I am the cause of a Security Breach

The phone rang yesterday and I answered it.  The conversation went a little like this.
Me: Hello. 
Caller: May I please speak to a parent of Ethan? 
Me: Sure.  This is his mother speaking.
Caller: Hello. I am calling from the library to say that Ethan has a book that was due back June 7th.  We were hoping that you would help him return it.
Me:  Oh.  Of course.  I am so sorry.  What is the name of the book?
Caller:  For security reasons we are unable to tell you the name of the book.  We can either send it by mail or you can come to the library.
Me: ?????????

I got off the phone thoroughly confused.  Really? I was proposing a breach in security if I requested the name of the library book that I was to help my 8 year old find and return.

I walked around the house in a stupor.  I take returning library books pretty seriously.  Yes, it is true we have returned our books late once or twice, but for the most part we are good, responsible, card-carrying members of the local library.  We attend story hour regularly.  We check out books regularly.  We are close friends with employees of the library and at least one member of the board. (You know who you are T.)

I made a phone call.

Me:  Hello. 
Library:  Hello.
Me:  I'm not sure if you called or if someone else called but here is the story. 

I proceeded to tell them the details.

Me:  Doesn't it seem counter productive for me to drive to the library to get the name of the book that is missing only to return home to search for it? 
Library:  Um.  Hold on.

Filler of elevator type music.

Library:  Oh, I'll just tell you the name of the book.   [Name of the book withheld for security reasons.  I would tell you but then I would have to kill you.]

Me: Thanks.

Discussion follows at the house.  No one has seen the book.  I was on my way to a knitting shop visit with my Mom and sister.  Kevin states, "I'll take the kids to the library and see if the book is there so you can sleep tonight."

Ethan found it on the library shelf in 5 seconds.  Kevin and Will hadn't even made it down the steps yet.

Sleep easy tonight.  You may check out [Name of the book withheld for security reasons] any time now because it was once lost, but now has been found.

Home Again Home Again

We have been home for not quite a week.  It has been full of activity as per the norm.  Ethan has been attending Lego camp at a local community college (hour drive away).  Kevin took him 3 days and worked on school stuff.  I took him one day and had the most relaxing enjoying three hours I have had in a long time.  I snacked.  I read.  I knitted.  I explored, found a bike trail and walked til my legs hurt.  I returned.  I snacked and drank.  I read and knitted some more.  I picked up a parenting book, cracked it open and then put it back in my bag.  It was glorious.

He seemed to enjoy Lego camp OR just enjoyed being away from his "ruthless" parents for awhile.  At camp he was one of the younger kids and was paired with an older boy named Wade.  I think Wade had a big influence on the themes selected as Ethan told us, "You know how hippies don't like war?  Well we made a hippie walk over to a missile and then kick it.  Then the missile fell on him."  Not sure if Ethan even knew what a hippie was before this week.    Here is one of the movies they created.  "Cliff Duel"



Meanwhile Ben, Will and I tried to put the house back together.  Okay, okay, they played and I tried to put the house back together, though rather unsuccessfully.  Good housekeeping is so over rated.  

Beachin it Up

We are in Cape May, New Jersey right now.  Will is napping, Ethan and Ben are playing Angry Birds and Kevin is playing cards with his Mom.  Lazy days are welcome and invited.  The water has been calm so the boys are having fun playing in the ocean.  Ben isn't feeling so well with nighttime coughing fits so we spent some time at Urgent care and two breathing treatments later he is much improved.

As we are here, some of our lovely friends in Waynesburg began their move across the country to Seattle.  While reading of the goodbyes experienced I was so sad for all involved, especially the kids who have known and played with each other for so many years now.

If I was at home and had access to my photos I would insert cute photo here.  Ahhhhhh.

Safe journeys and much love to you.  Thinking of you tons.

Summer of Us

This afternoon while Kevin and I were sitting outside on the back porch enjoying a peaceful moment at home he made a declaration.  "This is the summer of Sally and Kevin.  We will only do things that will make us happier in life." 

Hooray.  I don't think I have ever been more excited about a declaration and I am PUMPED to begin.

First off, no more laundry and cooking!  Okay, okay.  There are limits.  But we both want to exercise more, read more and do the hobbies we enjoy, while going on a date every now and again.  This is the groundwork on which we will begin.

SO BRING IT ON.

Ohiopyle 2012

Apparently the entire population of the neighboring counties delcared yesterday Ohiopyle day....and unbeknownst to us we followed suit.  It was pretty fun to play in the water, but the crowds were a bit overwhelming.  We saw many, many tattoos and teeny tiny bikini bottoms.  A people watchers dream come true.

Work Day

Here they are!!

Who's the moron who put the uploaded picture folder into the wrong folder and then couldn't find it?  Oh, yeah, that was me.

Here is the original note Kevin sent to people...

Hello nice people.

I have a huge favor to ask.

As many of you know my mother-in-law lives just outside of town in Sycamore on a beautiful patch of land.  About 80 acres of beautiful.  She also lives alone in her house on this land and all of the local family try to help to maintain what we can.  Sally's mom is an amazing person and I have so much respect for this wonderful person in our lives, but this farm is a lot for any person to take care of alone.

So last year I started thinking how nice it would be if I could round up a crew to work for just one day to try to do as much work out there as we could.  I kept dreaming about it and I couldn't quite figure out how to make it work.  And then as many of you know, Sarah had some health problems this spring and as we have spending more and more time out there these last few weeks I have decided to give this a try.

So that's where you people come in.  Sally and the kids and I have been blessed with getting to know some amazing people these last few years and so I thought I'd see if any of you would be interested/available to help.

(Okay, cut to the chase Maxwell.)

WHAT:  You are officially invited to a work-day at

WHERE:  909 Browns Creek Road, Sycamore, PA on

WHEN:  June 2, any time you have free that day

Here's the tentative plan:  Sally and I will be out there all day (we are going to arrange for someone to be with the kids - this will be pretty much a grown-up only activity) and hopefully we will be able to arrange to get her mom away while this all goes down.  She doesn't even know about it yet - I'm not sure we'll tell her before the event.  We will be doing all kinds of stuff, depending on how many people are available.  Mowing, weedeating, weeding, gardening, mulching, digging, building, weeding, weeding, weeding, ...  Doesn't that sound like great fun?

DO NOT feel bad if you are not able to help up this day.  I have absolutely no expectations about how many people will be there - I would be thrilled if even one other person were able to help.

Okay, now for the FAQ's...

How much time are you expecting us to commit? 

Whatever you can spare.  We'll be there early and then stay as long as needed.

Do we need to bring anything? 

I haven't worked out all of the logistics yet, but I'll probably ask some people to bring some lawn equipment of some type.  Maybe a hat, sunscreen...

What do we get out of this? 

Lunch - I'll get something for you hard-workers.  A good feeling.  A sore body. 

So, I don't even know your mother-in-law, do I?

I don't know yours either Jack. Mine's awesome. Yours?

Why is this email so long? 

I'm rambling... I am so not so good at asking for help.

Sally, I like. But I've never really gotten you.

That's not even a question.

Is there any other good news for me and my family? 

Yes, thanks for asking.  To thank all of you and to celebrate the end of the school year we want to invite all of you to a campfire/cookout that evening (5ish?) at the very same place.  One of the projects that we will try to do that day is to clean up an existing fire pit for campfires and stuff.  So I thought we should try it out that night with all of you.  As a matter of fact, even if you are not able to help earlier in the day we expect to see you for the fun time that night.  So get your guitar all warmed up and find your favorite roasting stick for the big campfire.

(Okay, let me point out that Sally is even more uncomfortable than I am with asking for help with the work - I talked her into it, but we are both very comfortable with the partying!)

That's about it people.  Let me know what you think over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks in advance for even considering this.  You all rock.

Kevin

They really did rock!

Pulling the Wool over her Eyes

When Kevin and I first were married we used to curl up on the couch and watch the BBC channel.  There was a show that we loved about a group of Brits who would come and makeover your garden while you were away.  I forget the name of it, but it was fun to watch the response of the homeowner which typically began with "Godsmack!".  Maybe this was were Kevin came up with the idea of organizing a group of our friends to work out at my Mom's 80 acre farm. 

My mom LOVES to work outside.  She has always had a garden, huge by most standards.  And she can tell you were most of the plants and trees around her house came from....one tree which is now 8 feet tall she started from seed, pine trees her older children brought home in grade school for mother's day, a sapling taken from Bucky's neighbor's yard, a small conifer that Doug found along the side of the road, hydrangea's she brought home from Marlys', a buckeye tree I bought in Cincinnati and drove home with it sticking out of the sunroof of my car...etc. 

There is a lot of work to do out there.  So much indeed that we all feel a little overwhelmed at times by the amount.  Lucky for us we know a lot of AMAZING people, some 25 in fact (including those staying at home with children) who worked all day on Saturday to help my mom.  She got a little teary eyed when she saw how much was accomplished.  There is still work to do.  I mean, I don't want her to sit on her duff for the rest of the summer, but it was a fantastic start.  Thanks to all of you for your time and generosity.  And a special thanks to Kevin, the man behind it all. 

I have pictures, but am having technical difficulties at present.  I will post them when I can figure it out.