I know I’ve mentioned it before… But, I love the kids’ school… And, I love the kids’ teachers and the administration/support staff at the kids’ school! Every year at Christmas and at the end of the year I try to make a little something to show our appreciation for how hard they work. The gift usually reflect my craft obsession du jour :) and this year is no exception… So, little bee shaped solid lotion bars were in order!! Here’s a few pictures of the 25 or so lotion bars all boxed up and ready to go to school on the last day (which was yesterday for the kids!). Kathryn decided that they would like the Mint scent the best, so that’s what they are :) Happy end of year and beginning of summer!
Throwback Thursday Christmas Style
Merry Christmas!!
I was looking through some old photos, and had to share a couple of them… I’m planning to scan all my old photos this year, these are just pics of my old pictures with my cell phone.
This one is probably when we were 7 and 8 ish with me (on the left) my sister (on the right) and my Grandmother (that we lived with).
This one is actually labeled on the back “Eileen with Santa 1973” How cute is my sister?
Another Christmas, this one with my sister and cousins… Left to right, Davey, me, Johanna, My sister, and Kelli
And last but not least, my wonderful grandparents (with me and my sister of course)…
Beannacht-A New Year Blessing
Last night we went to the “Christmas Celtic Sojourn” at the Cutler Majestic theater… A wonderful show (as always!!!). We’ve attended the Christmas Sojourn before, and also the St. Patrick’s Day Sojourn as well. The show is a wonderful collection of music, dance, and poetry. There’s talented musicians, beautiful dancers, adorable children (who can dance like you wouldn’t believe!!) and Brian O’Donovan, host of Celtic Sojourn on WGBH… Really, a great show that I would HIGHLY recommend! I was struck by one of the poems Brian read, and wanted to share it… I’ve had a particularly difficult Christmas season this year, I can usually duck and cover and muscle through this time of year, but this year is more difficult for some reason. This reading during the show really spoke to me. Maybe it will speak to you as well…
Beannacht – A New Year Blessing
~ John O’Donohue ~
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
When I was searching to find the words, I discovered that Brian read this last year as well… Here’s a recording of the Blessing from last year’s show… (once this year’s show is recorded, I’ll post the new video).
A Blessing/Pie Jesu from DigiNovations on Vimeo.
And… Then I found a recording of the Beannacht read by the late poet himself on NPR’s Speaking of Faith.
To all my friends and family this Christmas season,
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
Vettes to Vets
This past weekend we participated in the wonderful Vettes to Vets event at the VA hospital in Bedford, MA. The event attracts Corvette owners of all years/models from all over. The cars all meet at a local hotel, and drive in caravan to the VA hospital where they line up, bring donations for the veterans, have lunch and the veterans all vote on their favorite car. This year’s event attracted 537 corvettes! Let me tell you, you could hear them coming from a mile away!!! So much fun, for such a great cause… Here’s a few images from the day…
This picture was taken at the staging area (by the Vettes to Vets organization)… Mike and Sean are in that second line on the left… 8th car back… Blue hood up with the white stinger :)
Kathryn and I got there a little early to watch the caravan come in…
We were walking around, it was such a beautiful day… I said to Kathryn, oh, do you hear that? I think they’re coming… I couldn’t hear anything specific, but I describe it as a “disturbance in the force” you could feel it!! A minute later, we overheard someone on their radio say that the cars were on their way… I swear I could “feel” it when all 537 cars started :) even if they were a mile away!! After we checked out the area, we walked back out to the road to see the caravan come in… The lead car is the State Police 1989 Corvette…
With the exception of the State Police Corvette and a few VIP cars, the older cars came first and the newer cars toward the back… Most of the cars displaying or waving American flags on the way…
Hey, look who’s coming now… Mike and Sean… Sean was video taping, so holding his ipad in front of his face… He’s making an montage of the videos he took, I’ll post it when it’s ready!
Hi Guys!!
The number of Corvettes was just crazy! All those beautiful cars in one place! In fact, after a little while watching the caravan, Kathryn and I walked back to the main area, waiting in a 20 minute food line, got our food, sat down and ate, AND when we got up, the line of cars was STILL COMING IN!!!
There was a whole troop of volunteers helping the veterans, many in wheelchairs, to come and see all the cars. Here’s a few shots of our car…
The kids loved walking around and seeing all the cars.
As Kathryn and I were leaving, we saw a purple Corvette that she loved… The people were kind enough to stop for a picture :)
A wonderful event for a wonderful cause on a beautiful day!! Can’t wait til next year!!
Crazy {Canadian} Summer Vacation: the Overview
This summer was no exception to our crazy summer vacation streak!! Here is just a little overview post… I’ll post more about specific places in later posts because otherwise this one would be insanely long! Because, you know, I took just over 3500 pictures :) I do promise not to share them all :)
The start of the crazy summer vacation plan was my getting accepted to attend the Google Teacher Academy (there will be a separate post about that!!)! I knew that I would need to be in Mountain View, CA for July 30+31. So, once I was accepted, Mike started on the “What are we going to do on our summer vacation?” plan. Here’s what we did…
The short version:
Fly into Edmonton, Canada, spend 12 days hiking/exploring in the Canadian Rockies, (we also made a little detour to Glacier National Park too, ’cause that’s our favorite place and it’s not too far). then Mike and the kids fly home from Calgary, and I fly to California, attend the GTA, and then continue on to Yosemite (’cause, you know, I’m out there… should do something like that, right?) and finally fly home.
Which meant us all leaving the house July 16, Mike and the kids flying home July 28, and me finally arriving home on August 6. Yup… We’re a little nutty! It was a LONG time to be away, but it was a great trip in many ways!!
Here’s just a couple of scenery pictures to get us started… There was a very large fire in the area, so it was hard to catch a lot of the really great photos that I expected to see, but that’s OK! It was still beautiful! Oh, did we mention the BEARS?? Umm… we literally lost count of how many bears we saw, both black bears (which can be brown too) and even a couple of Grizzly bears… Most from the safety of the car :) We don’t ever get out of the car when we see one (unlike some other people we saw)… Best to be safe, even though they are eating and paying no attention to us, they’re still WILD animals that need space and respect. Getting eaten by a bear would kinda wreck our vacation :)
There are many glaciers still, and they’re what cause the magical water. The glaciers grind the rocks into glacial flour. The glacial flour is lighter than the water, so when it runs off into the lakes and rivers, it doesn’t sink to the bottom and catches the light to create that beautiful blue. Whatever the reason, it looks magical :)
from the boat tour on Maligne Lake
A view of the Athabasca Glacier and the top of the Columbia Ice Field
Moraine Lake from the top of the Rock pile
Hmmm… I have to look this one up, we hiked up to the top and this was the view… I don’t remember the name of the hike, but will check!
Another from Moraine Lake (can you say magic??)
And, one of the bears… (this one is a black bear, not just ’cause he’s black :) but because of the shape of his head and the shoulders). I didn’t bring the actual zoom lens, just too much to carry around… This pic is with my Nikon 3100 and the 18-55 kit lens. We were in the car (with doors closed, but windows open) and the bear was searching for berries and grubs.
More about specific hikes (like the one to the Tea House) soon, there’s a LOT of pictures to sort through :)