Strange sighting

So last night around sunset I went onto my Dad's porch and out of the corner of my eye saw something in the lawn below. Shading my eyes from the sun I tried to figure out what it was curled up in the middle of the short grass... fox? neighbor's cat? some strange unidentifiable animal? Much to my amazement it seemed like it WAS a fox.

My first reaction was- how lucky!

then- how beautiful!

then- how weird!

then-something isn't right, fox don't sleep in lawns in the daylight.

I called Dad, Amy, Lilikoi, and Alex onto the porch and we watched it get up and look at us warily and then return to it's curled up position again.

Was it Rabid? Sick? Old and lost it's mind?

Amy called the town dispatcher to see if a fish and game warden was on duty but none were available. So they sent the town police officer who rolled up about 15 Min's later and told me to go inside with the baby because he was going to try to get close enough and shoot it with his hand pistol. I went inside and paced the living room. It just seemed such a sad ending to what seemed so special and unique in the beginning. But no shot came because the fox moved into the woods before he got close enough. The officer left saying to give him a call if it returned. He didn't seem to be too concerned with a possible rabid fox roaming the area. But honestly that fox looked like he didn't have much left in it anyway.

In the guest bedroom at my Mom's where we slept last night there is a drawer filled with her letters. Many are from me, and I went through it briefly today and found myself inspired and a tad bit jealous of my former prolific letter writing self. Here are a couple:

My Mom's House: day 3

Super Hero Party!

Super Heroes of all kinds showed up for SUPER SKINNY'S (David) 30th B-Day Bash on May 23rd. The guest list incuded: Super Skinny himself, Supa Fly, Captain Compost, Land Diva, Evil Queen, Wonder Woman, Zoro, Bartman, Lava Girl, Earth Woman, Captain Cash, Queen La Q, Special Post Office Man, Super Red Riding Hood, Pooper Baby (Lili), and many more.

let's get down to the nitty gritty- let's get this show on the road

Well, we have arrived in New Hampshire safe and sound. While it would normally take us 17 hours to get from NC to NH with a baby it took us only two extra hours. Lilikoi rocked the road trip thanks to her personal entertainer- Alex. I would notice that people passing us would be rubber-necking to see Alex's goofy faces and dances in the backseat as he tried to keep Lili happy. The dog puppet Nene gave her made his debut this road trip and was met with squeals and giggles.
The reason that Alex was in that back and I was driving solo is because on Friday Alex ran his thumb through the tablesaw at work. He had to go immediately to the emergency room where he said they peeled open his thumb like a banana to clean it, took X-rays, and then stitched him up with 8 stitches. The good news is that he didn't hit any bone and didn't have to have surgery. So he was on some pretty heavy painkillers, hence, him in the backseat, me driving. He is doing better now and has been a trooper about it all, even trying to change diapers one handed.

We came up to NH for my dear old friend Adam's wedding which is this coming weekend. Aside from the killer mosquitoes it is a beautiful time to visit New England. The lilacs are all in bloom and smell amazing. Last night we heard our first loon on the lake. And all of my family and friends who live here are all in such good moods now that the snow has finally melted. Both of my parents are doing major renovations of their houses (Paul my step dad is actually the carpenter of both projects!) and they look amazing. Paul and Mom are in the Sheetrock stage in their house on the lake. They have mostly done it all themselves and it is beautiful. They have added a second story on, and artfully made the place feel big inside and look small from the outside. Dad and Amy have done countless things including a new bathroom upstairs with a walk in shower, ripping out the downstairs bathroom and expanding the kitchen. redoing and adding wood floors, new bookshelves... basically the place looks spiffed up all over. He even threw out his TV from the 70's that cut peoples' heads off and bought a flat screen TV. It is just fun to see all of the new changes.

A visit to the goats

They
are
getting
bigger!

Christine & Carrie

Carrie came from Michigan, and Chris came from Cali to visit Lili for the first time. After Lili went to bed we stayed up way too late talking, laughing our butts off, and eating chocolate covered strawberries. I am always so grateful for such good friends...

LEAF Festival pics

Nanci Griffith

Some friends

Alex tickling Noah
Brandon

Alex and Lili
Ema & Renee

Even though David wasn't feeling well, he wasn't feeling so bad that he couldn't enjoy a mid-day beer!

Nim showing off her new skirt. Practically every girl under 12 (and some daring adults too) were wearing them- I think the skirt making vendor must have been rich by the end of the festival.

Our stilt walking friends

Lili's first bubble experience.

Nusing with Nanci in the background

Off Grid

I am sorry to all of those loyal Loomer blog readers out there!

We have had a busy couple of weeks coupled with a ginormous wind storm that has left us with no power or phones for a couple of days. One of the downfalls of living out in the boondocks is the frequency our power/phone goes out. We try to look at it like a little vacation from modern life- but truly we are just crossing our fingers that we reenter the grid asap. Our bathhouse got speared with a big branch during the storm, but luckily the only damage was to the overhang and one of my paintings fell off the wall.

Soon I will post some pictures of our fabulous weekend from the LEAF Festival (Lake Eden Arts Festival) go to theleaf.com for a sneak preview of how awesome it is.

I hope all those mothers (and all those who mother in the loose sense of the word) had a beautiful mother's day.

What is going on...

Here is a picture of Lili eating some peas and brown rice mush. This is a plastic spoon and at each bite she anchors the spoon in her mouth by chomping down with her two new teeth. I was thinking to tell you how cute it was, but then this morning she did this same maneuver while breastfeeding and drew blood. It seems a LOT less cute... However despite my injury I still think she is the sweetest. Strangers always come up to me and ask "Is she always this happy???"

This is a deck that Alex and Kevin just finished up on in Asheville. They put in this cool detail of a directional in the middle of the deck.
For our baby shower Alex and I requested that we get no big, gaudy, loud, plastic toys. Our reasons being too small of a house, and well, we just didn't want any.

Anyways, as you can see from this picture we are eating our words because here is Lili having fun in her big, bright, gaudy, plastic "jungle jumperoo" station that we bought her.

This is yesterday in the garden. She jumped away while we planted beans.

Burgers at Becca's

MULLEIN

It was my neighbor Mullein's 7th birthday this past week. Mullein has been such a sweet blessing in our lives. She has Down Syndrome and slight autism, and because of this is a little different than some of the other little ones around the neighborhood.
One of her greatest gifts is her constant state of living in the present moment. She is never thinking about the future or doesn't seem to dwell on the past. She has one of the softest, most gentle spirits I have ever known. We celebrated her birthday at her house with a cupcake bar. Even though she doesn't care for cake-like food, she greatly enjoyed a giant plate of vanilla ice cream. For the first time she was excited to blow out her candles and she sang the birthday song along with everyone.
I recommend the book "Expecting Adam" for a deeper look into the world of living with someone with Down Syndrome. It is an easy read about a family who has a boy with Downs. They come to learn that a lot of his qualities that are seen as slow or retarded are in fact blessings in disguise. It is a great book.

Here is the birthday painting I made for Mullein. She is named for the soft rabbit-ear looking plant Mullein. I also painted a hummingbird because when Meredith was pregnant with her Hummingbirds were always around her. Mullein acts like a little hummingbird too- waving her hands close to her face and leaning into something she is excited about (such as chopping wood, playing drums, or bodies of water.)

Here is a picture of Mullein from our Easter egg hunt last month. Gosh, I could just squeeze her she is so sweet...

Happy Earth Day!

WELL... Lili is celebrating her first earth day on earth by cutting her first tooth (bottom, center, left side) Here she is all boogery and drooly (unappealing side effects of the hard work of growing a tooth) while simultaneously practicing different maneuvers to mobilize. Her tooth is just a little sharpness and discoloration under a swollen gum. These teeth will help her eat all the good food that will be coming her way now that she has started eating a little bit of solids!
All in all, she has been pretty crusty compared to her usual happy-go-lucky Lili-kin self.
















Here is Lili's HOTTIE of a daddy.
Nothing says sexy like your husband wearing the baby!

April 15th

HAPPY

BIRTH

DAY

MAYME!

we

love

you!

Speaking of birthdays~

As many of you know, Alex is the pastry master of our household. He informed me recently that he will be baking ALL of Lilikoi's birthday cakes. So I took the opportunity to bake her a 1/2 cake for her six month marker. This satisfied both adults in the house. Alex will get to bake her a gourmet cake on the real deal, meanwhile, I got to fulfill my domestic yearnings to be the sort of mother who makes cakes from scratch.

(Did you get the 1/2 cake for the 1/2 birthday???)