can't remember if I already blogged that or not:)).

mothers day trip to mount battie

2011-06-06T18:08:00.000-04:00

For mothers day, John took me on a day trip to Camden Hills state park. We drove up Mount Battie and walked around. Went to my childhood favorite book store, owl and turtle, and had a picnic lunch at lincolnville beach. Thanks for the great day babe!

first summer weekend at camp

2011-06-06T18:03:00.000-04:00

Maeve and Grammy Susie at camp memorial day weekend - lobster feed!!!

Dan

memorial day weekend 2011

2011-06-06T17:32:00.002-04:00

Maeve tries out the swing at the farm, and likes it!

Em & Lizzie plant grammy's new, colorful window boxes

I help lizzie, too

Maeve is part of the fun too! We brought the exersaucer out on the porch while we planted flowers, she loves the exersaucer!

first bath in the sink....

2011-06-06T17:23:00.000-04:00

Maeve hanging out with Mom on the side board while we fill the sink for her first bath in the sink.

cute buns

I have to say, she doesn't look so sure about this....

Lizzie helps grammy pour water over Maeve

Maeve finally relaxes (or resigns herself?)

cinnamon rolls

2011-06-06T17:17:00.000-04:00

We are all fans of cinnamon rolls around here (particularly those made from the Pioneer Women's recipe). Making cinnamon rolls is no small undertaking, messy big batches make it quite and event.

It all starts with this:

yup, that's all butter. to be fair, we are making a triple batch but still, that is a lot of butter! (a pound per batch to be exact)

Em & Liz make the dough

Lizzie, behind the scenes:)

The finished product! (and many more than are shown here). Though, they don't last around here as long as one thinks they might. I think I still have a couple plates in the freezer though, just waiting for the lazy Sunday morning or special occasion!

em & liz

2011-06-06T06:35:00.000-04:00

Em & I took a photography class this past winter and I have been having so much fun with what I learned! This was taken on a new back drop I ordered - we were all just hanging out at the farm and an impromtu photo session emerged!