Joey's first Christmas

Joey had a very special first Christmas, he was asked to play baby Jesus in a live nativity at the Sanbornton Congregational Church on Christmas Eve. When I was first asked if Joey could play the part I said no because we were heading up north for Christmas, but after speaking with my mom and realizing that Joey could never play this role again we accepted the offer. Adam and I played Joseph and Mary, so we were the Holy Family for the evening. It was a pretty neat once-in-a-liftetime experience for Joey.

Christmas morning we went to Tony's house to watch Tori open her gifts from Santa. Then we went to my grandparents' house for dinner and then back to my parents' house to open gifts from them. Joey slept through all of the present opening this year, but I'm sure the same won't happen next year. Unfortunately, this is the only picture of the 3 of us on Christmas. Thankfully, it is a good picture.

You've got to be kidding me!

This was Joey's face after I told him that I had not posted on the blog since July! So in an attempt to keep him happy (which is what I live my life for these days) I figured I would try to keep the blog updated once again. I do have a lot more to share about these days...so for the nth time, here we go again!

Fun with fireworks...

On Saturday night we watched the fireworks in Rangeley, Maine. We were standing across the lake from where the fireworks were set off. I brought my camera and a tripod along to take pics of the fireworks. All of the little lights in the water are the boaters watching the fireworks. Here are some of the better shots that I captured.

The summer reading list continues...

I've managed to read 3 more books this week. I have to say that I haven't walked away from any of the books thinking, "Wow, that was really good!" But they have been read and will be shared...here are books 4, 5, and 6.

4. Black Friday by James Patterson
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Friday-James-Patterson/dp/0446609323/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278024460&sr=8-1

I have come to enjoy James Patterson books basically because they are quick, mindless books to read. This book was very similar to most of the Patterson books that I have read. A major crime happens and there is a very good detective assigned to the case...this detective eventually falls for a woman who is also working on the case....and by the end the case is solved. The interested part of this plot was that the group of people involved in committing the crime were all Vietnam veterans who were very upset with how America had treated them. This book did not feature Alex Cross, who I enjoy as one of Patterson's main characters. It was not was favorite Patterson book, but if you are looking for a quick, mindless read then you might enjoy it.

5. Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
http://www.amazon.com/Back-Roads-Tawni-ODell/dp/0451212452/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278024754&sr=1-1

This book was one of Oprah's Book Club choices (I have no clue when). I usually don't care for Oprah's book selections because the plots tend to be a bit too deep for my liking, but this book wasn't too bad. There are four kids living together and the 19 year old brother has legal guardianship for his three younger sisters because their mother is in jail for killing their father. As you read you find out that the father was abusive physically and sexually...and I will leave it at that. It is an interesting story, but there are some parts of the storyline that I had trouble with.

6. Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen
http://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Daughter-Iris-Johansen/dp/B001C2E2D6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278025532&sr=1-1

In Pandora's Daughter the main characters have some sort of psychic ability and they join together to fight off one bad guy. For a much better summary you can look at the amazon link. I thought the different psychic abilities were very interesting and it makes me wonder how many people say they have the abilities in real life...

I have started on book 7 and I'm really hoping that one of these days I get a book that I just can't put down...All of the books I am reading now are books that have been sitting on the book shelves in my house and I figure it is about time they are read. Once those books are gone I will be purchasing books on my Kindle! I can't wait!

The new stairs...

Step 1:

We currently have a spiral staircase in our house. (See below) We are replacing the spiral stairs with a set of real stairs, but there are several steps to this process.

The first step to this process was removing the picture window from the kitchen/dining area. The new stairs are going to be put along this wall.

This is a view of the window from the outside of the house.

On Sunday, Adam and my uncle took the window out.

I suggested that we make a drive-thru window with the new opening...

But they decided to frame the window and close it in.

The window has been all closed in and if you look at the ceiling you can see the beginning of step 2.

Step 2 includes cutting a hole in the ceiling so that the stairs can be built. Before we cut the hole though we need to pack up both the kitchen and the room upstairs, which is my task for the week. We will probably be cutting the hole in the ceiling on Friday.

Home Improvements

We have recently started our home improvement projects that we have been planning on doing for a VERY long time! The first project we started on was the front steps. When we bought the house (4 years ago) the front door had 3 temporary steps that we have been talking about replacing for 4 years!

BEFORE: The 3 temporary stairs and flowers we had in front of the house for the past 4 years.

BEFORE: Looking along the house from the front steps

AFTER: The new front steps and mini porch and the raised flower bed.

AFTER: View from the driveway!

AFTER: The new flower bed!

Overall, we didn't do that much to the front of the house, but we like it soooo much more! Our next improvement is replacing the spiral staircase with a full set of stairs. More on that later...

Summer Reading...

I've been on vacation for one week and am currently reading my fourth book. (I will admit that I began my summer reading the Sunday before vacation started because I couldn't help myself.)
Here are the first three books of the summer...

1. Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
http://www.amazon.com/SUMMER-PEOPLE-Elin-Hilderbrand/dp/0312628277/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277392575&sr=8-3#noop

I discovered Hilderbrand's books last year while browsing the books at Walmart. All of her books (that I have read) take place on Nantucket, which I love! Adam was a summer officer on Nantucket in between our junior and senior years of college and I visited him there. Since then we have dreamed of going back, but it is a bit too expensive. So instead of visiting, I dream of living in the summer home that the character lives in in the books that I have read. I am sure there will be more of her books listed on this blog this summer!

2. Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
http://www.amazon.com/Nights-Rodanthe-Nicholas-Sparks/dp/0446612707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277393429&sr=1-1

While I have always wanted to see the movie because I have a large crush on Richard Gere, I have not. I did enjoy the book and found it interesting that as I read the book the main character's voice came across in my mind sounding like Diane Lane (who plays the main character in the movie). I do not think I will watch the movie because I find that most of the time a movie about a book tends to ruin the book for me. I do recommend reading it. Check out the link to find a summary about Nights in Rodanthe.

3. Love Walked in by Marissa De Los Santos
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Walked-Marisa-los-Santos/dp/0452287898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277393987&sr=1-1#noop

To be honest, I found myself reading this book just to get through it and be done. (I don't like to start books and not finish them.) The main character of this book makes a lot of connections with old movies, most of which I have not seen, so that made it a bit hard for me to connect with at times. Also, the ending was very Disney movie, which I'm not always a huge fan of...Thankfully, it was a quick read. I definitely wouldn't put this book on the top of any must read lists. However, if you like old movies, you may enjoy this book more than I did...

Those are the first 3 books of the summer. Last year I was reading 3-5 books a week, which Adam thinks is crazy. Hopefully, I will update regularly. If you are interested in any of the books, let me know as I usually have most of them...and I LOVE to pass along a good book!

Time to get back on track...

It has been a long time since my last post, and I'm not really sure why...but now summer is here, I am on vacation, and we have plenty of things to share with everyone. My hope is to keep a list of the books I am reading this summer (I want to keep track of the number I have read and I like to pass on a good book!) We have also found out that we will be having a little boy that is due on October 28 and I hope to be sharing all of the happy news that comes with him.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and fun summer :o)