New England Mamas

Starting the new year by homeschooling

The holiday break is almost over. Based on my Twitter feed, this is a source of great joy for many parents, but for some, this fact brings nothing but stress.

Maybe your child's teacher or school is making life miserable for your family. Maybe you are thinking your kindergartner isn't really ready for the daily schedule. Or maybe your child is a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, with little success.

Or, maybe you are like I was and are just intrigued by homeschooling but have no idea how to make the first step.

Here's your first step.

2010 First Night Events around New England

Say farewell to 2009 and hello to 2010!  Here's a round-up of First Night activities throughout New England.  All have family-friendly activities planned for kids of all ages. 

Massachusetts: 
Boston - First Night Boston
North Shore - Beverly's New Year
South Shore - First Night New Bedford
Cape Cod - First Night Chatham
Worcester - First Night Worcester (See one New England Mama's take on it here)
Western MA - First Night Northampton

Connecticut:  First Night Danbury;  First Night Westport;  First Night Hartford

Rhode Island: Bright Night Providence

Vermont:  First Night Montpelier;  First Night Burlington;  First Night St. Johnsbury

New Hampshire:  First Night Portsmouth;  First Night Wolfeboro

Maine:  First Night Bar Harbor;  First Night Old Orchard Beach

If I've missed any, please feel free to add them in the comments.  And as always, please celebrate safely and responsibly.

Lobster Stew, I Love You So

It is a cliché, I know, to eat lobster in the Northeast. But it’s what we do, even if that means feeding into the stereotype.

I have a confession to make, though. I’m not a native New Englander. I’m a transplant. I grew up in the great state of New Jersey: home of big hair, shopping malls and Bruce Springsteen.

My parents, on the other hand, were born and bred in a rural cow-tipping-is-a-sport town in Maine. . .

The Maine (Shopping) Attraction

This past weekend, my husband and I headed away from our Trenches full of kids for a getaway weekend.  Our destination?  Freeport, Maine and the land of Subarus and LLBean.  (Freeport is about a 2-1/2 hour drive from Boston.)

My Favorite Things - The Lighting of Nubble Lighthouse, Maine

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season there is one thing that my family never misses...the lighting of Nubble Lighthouse down in York, Maine.  

For a lot of folks, I suppose cutting into a juicy turkey on Thanksgiving, or fighting their way through Black Friday crowds at the sales signifies the start of the holiday season.  For me, it doesn't feel like the holidays unless I've watched them flip the switch at Nubble Lighthouse and grinned from ear to ear as the magnificent beacon of safety to mariners is set ablaze with twinkly white Christmas lights!

What's happening this weekend - Family friendly holiday events throughout New England

Looking for something holiday related to do with the family this weekend? We've got you covered.  Here's a sampling of what's going on around New England Friday, December 11 through Sunday, December 13:

Just in time for the holidays - gift ideas for teachers that deserve an A.

My oldest daughter started preschool last year, and we all couldn't have been happier.  A couple of days a week I would leave her in the care of the most wonderful women I could ever hope to ask for and know that not only would she be learning but that she would be cared for and doted on... along with the 19 other children in her class.

Seriously, how do these women do it?  Twenty kids??  I get the shakes when I have more than one over for a playdate.  Those women need gifts, pronto.

*checking calendar*

Well lookie there, it’s the holidays!  The perfect time to let your favorite educator know how much you appreciate them.  But with what?  Cookies?  Pssh.  Please.  These people help to expand your child's mind!  The least you can do is expand your own past the typical pastry gift.

Etsy to the rescue!

There are many New England artisans and crafters on Etsy, so finding a suitable gift for your kid’s favorite preschool, elementary, or secondary education teacher is a snap, right?

Put down the flour!  Let me help you find something.  I love Etsy.  Some may call it an addiction, I call it... an addiction.  But one person’s time suck is another person’s boon.  I’ve scoured Etsy to find some perfect gift ideas for the teachers in your life, gifts good enough to guarantee your child a good grade.  Not that you would bribe a teacher or anything.  That would be wrong...

Hey, look over there!

Hello Autumn! Can I Just Say, You Look Beautiful!

Photo by me

Autumn and I have had a lifelong love affair that grows more exciting with each passing year.

She shows up on my doorstep, the gorgeous fiery red-headed beauty she is, hair blowing about her, insists I take her hand, and spirits me away on a yearly adventure.  She's never missed a year, despite the presence of an Indian Summer, or the early arrival of Old Man Winter.  She arrives and claims her time with me even in the face of the last hot boastful breaths of summer or the bone-chilling exhalations of an early winter.  I might be distracted, or not completely whole, but she never fails to demand my time.   She's a passionate and greedy lover and I am powerless to resist her call.  

I am even more drawn to her as I inhale her intoxicating perfume, a mixture of the first hints of apple-wood smoke from chimney's, a brisk chill in the air, apple cider, cinnamon, cloves and an earthy smell that when combined make me swoon with desire for my beloved.  As I walk with her, the crisp crunch of fallen leaves underfoot make me tingle with excitement and fill me with a joy unlike anything I experience any other time of year.  Autumn is a generous lover and gifts me with a bacchanal for my senses. 

Photo by me

I am 'silly in love' with Autumn.   Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you that I become just a little wild this time of year.   I'm not so dissimilar from the crisp amber leaf that finds itself carried away on a brisk fall breeze as it begins its descent from where it was born, grew, and spent its youthful glory upon the mighty arm of perhaps a maple or even a stately oak tree. 

All spring and summer long, it sat aloft and took in the rebirth of life all around it, weathered the tempter tantrums of spring and the fickle nature that is a New England summer.  Now it sets its sights on places unknown.  Maybe it's a short ride to the ground below where it will end up amongst its red, yellow, orange and amber colored brothers and sisters in a huge pile to be jumped into with the wild abandon of youth - and some not so young, or perhaps this breeze will carry it further afar to places unknown.  Maybe it's a brief journey upon the wind through apple-laden orchards, or across fields of golden corn, waiting for the coming harvest.  

Photo by me

Like me, the leaf is powerless to the beckon of Autumn.  She wants what she wants, and she always gets what she wants.

My yearly affair with Autumn is a bit scandalous.  You know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I actually feel, (for the first time in a long time), with every fiber and cell of my being, like being scandalous, a little bawdy, and more than just a touch celebratory with the arrival of Autumn.  She excites my senses and makes me feel alive, more truly alive than I do any other time of year. 

More of life's absurdities and observations of life along the Maine coast from Audrey can be found at Barking Mad!

Wish You Were Here

As I sit here ready to post this, it's literally pouring down rain by the bucket-full.  There is nothing prosaic or pretty about this kind of rain...the kind of rain which was preceded by booming rounds of thunder and electric flashes of silvery tendrils of lightning.  Normally I love a wicked-good thunderstorm; the kind that sets the imagination ablaze with tales of shipwrecked mariners coming to rest upon the rocks buffeting ancient lighthouses, or ghastly stories of the ghosts of long dead New Englanders.  However this kind of rain?  The kind of rain that beats my shy little flowers into submission, drowns the newly planted seedlings and makes my cats howl with utter contempt at all that slippery wetness preventing them from running around outdoors as if their tails were alight?  I don't like it at all.

The thunder has passed and the lightning has all but burnt out into the drowning torrents of rain.  And now there is but rain.  A lot of rain.

Yesterday?  Not so much, although we were told to expect it.  Most of us along the coast of the New England seaboard were breathing a collective sigh of relief that our coastal areas and adjacent wetlands were not going to be in the direct path of Hurricane Bill after all.  It seems Bill decided to pass up blue crabs from the warm waters of the Chesapeake Bay and lobster from New England's deep indigo depths in search of other playgrounds to harass.  At least avoiding a direct hit gives the asylum here a brief reprieve in order to stock up on things like candles, batteries and a stockpile of Valium which will come in handy - if not during hurricane season then the subsequent Nor'easter season which will be upon us soon enough.  Two teenagers, a toddler and four cats, mixed with no electricity is enough to drive anyone over the edge.  Heck, even on a good day, when we have all the trappings of modern life, it's enough to drive me insane.

So what did we do yesterday in light of not-impending-doom?  We took a drive down to York Beach and Nubble Light to watch the breakers roll in and catch a glimpse of the massive surf that had been predicted for the Maine coast.  I just wish I'd read the bit about the "dense fog as thick as clam chowdah" in the weather blurb. It made the drive around the twisty bits of Shore Road  and the 1A in York, interesting. 

Once we hit Nubble Light, the fog cleared a bit and I was able to snap off a few halfway decent shots.

 

When my love of photography started to morph into something other than just a fun hobby, one of the goals I set for myself was to capture the essence of breaking waves on the shore.  So far I haven't been able to, or even come close.  Yet there's just something about the way the waves crash against the rocks and how the white caps slam into jetty that always takes my breath away.  

 

 

The sight, sound, and the smell of the ocean enlivens my senses and fills my soul with joy.  There is something about the sea that renews me when I am weak and reminds me that simple yet amazing beauty abounds in the state I call home.   I don't think I could ever live in a place that wasn't bordered by the ocean.  I feel a deep connection to the waters that border this land; a bond I have a hard time articulating.

The inky water which caresses our shores is just one of the many aspects of life along the coast that moves and inspires me.  One of my favorite flowers is the sea rose.  It's so very beautiful, delicate and soft yet must be resilient  in order to stand up to the constant salty sea-spray, the winds that wrap their arms about the shore and the pelting of sand.  The sea rose is  sort of an allegory for the kind of woman I long to be.

 

Of course, the most beautiful things seen a long the shore yesterday were two of the jewels in my crown...my kids.   Ever patient and always willing to let me click away at a moments notice. 

 

More of life's absurdities and observations of life along the Maine coast from Audrey can be found at Barking Mad!

It's Not ALL About the Lobsters

When you think of Maine, what is the first thing you think of? 

If you said "lobster" you'd be in good company.   When most people think of Maine, before they think of our bucolic coastline dotted with antiquated lighthouses,  shipbuilding, moose, or even the Maine blueberry, they think of lobster.  Often, they not only think of it, they start to salivate when they picture a fat juicy crustacean on their plate, accompanied by drawn butter, corn on the cob and maybe even a side of clam chowder, or "chowdah" as we like to say 'round these parts.

image credit

But before you start drooling all over yourself just thinking about a twin lobster feast, I'd like to point out some other interesting things about Maine that I think make it stand out.  There's a lot more to eat up here besides  lobster, a'yup!

Personally, I think the blueberry gets the short end of the stick when it comes to popular Maine culinary treats.   There are myriad things you can do with that roly poly, juicy blue ball that's chock full of antioxidants.   You can even pick these babies yourself whereas with lobster, you have to wait for a salty old seaman to dredge one of those things up from the depths of the ocean.  

image credit

Blueberry pie, muffins, scones and tea are just a few things that this versatile berry can do. Who ever heard of lobster muffins or lobster pancakes, or heaven forbid, lobster tea? And certainly not lobster pie!    If you love ice cream, why not take a crack at making some homemade blueberry ice cream?   Again, I don't think you're going to find any of our local dairy bars touting a cool, creamy lobster cone sprinkled with jimmies. 

Of course, blueberries are wicked awful when it comes to getting  that drippy purply-blue juice off your clothing or fingers.  I reckon I've tried just about everything to get blueberry stains out of my three year old daughter's clothing.   After canning several jars of blueberry preserves, my fingers and nail beds have been so stained that I've had people ask me if I was getting enough oxygen.   There's nothing worse than taking your toddler out to run errands and have people stare at you because her lips, cheeks, and fingers are stained blue.  It's lovely having people think your offspring is part smurf, or suffering from several oxygen deprivation. 

Don't even get me started on what happens when one of those round little suckers rolls off the counters and the kittens come scampering after it, drag it into the living room and then somehow manage to smear it all over the white suede furniture.  Yeah, lets not even go there!

Maybe, just maybe the blueberry is getting the short end of the stick for a reason.

How about those moose? 

What can I say about moose?

Well, they are big.  There's no doubt about that.  Oh and get this, if you visit Maine you can even check out our very own 1500lb solid chocolate moose.  That's right, Linny is all chocolate. 

I bet if Linny were to come careening into your SUV out of nowhere, he'd do some pretty major damage.  Well, if he didn't melt first.  If you do happen to come across a real non-chocolate moose on the road and just happen to run into one (although I'm of the personal opinion that they launch themselves at passing automobiles),  make sure you repeatedly tell your toddler that Linny is just fine and no, all that chocolate is not going to go to waste.  Your car has just been totaled but it's important that your kid knows they can just melt Linny back into the moose he was and all will be well.  Of course, you're probably going to be picking pieces of windshield out of your mouth and hair for a while, and having a heart attack when you realize you opted for a larger deductible on your auto insurance so that you'd get lower premiums, but so long as the little ones know Linny is OK, then it's all good.   Not that I'd know anything at all about that.

Now that I've thought about it, I suppose the case for the lobster could be made after all.  They don't stain your fingers or mouth, causing people to wonder if you're part fictional cartoon character or dying from a severe lack of oxygen.   Maybe you can't make lobster pie, but you can make a killer lobster bisque.  

I can't recall the last time I saw anyone out driving and then suddenly swerve to avoid hitting a lobster.  I seriouly doubt that a lobster sent bouncing off your windshield will do any harm to anyone but itself.  They aren't likely to total your car either.  Bonus!   Besides, in my relativly short aquaintance with the bottom-dwelling crustacean, they've been much easier to introduce to my three year old, than a moose. 

The ironic thing about this?  I can't stand lobster.  Hate it.  Can't even stomach the smell.  I know, I know...I live in Maine and don't like lobster.  Or blueberries and certainly not moose.

If you're visiting Maine, perhaps it really is all about the lobster.

More unsual obsurdities from Audrey can be found at Barking Mad!