Got 'Em!

I finally got a decent picture of a hummingbird at my feeder!
A small victory for me and an accomplishment I can feel good
about and relish for at least a week!

Benny Goes Boating

My folks took Benny boating today. (George and Jacob are in NY to catch a Yankees game but that is another post for another day!) They went out on the Piscataqua in Portsmouth and checked out the Navy Yard, bridges, and the different boats in the river. They even saw a seal!

Benjamin did some fishing too. He did not catch any fish but he nearly hooked my dad in the face. Benny also started wearing sunglasses - not sure yet if this is the look for him.

Here are some pictures of my little shades wearing fisherman:

H - E - Double Hockey Sticks

After our great lunch with Grammy this weekend we visited the Dartmouth Book Store. Jacob asked if he could get the new Indiana Jones book - "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". The book was in the adult section, but with the goal of encouraging Jacob to read George and I agreed he could get the book.

Jacob started reading the book and quickly went through the first couple of chapters. I told Jacob there may be some "bad" words in the book and he should let us know if he reads something he does not understand or if he finds a swear word.

Tonight at dinner, I asked Jacob if there were any "bad" words in the book. He said "No" but had a sheepish look on this face. I told him it was okay if there were bad words in the book - that I just wanted to talk about them. He asked if he would get in trouble if there was a bad word in the book. I then knew without a doubt, that yes, there was a curse word or some other unsavory language in the book. I told Jacob he would not get in trouble and questioned him about the word he found.

I asked Jacob what it was but he did not want to say it out loud. I did not know what to expect since Indiana Jones does not usually swear in the movies. Well, maybe just one or two curse words but nothing to write home about.

Jacob started to skim through the pages to find the bad word. I expected he might show me the word sh!t, but hopefully nothing worse.

Jacob could not find the specific page so we left the dining room (to get out of earshot of Ben) and he told me what he read. I was delighted when he said "hell". I told him yes, that was a bad word and he should not say it. I let him know he could continue to read the book as long as he understood that he should not start using that language. I had to smile at my son and what he still considers a swear word. I don't have too much longer to enjoy this innocence....but what the he!!, I am going to do my best to make it last!

Celebrating Grammy's Birthday!

We headed up to Vermont today to visit with my mother-in-law and celebrate her birthday. We had a fun day - lunch at a great restaurant in Hanover, NH, trying out the new playground at Grammy's school, and then back to Grammy's for cupcakes. Aunt Stacy was up for the weekend too so it was great to catch up with her.

Here are some pictures from the playground:

George and Jacob - resting before the monkey bars

Grammy and Aunt Stacy on the swings...

Jacob up high - very high!

Hello Benny! All below all three boys:

Watch them go!

Hummingbird Stakeout

We put up a hummingbird feeder today. The feeder was originally my mother's. She had bought it for herself and then tried it. Only one hummingbird visited the feeder at her house so she decided to give it to us. (Thanks Mom!)

We hung up the feeder and filled it with the homemade sugar-water solution - which, by the way, required me to figure out how many ounces are in a quart. (Yes, I should know this stuff but I always seem to get it wrong.)

And then we waited....and success! A hummingbird came. And then another, and another. There were at least two different kinds of hummingbirds checking out the feeder.

I tried to take a picture of one of the hummingbirds and that is when our success ended. Either I need to get a new camera or I need to learn to take better pictures (or perhaps both!). I think the hummingbirds were mocking me. But I am not sure why I expected to actually photograph a small skittish bird that flies at an average speed of 45 miles per hour! I will try again tomorrow...

Here is my best attempt to get one on film -

If you look carefully, you can see a little bit of the bird on the left-hand side of the feeder!

Happy Birthday George!

George turns 38 today! Happy Birthday! Only a couple of more years before the big 40! We'll celebrate in the usual Snow style by going to Newicks for some wicked good fried seafood and a free dinner for the birthday boy!


Living the good life...

Another Frog Blog...

Apparently Steve the Frog is comfortable with his poolside location - so comfortable that he brought some friends to visit. This morning George and Jacob emailed me to tell me that were 3 frogs were in the pool today. One frog was Steve, one frog was about Steve's size and the third frog was a little one.

Jacob's theory is that Steve brought his family for a visit and that the other frogs were Steve's wife and baby. George thought that Steve must have taken some time away from the pool to tend to the birth of his child. We'll have to see what is in the pool tomorrow morning!


Steve


Steve's wife - she's a good looking frog!


Per Jacob - Steve's child!

Boston Bound

Yesterday we spent the day in Boston and went to the Museum of Science. We took the commuter rail in from Newburyport - it beats paying for gas, parking and the boys love riding the rails!

We had a fantastic time at the Museum of Science. The Omni theater was open (the last few times we were there it was closed for repairs). We saw Sea Monsters which is a film about pre-historic dinosaurs that lived in the sea. The effects were amazing and I had to close my eyes several times so I would not get sick to my stomach. We also saw a show on Sharks at the 3-D theater. The 3-D was super realistic and I saw Benny and Jacob reaching out several times to touch the images.

After the museum we had a nice dinner at the Boston Beerworks. (Blueberry Ale is yummy.) And then back on the train for the ride home. Both boys feel asleep on the train - they were worn out!

Enjoying the train ride.

Smile for camera!

George showing his mad skills by balancing nails.

Getting ready for the 3-D show.

Another Frog Blog - The Return of Steve

There were shouts of joy this morning at the Snow household when George announced that Steve was in the pool. In case you are not up to date on who Steve is - he is a frog that has been visiting our pool for the last two years. Unfortunately Steve has been missing lately and we assumed the worst. For all of the history on Steve you check out these two posts - Steve is Back! and Where is Steve?. Ahhh - life's simple pleasures -frogs in pools.


It must be Steve - right?

Summer of George II

Here's the scene: It is a beautiful Friday afternoon in July - the sun is shining and it is 85 degrees and I am working at home to watch my kids so my husband can continue the epic adventure that is known as the Summer of George.

George spent this afternoon boating on the Piscataqua River and Great Bay with his buddy Svenson, his co-worker Ryan Long and his brother Colin. Don't think I am envious, jealous or bitter. I am not. I just believe in full disclosure.

Here are some pictures:


Svenson at the helm, Long and Colin relaxing...


George is captain now


Dockside

Camping at Pawtuckaway

George took the boys camping this week over at Pawtuckaway State Park. Our friend Mike (also known as MLL) reserved a camp site for himself and his two kids Natalie and Ryan. He then invited George and the boys to join him.

So on Wednesday afternoon George packed up the boys, the tent, the cooler, and all of the other crazy things ones needs when camping (such as Band-Aids, baby wipes, kayaks, beer, cheese puffs) and headed over to the the state park. The camp site was beautiful - it was right on the lake and very spacious (it sounds like I am describing a master bedroom and not a clearing in the woods).

I joined everyone on Wednesday night to drop off a few things they needed and to have some S'mores. I then headed home the comfort of my own bed, private bathroom, air conditioning, etc. I do like to camp but I had to work this week.

Here are a couple of pictures of the happy campers. The boys had such a good time that we are planning to camp again - perhaps this fall when it is a bit cooler and less crowded.



The Snow Family (minus me) -not sure what happened but George and Ben did NOT get some crazy skin disease while camping!



The entire gang!

How did this happen?

This morning I went to open the blinds on our family room windows and saw something in the corner of the window sill. I assumed it was one of the kid's toys but when I took a closer look I saw that it was a FROG! Yes, there was a frog in my house.

I gently picked up the frog, showed Benjamin and my friend Julie what I had found (I wanted to have witnesses) and then grabbed the camera. I let the frog go on our front walkway and took some pictures. I think the frog is a tree frog of some sort but I still cannot figure how it got into the house. Has anyone else found a frog in their house?


The frog after I removed him from the family room!

Flips, Tricks and Flops

Jacob and his best buddy Brendan were hanging out today. They had a day that reminded George and I of the good ole' days when kids would play together almost all day long and would ride bikes, go back and forth from house to house, and just have a lot of fun!

Part of the day's activities included various stunts in the pool with snow tubes, noodles and boogie boards. It is a good thing that the boys are young and that their bodies can handle it. (Last weekend, Uncle Caleb, who is turning 30, did not fare so well and hurt his back while trying some pool stunts! Poor Uncle Caleb ended up in the ER - not the best way to end his trip out east!)


Fun in the pool!


Another great smile!


Look at that kid's form!


Jump, jump far!


Beware of the noodle!

Summer of George

You may have heard that it is the Summer of George. This means that George is off from work during the summer while I still toil away at my job. This is a good thing for our family - it is great that George is home with the boys and that they can really enjoy the summer, the pool and the time off from work and school.

On Thursday George took the boys up to Storyland to meet up with his old roommate from college. I opted not to go as work is very busy now and I wanted to save my vacation time. Of course the weather on Thursday was picture perfect. During the day I called George to see how everyone was doing. That's when he told me that he and Benny went on the Swan boats and that Jacob and Benny were enjoying all of the rides. I then regretted my decision and wished that I was up there with George and the boys.

Later I heard that Ben and Jacob went on the Tilt-a-Whirl. George opted not to accompany the boys and let his buddy's wife chaperone the kids on that one. I wish I had seen it! Next time I won't make this mistake and won't miss out on the fun again!

Battle of the Desserts

I made two very different desserts this weekend to have for our family get-togethers. The first was an Apple Tart from Cooking Light. The second was a Candy Bar Pie from this month's issue of Southern Living. These two magazines are as different as night and day and I enjoy them both.

Cooking Light is all about healthy eating, low-fat cooking and their recipes often call for eclectic ingredients that I can't find at our local Market Basket. Southern Living is Cooking Light's evil but fun loving twin - it is about comfort food, butter, bacon, frying and makes no apologies for fat grams.

Here are the two desserts (the pictures are from the magazines):


The Apple Tart - recipe here.


The Candy Bar pie - recipe here.

I love rich desserts with chocolate and peanut butter so the Candy Bar pie was right up my alley. I have to say though that it was super rich and you could only have a very small slice without feeling sick to your stomach. Everyone else who tried the pie agreed. (I did have a small slice this evening and it was yummo - so serving size is important!)

On the other hand, the tart received good reviews right from the get-go. Folks thought it was light and just right. It is also super simple to make - give it a shot - you'll be amazed at how easy it is and how nice the tart looks.

So tart wins out over pie. Until the next battle....

See Ya' Later Alligator!

We enjoyed a quiet day at home out by the pool. Jacob dug out some pool floats that we had forgotten about and so started the fun of conquering the alligator and crocodile. The kids had no trouble sitting, balancing and jumping on these floats and neither did George. It was a different story when I tried and we don't have any photos of that ordeal (not pretty).

In a while Crocodile.....

Oh Say Can You See...

We headed back into Portsmouth tonight to see the city's fireworks display. We met up with our friends the LeClerc's and watched the fireworks from Mike's office. The kids enjoyed some ice cream, popsicles and sparklers before the big event. Ben did not like the sparklers but the rest of the kids had fun playing with the sparks and shooting embers!
Here are a couple of pictures of the kids.

Ben and Jacob with the required 4th of July items - glow sticks and bracelet, popsicles and American flag.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Or I should really call this post the Five Degrees of Blogging and how I found the world's best potato recipe!

It all started with my friend and neighbor Mary of The Shaughnessy Tribe who lead me to her sister Katie of the The Betts-Levine Family who then found a great blog called The Pioneer Woman who then posted the best ever potato recipe - Crash Hot Potatoes and then it leads back to me.

I made these potatoes last night and it was the best potato dish I ever tasted. They almost taste like potato skins but these aren't fried and the recipe is very easy. The recipe just calls for potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper. (I did add some shredded cheese and fresh basil for fun.)

Here is the picture of the finished product from the Pioneer Woman's site:


And here is my version - after George and I had hefty portions with our dinner.


Oh, and what is the green thing in the photo? That is our butter boy - a little contraption that the kids like to use to butter their corn. I thought he'd add some interest to the photo! Every house needs a butter boy.

My Graduate

 

Ben graduated from daycare/pre-school today.  Here is a picture of him in his cap and gown. Ben and his classmates entertained the parents by singing some songs before they received their diplomas!  Check out his big boy sandals!

Where is Steve?

We have not seen Steve, our pool visiting frog, in a couple of weeks now. This makes me nervous because we have seen this cat hanging around our yard. One time the cat was chasing Steve and I had to holler to scare the cat away. I sure hope Steve can fend for himself but sadly I don't think Steve would fare well in a cat vs. frog match up. Hopefully, with all of the rainy weather, Steve has been enjoying a more natural habitat and has not felt the need to visit our pool.