Goodbye

Freddy's friend moved away today. Now all of his friends are long-distance ones. He loves his friends so much!

We will really miss Spencer. He just fit in perfectly around here, playing and chatting with everyone. It is so sad to see him go, but we will trust in God to send Freddy a new friend.

Freddy and Spencer met in preschool when they were about four yrs old. Spencer is actually very, very much like Calvin (very different from Freddy) but he and Freddy got along really well.

Goodbye, Spencer and family!

Spring

This is a typical spring evening at our house: Freddy is making a badge for Isabelle (who he decided was the champion of the game of Scrabble that we just finished playing), Isabelle is helping Lucie sew up a new blanket for her cat Ashes, and Calvin is reading. Sebastien was reading the newspaper after getting whupped in Scrabble by the Scrabble Queen and her daughters.

I took a quick pic before I started screaming at everyone to clean up their stuff and go to bed. Just kidding.

Hard at work

Sebastien left early this morning for a long, hard day at work. He had some catching up to do because of the holiday weekend. It is so hard for him to get home for dinner on time. It is also really hard for him to get away for lunch at a reasonable hour. Some days he has to skip lunch. Work is stressful for him. He has so much responsibility, so many things to take care of. At least that is what I hear.

Photos of him at work show something different: paraplaning one day, motorcycling today; pedicures, haircuts, and hot tubs while traveling.

Recycling

Old, outgrown bathing suits were made into swimsuits for little friends, Froggy and Ashes. Ashes tried his out yesterday with a Memorial Day dip in the lake.

The graduate

Pompey finally graduated from Work Horse Training School after hours and hours of instruction. Here he is posing with his proud teacher. His paw is on his diploma. I am not sure why he is wearing those ears.

Quilt

Buying a package of squares and putting them together to make a quilt top is like doing a puzzle. What do you think, Linda? I like it. I'll sew the next one (very different fabric) by hand to (hopefully) end up with a straighter top. I think that these are going to be baby quilts for Project Linus.

Made on Thursday

From the front: A new quilt top, paintings, lemon-blueberry scones, and a stack of thank-you notes in that wooden bowl. It is amazing what one can do when homeschooling is put on hold.

Winnings

Because our family has no interest in team sports, we were pretty sure that we wouldn't need a trophy case. We were wrong. Calvin brought home another trophy this year. And now Isabelle has been amassing trophies, badges, and plaques for her exceptional skills in Uno and Scrabble. I need to start looking for colleges that award scholarships to bowlers, card players, and board gamers.

Time

Lucie: Maman, can you take me swimming?
Susan: I can't. I have too much to do.
Isabelle: Maman's in a time crimple.
Susan: Time crunch.
Isabelle: Time crunch.
==================

Two little brown-eyed girls were pretending to be ladies, pouring over their calendar books...

Girl 1: Oh, I won't be able to do that. It doesn't fit into my schedule.
Little brother: Just write it really tiny.

Jamaica May '07

"It is 5:30 am, but I am very, very happy. Three days in Jamaica with my spouse of fifteen years. No cooking (24 hr food service! buffet! gourmet French restaurant! slushy drinks on the beach!), no cleaning, no one needing anything from me, daily kayaking, massages, sleeping as late as I want to (7am ususally), chauffeurs, no bugs, watching numerous weddings on the beach! Of course I am giddy with happiness!"

Sebastien and I discovered an excellent way to get top-notch service in airports. We sailed right through customs. We should have taken turns, but he was better at pushing the chair with one hand while dragging along the bag with the other.

Speaking of bags, we were the only ones on our flights with only carry-on luggage. And we only had one carry-on for the two of us! Most of the people on our flight were there for the same amount of time that we were there.

Driving down the left side of the road. It felt strange, and I never got used to it. Our driver called himself the Doc, short for Doctor Admiral S.A., and tried to teach us all about Jamaica. We learned that they call going potty "ting-a-ling". (The children like that one.) We remember one word of their patois: "Wah" for what. That was easy to remember.

The Doc also suggested that we try the local foods:

Boiled bananas (they eat them green) and steamed calalu (like spinich) for breakfast. I had the calalu, which was good. I had fried plantains, but no bananas.

Oxtail soup. Sebastien tried some oxtail something.

Curried goat. Our resort didn't serve it.

Meat pies. Good when warm. That was our airport food.

Those dreadlocks stunk. Worse than the bathrooms at this little pit stop on the way to our resort from the airport (a two hour drive).

The Jamaicans sure like Bob Marley. So does Sebastien. He used to listen to Bob while delivering newspapers about 25 yrs ago.

This is a petrified brain that we found on the beach. Or maybe it is brain coral. We aren't sure.

Kayaking our first afternoon on the island.

My hermit crab friends. Sebastien found them for me.

"A really big shell! And it can be yours...if The Price is Right!" said the game show model to the audience.

Al fresco dining. This was breakfast which was usually fruit and chocolate croissants for me and brie, among other things, for Sebastien.

The "craft" market in Ocho Rios. The shops were tiny little stalls all selling the same things: t-shirts, bags, wooden carvings, jewelry, and items made with straw. The venders all called to us to look at their offerings. We bought a shopping bag (which I needed for groceries), t-shirts for three children (Calvin's came from the Jamaican Bobsled Team Store), pencils with little doll heads on the ends, and a lovely painting by Andre.

One tall giraffe.

This is the Make-ah in Jamaica, taking a nap during the afternoon downpour.

What I like to do best on the water.

Lightly used fishing boat for sale. Cheap.